Lapped traffic and a hard-charging Craig Bartz couldn’t stop Justin Ritchie from taking the Late Model feature win at Shawano Speedway on Saturday night.
Also, Jesse Peebles won his first-ever IMCA Modified feature, while Brandon Czarapata returned to victory lane in the IMCA Stock Car division. Cody Hudson won the IMCA Northern SportMod feature, and Jasper Drengler won the Mighty 4s feature.
Ritchie wasted no time in jumping out to the quick lead over Cody Grosskreutz, Joel Bennett, Doug Blashe and Mark Rose in the Late Model feature. As Ritchie pulled out to a small lead over the next several laps, Craig Bartz joined the top five and began making his way to the front. Bartz moved into the second spot just before the halfway point of the race, and began cutting into Ritchie’s lead.
Ritchie encountered traffic allowing Bartz to close the gap even more. Bartz caught Ritchie with five laps remaining and began pressuring for the lead. Both diced through traffic with Ritchie leading the remaining laps to take the win. He was followed by Bartz, Nick Anvelinik, Bennett and Ron Berna.
IMCA Modified
Peebles took the lead of the IMCA Modified feature on a second-lap restart. He pulled out to a small lead as Jerry Wilinski moved from fourth to second in the matter of a lap. Wilinski began reeling in Peebles, leaving Chad Nelson, John Berna and Lance Arneson to battle for third.
Peebles and Wilinski pulled away from the rest of the field over the next several laps. Wilinski caught Peebles with five laps to go and began pressuring for the lead. Both drivers were running the high side. That proved to be beneficial for Peebles as he held off Wilinski the rest of the way to claim the victory. He was followed by Wilinski, Brad Rohloff, Nelson and Arneson.
IMCA Northern SportMod
Nick Furman moved into the top spot of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature on the second lap. Several laps later Jordan Barkholtz began pressuring Furman for the lead while Tracy Wassenberg, Jake Solin and Hudson followed. Wassenberg was on a mission and grabbed the lead on lap nine.
With seven laps remaining, Hudson began advancing on the high side. He moved up to third before a caution came out with five laps remaining. Hudson used the high side to move past Wassenberg on the restart only to have another caution come out negating the effort. Wassenberg moved to the high side on the restart. This time Hudson moved to the inside of Wassenberg to take the lead. Another caution slowed the action with two laps remaining. Wassenberg tried his best to get by Hudson over the remaining laps, but couldn’t make the pass. Hudson took the win.
IMCA Stock Car
Czarapata took the lead of the IMCA Stock Car feature after a restart on lap five. Once in the lead Czarapata immediately began pulling away from the field. Another caution slowed the action three laps later. Czarapata continued to lead on the restart with Rod Snellenberger, Luke Uttecht, Dan Michonski and Josh Mroczkowski following. Michonski moved to third midway through the race. He moved to second two laps later.
With Czarapata running the low side and Michonski the high side, Michonski began cutting into Czarapata’s lead. With Michonski ready to strike for the top spot a caution came out with four laps remaining. Michonski went for the lead on the restart but couldn’t get to the top spot. Czarapata moved to the high side on the next lap and led the rest of the way to take home the win.
Mighty 4s
Grant Kastning led the first four laps of the Mighty 4s feature when Drengler moved into the top spot. Calvin Stueck, Kasey Gross and Matt Torphy rounded out the top five. Gross retired from the race with only a couple of laps left because of a flat tire. Drengler held on the rest of the way for the win.
Racing resumes at the Speedway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. It will be Ladies Night, with the first 500 women admitted free.
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