RICE LAKE, Wis. – The evening did not start out well for Justin Oestreich Saturday night.
First, he was late getting to Rice Lake Speedway, arriving after the cut off time, which meant he had to start at the back of the field for the first modified heat race.
Then, the opening attempt at that race saw Oestreich spin in the first corner and he went to the back of the pack once again. However, things went decidedly better after that.
He finished third in his heat, redrew the number six starting spot for the modified feature and then, after making a spectacular move that saw him split two contenders down the front chute and move into second, swept past race leader Mark Hanson on lap nine and led the rest of the way to win the final race of the season finale at Rice Lake Speedway.
Hanson was the initial leader of the Modified main event but track champion Mike Anderson quickly moved up from his second row starting spot with a strong opening lap high side run to pull up to the rear bumper of Hanson.
They battled for a couple of laps with Anderson getting up beside Hanson but not quite able to pull off the pass for the lead.
Meanwhile, as Hanson continued to fight off Anderson, Zack Drews, Jason Gross and Oestreich quickly moved in and suddenly the lead pack included a handful of cars.
The first yellow of the race flew with five laps complete for a spin and on the restart, it was still Hanson but Drews had moved in to challenge for second while Oestreich and Pat Hoffman both closed on the leaders.
Oestreich was strong on the high side of the track and he pulled up on the duo battling for second and with certainly the move of the night, he split Anderson and Drews right down the front chute and shot into second.
He then quickly closed on Hanson, getting the best of him on lap nine and driving into the lead.
Once in front, Oestreich was never challenged for the top spot again but he had to endure a series of yellow flag slowdowns that kept the field bunched which allowed much shuffling to go on behind him but not to interfere with his lead stance.
Four times the race got stuck on the lap 12 mark for a series of spins, the most severe being when Paul Harelstad hammered the turn three wall which drew a brief red flag. Harelstad came out of that wreck just fine but his car was not raceable.
Finally, the last laps of the event ran off smoothly and Oestreich controlled the action, keeping several car lengths between himself and the field.
Gross, who slipped back briefly, made another strong charge near the end of the race and he was able to drive up into second as he got by Drews for that position.
Hoffman ran a consistent race to finish fourth and Cole Spacek moved up smartly at the end also, cracking the top five at the finish. Both Hanson and Anderson, the two contenders for the win early, ended up fading back in the pack near the end of the race.
For Oestreich, it was his first win at Rice Lake since the 2018 racing season when he won the very same Labor Day weekend concluding race to the season.
Other winners during the final race of the year at the track included Aaron Wilson in the Super Stocks, Cody Carlson in the Midwest Modifieds, Parker Anderson in the Street Stocks and Jay Folz in the Pure Stocks, after apparent winner Bob Thompson’s car failed post race technical inspection.