By Scott Owen

Shawano, WI, 5/10/14—Beautiful racing weather greeted race hungry Shawano Speedway fans.  Eighty three racers were on hand to try mastering the historic half mile oval and they put on a whale of a show.  Ron Berna, Jerry Wilinski, Kyle Frederick, Tracy Wassenberg, and Scott Blanke all scored hard fought feature victories on Twigs Beverage Sun Drop night at the races

Defending track champion Ron Berna lead the entire Late Model feature, but it was far from a run away.  Berna who grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, was pressured early on by pole sitter Todd Frank and sixth place starting Paul Parker.  Near the half way point of the race eighth place starter Nick Anvelink raced his way into second spot.  Anvelink applied late pressure, but could not make a pass to get by Berna.  Troy Springborn may have had the fasteset car on the track though as he raced his way from his eighteenth starting position to finish third in the race.  Berna the 5 time late model track champion picked up right where he left off a season ago.

Pole sitter Matt Oreskovich took the lead at the start of the IMCA Modified feature before a caution bunched the field up after only two laps.  Jerry Wilinski had moved from his seventh place starting position up to second by lap three and put a pass on Oreskovich for the lead on lap six.  Oreskovich continued to pressure Wilinski out front and took the lead back on lap nine.  Wilinski battled right back though on the following lap and took the lead back.  Behind the leaders Jerry and Eddie Muenster raced side by side for numerous laps locked in a tussle for the third spot.  Wilinski was able to fend off Oreskovich for the win, while Jerry Muenster prevailed over son Eddie for third.

The IMCA Stock Car feature was a real barn burner.  Travis VanStraten and Harley Simon started the race off crossing the line door handle to door handle on lap one.  The pair continued to race sided by side for the lead during the early portion of the race while tenth place starter Kyle Frederick advanced his way through the field up to third by lap seven.  On lap eight Simon, Frederick, and Mike Schmidt went three wide for second behind VanStraten.  The four cars bunched up on lap ten as all four raced in a tight pack for the lead.  VanStraten, Schmidt, and Frederick went three wide for the lead on lap twelve.  Kyle Frederick took the lead by a nose on lap fifteen.  VanStraten took the lead back on lap sixteen.  Frederick used the outside line in corner four to take the lead back from VanStraten on the following lap.  Schmidt and Simon closely followed the lead pair waiting to pounce.  Frederick was able to hang on for the win as the checkered flag waved.

“The Weazel” Jason Jach started on the pole of the IMCA Sport Mod feature and grabbed the early lead.  Jordan Barkholtz took the lead on lap five from Jach.  Jach raced back to the top spot on the next lap and looked like he had the car to beat.  On lap fourteen though Tracy Wassenberg got to the rear bumper of Jach and really began to pressure the leader.  On lap sixteen Wassenberg pulled even with Jach coming out of turn four.  Heading into turn one on the next lap Jach’s car shot out flames from underneath and his night was over.  Wassenberg cruised to the victory.

Drama came early on in the Mighty Four feature as Calvin Stueck made contact with leader Scott Blanke on the opening lap causing Blanke to spin and sending cars all over the track trying to avoid contact.  Stueck got the black flag for his role in the incident and Blanke was given his spot back at the front of the field.  Blanke and Josh Slewinski raced a number of laps side by side for the top spot, but Blanke would not be denied of winning his first ever feature at the Shawano Speedway.

Racing will continue next Saturday night with a 6:30 start time.  More information is available online at www.shawanospeedway.net

Race Summary:

Late Model Feature: 1)Ron Berna, 2)Nick Anvelink, 3)Troy Springborn, 4)Paul Parker, 5)Brett Swedberg, 6)Tom Nayaert, 7)Todd Frank, 8)Aaron Holiday, 9)Mark Rose, 10)Jeff Curtin.

Heat 1: 1)Anvelink, 2)Naeyaert, 3)Josh Moesch.

Heat 2: 1)Swedberg, 2)Frank, 3)Berna.

Heat 3: 1)Holiday, 2)Chris Oertel, 3)Curtin.

IMCA Modified Feature: 1)Jerry Wilinski, 2)Matt Oreskovich, 3)Jerry Muenster, 4)Eddie Muenster, 5)John Berna, 6)Marcus Yarie, 7)Mark Weisnicht, 8)Mitch Stankowski, 9)Chad Olson, 10)Mike Bailey.

Heat 1: 1)Jerry Muenster, 2)Eddie Muenster, 3)Yarie.

Heat 2: 1)Wilinski, 2)Weisnicht, 3)Bailey.

IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1)Kyle Frederick, 2)Travis VanStraten, 3)Mike Schmidt, 4)Harley Simon, 5)Luke Uttecht, 6)Jake Lunderby, 7)Tom Riehl, 8)Larry Parshen, 9)Trent Nolan, 10)BJ Giese.

Heat 1: 1)VanStraten, 2)Frederick, 3)Lunderby.

Heat 2: 1)Schmidt, 2)Giese, 3)Nolan.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1)Tracy Wassenberg, 2)Lucas Lamberies, 3)Jordan Bartz, 4)Don Woller, 5)Nick Furman, 6)Brandon Nygaard, 7)Les Yaeger, 8)Tristin Peebles, 9)Weston Frenche, 10)Jason Jach.

Heat 1: 1)Jach, 2)Wyatt Block, 3)Bartz.

Heat 2: 1)Lamberies, 2)Wassenberg, 3)Jordan Barkholtz.

Mighty Four Feature: 1)Scott Blanke, 2)Josh Slewinski, 3)Matt Hatterman, 4)Carl King, 5)Jesse Peebles, 6)Lucas Hacker, 7)Hollie Welch, 8)Tanner Westphal, 9)Matt Torphy, 10)Cal Chapin.

Heat 1: 1)Calvin Stueck, 2)King, 3)Kasey Gross.

Heat 2: 1)Slewinski, 2)Chapin, 3)Grant Kastning.