8/1/2019
Knudtson in a Classic and Gullixson in Victory Lane
Menomonie, Wisconsin - The Dunn County Fair was in full swing and held two separate nights of racing at the Red Cedar Speedway. Night one featured the WISSOTA Street Stocks in the Dunn County Fair 25 Street Stock Invitational, along with the WISSOTA Late Models, Red Cedar Speedway Hornets, and the Limited Late Models. Winners on the evening included Micheal Knudtson on a thrilling last lap pass in the Dunn County Fair 25. Pat Doar, Dan Gullikson, and Armond Love also won their respective features. Night two went to Mark Hanson, Chad Gullixson, Shane Halopka, Calvin Iverson, and Jeff Tisdale.
The crowd was treated to an amazing race in the Dunn County Fair 25 which was not settled until the last few feet. Firstly, Mike Knudtson, Andrew Hanson, and Dustin Doughty won their heats as Doughty redrew the pole position for the feature. Doughty is on a hot streak and it was a safe bet he was one of the top picks to win. At the drop of the green he led over Cody Kummer as Eric Olson ran in third. On lap three, as the leaders ran single file, racers went four wide for the fourth position.
A spinning Jim Randall slowed the pace as Randall was relegated to the rear for the restart. Under green, Shane Lindseth spun before a lap was scored and they tried the restart again. It was Doughty in the lead as Olson overtook second. Knudtson moved to fourth position and Dalton Hazelton raced in fifth. On lap seven, eleventh starting Danny Richards entered the fray and moved into fifth himself. Doughty continued to lead over Olson and Kummer in single file fashion.
With 11 of the 25 laps scored, Lindseth spun in front of the leader and was sent pit side on a two spin rule. The complexion of the race changed on the restart as things became even more intense. Richards moved in to make it three wide for second position but was shuffled to third on lap 14. A multi-car caution saw several cars get collected and ended the night for Ben Hillman and Dalton Hazelton. The restart saw Doughty still showing the way as Olson and Richards raced door to door for the runner up position.
On lap 16 Richards overtook second and set chase for Doughty in the top spot. Olson ran third, Knudtson fourth and Kummer in fifth. On lap 20, Richards had caught the leader and stuck his nose under him for position. A lap later, Richards dug even lower in an attempt to take the lead. Working lap 23, he was able to overtake the point through turn two but Doughty wasn’t done yet. He answered back and worked the low line with two to go trying to take back the position.
It was Richards in the lead but Knudtson moved to the middle of he track and overtook Doughty and then set his sites on the win. He was able to move side by side for first as he was running two perfect laps. Coming through turns three and four on the final circuit it was Richards with the advantage down low and Knudtson above him. They entered the front stretch and drag raced to the checkered flag as Knudtson inched forward into the lead and was scored the winner at the line in a photo finish. Knudtson only led inches of the race but collected the $750 payday for his first win of the 2019 season in dramatic fashion.
Richards led at the white flag but settled for second as Doughty lead all of the other laps of the event but was relegated to third at the finish. Eric Olson finished fourth over 15th starting Calvin Iverson in his debut in a Street Stock, coming home in fifth. Andrew Hanson, Ron Hanestad, Dave Mass, Parker Anderson, and Zach Elward finished in the top ten.
The Late Model feature was dominated by Pat Doar who drove from the outside of row one, to the high side of the track, and on to the checkered flag. Mike Keller and Greg Nippoldt scrambled for second place early and raced side by side as Nippoldt took the spot on lap four. Behind them, John Kaanta and Don Shaw had their own side by side run going. Meanwhile, Doar drove out to a straight away advantage on the field.
At the midway point, Kaanta started to gain and he systematically moved forward using the high line until he found himself in second position. Working lap 14, Shaw broke down and dropped out of the race running in the top five. He was not able to clear the raceway and the only caution flag of the event flew. The restart erased Doar’s advantage but he was unshaken and was not challenged for the point. As Doar cruised to the victory, Kaanta, was a solid second over third finishing Mike Prochnow. Nippoldt and Ben Hanke rounded out the top five. The heats were bested by Prochnow and Nippoldt.
The Limited Late Models saw Dan Gullikson and Sam Mars win their heats as at feature time it was Gullikson from the front row all the way to the win. Lap one however saw a three car battle for the point but Gullikson took it over and drove away from the field on lap two through the checkered flag. It was Lance Hofer settling into second position after a battle with Shaun Mann. A lap eight caution saw a lap car spinning and collecting the leader. On the restart, Gullikson showed tire smoke from up front but it didn’t slow his pace.
Two thirds into the event, Mars found his way into fourth, but Kyle Johnson was able to regain the position in the late going. As Gullikson held a solid advantage to the win, Hofer got the better of Mann in a good battle for position. Johnson finished fourth and Derek Nelson edged Mars to the line to round out the top five.
