The first big event of the 2015 race season at Shawano Speedway is upon us with Havoc on the Half Mile.
The Late Model division will battle for a $2,000 top prize and a $15,000 total payout. The race will be 40 laps and feature 28 cars to start.
Another item of note is that the Late Models also have time trials, which were part of the weekly show through 1987, when they were dropped from the program. The only other time that time trials are used at Shawano is during the annual World of Outlaws Late Model special.
This show should a nice mix of southern Wisconsin invaders. Mitch McGrath and his dad, Joe McGrath, were each at the track last week to try and get a good setup and feel for the track. Rick and Taylor Scheffler are expected to join the battle this weekend.
Next week the track will pay the IMCA Stock Car feature winner $750, which is a pretty nice amount for the class too tough to tame. One can expect a strong field of cars for this event, also. Travis VanStraten has staked his claim as the driver to beat by winning five features this season in six weeks of racing.
Looking back at last week’s racing, Jared Siefert, Dan Michonski and Scott Stewart all made their awaited debuts. Siefert had an impressive second-place finish in his heat, but struggled a bit in the feature, finishing 18th. Michonski had problems with a power steering in the heat, but was strong in the feature, finishing eighth. Scott Stewart had the best feature finish of the three, coming home seventh.
Hats off to Shawano’s very own Kyle Raddant, who finished a career-best fourth in the IMCA Sport Mod feature. He is a third-generation racer. His grandfather, Willard, and father, Brad, provided the racing genes to Kyle. He used to sit next to me in the tower every Saturday night and operated the scoreboard. Kyle is a hardworking and polite young man. He is the kind of boy you would want your daughter to bring home. Through six weeks of racing, Raddant is sixth in the point standings, only 19 points behind leaders Tracy Wassenberg and Jason Jach.
Look for bigger and better things on the horizon out of this young hot shoe.
See you at the speedway.
