Scott Owen, Special to the Leader
Five track champions were crowned Saturday at the Shawano Speedway as part of the Shawano County Fair.
Travis Van Straten won his third consecutive title and his 11th feature of the season in the IMCA Stock Cars class, and Marcus Yarie won his second IMCA Modifieds crown.
Brett Swedberg (Late Models), Jordan Barkholtz (IMCA Sports Mods) and Grant Kastning (Mighty Fours) each won their first Shawano Speedway track championships.
In feature race action, Ron Berna won his third Late Model feature of the year, Mitch Stankowski secured his first IMCA Modifieds win, Kyle Raddant scored win number three in IMCA Sport Mods action and Brad Wedde brought home his fourth Mighty Fours feature win.
Late Models
Berna, a 10-time track champion, led the entire Late Model feature in a race that ran green to checkered for 25 laps. Over the first half of the race, Berna was challenged by Joel Bennett and Jeff Curtin. On lap 10, Nick Anvelink moved to second with a pass on Curtin. By this point of the race, Berna had already built up a straightaway lead. As the race continued on, Anvelink was able to chip away at the lead lap after lap.
Berna would not be denied victory though as Anvelink had to settle for second. Brett Swedberg finished third and secured his first Shawano Speedway track championship. Jared Siefert and Curtin rounded out the top five.
IMCA Modifieds
Chris Engels and Shawn Frelich raced door to door at the start of the IMCA Modified feature. Engels held the lead on lap one, but Frelich took over on lap two. As the lead duo continued to race side by side for the lead, Stankowski moved to third.
On lap 10, Engels held the advantage over Frelich and led the lap. On lap 11 though, Stankowski made a charge to the inside of Engels in turn three and took the lead away. Frelich, Engels and Marcus Yarie raced three wide for second behind Stankowski. On lap 13, Yarie moved to second, but his car came to a stop on the next lap, bringing out a caution and ending his night.
As the race resumed, Stankowski continued to lead the way followed by Frelich, Engels, Matt Oreskovich and Lance Arneson. Arneson steadily began working his way through traffic and got up to second on lap 17.
Arneson tried to muster a pass for the lead, but Stankowski was up to the challenge and made his way to victory lane. Frelich, Engels and Mark Weisnicht completed the top five. Though Yarie did not finish the race, he was crowned as the track champion.
IMCA Stock Cars
BJ Giese took control of the IMCA Stock Car feature at the start of the race. Giese led the first nine laps of the race. He was pursued early on by Harley Simon. Van Straten passed Simon for second on lap seven.
Van Straten got underneath Giese on lap 10 to make the pass for the lead. As Van Straten began to pull away, Giese and Mike Schmidt battled for the second spot. Schmidt got ahead of Giese on lap 15 to take the second position.
Van Straten cruised to victory, putting an exclamation mark on his third straight track championship. Schmidt, Giese, Shawn Wagner and Simon finished second through fifth.
IMCA Sport Mods
Brock Saunders led the opening four laps of the IMCA Sport Mod feature, as Kevin Bethke made his way to the second position. Bethke got underneath Saunders to take the lead away on lap five. On lap six, Raddant took to the outside of the track and put the pass on Bethke for the lead.
Bethke kept pace with Raddant though, as the two battled side by side for the lead with Bethke running the inner-most line on the track. On lap 10, Bethke held the lead by a bumper. Raddant, though, continued to run the high groove and put his mount back out in front.
Raddant was able to fend off Bethke for the duration of the race to pick up the win. Lucas Lamberies, Saunders and Jordan Bartz completed the top five. Jordan Barkholtz finished sixth in the race, securing his first career track championship.
Mighty Fours
Mike Brehmer led laps one and two of the Mighty Four feature before Wedde took over the top spot. Wedde would lead the rest of the race for the victory.
Wedde was followed across the line by Josh Slewinski, Calvin Stueck, Hollie Welch and Dalton Nelson. Grant Kastning finished 10th in the race and accumulated enough points to be the track champion.
Shawano Speedway
Sept. 3
Fabiano Brothers Distributing Night
Race Summary
Late Model Feature: 1) Ron Berna, 2) Nick Anvelink, 3) Brett Swedberg, 4) Jared Siefert, 5) Jeff Curtin, 6) Justin Hirt, 7) Tom Naeyaert, 8) Joel Bennett, 9) Troy Springborn, 10) Michael Stangl.
Heat 1: 1) Curtin, 2) Naeyaert, 3) Anvelink.
Heat 2: 1) Berna, 2) Swedberg, 3) Doug Blashe.
IMCA Modified Feature: 1) Mitch Stankowski, 2) Lance Arneson, 3) Shawn Frelich, 4) Chris Engels, 5) Mark Weisnicht, 6) Beetle Bailey, 7) Jerry Muenster, 8) Matt Oreskovich, 9) Eddie Muenster, 10) Adam Clark.
Heat 1: 1) Oreskovich, 2) Engels, 3) Marcus Yarie.
Heat 2: 1) Frelich, 2) Stankowski, 3) Eddie Muenster.
IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1) Travis Van Straten, 2) Mike Schmidt, 3) BJ Giese, 4) Shawn Wagner, 5) Harley Simon, 6) Dan Michonski, 7) Tom Riehl, 8) Trent Nolan, 9) Nate Michonski, 10) Chris Loewenhagen.
IMCA Stock Car Last Chance Qualifier 1: 1) Asa Doxtator, 2) Aaron Karcz, 3) Kurt Schwalbach.
IMCA Stock Car Last Chance Qualifier 2: 1) Kurt Olson, 2) Devin Snellenberger, 3) Bret Koehler.
Heat 1: 1) Simon, 2) Wagner, 3) Riehl.
Heat 2: 1) Van Straten, 2) Giese, 3) Nolan.
Heat 3: 1) Nate Michonski, 2) Junior Karcz, 3) Vern Stedjee.
IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1) Kyle Raddant, 2) Kevin Bethke, 3) Lucas Lamberies, 4) Brock Saunders, 5) Jordan Bartz, 6) Jordan Barkholtz, 7) Jason Jach, 8) Jason Ebert, 9) Tyler Thiex, 10) Jordan Reinke.
Heat 1: 1) Lamberies, 2) Bartz, 3) Raddant.
Heat 2: 1) Bethke, 2) Wyatt Block, 3) Barkholtz.
Heat 3: 1) Ryan Besaw, 2) Jach, 3) Saunders.
Mighty Four Feature: 1) Brad Wedde, 2) Josh Slewinski, 3) Calvin Stueck, 4) Hollie Welch, 5) Dalton Nelson, 6) Brad Nelson, 7) Mike Brehmer, 8) Brayden Goeser, 9) Jason Hopinka, 10) Grant Kastning.
Heat 1: 1) Stueck, 2) Wedde, 3) Travis Welch.
Heat 2: 1) Hollie Welch, 2) Brehmer, 3) Brad Nelson.