July 17, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Zdroik wins again; Koga gets first win at Eagle River Speedway
Zdroik wins again; Koga gets first win at Eagle River Speedway
A week ago Zdroik broke through for his first WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature win. This Friday he took advantage after Tyler Vernon's car experienced mechanical issues while leading. The Ashland driver led for the first 16 laps of the 20-lap feature before a faulty ball joint knocked him out of contention.
That put the race in the hands of Zdroik and Eagle River's Tad Schoonover, with Zdroik holding on for the win.
Meanwhile there was a development in the point standings in the Midwest Modified class. Five-time defending class champion Jesse Aho did not race. That opened the door for a new point leader in the class for the first time in many years. Marcus Dunbar of Wakefield, Mich. assumed the points lead by 38 over Aho by virtue of a seventh-place run in the feature and a fourth-place finish in the heat.
Summit Lake's Herb Dettman once again looked to reserve his spot in the Auto Value Victory Lane in the Speedway Truck division. Dettman went through the pack to win the heat race. He was making the same move from the middle of the pack to win the feature. That is until he also had mechanical problems. Same with Woodboro's Cory Allen.
With those two out of contention, Eagle River's James Koga held the lead from the first lap to the final lap.
Koga wasn't the only driver to record his first feature win. Tom Lannet from Bruce Crossing, Michigan held off a crowded field of 11 other competitors in the WISSOTA Pure Stock Feature. Lannet scored the win in only his fifth career start.
"I told people that Tom (Lannet) was going to win a feature by his fifth race," said defending Pure Stock champ David Blackberg, who sold his championship-winning car to Lannet. "We worked on the car to get it to handle and it paid off."
Added Lannet: "I knew it was fast, I just had to learn how to drive it."
Lannet held off the current class point leader, Jake Ison, Blackberg and a former class champion C.J. Hedges Jr. Earlier in the night, Hedges made a return to Eagle River Speedway by working his way through the field to win a heat race. Rhinelander's Jason Eisel won the other heat in the class.
Ison still has the point lead with 417 points. Eisel is right behind him at 413, Isabelle Valeria is at 384, and Bryce Wick is at 378.
Defending WISSOTA Street Stock class champion, Ryan Valeria extended his point lead in the class with a clean sweep of the feature and the heat Friday night. Eagle River's Ty Springer swept the Sprint 600s and Dustin Kangas won both races in the Junior Sprints.
While both Springer and Kangas are the defending class champions, both are trailing in this year's quest to defend their titles. Minocqua's Cole Stella has a 72-point lead over Kangas, and Dylan Larson has a 44-point lead over Springer.
Six Side-by-Side off-road vehicles thrilled the crowd by racing over the jumps, right and left hairpin turns on the infield and on the track. Minocqua's Tom Ryden won the race, piloting an Arctic Cat Wildcat.
"This was a lot of fun, we're looking forward to doing this again. We'll have even more Side-by-Sides (racing) the next time," Ryden said.
Eagle River Speedway will have its regular schedule of five classes this Friday night along with the Speedway Trucks. There will also be another segment of the "Redneck Games," spectator one-on-one racing.
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