Anvelink crowned king in Late Model special

A field of 104 cars found their way into the pits for the Raddant Electric WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour Special on May 27 at Shawano Speedway.

Nick Anvelink was crowned king of the Late Model race, which included 28 drivers.

Anvelink and Taylor Scheffler led the field to the green flag, with Anvelink taking the lead and Scheffler, Joel Bennett and Todd Frank in pursuit.

Caution flew on the next lap as Bill Edler and Derek Janke made contact in turn four. On the restart, Anvelink continued to lead as Scheffler and Frank made contact in turn two, bringing out the caution.

On the restart, Anvelink continued to pace the field as Bennett, Troy Springborn and Mike Mullen pursued. Anvelink pulled away to a 4.603 second lead on Bennett and started to lap the tail of the field. Bennett worked to narrow the gap on Anvelink as the caution came out just past halfway.

Springborn worked to the inside of Bennett on the restart as Anvelink led. Anvelink went on to win his first Late Model tour race of the season.

The IMCA Modified feature saw the ageless wonder Jerry Muenster start on the pole. When the green dropped though, outside polesitter, Nicholas Holtger, launched into the early lead while Jeremie Hedrick put his familiar C19 machine into the runner-up spot.

That lead duo set the pace for the first nine laps until caution flew. The ensuing restart had Holtger lead Hedrick, Jordan Bartz, Lucas Lamberies and Marcus Yarie back to racing speeds.

Lamberies and Bartz wasted no time and worked to the front where they traded the top spot back and forth. Lamberies eventually locked up sole possession of the lead and held on when the double checkers flew.

While a king was crowned in the Late Models, Travis VanStraten proved to still be the ruler of the IMCA Stock Cars.

Travis Welch took full advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead at the drop of the green. His time at the top of the field was short lived as VanStraten knifed through the field to the lead.

With VanStraten comfortably holding the point, the battle behind him got hot and heavy. Dan Michonski worked his way through the field and into the runner-up spot by lap seven.

The second place positioning came under heavy fire as Kyle Frederick ran up to third and put his 50F machine to work on the low side, hugging the infield tires while Michonski tickled the tulips on the high side. The pair waged a door-to-door war until disaster struck on lap 17 when the duo tried to run side by side inside a lap car in turn three.

The resulting contact sent both racers into a spin, with Michonski coming out the worse for wear and retiring from the event while Frederick would restart at the tail of the field. The restart with three laps to go saw VanStraten lead Vern Stedjee, Shawn “Lunchbox” Wagner and Tyler Wendt back to green flag conditions.

VanStraten picked up where he left off and topped the final circuits of the race.

Tyler Sobiesczyk could argue for the title of prince of the Half Mile with a dominating performance in the IMCA Northern Sport Mod A Main event. The driver known as T-Sob dropped the hammer at the green and shot into the lead immediately.

Max Oreskovich tried to play usurper to the throne as he raced his 75 car from eighth into the second spot by lap four.

When caution flew on lap 12, it looked as if Oreskovich had the opportunity to give Sobiesczyk a fight as that pair led JJ Vanderloop, Jeffery Teske and Dustin Wudstrack back to speed.

Oreskovich, however, fell prey to the restart as Teske worked past him. That pair fought each other over the closing laps, with Oreskovich grabbing the runner-up spot with three laps to go.

Sobiesczyk led from green to checkers while Oreskovich ran out of time to run him down.

The Shawano Mighty 4s might have saved the best for last with their feature event.

On the initial start, Clint Malueg, Cody Bierman and Lexi Michonski raced each other hard down the backstretch with contact sending Michonski into a spin that ended with a hard impact along the inner wall.

Take two on the start had Bailey Tate lead the opening lap but Brad Wedde slid into the top spot on lap three of the event. The red flag flew a second time in the event on lap seven when Tanner Pari saw a top-five run end with a hard hit into the turn four wall.

When the action resumed, Wedde led Jason Stueck, Tanner Westphal and Carl King back to racing speeds. Westphal wrestled away the top spot on lap eight but Wedde grabbed it right back on the following lap and did not look back on the way to victory lane.