In regular racing action the Powder Puff class had eight driver's donning their driving apparel for the final time this year. Missy Hallquist won both the heat and feature for the sixth time this season, two of them in the Rear Wheel Drive. Rookie Ali Kuehndorf finished her season in the runner up position with Tiffany Davis ahead of Sheila Cook and Jessica Achterberg to round out the top five spots.
Scott Miller come into Saturday with the 6/8 Full Size points lead and his only mission for the day was to finish all races for the points title. Miller would do just that and more, going on to win the feature race securing his first place points trophy leaving Steve Hallquist in the runner up points position. Hallquist had to leave the feature with mechanical issues.
Jarrod Amundson had a twenty point lead on Troy Holder at the beginning of the day with Brandon Davis lingering in the mix for the third through fifth points spots. Holder would go on to win a heat and Davis picked up two heat wins to cut into Amundsons points lead. Davis looked like he would gain more valuable points following Miller early in the feature with Holder in third putting pressure on the pair. Don Cimfl Jr., John Erickson and Bob Thompson were also in the hunt for the win, meanwhile Amundson was having trouble in the caution filled feature race. Davis spun late in the race leaving Holder and Cimfl battling for the runner up spot.
Millers win secured his points title, Holder and Cimfl crossed the finish line side by side in that order with John Erickson and Thompson glued to their bumpers for the top five. Runner up in points went to Hallquist with Amundson edging Holder by 5 points for third and fourth spots, Davis finished fifth in points.
Karen Koltunski held the top points spot by six points over Tadd Davis but Koltunski was absent Saturday so Davis was guaranteed the title of Points Champion by taking one green flag. Davis was able to do so and did it in style winning the first heat race. Brandon Davis brought his COMP4 out for the first time this year to win the other heat race with Davis second.
With the title wrapped up Davis was able to relax for the feature but instead he went on to add another feature trophy to his shelf with a commanding win. Duane Hodgeson finished runner up with Davis third. Erin Holmberg left the race just past the midway point but was credited with fourth.
Davis's near perfect day earned him the points title sending Koltunski to second. Third through fifth spots were uncontested with all drivers absent on the day leaving Al Koltunski, Karen's Husband, finishing third with Simon Wahlstrom fourth. Ken Hansen finished in the fifth spot.
In the Front Wheel Drive class Steve Hallquist had the points title wrapped up leaving second place Scott Miller and third place Mike Schnider with a twelve point difference. Brooke Fairbanks had a slim three point lead on fifth place Jon Wigchers. Fairbanks, Wigchers and Hallquist would each win a heat race to add to their points, with Harold Fischer taking the fourth heat.
The drop off the green looked good for Schnider as he would lead the first half of the race. A mid race caution would move the rest of the field back on to Schniders bumper and on the restart Hallquist was able to make the pass on Schnider.
Miller needed to stay with Schnider in order to hold his spot in the points battle but on lap twelve Schneider's CV shaft broke and his hopes for the runner up spot faded away. Hallquist would go on for the feature win and Points Champion trophies with Miller holding the second place feature and points trophies.
After their heat finish positions Wigchers would go into the feature three points ahead of Fairbanks so every feature position would prove to be valuable. By mid race the pair caught the leaders with Wigchers in front of Fairbanks. Fairbanks made many attempts to pass Wigchers but would come up short. Wigchers third place in the feature moved him ahead of Fairbanks by five point's for the fourth points spot. Fairbanks lost one position for fifth in points in his second year of racing.
Schnider was able to continue on at a slower pace moving him to a seventh place feature finish, enough for him to claim the third place points trophy.
With the season in the books the Rice Lake Ice Racers will hold their annual year end Awards Banquet at the Bungalow Bar on March 21st at 2:00 pm. The club is also selling raffle tickets for a mini chopper to help offset expenses, the chopper can be seen at the Bungalow Bar and tickets can be purchased at the bar or by contacting Troy at (715)296-6768. The drawing will be at the awards banquet and you do not need to be present to win. For more info visit www.geocities.com/ricelakeiceracing .
POWDER PUFF
Heat 1: 1~Missy Hallquist, Eau Claire; 2~Ali Kuehndorf, Chetek; 3~Sheila Cook, Barron
Feature: 1~M. Hallquist; 2~A. Kuehndorf; 3~Tiffany Davis, Chetek; 4~S. Cook; 5~Jessica Achterberg, Chetek
6/8 FULL SIZE
Heat 1: 1~Brandon Davis, Chetek; 2~Jarred Amundson, Barron; 3~Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire
Heat 2: 1~Sam Fankhauser, Rice Lake; 2~Scott Miller, Rice Lake; 3~Don Cook, Barron
Heat 3: 1~B. Davis; 2~S. Hallquist; 3~Chase Kreier, Cameron
Heat 4: 1~Troy Holder, Rice Lake; 2~S. Miller; 3~John Erickson, Cameron
Feature: 1~S. Miller; 2~T. Holder; 3~Don Cimfl Jr., Turtle Lake; 4~J. Erickson; 5~Bob Thompson, Cameron
COMP4
Heat 1: 1~Tadd Davis, Rice Lake; 2~Brandon Davis, Chetek; 3~Duane Hodgeson, Chetek
Heat 2: 1~B. Davis; 2~T. Davis; 3~B. Davis
Feature: 1~T. Davis; 2~D. Hodgeson; 3~B. Davis; 4~;Erin Holmberg, Rice Lake
FWD
Heat 1: 1~Brooke Fairbanks, Spooner; 2~Wilbur Hatch, Cumberland; 3~James Taylor, Sarona
Heat 2: 1~Jon Wigchers, Rice Lake; 2~Steve Hallquist, Eau Claire; 3~Jessie Tripp, Spooner
Heat 3: 1~Harold Fischer, Eau Claire; 2~Scott Miller, Rice Lake; 3~J. Wigchers
Heat 4: 1~S. Hallquist; 2~Mike Schnider, Rice Lake; 3~J. Tripp
Feature: 1~S. Hallquist; 2~S. Miller; 3~J. Wigchers; 4~B. Fairbanks; 5~H. Fischer
KIDS RACE (AGE)
Heat 1: 1~Cody Cimfl, Turtle Lake (12); 2~Hunter Holder, Rice Lake (13); 3~Collin Davis (13), Rice Lake
Feature: 1~Cody Cimfl; 2~Nick Latcham, Chetek (13); 3~Hunter Holder; 4~Collin