Fans were in for a treat as Eagle River Speedway opened its 2019 season Tuesday night. Nestled in the woods of Wisconsin, the track is a must visit for racing enthusiasts. Not only does it provide great racing action on a newly shaped surface, it also provides fans with an incredible and up close view of the racing action.
Both hot laps and heat races for all of the track’s six divisions were run with no major incident as the sun painted the sky a shade of yellow behind the clouds as it set behind the trees outside of turn one. Although it may have hindered the eyesight of some drivers, the setting sun created the perfect backdrop for a night of racing.
Junior Micro Sprints
Up first on the agenda were the Junior Micro Sprints for their feature race. As the field set off into the opening stages of the feature, three cars would emerge from the pack to battle it out amongst themselves. Trevor Schuhman, Josh Nevoraski, and defending track champion Cole Stella tussled for the top spot lap after lap.
A caution on the sixth lap would slow things, though. Aeydeyn Schmidt’s car came to a stop on the front straight away, warranting the yellow flag. On the restart, the pack of three up front went right back to where they were before the halt in action.
With only a few laps remaining, Cole Stella made the move to get around leader Trevor Schuhman. Exiting turn four, Schuhman and Stella made contact, sending Stella spinning and, eventually, flopping onto his side in a relatively tame crash. Stella’s car was put back on all fours and he would rejoin the race. Track officials even allowed him his spot back up front and sent Schuhman to the rear as the guilty party in the incident.
A green-white-checkered finish followed the Stella crash to wrap up the feature. Over the final two tours of the Eagle River Speedway, Josh Nevoraski would pull out in front and hold of Cole Stella for the win. Stella crossed the line in second and, charging his way back through the field, Trevor Schuhman finished third.
600 Micro Sprints
In the 600 Micro Sprints, a fast and furious feature was in store for fans. The race ran all of its laps under the green flag, uninterrupted by cautions.
Earlier in the night, Dylan Larsen claimed the heat race victory with Tommie Jo Springer following behind. In the feature the story at the front of the field was very much the same, except the roles were reversed. This time it was Springer leading the way with Larsen in second place. The two drivers battled it out but in the end it was Springer claiming the feature win.
Behind the victorious, Tommie Jo Springer was Dylan Larsen in second. For Larsen, it was his second finish in second in four days as he finished runner up to Kyle Getchell at the Advanced Auto Parts Upper Peninsula International Raceway on Saturday night as well. Rounding out the top three in third was Aaron Towne, following up a strong heat race performance.
Stock Cars
The Stock Car feature race would also run its entirety with no cautions. Make no mistake about it, though, there was plenty of action to go around in this one.
Like the 600 Micro Sprint feature before it, the Stock Car feature picked up right were its heat race ended with Dustin White and Rod Snellenberger jumping to the top two positions. Initially, White led the field with Snellenberger following, just as they’d finished the heat earlier in the night. They ran side by side for a number of laps before Snellenberger pulled in front of White and assumed the lead using a slick slide job out of turn four. Snellenberger’s time out front would be short lived though. Just a lap or two after taking the lead smoke erupted from beneath Snellenberger’s car and he immediately headed back to the pits, handing the lead back to Dustin White.
Dustin White would hold on to win, sweeping the Stock Car heat and feature. In addition to running the Stock Car White also ran in the B Modified division, which made this two wins out of three races with one more to go for him later in the night. Ryan Valeria came home in second while Jason Eisel crossed the line in third.
Pure Stock Cars
Keith Troutman would become the second driver in as many feature races to sweep a division at Eagle River. Troutman would lead flag to flag in the Pure Stock feature race, pulling away with each passing lap.
While Troutman showed the way up front, Dave Dishaw and Ryan Brown fought one another for the runner up spot. Eventually, Brown would make his way in front of Dishaw for the position. As the race wound down, the majority of the field filed down to the bottom of the track keeping everything clean and running another caution free race.
The top three of Troutman, Brown, and Dishaw would hold on to their positions in that order as the checkered flag flew.
B Modifieds
The premier division at Eagle River Speedway, the B Modifieds, emerged from the pits to do battle in their feature race next. Before a lap could be completed following the initial start, the yellow would wave, something that had only happened once in the previous four features. Jason Zdroik had issues in the fourth turn, warranting the caution to be displayed. He would rejoin the field with no damage.
On the restart, Marcus Dunbar launched to the race lead. While Dunbar stretched his lead an incredible battle was raging behind him between Jesse Aho and Ted Schoonover. The pair raced door to door lap after lap until Schoonover grabbed the second position. This wouldn’t be the last time the two would see each other in this feature, though.
While the race up front calmed momentarily, there was a hornets nest of cars jockeying for position in the midpack. Dustin White, in his second feature appearance of the night, and Logan Fleischman traded paint over the course of the midrace laps. Although it wasn’t a battle for the lead, it was one of the most entertaining duels from the entire night of racing.
While the White and Fleischman battle continued, the race for second place between Ted Schoonover and Jesse Aho was about to pick back up. Again, the two jostled for position, at one point going three wide with the lapped car of John Ostermann who made the trip from Norway, Michigan to take part in his first race on dirt since 2015.
Just as it looked like Marcus Dunbar had the race wrapped up, the caution would fly for the second time in the feature. This time it was Darren Dunbar, Marcus’ cousin, getting out of shape. As Darren got his car righted, Dustin White’s car disappeared in a plume of white smoke. White’s night would be over as a result, ending his second feature race of the night.
As quickly as the green flew again, the yellow would once again fly following the restart. Ty Springer and Logan Fleischman would have a coming together in turns one and two. The drivers would rejoin the field with no further issue.
The green flag would fly one final time and Marcus Dunbar would cap off a dominant performance by winning the B Modified feature, leading all the laps along the way. Jesse Aho was able to make his way around Ted Schoonover on the restart to take the hotly contested battle for second place. Schoonover would finish in the third position.
Four Cylinders
Ending the night at Eagle River Speedway was the Four Cylinder division with their feature race. For most of the race’s running it was a three car breakaway up front. A freight train consisting of Mark Schoone, Ashley Schoone, and Brandon Miller led the way as the cars from fourth on back participated in a battle of their own.
In the late going, Miller would hop to the inside of Mark Schoone for the lead, creating a battle that would go on for multiple laps. Finally, Miller prevailed. No sooner, though, would Ashley Schoone come to a stop with mechanical issues in turn two. The heat race winner would end her night watching from the pits.
Ashley Schoone’s issues would lead to a green-white-checkered finish and, arguably, the best race finish of the night. For the final two laps, Brandon Miller would be stalked by Mark Schoone. Miller held tight to the inside of the track while Schoone tried to keep his momentum up on the outside to make the pass. As the two made their way to the line, the momentum of the high side paid off for Schoone in the form of inches.
By the slimmest of margin’s, Mark Schoone would win the Four Cylinder feature while Brandon Miller would settle for a very close second. Ryan Miller would follow next in third plac.
It was the first time at Eagle River Speedway for the Rose Racing Report and, if one thing’s for sure, we will be back! There is nothing like weeknight racing, and no better place than Eagle River Speedway to watch. The track provides great racing action. More importantly, however, is the great experience it provides to fans. There isn’t a bad seat in the house. Even from the front row, which gives an up close and personal view of racing, the entire track is visible.
Eagle River Speedway is back in action again next Tuesday with racing at 7 p.m. CST.
By Todd Rose