Scott Owen, Special to the Leader
Well here it is, the first weekend of June. In terms of racing, it means the action on the track is beginning to heat up.
Enough weeks have passed to allow serious point contenders to establish themselves. This weekend should also bring about the much-anticipated season debuts of a handful of drivers.
Jared Siefert, Dan Michonski and Scott Stewart are each slated to make their 2015 season debuts.
Siefert has been a much-anticipated arrival. Siefert, a former IMCA Modified track champion as well as IMCA Modified national champion, has made the move this offseason to the Late Model ranks. Siefert’s father, Art, is a former Late Model driver as well as the 1982 Sportsman track champion at Shawano Speedway. Siefert will be competing in a chassis built by Anvelink race cars. It is the first car from the Anvelink shop in Navarino that will be raced by someone other than Nick Anvelink.
Siefert might take a few weeks to acclimate himself to the new class, but rest assured that Siefert will be a stout competitor sooner rather than later. Siefert and Anvelink working together forms a very formidable duo.
Michonski, a former IMCA Stock Car track champion, will be fielding a home-built chassis he calls an “M-Pire” chassis. Dan is a third-generation racer, hailing from the suburbs of Leopolis. Michonski’s grandfather, “Shorty” Michonski, was a front-runner in the Chicagoland racing scene in the 1950s. His father, Ben, “The Wily Veteran,” has been a great racer in his own right. Look for Michonski to be a threat to win right out of the box and add to “the class too tough to tame.”
Oconto driver Stewart is also looking to join the IMCA Stock Car class this week. Stewart started racing at Shawano back in the 1990s in the now defunct Hobby Stock division. Stewart has raced the past few seasons at 141 Speedway, but has decided to run Shawano weekly, as did his son (Steven Stewart) and brother-in-law (Dustin Loberger).
Stewart is another proven winner whose addition, along with Michonski’s, should make things interesting this summer.
Travis VanStraten, last year’s track champion, has had a virtual stranglehold on the division, though the racing has been hot and heavy throughout the field.
Also look for possible Late Model additions in town in preparation for the $2,000 to-win Late Model show July 13.
See you at the speedway.