It seemed as though it would only be a matter of time before Jared Siefert broke into victory lane in a Late Model feature at Shawano Speedway, and Saturday night was the time.
Also on Saturday, Travis VanStraten continued to dominate the IMCA Stock Car division with his seventh straight and eighth overall feature win.
Jamie Schmidt was impressive on his way to victory lane in the IMCA Modified class. Wyatt Block won his second straight IMCA Sport Mod feature, and Hollie Welch scored her first career feature win in the Mighty Fours.
Each feature winner took home trophies, thanks to the Kim Parsons Memorial Trophy Tour.
Late Model
The Late Model feature saw Tim Rothe rocket from the outside of row one to the lead on the opening lap. An incident on the second lap eliminated Travis Jellum and Nick Anvelink.
By the third lap, Siefert got on the inside edge against Rothe, racing door panel to door panel for the top spot, before Siefert powered to first on lap four. Rothe continued to give chase with Brett Swedberg glued to his bumper.
Tom Naeyeart raced from fourth to second by the seventh lap. A yellow flag flew in the ninth lap, bunching the field up. Swedberg had a good restart on lap 10 and passed Naeyaert to move to second behind Siefert. Mike Mullen also passed Naeyaert to take third.
Siefert, Swedberg and Mullen began to separate themselves from the rest of the pack while Naeyaert, Troy Springborn and Ron Berna battled for fourth and fifth. On lap 18, Mullen moved underneath Swedberg to move to second. Swedberg passed Mullen back the next lap, though.
On lap 24, Siefert got a bit loose exiting turn two but somehow gathered the car back in as Swedberg and Mullen made it a three-car battle for the lead. As the trio exited turn four, Swedberg got a good run on Siefert, but Siefert’s car was the first to take the checkered.
It was the first career Late Model feature win for the former multi-time IMCA Modified track champion.
Mullen had a great third-place showing in his first night behind the wheel of a Late Model after starting the race in 12th.
IMCA Modified
Jamie Schmidt passed Shawn Frelich on lap two of the IMCA Modified feature and would lead the rest of the race. Schmidt held off Cody Hudson in the first half of the race and Mark Weisnicht in the second half to secure his first win of the year at the track. Weisnicht finished in second, Hudson took third and Eddie Muenster crossed the line in fourth.
IMCA Stock Car
Former IMCA Modified track champion Jeremie Hedrick led the first two laps of the IMCA Stock Car feature before being overtaken by Travis VanStraten on lap three.
Hedrick continued to run in second until lap seven when Scott Stewart passed Hedrick to take second.
Stewart would hold second until lap 12 when Dan Michonski passed him. With VanStraten holding a big lead, Michonski set out to erase that advantage.
Lap after lap Michonski closed the gap on VanStraten. With two laps to go, the lead for VanStraten was down to a car length. Michonski got a fender to the inside of VanStraten exiting turn two, but VanStraten was quicker down the back stretch. Michonski was on the bumper of VanStraten as the white flag waved. VanStraten would hold on to win the race. Michonski finished a strong second after starting the race in 15th. Dustin Loberger and Justin Jacobsen rounded out the top four.
IMCA Sport Mod
Pole sitter Brandon Nygaard led the first two laps of the IMCA Sport Mod feature before Wyatt Block made an inside pass to grab the lead.
By lap five, Lucas Lamberies passed Nygaard and began to challenge Block for the lead. Tracy Wassenberg joined the top three on lap five also. Though Lamberies was able to stay within a couple of car lengths for the duration of the race, it was Block scoring his second win in a row after winning his first Shawano Speedway feature last week. Wassenberg held off a hard-charging Jason Jach to finish third.
Mighty Four
Hollie Welch led the entire Mighty Four feature to obtain the first feature win of her racing career. Calvin Stueck crossed the line in second. Lucas Hacker finished third.
Spectator Eliminator
Dave Stoffer and Brian Welch picked up wins in Spectator Eliminator action.
Shawano Speedway
July 4 Race Summary
Late Model Feature: 1. Jared Siefert, 2. Brett Swedberg, 3. Mike Mullen, 4. Troy Springborn, 5. Tom Naeyaert, 6. Ron Berna, 7. Joe Reuter, 8. Doug Blashe, 9. Michael Stangl, 10. Derek Jahnke.
Heat 1: 1. Swedberg, 2. Blashe, 3. Naeyaert.
Heat 2: 1. Rose, 2. Rothe, 3. Springborn.
IMCA Modified Feature: 1. Jamie Schmidt, 2. Mark Weisnicht, 3. Cody Hudson, 4. Eddie Muenster, 5. Jerry Wilinski, 6. Marcus Yarie, 7. Brian Joski, 8. Mike Bailey, 9. Cole Petit, 10. Shawn Frelich.
Heat 1: 1. Frelich, 2. Muenster, 3. Hudson.
Heat 2: 1. Schmidt, 2. Oreskovich, 3. Siefert.
IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. Travis VanStraten, 2. Dan Michonski, 3. Dustin Loberger, 4. Justin Jacobsen, 5. Steven Stewart, 6. Scott Stewart, 7. Mike Schmidt, 8. Harley Simon, 9. Trent Nolan, 10. Vern Stedjee.
Heat 1: 1. VanStraten, 2. Loberger, 3. Lowenhagen.
Heat 2: 1. Hedrick, 2. Jacobsen, 3. Schmidt.
IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1. Wyatt Block, 2. Lucas Lamberies, 3. Tracy Wassenberg, 4. Jason Jach, 5. Jordan Bartz, 6. Kyle Raddant, 7. Brandon Nygaard, 8. Brianna Ambroziak, 9. Les Yaeger, 10. Jake Hashbarger.
Heat 1: 1. Jach, 2. Bartz, 3. Wassenberg.
Heat 2: 1. Lamberies, 2. Block, 3. Nygaard.
Mighty Four Feature: 1. Hollie Welch, 2. Calvin Stueck, 3. Lucas Hacker, 4. Carl King, 5. Brad Wedde, 6. Forrest Kerneen, 7. Dustin Urban, 8. Dalton Nelson, 9. Jasper Drengler, 10. Chris Hidde.
Heat 1: 1. Hacker, 2. Wedde, 3. Kerneen.
Heat 2: 1. Welch, 2. Stueck, 3. DeWilde.
