RICE LAKE, Wis. – Kevin Adams made a last corner slide move under Dan Kingsley work to top the Modified feature and highlight an entertaining night of racing on a steamy Saturday night at Rice Lake Speedway.
Adams’ last lap pass also allowed him to become a double winner for the night as he also won a hard fought victory over Shane Halopka to win the Midwest Modified feature also.
Adams had his work cut out for him in the Modified main as he started in the seventh position and had to work his way to the front through a group of drivers that were also running hard and fast and each position gained hard to be earned. Kingsley, the Superior driver who is a rookie in the Modified class, started on the outside pole and he quickly got the jump on Bryan Hessler to move into the lead.
Kingsley, looking for his first Modified win at Rice Lake, quickly stepped away from the field as he worked the cushion well and was setting a blistering pace.
Adams, meanwhile, was gradually working his way through the field, as he engaged in some spirited battles with Steve Hallquist and Hessler before finally moving into the third spot. Kingsley and young Cole Varsho were still running in the top two spots and were both maintaining a fast pace. Adams attempted to catch them and while he did get to Varsho’s rear bumper, Varsho continued to show the speed to hold him off while Kingsley was still comfortably ahead of both of them.
A lap 13 yellow for a minor spin slowed the action and certainly changed the course of the race. Under green again, Kingsley once again pulled away but Adams got a great break on the restart and was able to slide under Varsho to take over the second spot.
He then set off after Kingsley with not a lot of laps to make a move. He caught the leader with about five laps to go and made a couple attempts to dive inside him in turn three but each time Kingsley would fight him off as the two leaders engaged in some great dirt track side by side action.
Time was running out for Adams, but the all time feature win leader at Rice Lake would have one more card up his sleeve. He tucked in behind Kingsley as the white flag waved and then got a great run off turn two. Down the back chute he dropped low and then threw a big slide job to the inside of Kingsley and cleared him as they entered the final corner.
Kingsley, however, saw him coming and cut to the inside as Adams slid past his deck. They raced side by side to the checkered with Kingsley on the inside and Adams up against the wall and at Troy Holder’s checkered flag, Adams was the winner by half a car length in a thriller.
Adams was a busy driver on Saturday as he also engaged in a hard fought contest in the Midwest Modified feature before making a late race pass and then holding off the efforts of Shane Halopka to repass him in the last few laps. Both Halopka and Adams started in the fourth row of the Midwest Modified feature so they had some tough work to do to get to the front.
Kenny Kinkaid took the early lead from the outside pole and he set a torrid pace, leading the first half of the race with Craig Elliott, James Kannegiesser and Denny Cutsforth running in a group behind Kinkaid. Halopka was able to get through the pack ahead of Adams and when he got to second, he set in motion his plan to pass Kinkaid for the lead. Just at the halfway point of the race, he was able to drive past Kinkaid and take over the lead with Adams just then moving into third.
Adams was also able to get past Kinkaid and the healthy rivalry between the two leaders would be renewed once again. Adams had a two feature win streak in the class stopped by Halopka last Saturday and it seems that these two have been fighting it out for feature wins most of the season here at Rice Lake.
Following a midrace yellow flag for a spin, they once again went at it with Adams challenging Halopka for the top spot. Kevin made a strong move off turn four and was able to edge past Halopka on the high side to take over the lead with five laps to go. Halopka came right back at him and tried a low side move but was barely fended off by Adams.
The final couple of laps saw Adams pick up the pace and he drew away slightly from Halopka for the win. It was Adams’ fifth win of the year here in the Midwest Modified to go along with four more in the Modified in what has been a successful season so far after a slow start.
Other winners on the last June program of the year included Hunter VanGilder (Street Stocks), Curt Myers (Super Stocks) and Bob Thompson (Pure Stocks).