Saunders wins first career feature at Speedway

Travis VanStraten stayed hot Saturday, winning his sixth, and second straight, IMCA Stock Car feature of the year at the 10th annual Bud Lynn Memorial Night at the Shawano Speedway.

Third-generation racer Brock Saunders led all but one lap and won his first ever IMCA Sport Mod feature.

Tim Rothe led throughout the Late Model feature for his second win of the season.

Marcus Yarie won his third IMCA Modified feature of the season. Grant Kastning led from start to finish to win his second Mighty Four feature of the season.

Late Models

Rothe led the duration of the Late Model feature holding off the likes of Troy Springborn, Tom Naeyaert and Kurt Moeller. The race went green from start to checkered.

IMCA Modifieds

Tony Wedelstadt took off from his pole position to grab the lead at the start of the IMCA Modified feature. Wedelstadt quickly began to receive pressure from Jerry Muenster and Cody Hudson.

Yarie, who started in eighth, reached the top four by lap four. A caution on lap six bunched the field up. On the restart Wedelstadt continued to lead with Hudson in second and Yarie moving up to third.

On lap 10 Yarie overtook Wedelstadt to grab the lead. Yarie would lead the rest of the race to secure his third feature win of the season and extend his point lead. Wedelstadt held off Jared Siefert to finish in the second position. Cody Hudson took fourth.

IMCA Stock Cars

The IMCA Stock Car feature saw Vern Stedjee jump into the lead on the opening lap. Stedjee held the top spot until tenth-place starting JJ Heinz took the lead on lap three.

On lap eight, with Heinz still leading, VanStraten raced past Mike Schmidt into second. VanStraten quickly began to reel in Heinz and was able to take the lead on lap 12.

VanStraten held off Heinz to win his sixth feature of the year and extend his point lead over third-place finisher Mike Schmidt.

IMCA Sport Mods

Saunders led all but one lap of the IMCA Sport Mod feature, but it would not be easy. Saunders went three wide with Don Woller and Jason Jach to grab the lead on the first lap.

Saunders received early pressure from Jach, and then Tracy Wassenberg moved to second on lap five. By the midpoint of the race Saunders had built a nice lead, but it was wiped away after a lap 11 caution.

On lap 12 Jach actually grabbed the lead from Saunders, but Saunders took it back on the next lap. A lap 13 pileup involving Clint Forstner, Tracy Wassenberg, Bernie Miller, Brandon Nygaard, Tyler Thiex, Jake Solin, Weston Frenche, Lucas Lamberies and Don Woller brought out a red flag and bunched the field together again.

On the restart, Saunders began to receive pressure from Jordan Bartz. Another caution after lap 18 created a two-lap shootout for the finish. Saunders rode the high line to his first career victory, holding off Bartz and Jach for the win.

Mighty Fours

In Mighty Four action, Kastning led every lap for his second win of the season. Scott Blanke took second followed by Jeff Behm.

Spectator Eliminators

The four-cylinder race saw Brian Welch win. Duell Pecha finished second and survived a nasty rollover.

Scott Williams beat Jordan Lessor in the V8 finale.

This Week

Saturday night will be Autism Awareness Night sponsored by Cody Hudson. There will also be a free corn roast under the grandstand after the night’s races along with live music. More information is available online at www.shawanospeedway.net.