Taking to the frozen lake first would be the 6/8 Full Size class with fourteen cars registered. Brandon Davis drew pole position and used it to his advantage, leading the first eight laps while putting distance between his blue and yellow 440 ride and the rest of the field.
The last thing Davis wanted to see was a caution, but the Chetek natives wishes would be crushed at mid race, bunching the field and erasing Davis's lead.
Scott Miller on the other hand was glad to see the caution, using it to improve his position holding the top spot the remaining seven laps. Troy Holder picked his way through traffic to finish second with Davis holding down the third position. Steve Hallquist and Jarred Amundson rounded out the top five.
After wheeling their Full Size rides into the top five, the duo of Hallquist and Miller would go on to finish one-two in the Front Wheel Drive division. The lighting fast Hallquist had to pick his way through lapped traffic by the sixth lap of the non stop fifteen lap feature. With Hallquist out front and lapped traffic in play, a four car battle ensued between Miller, Mike Schnider, Jesse Tripp and Jon Wigchers for the runner up spot.
Hallquist drove on for the easy win, Miller second with Schnider, Tripp and Wigchers the top five. They were also the only cars to finish on the lead lap.
The Powder Puff class continues to grow, this week had seven women jumping into the drivers seat of their counterparts rides. Newcomer Ali Kuehndorf lead every lap to take the checkers in the eight lap heat, hoping to carry a winner status over to the feature, one of only two drivers in the field without a feature win.
Kuehndorf's bid for the feature win would be a tough challenge after drawing a last row spot on the grid and having experienced competition ahead of her, with Sheila Cook being one of them and a front row chip at the draw window. Cook would go on to be the eventual race winner, but not without a battle.
Cooks first pressure come from Tiffany Davis, who was doing battle with Missy Hallquist at the same time. A lap seven falter of the wheel by Davis put Hallquist in the second spot, with Davis now third. As the laps wound down the trio stayed in position giving Cook the win with Hallquist second, Davis third and Jessica Achterberg fourth. The rookie Kuehndorf had to settle for fifth, putting at bay the feature win to compliment the heat win earlier in the day.
Last to see the ice on the days rotation would be the COMP4 class. For a third straight feature, drivers were able to keep their motors running, going green from start to finish.
Karen Koltunski had her husband Al in her mirror for all fifteen laps. The Cumberland team received little pressure from the competition taking home the first and second place trophies. Having the dueling couple up front, and a battle for the forth spot behind him, dirt tracker and Pure Stock driver Simon Wahlstrom stayed in third place, continuing to improve his icy experience in his borrowed ride.
Meanwhile Duane Hodgeson and Tadd Davis ran door to door, with a late race pass putting Davis fourth and Hodgeson fifth at the drop of the final checkered flag for the day.
Rice Lake Ice Racing is held on the north end of Rice Lake every Saturday through March 7th, race time is 12:30 pm.. Admission is free and there is a plowed parking area around the track. Spectators can tune their radios into FM102.5 and listen to live racing action and results, a new twist for the 09 season. For more info visit www.geocities.com/ricelakeiceracing .
6/8 FULL SIZE
Heat 1: 1~Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire; 2~Bill Crapser, Eau Claire; 3~Don Cimfl, Clayton
Heat 2: 1~Scott Miller, Rice Lake; 2~Don Cook, Barron; 3~Jarred Amundson, Barron
Heat 3: 1~S. Miller; 2~Brandon Davis, Chetek; 3~Richard Featherly, Rice Lake
Heat 4: 1~Troy Holder, Rice Lake; 2~S. Hallquist; 3~J. Amundson
Feature: 1~S. Miller; 2~T. Holder; 3~B. Davis; 4~S. Hallquist; 5~J. Amundson
FWD
Heat 1: 1~Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire; 2~Jesse Tripp, Spooner; 3~Brooke Fairbanks, Spooner
Heat 2: 1~Mike Schnider, Rice Lake; 2~Jon Wigchers, Rice Lake; 3~Jerret Hamilton, Chetek
Heat 3: 1~Scott Miller, Rice Lake; 2~J. Tripp; 3~J. Wigchers
Heat 4: 1~S. Hallquist; 2~Nick Traynor, Chetek; 3~B. Fairbanks
Feature: 1~S. Hallquist; 2~S. Miller; 3~M. Schnider; 4~J. Tripp; 5~J. Wigchers
POWDER PUFF
Heat 1: 1~Ali Kuehndorf, Chetek; 2~Tiffany Davis, Chetek; 3~Jill Amundson, Barron
Feature: 1~Sheila Cook, Barron; 2~Missy Hallquist, Eau Claire; 3~T. Davis; 4~Jessica Achterberg, Chetek; 5~A. Kuehndorf
COMP4
Heat 1: 1~Al Koltunski, Cumberland ; 2~Karen Koltunski, Cumberland; 3~Troy Gross, Turtle Lake
Heat 2: 1~A. Koltunski; 2~K. Koltunski; 3~Tadd Davis, Rice Lake
Feature: 1~K. Koltunski; 2~A. Koltunski; 3~Simon Wahlstrom, Cameron; 4~T. Davis; 5~Duane Hodgeson, Chetek