By Scott Owen

Shawano,WI,5/24/14—Near perfect weather, a great crowd, and Charlies County Market, Ladies Night were the recipe for racing at the historic half mile Shawano Speedway.  Cody Hudson won his first career IMCA Modified feature.  Kyle Frederick remained unbeaten in IMCA Stock Car action.  Nick Anvlink, Joey Taycher, and Jasper Drengler returned to victory lane for the first time this year.

The Late Model feature was marred by numerous caution flags.  Nick Anvelink passed Derek Jahnke on lap one of the race and would remain there, relatively unchallenged for the duration of the time shortened race.  Brett Swedberg passed Jahnke on lap five and chased Anvelink to the checkered flag.  Jake Redetzke started the race in fifteenth and came home third.  Ron Berna battled back from a flat tire early on to finish fourth.  Jahnke held on to take fifth.  For Anvelink it was his first win of the year.

IMCA Modified rookie Cody Hudson started outside the first row of the feature and never looked back.  Hudson led all twenty laps en route to the victory.  The best action of the race was behind the leader.  John Berna held off Marcus Yarie to come home in second, while Jamie Schmidt, Johnny Whitman, and Jerry Wilinski had a spirited battle for positions fourth through sixth.  For Hudson, last seasons IMCA Sport Mod track champion, it is his first win in the IMCA modified class.

Ray DePew drove like a man possessed during the opening laps of the IMCA Stock Car main event.  DePew took the lead on lap one using the high groove to his advantage.  Vern Stedjee and BJ Giese applied early pressure.  By lap five with DePew still leading, JJ Heinz passed Giese to move into second.  Heinz was able to pass DePew for the lead on six.  DePew and Giese though both stayed right with the new leader.  DePew passed Heinz back on lap eight to put his machine out in front again.  Exiting turn two on the following lap Heinz moved to the inside of DePew.  The two cars made contact as they raced down the back stretch.  Giese capitalized on the contact out front to grab the lead.  On lap ten, with Giese leading, Kyle Frederick moved to the second spot and began to pressure Giese.  Giese continued to run the high line through the turns to stay out in front of the race.  Frederick stayed right with Giese.  On lap nineteen Frederick made the pass on Giese to take over the lead.  Frederick scored the victory, his third in a row to open the season.  Giese finished a strong second.  Mike Schmidt took third after DePew spun on the final lap.

The IMCA Sport Mod feature saw Jordan Barkholtz grab the lead on the opening lap of the feature.  Jason Jach, Lucas Lamberies, Tracy Wassenberg, and Joey Taycher quickly joined Barkholtz in a five car break away.  Taycher, Barkholtz, and Jach went three wide for the lead on lap eight with Taycher using the outside pass near the wall to take the lead in the race.  Barkholtz continued to run in second.  A caution after a wild spin by Kevin Bethke on the front stretch slowed the race on lap ten.  Wassenberg also pulled off the track during the caution due to mechanical woes.  As the race resumed Taycher continued to lead with Lucas Lamberies now in the second postion.  Taycher would go on to score his first win of the year followed by Lamberies, Jach, and a strong fourth place finish by Brandon Nygaard.

Cal Chapin led the first two laps of the Mighty Four feature before tenth place starting Jasper Drengler grabbed the lead.  Drengler led the rest of the way for the win.  Dalton Nelson held off Scott Blanke to take second.  The win was Drengler’s first of the year.

Racing will continue next Saturday night with a 6:30 start time.  Spectator Eliminators will be back in action.  More information is available online at www.shawanospeedway.net

Race Summary:

Late Model Feature: 1)Nick Anvelink, 2)Brett Swedberg, 3)Jake Redetzke, 4) Ron Berna, 5)Derek Jahnke, 6)Jeff Curtin, 7)Kurt Moeller, 8)Doug Blashe, 9)Steve Petri, 10)Rob Krull.

Heat 1: 1)Troy Springborn, 2)Swedberg, 3)Josh Moesch.

Heat 2: 1)Todd Frank, 2)Kevin Rodgers, 3)Jahnke.

Heat 3: 1)Anvelink, 2)Moeller, 3)Berna.

IMCA Modified Feature: 1)Cody Hudson, 2)John Berna, 3)Marcus Yarie, 4)Jamie Schmidt, 5)Johnny Whitman, 6)Jerry Wilinski, 7)Matt Oreskovich, 8)Mitch Stankowski, 9)Mark Weisnicht, 10)Jerry Muenster.

Heat 1: 1)Wilinksi, 2)Hudson, 2)Chad Olson.

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

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

Heat 1: 1)Uttecht, 2)Stedjee, 3)Mike Brehmer.

Heat 2: 1)Heinz, 2)Simon, 3)Frederick.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1)Joey Taycher, 2)Lucas Lamberies, 3)Jason Jach, 4)Brandon Nygaard, 5)Jordan Barkholtz, 6)Tristin Peebles, 7)Jordan Bartz, 8)Jake Solin, 9)Zach McKinnon, 10)Brock Saunders.

Heat 1: 1)Jach, 2)Taycher, 3)Lamberies.

Heat 2: 1)Barkholtz, 2)Saunders, 3)Tracy Wassenberg.

Mighty Four Feature: 1)Jasper Drengler, 2)Dalton Nelson, 3)Scott Blanke, 4)Brad Wedde,5)Kasey Gross, 6)Carl King, 7)Cal Chapin, 8)Tanner Westphal, 9)Grant Kastning, 10)Matt Hatterman.

Heat 1: 1)Drengler, 2)Chapin, 3)Matt Torphy.

Heat 2: 1)Gross, 2)Calvin Stueck, 3)Nelson.