Eagle River B-Mod feature ends with photo finish

Michael Truscott and Kory Joliff put on a show for fans at the Eagle River Speedway Tuesday night, as Truscott beat Joliff to the line by 0.035 seconds in the B-Mod feature. The victory was Truscott’s second in three weeks in Eagle River. 

After starting deep in the field, Truscott moved into second by lap three and remained there for the first half of the contest. On lap 13, a caution tightened the field back up, and Truscott remained on Joliff’s bumper for the remainder of the race. Truscott made his move underneath on laps 18 and 19, and the two raced door-to-door to the checkered flag, with Truscott winning by the slightest of margins. 

Fans were also welcomed to another race that ended by less than a second. The USRA late model feature also had a tight finish at 0.087 seconds. Hometown driver Jeff Thomas took home his first feature win. What started with a multiple-car-length lead for Thomas ended with the Eagle River native and Lucas Peterson battling for the top spot out of turn four. Another door-to-door race for the line finished with Thomas in the top spot. 

In other class action, former track champion "Hot Rod" Snellenberger of Pulaski grabbed the lead with five laps remaining and cruised to his fourth feature flag in the IMCA stock car division. Ben Pitlik, another hometown driver, won the street stock feature after grabbing an early lead and fighting off the father-daughter duo of Hope and Jason Eisel late in the race. Pitlik added an extra $100 to his $500 payday for the feature win. 

Phillips' Devin Fries has dominated the pure stocks and found victory lane for the fifth time Tuesday night. 

Rhinelander's Blake Joslin scored his first 600 micro sprint feature race of the season at Eagle River. 

Carter Aho made a last-lap pass in the 300 micro sprints and captured his fourth win of the season. 

Next week is a big one at Eagle River Speedway, with the highest-paying race in the track’s 51-year history. The first-ever "Rumble At The River" will pay out $10,250 in the B modified feature. Drivers from several states and Canada will be in attendance. 

A test-and-tune session and pre-technical inspection of the cars is slated for Sunday, August 9. Qualifying races will be run Monday night, with the top five finishers from a pair of qualifying features being locked into starting spots for Tuesday's big race. On Tuesday, B mod drivers will get another chance to battle their way into the big show, as an entirely new set of heat races will be run. 

Racing starts at 6:30 on both Monday and Tuesday. The test-and-tune, which is free for fans to attend, gets underway at 6 p.m. For more information, check out the track's Facebook page. 

Race summary - Aug. 4 

Here are the top three finishers in each of the classes that raced this week at Eagle River Speedway: 

B-Mod feature 

Michael Truscott, Chippewa Falls; Kory Joliff, Mass City, Mich.; Dave Dishaw, Ontonagon, Mich.

IMCA stock car feature 

Rod Snellenberger, Pulaski; Dustin White, Eagle River; Jason Zdroik. 

Street Stock feature 

Ben Pitlik, Eagle River; Hope Eisel, Rhinelander; Jason Eisel, Sugar Camp. 

600 micro sprint feature 

Blake Joslin, Rhinelander; Ethan Manninen, Cornell, Mich.; Katherine Towne, Boulder Junction. 

300 micro sprint feature 

Carter Aho, Twin Lakes, Mich.; Addison Dishaw, Ontonagon, Mich.; Myia Ewert, Eagle River.