2024 Awards Banquet
By Tracy Hager
FOUNTAIN CITY, WI (JuLY 1, 2010) – Welcome to the jungle! July kicked off big at Mississippi Thunder Speedway with the first annual WISSOTA Street Stock Summer Nationals. Five strong heats of WISSOTA Street Stocks showed up with hands out for the big paycheck as the purse continued to grow up until a few days before the show. The end result was a whopping $1500 paycheck for first place.
The WISSOTA Street Stock heat races proved just how bad some wanted the win in what appeared to be a pinball game in some heat races. However, with all of the travelers, the big paycheck went to none other than current Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stock point leader at MTS, Danny Hanson.
With the phenomenal help from these sponsors, this event would not be what is has become. Jailhouse Saloon, Winona Auto Sales, Hanson’s Tire, Pepin Self Storage, Jack Baehman, Dan Bork, Hank’s Racing Supply, Nibbe Grain Hauling, and Lewiston Milk Transport all contributed to the large purse for the WISSOTA Street Stocks, and a big thank you goes out to all of them, the drivers, and fans for a great first-time show.
WISSOTA Late Models also joined the show in what appeared to be a precursor to the following night’s DART WISSOTA Late Model Challenge Series event. It was also a first-time mix of WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and USRA B-Mods which ran together. Although the cars seemed relatively close in competition, it was the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds who prevailed by winning each of the two heats as well as the feature. Dustin Scott got the clean sweep in the mixed division race.
HANSON WINS 1ST EVER NATIONALS!
Donny Ganz and Ryan Goergen were nestled in the first row of the WISSOTA Street Stocks amongst heavy hitters from all over. It was immediately a side by side battle for the lead which went three-wide in the fast-paced race. Goergen took the lead, and Troy Voth shot to second place ahead of Ganz. Gary Kasperek took second over just as fast though. With a minimum of eight drivers vying for the lead, it was truly anyone’s game. Kasperek and Goergen then raced side by side for the lead when Goergen went into a spin with 22 other WISSOTA Street Stocks coming at him. A caution flew and Goergen was sent to the rear of the field. Jim Randall had just shot into the top spots and was up for some cat and mouse with Kasperek. Cory Crapser moved into third place while John Kallas shot his way into fourth as the top four cars slightly broke away from the pack. Caution two slowed the field when Darryll Foegen spun in turn four. Randall assumed the lead over Kasperek, Crapser, Kallas, and Ganz. Randall, Crapser, and Kasperek dove three wide for the lead, but Kallas jumped in on the ride to make it a four-way bid for first. At the half-way mark of the race, Randall and Crapser were in a side by side battle for first place as were Kallas and Kasperek for third place. Danny Hanson had worked his way back up after being shuffled back early on to run side by side with Ganz for fifth place. Crapser then took over the lead when caution four reset the field. Crapser, Randall, Kallas, Kasperek, and Hanson topped the field at that point. Hanson gained some serious momentum and shot to second over Randall, Kallas, and Kasperek enroute to Crapser up front. Crapser and Hanson went door to door for first place as a lot of movement and switching of spots stirred things up. A caution with four laps to go set up a great shoot-out for the win. Hanson wrapped up the last four laps in first and was followed by Crapser, Danny Richards, Randall, and Mike Jans who just nipped Kallas at the line for fifth.
WAITS WINS LATES!
A full field of WISSOTA Late Models were on hand for the main event. Adam Hensel and Doug Herrick sat atop the large field, but Herrick’s car made a hard, fast right turn out of turn four to pull the first caution. Herrick went to the rear of the field while the rest set up a complete restart in two-by-two fashion. Brad Waits jumped to the lead over Hensel while Ashley Anderson made a torpedo move into third. Jake Redetzke and Lance Matthees raced for fourth place as Waits continued to lead the pack. Anderson picked off Redetzke and Hensel on his way to second place, but Redetzke charged back. Redetzke and Anderson closed in on Waits, but by lap nine, Anderson took the lead from Waits in turn four. Redetzke made an attempt at second, but Waits dug in his heels to keep the spot. As Redetzke charged under Waits down the fronts stretch, Redetzke lifted Wait’s rear up, but Waits kept a handle on the situation and was able to get away from Redetzke to keep second place nailed down. Hensel then dropped from competition which left Matthees to take over fourth place followed by Ronnie Rihm. With four laps to go, Matthees dropped off the pace and a caution resulted in a shoot out for the win. However, as the restart ensued, John Kaanta and Justin Ritche got lodged together out of turn two. As they slowed down the backstretch, others stacked up behind them. Scott Gilberts attempted to avert the situation but caught a turning car which resulted in Gilberts’ quick flip to the infield. Gilberts walked away from his overturned car. Anderson led the field for the restart, but Waits made a flash move to the outside to take over the lead once again. Waits sealed the win followed by Anderson, Redetzke, Kaanta, and Rihm.
SCOTT SCAMPERS TO B-MOD WIN!
