Defending track champions Ron Berna and Travis VanStraten raced to wins Saturday on the opening night of the 53rd year of racing at the Shawano Speedway.
Matt Oreskovich, Brock Saunders and Grant Kastning also made their way to victory lane as the 2015 racing season started under clear skies.
Late Models
After suffering engine problems during Friday night's practice, Brett Swedberg came back strong on Saturday. Swedberg led the first three laps of the Late Model feature before Berna raced to the inside on lap four to take the lead. Swedberg stayed on the tail of Berna as the race went on, got a nose to the inside of Berna on more than one occasion but could not make a pass. Late in the race, smoke began to show from the back of Swedberg’s mount. On lap 22, Swedberg dropped off the pace and was forced pitside. Berna went on to win, holding off Tom Naeyaert and Troy Springborn after a lap 23 restart.
IMCA Modifieds
At the start of the IMCA Modified feature, it looked as though defending track champion Marcus Yarie would run away and hide. Yarie started outside row one and quickly put distance between himself and Chris Engels. After a lap four restart, Lance Arneson moved to second, while John Berna and Oreskovich battled for third. On lap seven, Oreskovich passed Berna to take third. With Yarie still leading, Oreskovich ran down Arneson and made the pass to move into second place on lap 13. Oreskovich then set his sights on Yarie. Entering turn one on lap 15, Oreskovich snagged the lead and held it the rest of the race. Yarie finished second. Eddie Muenster made a late race pass to take third from Arneson.
IMCA Stock Car
Mike Schmidt held the lead of the IMCA Stock Car feature for the first four laps until VanStraten took over the point. VanStraten, last year’s track champion, began to pull away from the rest of the pack while Brandon Czarapata raced to second. The race went green to checkered without a caution flag. VanStraten picked up where he left off last year, in victory lane. Czarapata took second. Steven Stewart finished third.
IMCA Sport Mods
After a caution-plagued start, Saunders put himself into the lead at the start of the IMCA Sport Mod feature. Saunders quickly asserted himself as the car to beat while Wyatt Block, Lucas Lamberies and Tracy Wassenberg battled for second and third. The race was ultimately cut short due to the cautions. Saunders picked up his second career win at Shawano Speedway. Block held off Lamberies to take second. Wassenberg finished fourth.
Grant Kastning out-duelled Brad Wedde to score the Mighty Four feature win.
Racing continues Saturday night with a 6:30 p.m. start time.
Shawano Speedway
April 18
Race Summary
Late Model Feature: 1. Ron Berna, 2. Tom Naeyaert, 3. Troy Springborn, 4. Nick Anvelink, 5. Joel Bennett, 6. Joe Reuter, 7. Paul Parker, 8. Doug Blashe, 9. Jeremy Kazynski, 10. Derek Jahnke.
Heat 1: 1. Anvelink, 2. Chris Oertel, 3. Bennett.
Heat 2: 1. Springborn, 2. Reuter, 3. Brett Swedberg.
IMCA Modified Feature: 1. Matt Oreskovich, 2. Marcus Yarie, 3. Eddie Muenster, 4. Lance Arneson, 5. John Berna, 6. Tony Wedelstadt, 7. Cody Hudson, 8. Chris Engels, 9. Jerry Muenster, 10. Jamie Schmidt.
Heat 1: 1. Yarie, 2. Wedelstadt, 3. Hudson.
Heat 2: 1. Jerry Wilinski, 2. Eddie Muenster, 3. Jerry Muenster.
Heat 3:1. Oreskovich, 2. Rob Charapata, 3. Berna.
IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. Travis VanStraten, 2. Brandon Czarapata, 3. Steven Stewart, 4. Mike Schmidt, 5. Dustin Loberger, 6. Tom Riehl, 7. Kyle Frederick, 8. Vern Stedjee, 9. Luke Uttecht, 10. Harley Simon.
Heat 1: 1. Schmidt, 2. Loberger, 3. Frederick.
Heat 2: 1. VanStraten, 2. Stewart, 3. Trent Nolan
IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1. Brock Saunders, 2. Wyatt Block, 3. Lucas Lamberies, 4. Tracy Wassenberg, 5. Jordan Barkholtz, 6. Jason Jach, 7. Jordan Bartz, 8. Logan Fleischman, 9. Don Woller, 10. Kyle Raddant.
Heat 1: 1. Lamberies, 2. Wassenberg, 3. Brandon Nygaard.
Heat 2: 1. Saunders, 2. Block, 3. Lamberies.
Mighty Four Feature: 1. Grant Kastning, 2. Brad Wedde, 3. Kasey Gross, 4. Josh Slewinski, 5. Dalton Nelson, 6. Carl King, 7. Lucas Hacker, 8. Matt DeWilde, 9. Calvin Stueck, 10. Tom Kralovetz.
Heat 1: 1. Gross, 2. Wedde, 3. Slewinski.
Heat 2: 1. Kastning, 2. Kralovetz, 3. Hollie Welch.
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