Scott Owen, Special to the Leader
Here we go again. Racing at the historic half-mile Shawano Speedway will return Saturday for the 52nd season.
As always there were a lot of offseason moves by various drivers. Former Shawano Speedway IMCA Modified track champion Jared Siefert has made the move to a late model this summer and will be piloting a Stronglink chassis built by Nick Anvelink.
Clint “Chucky” Forstner, a former track champion in the IMCA Sport Mod class, will be moving up to the IMCA Modified ranks.
Former Mighty Four frontrunner Scott “Point” Blankewill join the field in the IMCA Stock Car class.
Former Shawano Speedway scoreboard operator Kyle Raddant will become the third generation in his family to race at Shawano when he debuts his IMCA Sport Mod this summer. Kyle is the grandson of Willard Raddant and son of Brad Raddant.
There might be some new faces throughout the summer in the IMCA Modified class as they have now allowed quick-change rear ends, which makes it a lot more cost effective for racers to run at different length tracks.
Speaking of modifieds, ageless Jerry Muenster has made a number change this year back to his old number 79.
Previewing the divisions this summer, there is no reason to think that the Late Model class won’t come down to a battle between Ron Berna, Nick Anvelink and Troy Springborn again. Brett Swedberg might be primed to crash the party, though.
The IMCA Modified division could certainly be a battle between Marcus Yarie, Cody Hudson, Eddie Muenster and Jerry Wilinksi. Mitch Stankowski could be a dark horse to win some races.
The IMCA Stock Car class was dominated last year by Travis VanStraten and Mike Schmidt. Expect them to be near the top again, but look for drivers such as Dustin Lobergerand Trent Nolan to have big years also. Former champion Dan Michonski expects to be out with a new car later this summer and will most certainly be fast.
The IMCA Sport mod class might just be the most competitive of all. Last year’s track champ, 16-year-old Lucas Lamberies, has already asserted himself as one of the top racers in the nation in competition in Iowa earlier this year. Lamberies will be pressured by a pair of Jordans, Bartz and Barkholtz, as well as Jason Jach, Brock Saunders and Tracy Wassenberg.
The Mighty Fours typically are the last feature of the night but always put on a good show. Look for names such as last year’s champion, Josh Slewinski, Grant Kastning, Dalton Nelson, Tanner Westphal, Matt Hatterman, Brad Wedde and Lucas Hacker to finish at the top this year. Longtime go-kart pilot Lewis Jepson is also expected to compete this summer as a rookie.
Of course. it’s always hard to predict who will have a big year on the track.
One thing is for certain, I’m ready for racing. I can’t wait until they thunder out of turn four, get on the loud pedal and bring the noise.