Armond Love swept the Hornet action and Bradley York carried the checkered after his heat earlier in the evening. The green flag in the feature saw Sean Svee take early control as Love inched closer every lap. On lap seven of the ten lap event, Svee suddenly slowed in turns one and two and Love took over the lead and Bradley York was scored in third. A very hard hit into the infield tire barrier closing on turn three ended Justin Lamm’s night and reset the field. There was a second caution flag on the restart but the next start was clean for a green, white, checkered run to the finish. Love had no issues up front as Derek Krumrie, Jason Bauer, and Roy Cooper used the two lap dash to move into second through fourth. York finished fifth at the checkers.
On night two of the Dunn County Fair, the WISSOTA Modified heats were won by Steve Hallquist and Ashley Anderson but Mark Hanson made a trip from the outside of row one to victory lane n the feature. It was Hallquist leading lap one and two on the high side, but Hanson overtook the point on lap three. As Hanson worked the outer wall of the speedway, seventh starting Ashley Anderson used the same line to move to second. Jake Smith was also on the move as he drove to third.
Hanson continued to lead as laps ticked off as Anderson closed. With five laps remaining, Anderson caught the leader and tried to work below him for the point. The advantage was on the high line but Anderson was making the inner groove work for himself as they raced each other and lapped traffic. With one to go, Anderson worked under the leader and looked as if he was going to spoil Hanson’s return but Hanson was able to essentially use a lapped car as a pick. Anderson got slowed up behind the lapper and Hanson used it to his advantage to drive to the victory, edging Anderson. Smith finished third over Clayton Wagamon, and fifth finishing Adam Ayotte.
Whoever said good guys never win got proven wrong on Friday night. On the month of the anniversary of his 24th year of racing, Chad Gullixson parked it in victory lane for his first feature win, and he won in impressive style. The crowd showed their appreciation of his efforts and treated him loudly in victory lane. It truly is drivers like Gullixson who makes this sport special as they try over and over without ever giving up on their dreams.
Gullixson started fourth and used a nice first lap move to overtake the lead. He ran up against the wall in a flawless manner as he was being chased by a high side master, Ben Hillman as he overtook second on lap six of 18. Anyone who watches the Super Stocks at the Red Cedar Speedway knows Jesse Redetzke, Curt Myers, and Tommy Richards are three of the very best and each of them are more than comfortable on the rim; and they were running third through fifth.
A lap 13 lapped car gave Hillman an opportunity as he dove to the bottom of the speedway and pulled even for the lead on the backstretch, but if the move shook Gullixson at all, he didn’t show it. Gullixson, who is no stranger to the high side himself, continued to carve his way to the win as Hillman, Redetzke, Richards, and Aaron Wilson rounded out the top five. Myers dropped out late running in third. Myers and Hillman won their respective heats.
The Midwest Mod feature was lead from the start by Josh Wahlstrom as Jay Richardson set chase in second and Jesse Bryan ran in third. The yellow flag flew when Matt Klukus spun in turn two and collected Derek Haas with a significant impact. The restart saw Wahlstrom leading but ninth starting Halopka had moved to second as they were only working lap three. One lap later, Halopka moved to the lead and began to drive away.
Two separate cautions repacked the field and collected several cars including Mark Thomas who had brought his race car out for the evening but fell victim of the second yellow. It was Halopka leading under power as the 21’s of Brandon Jensen and Jesse Bryan ran side by side for second. Jensen was able to take the position and ran the leader down but was not able to make the pass for the win. It was Halopka winning over Jensen as Bryan finished in third. Richardson and Tommy Richards were scored in the top five. Bryan, Klukas, and Jensen won the heats.
Calvin Iverson brought out is new Street Stock for the second time in two nights as he is preparing to run the Little Dream in Rice Lake on Tuesday. It didn’t take him long to find victory lane. In fact, it only took him 15 laps on night two after he won the heat earlier in the evening. Iverson went from the front row to the lead and never looked back as he lead cover to cover. There was one yellow which slowed his pace, but the Street Stock standouts of Andrew Hanson, Danny Richards, Dustin Doughty, and Parker Anderson, were forced to settle for the top five behind him. It was Iverson’s first ever feature win in any class at the Red Cedar Speedway.
Cole Richards won the WISSOTA Pure Stock heat as it was Jeff Tisdale at feature time. Lap one was led by Jeremy Dahl over Josh Craighton as Tisdale was on the move. Tisdale worked Dahl for the lead for two laps before he took it and Dahl bounced back to retake the lead a lap later. Meanwhile Richards was lurking in their shadows. On lap seven, the top two ran door to door with Tisdale slipping out front. Tisdale cruised the rest of the distance to another feature win as Richards work Dahl for the runner up position, but Dahl prevailed. Nick Carvelli finished fourth over Ben Thompson in fifth.
The Red Cedar Speedway is taking a week off and retuning to Friday night racing on August 09, 2019, with all seven classes in attendance.
Article Credit: Brad Erickson
