Taylor claims sprint car special at Eagle River

On a lightning-fast track surface, Bill Taylor of Boltonville was the fleetest in the MMW Industrial Supply Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car field in claiming the second main event triumph of his MSA career in the 25-lap headliner at Eagle River Speedway on Saturday, July 5.

Starting from the pole, Taylor bested outside front row starter Brady Portschy of Plymouth to gain the initial advantage on the drop of the green flag in the ninth MSA A-main of the 2025 campaign. While Taylor quickly pulled away to a sizable lead, third starter Brandon Berth of Cascade engaged in a duel with Portschy for second.

Taylor caught the back of the pack on lap 10, but he still maintained a solid cushion over Portschy. Five laps later, Portschy pulled into the infield with mechanical issues.

One lap later, Ryan Sawusch brought out the first caution of the event when the left rear tire of his machine dislodged and came to a rest in turn two of the third-mile D-shaped clay oval. Shortly after the restart, the second and final caution flag of the race was displayed when rookie Cole Stella of Minocqua stopped along the front stretch on lap 16.

Following the final restart, two-time and defending MSA champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth, who started sixth, slipped past Kevin Karnitz of West Bend to claim fourth.

As the laps wound down, Taylor extended his lead on the way to his second career MSA A-main victory and first win since 2019. With the victory, Taylor became the seventh different driver to notch an MSA triumph during the 2025 season.

Berth wound up second, seventh starter Joseph Hintz of Burnett finished third, Schmidt was fourth and Karnitz rounded out the top five in a race contested in a light drizzle.

“The track was really fast,” Taylor said in victory lane. “I had a lot of fun tonight. We were a little tight in the heat race and we made an adjustment to put in more gear. Wow. She was fast. I appreciate all the work the track crew did to get the show in tonight and I thank the fans for coming out to support us.”

Afternoon rain showers produced an exceedingly tacky track surface, which helped T.J. Smith of Greenville establish a new Eagle River Speedway track record in qualifying with a fast lap of 12.018 seconds.

In other action on Saturday New Auburn’s Jake Stai survived late race pressure from hometown driver Dustin White and hung on to win the B-Modified feature.

Stai ducked underneath Ryan Brown for the lead on the second circuit. The western Wisconsin ace wasted no time distancing himself from the rest of the field. White motored into the second spot on lap eight, and began to whittle away at Stai’s advantage until a caution flew on lap 11 when Dustin Kangas’s mount stalled on the frontstretch.

When racing resumed, Stai and White pulled away from the pack to settle the score in the final four circuits. Stai was too tough for the hometown driver and he hung on for the win. White settled for second place money, followed by Ryan Brown, Brendan Ostrowski and Zach McKinnon.

    Rhinelander’s Blake Joslin celebrates in victory lane after winning the 600 Micro Sprint feature at Eagle River Speedway Saturday, July 5. (Josh Castle/Eagle River Speedway)
  

Rhinelander’s Blake Joslin inherited the lead when hometown driver Tommie Jo Springer dropped out with mechanical woes — and Joslin won the caution-free 600 Micro Sprint feature.

Visitor Hudson Launer of Sheboygan swept action in the Semi Pro 300 Micro Sprint division, winning both his heat and the feature race. Hometown driver Lucas Zdroik earned the Pro 300 Micro Sprint division main event.

Merrill’s Matt Eder captured the Dairyland Vintage Racing feature.

The next race at the third-mile, clay oval will be Tuesday, July 15. The first green flag drops at 7 p.m.