August 18, 2014 at 4:01 p.m.
Racing: Schoonover, Kurtti claim WISSOTA wins on Stevens Memorial night
Racing: Schoonover, Kurtti claim WISSOTA wins on Stevens Memorial night
It was a good night for some veterans of the 1/3-mile tri-oval as Eagle River's Tad Schoonover claimed the win the WISSOTA/AMSOIL Midwest Modified feature, points leader Jordan Kurtti of Bruce Crossing, Mich., reigned supreme in the WISSOTA/AMSOIL Street Stocks and Eagle River's Ken Valeria held off all challengers in the Pure Stocks. In addition, Deerbrook's Jake Reif won a father-son battle in the Micro Sprint 600s, Eagle River's James Koga won the Truck feature and Dylan Larson of Shiocton took the feature in the Junior Sprint Class on Tori Stevens Memorial night.
Early in the feature program, taking an early lead was not necessarily a good omen. Eagle River's Ryan Valeria jumped to the point from the outside pole in the Street Stock feature and led for the first half of the 20-lap main event. Kurtti, who started fourth, picked his way past Ron Van Dusen for the runner-up spot on Lap 8 and set his sights on Valeria. Kurtti got a run to the inside of Valeria coming off the final turn on Lap 12, and cleared Valeria's machine a half-lap later to cruise to the win. Derek Eberl and Nate Langberg, both of Tomahawk, passed Valeria in the waning laps for second and third. Valeria and Van Dusen rounded out the top five.
Jerry Reif passed polesitter Denver Larson for the lead on the opening lap of the Micro Sprint feature and was trying pull away when Larson brought out the yellow for a solo spin coming off Turn 3 on the second lap. On the restart Jerry Reif had company in the form of his son, Jake, who stayed in his tire tracks until just past the halfway point. Jake Reif made a pass on the outside in Turn 3 and pulled away for the feature win. Bob Hicks, points leader Jered Cech and Dan Penrose rounded out the top five.
The outside pole again proved to be beneficial in the Midwest Mod feature as Eagle River's Guy Carley passed Larry Gasperini of Iron River, Mich., in the opening corner. Carley tried to stretch the lead, but a caution on Lap 3 for a three-car tangle in Turn 1 involving Jerry Grasse, Duane Dunbar and Jesse Aho bunched the field.
Two more cautions slowed the field on Lap 8 and on the restart, Carley had Schoonover and Tomahawk's Jeff Klopstein Jr. breathing down his neck. Carley's car was a touch too loose through the turns as the race wore on and Schoonover and Klopstein both passed him on Lap 11. The final nine laps of the race were a nose-to-tail battle between Schoonover and Klopstein. On the final lap, Klopstein got a run down the backstretch and tried to go to the inside through Turn 3, but Schoonover had enough momentum in the high lane to hold him off at the finish line. Carley finished third, followed by Aho and Cole Spacek.
Polesitter Holly Winker brought out the yellow for a spin on Lap 2 of the Pure Stock feature. Ken Valeria got an excellent jump on the restart and passed Tyler Musloff for the lead. Points leader C.J. Hedges quickly moved to second and stayed there until the midway point of the race when he and Valeria washed up the track in Turn 1. As they came back down into the groove, contact was made with third-place running Tyler Lundberg, causing a caution.
Hedges was put to the tail end of the lead lap for triggering the incident and Valeria held off Lundberg over the remaining laps to take the win. Michael Brown finished third, Hedges recovered to finish fourth and Don Scharf rounded out the top five.
Rhinelander's Dylan Spiegelhoff maintained a 20-plus point lead in the Truck class by winning the heat race and taking second in the feature. James Koga took the lead in the Truck main event on the opening lap following a slow start by D.J. Koga. The four-truck main event went single file from there with James Koga, Spiegelhoff and Cory Allen claiming the top three spots.
The Junior Sprint class was wide open as points leader Wyatt McIntyre of Greenland, Mich. took the night off. Dylan Larson took full advantage and claimed the feature win over Lake Tomahawk's Hunter Tingley and Eagle River's Tommi Jo Springer.
Racing was only part of the festivities on Friday as the track took time to honor young race fan Tori Stevens. A regular in the stands at Tomahawk Speedway, Stevens passed away in November 2012 after a courageous bout with Spinal Muscular Autropy, the speedway said in a press release. She was 11. Several drivers from the Tomahawk area carried decals with Stevens' picture on their cars. There was a moment of silence prior to the national anthem and a rainbow of balloons were released into the night's sky. Several race teams pulled together to donate bicycles and backpacks, which were given away to a handful of lucky children during intermission. In addition memorial trophies were given to the top three finishers in each feature.
Racing continues at Eagle River Speedway on Friday nights through Labor Day weekend. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7:30 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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