Drivers tune up for championship week

Racing at Eagle River last night was the second-to-last points night of the season, as drivers tuned their rides and positioned themselves in the points standings with the championship night next Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. 

There were some stiff challenges throughout the night, which included the B Mod feature. Antigo’s Zach McKinnon picked up his first-ever feature win at Eagle River, but in the process, had to fight off the defending track champion, Kory Joliff.  

McKinnon held the lead from the start, and a trio of cautions closed his advantage each time. He teetered between the top two spots throughout the night. Both times, he lost the lead in turn one but was able to regain it shortly after. Joliff ended up taking second in the contest. 

Cade Nelson won for the fifth time in six feature starts this season after starting seventh on the grid. He sliced through the field and reached third by the halfway mark, eventually taking the lead on lap 15. He outraced Lucas Peterson and Dave Bennett, two of the top three point leaders in the class, to the line for the feature win. 

Other feature winners included Rod Snellenberger in the IMCA stock car feature, Jason Eisel of Sugar Camp, who won consecutive street stock features after grabbing the lead with five to go. Tomahawk’s Trevor Schumann held the lead from the drop of the green in a cautionless pure stock feature. 

Tyler Pelofske won the 600 micro sprint, and Cooper Aho (pro) and Archer Peter (semi-pro) each grabbed the 300 microsprint features.

Points leaders 

With the season championship in all classes at the track next Tuesday, there are plenty of close divisions in 2025. 

Starting in the late model class, Peterson (of Stockholm) leads the 2025 points race with 1,112 points, which is 79 points ahead of Jim Falls racer Jason McFadden. Bennett sits in third with 942 points. 

Peterson has two wins to his credit this season in 11 features. 

The B Mod and street stock points races are also tight ahead of the final points races. 

David Dishaw of Ontonagon, Mich., sits in first with 405 points, ahead of hometown second-place rider Ryan Brown, who has 397 season points. 

The 838 of Eisel has collected six wins this season in his street stock. That has him in first place with 418 points on the year, ahead of Jeremy Joslin and Hope Eisel, who have 404 and 397 points, respectively. 

In the pure stocks, Eagle River’s Cole Bennett is ahead by 30 points as the class entered championship night. Eagle River’s Jason Zdroik holds 379 points this season to lead the IMCA stock car class ahead of hometown drivers Jonathan Miller, Dustin White and Ryan Glembin. 

In micro sprint action, Blake Joslin, Rhinelander, holds a slight eight-point edge on Tyler Pelofske of Stacy, Minn., in the 600 class. In the 300 class, Cooper Aho has six wins this season in the pro division (431 points) and leads Bentley Seliger by 11 and Carter Aho by 15.  

Along with the racing at 7 p.m., there will also be an on-track autograph session before racing kicks off.