Matt Avila wins inaugural Rumble at the River $10,250 race

The inaugural Rumble at the River event that the Eagle River Speedway put on from Aug. 9-11 not only brought some of the top B-Mod racers from around the region and Canada to the Northwoods, but fans packed the speedway in what was described as a capacity crowd to watch the historical event. Iowa’s Matt Avila excited that crowd by claiming the $10,250-to-win top prize as he won the race to the checkered in the 50-lap main event Tuesday night. Avila is no stranger to big-money wins in Wisconsin. Avila has also won 141 Speedway's "Captain At The Creek" the past two seasons, pocketing a pair of five-figure jackpots. After racers ran qualifying races on Monday and Tuesday, 57 registrants dropped to 25 cars that made it to the money race. 

Avila qualified eighth on the grid, and it only took him about five circuits to get a top-five position. Fellow Iowan Jake Sachau stormed into the top spot on a lap six restart and held the lead through lap 22. A lap 22 restart is when Avila shot to the bottom of the track and slid past Sachau for the lead. That battle continued through the midway point of the feature. Avila pulled away with 13 laps remaining and built a comfortable five-to-six car advantage to cruise to victory with limited lapped traffic near the end of the race. 

Just 12 of the 25 cars that took the green were on the track for the checkered flag. On top of the night’s main event, some of the regularly scheduled divisions ran the one-third-mile track Tuesday night as well. 

Oconto Falls' Kyle Frederick started on the pole for the IMCA stock car feature and shot into the lead from the jump. Frederick fought off challenges from Rod Snellenberger and Cole Czarneski to capture the division's feature. Snellenberger and Czarneski took the remaining two podium spots. 

Quentin Morrison also survived pressure from the field in the street stock feature to win his first feature flag of the season in Eagle River. 

Michigan's Addison Dishaw piloted her car to victory by leading every lap in the 12-lap 300 microsprint feature. It was her third win of the season. 

Racing resumes next Tuesday, August 18. The annual "Back To School" backpack night will take place. All kids 12 and under will receive a backpack chock full of school supplies. Racing starts at 7 p.m. 

Race summary — Aug. 11 

Here are the top three finishers in each of the feature races from Tuesday night. 

"Rumble At The River" B-Mod feature 

Matt Avila, Boone, Iowa; Jake Sachau, Manning, Iowa; Jared Siefert, Luxemburg. 

IMCA stock car feature 

Kyle Frederick, Oconto Falls; Rod Snellenberger, Pulaski; Cole Czarneski;

Street stock feature 

Quentin Morrison; Nick Allard, Three Lakes; Jack Brickner, Laona. 

300 micro sprint feature 

Addison Dishaw, Ontonagon, Mich.; Blake Wilke, Tomahawk; Carter Aho, Twin Lakes, Mich.