In the WISSOTA Midwest Modified/USRA B-Mod feature, it was USRA driver Chad Kosidowski who got the early lead over fellow USRA driver Erik Kanz. However, a first-lap caution was charged to Kosidowski, which sent him to the tail of the field. Ben Anderson shot his USRA B-Mod under Kanz on the restart while WISSOTA drivers Shaun Walski and Dustin Scott closed in behind them in third and fourth places. Scott tore through the high side in an attempt to steal second from Kanz which turned into a three-way battle down the front stretch with Walski, Kanz, and Scott for second place. Walski finally made the pass into second, but Kanz fought to get it back while Anderson set up a big lead for himself. Walski pulled away from AJ Roschen who had moved ahead of Kanz into third place. Anderson continued his big lead, but Walski and Scott stepped it up as they gained on Anderson. Caution three for spun cars in turn four set up another restart with Anderson, Walski, Scott, Roschen, and Troy Langowski in the top five. Walski and Scott continued to fight for second place ahead of Roschen. Following Roschen was a pack of four to try to steal away fourth place. Walski gained steam and found himself in contention for the lead with Anderson. Soon it was a three-wide battle between Anderson, Walski, and Scott for the lead. Anderson again pulled away, but Scott found his final strength as he took the lead from Anderson with less than six laps to go. Walski ran down Anderson for second place, but Anderson held on. Scott was the man to head to victory lane in his WISSOTA Midwest Modified over USRA’s Anderson. WISSOTA’s Walski had a great finish in third followed by Roschen and WISSOTA’s Jared Happel.
JuLY 1st RESULTS
Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature - Danny Hanson, Cory Crapser, Danny Richards, Jim Randall, Mike Jans, John Kallas, Cory Rosen, Gary Kasperek, Troy Voth, Tom Hovind, Dan Bork, Donny Ganz, Jay Kesan, Rick Lisowski, Michael Knudtson, Fred Prudoehl, Chanda Fjorden Nord, James Becker, Ryan Goergen, Adam Soltis, Kylan Gamez, Mike Blowers, Dan Holland, Darryll Foegen
B-Main (Top 4 Finishers Transfer to Feature) - Lisowski, Becker, Knudtson, Rosen, Justin Tannen, Kris Peterson, Kevin Hager, Richard Weir, Lonnie Klonecki, Bill Engler, Jane Keating, Tyler Sass, Shaun Mann, Luke Schultz, Ryan Henderson, James Weber, Dave Smith
Heat 1 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Hanson, Crapser, Holland, Blowers, Knudtson, Weir, Klonecki, Henderson
Heat 2 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Bork, Prudoehl, Soltis, Foegen, Becker, Peterson, Mann, Sass
Heat 3 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Kasperek, Randall, Jans, Gamez, Tannen, Keating, Engler
Heat 4 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Voth, Richards, Kallas, Hovind, Lisowski, Weber, Smith
Heat 5 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Goergen, Ganz, Kesan, Fjorden Nord, Hager, Schultz, Rosen
Mississippi Thunder WISSOTA Late Models
Feature - Brad Waits, Ashley Anderson, Jake Redetzke, John Kaanta, Ronnie Rihm, Eric Breeschoten, Kyle Jumbeck, Chris Oertel, Eddie Kirchoff, Don Shaw, Paul Parker, Doug Herrick, Todd Frank, Kelly Anderson, Craig Scheeffner, Nick Herrick, Joe Ludemann, Jim Rychtik, Scott Gilberts, Justin Ritche, Lance Matthees, Adam Hensel, Keith Foss, Brent Larson
B-Main (Top 4 Finishers Transfer to Feature) - Jumbeck, K. Anderson, Ludemann, Rychtik, Don Schaefer, Jordan Yaggy, Dennis Hillson, Shane Wehrs, Lucas Peterson, Nick Kramer, Roger Herrick, Ed Kirchoff
Heat 1 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Matthees, Waits, D. Herrick, Frank, Oertel, K. Anderson, Wehrs, Peterson
Heat 2 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Redetzke, Hensel, Breeschoten, E. Kirchoff, Foss, Schaefer, Yaggy, Kramer
Heat 3 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - A. Anderson, Rihm, Shaw, N. Herrick, Gilberts, Ludemann, R. Herrick, E. Kirchoff
Heat 4 (Top 5 directly to feature, remainder to B-Main) - Larson, Ritche, Kaanta, Parker, Scheeffner, Jumbeck, Rychtik, Hillson
The Engine Store.com USRA vs. WISSOTA B-Mods
Feature - Dustin Scott, Ben Anderson, Shaun Walski, AJ Roschen, Jared Happel, Troy Langowski, Erik Kanz, Jake Timm, Jack Baehman, Tyler Creeley, Ed Appel, Parker Hale, Chad Kosidowski, Josh Crary, Ronnie Rihm
Heat 1 - Scott, Anderson, Kanz, Timm, Langowski, Crary, Creeley, Baehman
Heat 2 - Walski, Happel, Kosidowski, Appel, Roschen, Hale, Rihm
Saturday, February 22, 2025
2024 Awards Banquet
