Buhler wins 1st feature at speedway in 8 years

The last few weeks at Shawano Speedway have made for interesting racing, as the drivers are fighting to move up the feature point standings.

Tim Buhler scored his first Late Model win at Shawano Speedway since Aug. 4, 2007, Saturday, and Jerry Wilinski won his fourth straight and sixth overall IMCA Modified feature, while Travis VanStraten won his 13th IMCA Stock Car feature.

Wyatt Block won his third IMCA Sport Mod feature. Brad Wedde was victorious for his third Mighty Four feature.

Late Models

The Late Model division did the near unthinkable as the 22 car field went all 25 laps from green to checkered without a caution. Jeff Curtin led the opening two laps of the race before Buhler moved to the inside of Curtin on lap three to take the lead away. Jared Siefert followed Buhler into second. On lap seven, Brett Swedberg passed Curtin to take third with Buhler and Siefert still in first and second.

Buhler soon began to work lapped traffic, while Siefert continued to give chase. Buhler, Siefert and Swedberg formed a pack only separated by a few car lengths as Mike Mullen moved to fourth on lap 14. Buhler would hold off Siefert and Swedberg for the win. Mullen and Troy Springborn rounded out the top five.

IMCA Mods

Unlike the Late Models, the IMCA Modified feature was plagued by numerous cautions. Beetle Bailey led lap one of the race before Wiliski took the top spot on lap two. Wilinski led the rest of the time-shortened race for the win. Lance Arneson made a late race bid for the lead, but Wilinski was not to be denied. Eddie Muenster took third followed by Mark Weisnicht and Chris Engels.

IMCA Stock Car

Trent Nolan shot into the lead on the opening lap of the IMCA Stock Car feature after moving up from his fourth place starting position. Kyle Frederick raced his way to second on lap two in pursuit of Nolan. Dustin Loberger shortly made it a three-car battle in front of the field. On lap eight, with Nolan still leading, Travis VanStraten made his first appearance in the top four. The first caution flag flew after lap 12.

Nolan set the pace on the restart, while VanStraten, Frederick and Loberger went three wide for second. VanStraten pulled even with Nolan and the pair raced side by side for the lead on lap 14. Nolan pestered VanStraten for the rest of the race but could not muster a pass. VanStraten found himself in victory lane again. Nolan had his best finish of the year in second. Frederick, Mike Schmidt and Luke Uttecht completed the top five.

Sport Mods

One week after winning his first career IMCA Sport Mod feature, it looked like Brandon Nygaard would win again. Nygaard grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the race, while Kyle Raddant pursued him. A lap-12 caution flag bunched the field up with Nygaard still in front of Raddant. On lap 13, Wyatt Block moved to third on the track. The following lap Block put the pass on Raddant to take second and set his sights on Nygaard. On the 16th lap, Nygaard’s car got a little too high in turns three and four, allowing Block to charge to the lead of the race and hold on for the victory. Jason Jach and Tracy Wassenberg advanced their positions late in the race to take second and third. Nygaard finished in fourth. Lucas Lamberies was fifth.

Mighty Fours

Carl King grabbed the lead on lap one of the Mighty Four feature and would lead until lap three when King, Calvin Stueck and Aaron Milavitz went three wide entering turn three. Stueck came out of the pack to lead lap three and four before Aaron Milavitz took the lead on lap five. Stueck charged back to the inside of Milavitz on lap seven, only to hit a tire on the inside of the track as the pair was side by side for the lead.

The caution flag flew as Stueck knocked the tire onto the racing surface. Stueck went pitside with damage to his car. On lap eight, Grant Kastning moved to second behind Milavitz. Kastning than began his assault on Milavitz for the lead. Kastning passed Milavitz on the back straight and led lap eight before his car lost power and coasted off the track. Milavitz led the rest of the way and crossed the line in first.

A post-race infraction, though, disqualified Milavitz, giving Brad Wedde the win. Lucas Hacker, Carl King, Hollie Welch and Dalton Nelson finished second through fifth, respectively.

Spectator Eliminators

Brian Welch and Dave Stoffer scored spectator eliminator victories.

Race Summary

Shawano Speedway

Aug. 22

Late Model Feature: 1. Tim Buhler, 2. Jared Siefert, 3. Brett Swedberg, 4. Mike Mullen, 5. Troy Springborn, 6. Nick Anvelink, 7. Ron Berna, 8. Doug Blashe, 9. Tom Naeyaert, 10. Tim Rothe.

Heat 1: 1. Rothe, 2. Berna, 3. Buhler.

Heat 2: 1. Joe Reuter, 2. Anvelink, 3. Jeff Curtin.

Heat 3: 1. Swedberg, 2. Springborn, 3. Mullen.

IMCA Modified Feature: 1. Jerry Wilinski, 2. Lance Arneson, 3. Eddie Muenster, 4. Mark Weisnicht, 5. Chris Engels, 6. Clint Forstner, 7. Jerry Muenster, 8. John Berna, 9. Shawn Frelich, 10. Beetle Bailey.

Heat 1: 1. Wilinski, 2. Weisnicht, 3. Shawn Frelich.

Heat 2: Brian Joski, 2. Eddie Muenster, 3. Kevin Feck.

Heat 3: 1. Mitch Stankowski, 2. Jerry Muenster, 3. Engels.

IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. Travis VanStraten, 2. Trent Nolan, 3. Kyle Frederick, 4. Mike Schmidt, 5. Luke Uttecht, 6. Brandon Gagnon, 7. Dave Rihm, 8. Matt Alvey, 9. Larry Buckwheat, 10. Chris Loewenhagen.

Heat 1: 1. Uttecht, 2. Schmidt, 3. Nolan.

Heat 2: 1. Dustin Loberger, 2. Tom Riehl, 3. Loewenhagen.

IMCA Sport Mod Feature: 1. Wyatt Block, 2. Jason Jach, 3. Tracy Wassenberg, 4. Brandon Nygaard, 5. Lucas Lamberies, 6. Brock Saunders, 7. Jordan Bartz, 8. Logan Fleischman, 9. Brianna Ambroziak, 10. Tyler Thiex.

Heat 1: 1. Bartz, 2. Jach, 3. Jordan Barkholtz.

Heat 2: 1. Kyle Raddant, 2. Lamberies, 3. Thiex.

Mighty Four Feature: 1. Brad Wedde, 2. Lucas Hacker, 3. Carl King, 4. Hollie Welch, 5. Dalton Nelson, 6. Cody Bierman, 7. Lewis Jepson, 8. Heidi Meverden, 9. Clint Hatterman, 10. Grant Kastning.

Heat 1: 1. Welch, 2. Wedde, 3. Bierman.

Heat 2: 1. Calvin Stueck, 2. Hacker, 3. Dustin Urban.