It was a warm and muggy night Saturday as the Shawano Speedway welcomed two new members to its Hall of Fame.
With hundreds of friends and family in attendance, JJ Smith and Chuck Buckbee were inducted into the hall. A great crowd was on hand to witness the ceremony and a night of racing action highlighted by Travis Van Straten’s effort to extend his IMCA Stock car feature win streak to 10 and Dan Michonski’s bid to end his streak of three runnerup finishes.
Van Straten and Michonski quickly moved to the front of the pack and fought it out man to man lap after lap, from start to finish. The lead changed hands a few times during the laps, but Van Straten always had a slight edge at the line. In the end, both streaks continued with Van Straten picking up his 10th straight win and Michonski finished second.
Dustin Loberger placed third, Gary Kasperek fourth and Mike Schmidt fifth after starting 14th.
IMCA Sport Mod
The IMCA Sport Mods began with Tyler Thiex leading the pack to the line. Brandon Nygaard grabbed the lead on lap one and paced the field for the first few laps until Thiex took the spot on lap four.
The lead was short lived, as Jordan Barkholtz took the top spot on lap six, leading until lap 11 when Wyatt Block made his move to the front. Block and Barkholtz battled for a few laps before Block broke away and cruised to an easy win, with Barkholtz holding second. Jason Jach grabbed third; Thiex and Nygaard rounded out the top five.
Late Model
The Late Model division rolled out for the third feature of the night with Jeremy Kazynski and Aaron Wickersheim leading the field.
However, Brett Swedberg, starting outside row two, split the front line on the start, grabbing the lead on lap one. Swedberg fended off an early challenge by Jared Siefert. While those two battled it out, Mike Mullen and Nick Anvelink were slicing through the field. On lap eight, Mullen grabbed second and began his battle with Swedberg. Anvelink moved into fourth and the field seemed to spread out.
Meanwhile, Troy Springborn found a line that really agreed with his car and he began to rapidly move forward. Springborn, who started 19th, grabbed fourth from Anvelink late in the race while Swedberg rolled to an impressive win. Mullen, Siefert, Springborn and Anvelink completed the top five.
IMCA Modified
Shawn Frelich led the opening laps of the IMCA Modified feature, only to have Kevin Feck grab the spot on lap five. Feck, using the high groove to perfection, continued his lead until Jerry Wilinski took advantage of a bobble to take over the top spot. Marcus Yarie grabbed second on the same lap. Wilinski and Yarie would lead the field, running in each other’s tire tracks for the last half of the race. On lap 19, Yarie decided he had enough of following and stormed to the lead. Yarie held on the final two laps to pick up the win. Wilinski grabbed second. Mitch Stankowski completed a strong run with a third-place finish while Mike Mullen, pulling double duty, finished fourth. Matt Oreskovich rounded out the top five.
Mighty Four
The 4 cylinders completed the night with their feature event. Aaron Milavitz took the top spot for the first four laps only to have Jasper Drengler grab the lead on lap five. Drengler would never give up the top spot as he drove to his second feature win in two weeks. Grant Kastning grabbed the runnerup spot on lap eight. Calvin Stueck grabbed third and Milavitz was fourth.
