Anvelink, Czarneski, Snellenberger, Diemel and Forstner win at Shawano opener

Anvelink, Czarneski, Snellenberger, Diemel and Forstner win at Shawano opener
By: Bert Lehman

Shawano, WI (April 17, 2010) - On a chilly evening, the grandstand was full and 120 cars were in the pit area, as Shawano Speedway kicked off its racing season Saturday night. Terry Anvelink won the WISSOTA Late Model feature, while A.J. Diemel won the Fastrak Late Model feature. The IMCA Modified feature was won by Tim Czarneski, with the IMCA Stock Car feature going to Rod Snellenberger. Clint Forstner won the IMCA Northern SportMod feature.

Starting on the front row, Terry Anvelink jumped out to the quick lead over Chris Oertel, Paul Parker, Nick Anvelink and Jim Rychtik in the WISSOTA Late Model feature. Nick Anvelink got by Parker for third on the third lap with Craig Bartz joining the top five. But as Bartz crossed the start/finish line, a ball of fire erupted underneath the hood of his car, bringing out the caution. He retired from the race.

Terry Anvelink continued to lead on the restart with Nick Anvelink, Parker, Oertel and Troy Springborn following. It stayed that way for the next 11 laps as Nick Anvelink pulled up to his dad’s bumper. The two began weaving through lapped traffic when another caution slowed the action. As Terry Anvelink continued to lead on the restart, Nick Anvelink and Parker made contact, with Parker grabbing the second spot. On a restart one lap later, Nick Anvelink got by Parker for second and set his sights on the top spot. There was no denying Terry Anvelink as he took the win with Nick Anvelink, Springborn, Ron Berna and Oertel following.

Tim Czarneski grabbed the lead over Nick Holtger, Jason Czarapata, Kyle Lentz and Brian Mullen at the start of the IMCA Modified feature. As Czarneski pulled out to a slight lead, Czarapata and Lentz raced side-by-side for the third spot. Czarapata took control of the spot as Lentz eventually faded to outside the top five.

With five laps remaining, Czarneski had built himself a quarter-lap lead, as Czarapata grabbed the second spot from Holtger. Jared Siefert had also been working his way through the pack and worked his way by Holtger on the next lap. Czarapata and Siefert then raced side-by-side with a couple laps remaining. At the end it was Czarneski taking the win, his first feature win at Shawano Speedway. He was followed by Czarapata, Siefert, Holtger and Mullen.

In the IMCA Stock Car feature Brian Bruechert took the early lead over Shawn Wagner, Mike Gilson, Rod Snellenberger and Devin Snellenberger. Both Snellenbergers passed Gilson over the next couple laps, while John Heinz also joined the top five. Wagner pulled up to Bruechert’s rear bumper by lap seven when the caution flag waved.

Bruechert and Wagner pulled out to a slight advantage over the next couple laps while Rod Snellenberger got shuffled back a couple of positions. Snellenberger battled back, catching Bruechert and Wagner, to form a three-car battle for the lead. Bruechert maintained the lead over the next several laps as Wagner and Snellenberger swapped the second spot back and forth. With two laps remaining and Snellenberger in second place, Snellenberger nudged the rear of Breuchert’s car in turn two, giving Snellenberger the opportunity to take the lead. Then entering turn one on the final lap, Bruechert made contact with Snellenberger, causing both cars to get sideways. Snellenberger maintained control of his car and went on to the victory. He was followed by Wagner, Heinz, Dan Michonski and Alan Gast.

An opening lap caution in the Fastrak Late Model feature put an early end to the night of racing for defending track champions Justin Hirt. On the restart A.J. Diemel took control of the top spot with Joel Bennett, Cody Grosskreutz, Terry Gorst and Dave Fieber following. Diemel immediately began to pull away from the field, building himself a half-lap lead by the time half the race was in the books. He cruised to the victory, followed by Fieber, Bennett, Grosskreutz and Jeff Wickersheim.

Clint Forstner led all 15 laps of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature, leaving the rest of the field to scramble for position. Troy Jerovetz ran second the entire race, with the best action taking place between Travis Van Straten, Tracy Wassenberg and Matt Oreskovich. Wassenberg won that battle, finishing third on the slick track with Oreskovich and Van Straten following.

The speedway will resume its season, Saturday, April 24, with the racing action getting underway at 6 p.m.

For more information about Shawano Speedway, visit www.shawanospeedway.net.

RACING SUMMARY

WISSOTA LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Terry Anvelink, 2)Nick Anvelink, 3)Troy Springborn, 4)Ron Berna, 5)Chris Oertel, 6)Paul Parker, 7)Justin Ritchie, 8)M.J. McBride, 9)Kyle Peterlin, 10)Jim Rychtik. FIRST HEAT: 1)N. Anvelink, 2)Oertel, 3)Springborn. SECOND HEAT: 1)Todd Frank, 2)Rychtik, 3)Craig Bartz.

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE:1)Tim Czarneski, 2)Jason Czarapata, 3)Jared Siefert, 4)Nick Holtger, 5)Brian Mullen, 6)Eddie Muenster, 7)Mike Mullen, 8)Kyle Lentz, 9)Jerry Muenster, 10)Jerry Wilinski. FIRST CONSI: 1)Brandon Czarapata, 2)Lance Arneson. FIRST HEAT: 1)Marcus Yarie, 2)Siefert, 3)Wilinski. SECOND HEAT: 1)B. Mullen, 2)Holtger, 3)M. Mullen. THIRD HEAT: 1)Mike Wedelstadt, 2)Czarapata, 3)E. Muenster.

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: 1)Rod Snellenberger, 2)Shawn Wagner, 3)John Heinz, 4)Dan Michonski, 5)Alan Gast, 6)Nate Michonski, 7)Larry Karcz Jr., 8)Mike Asenbrener, 9)Justin Jacobsen, 10)Shawn Havel. FIRST CONSI: 1)Asenbrener, 2)Steven Stewart. SECOND CONSI: 1)Havel, 2)Mark Schuenemann. FIRST HEAT: 1)D. Michonski, 2)Mike Gilson, 3)Devin Snellenberger. SECOND HEAT: 1)Greg Gutt, 2)Wagner, 3)Jacobsen. THIRD HEAT: 1)Heinz, 2)Vern Stedjee, 3)Gast. FOURTH HEAT: 1)N. Michonski, 2)Brian Bruechert, 3)R. Snellenberger.

FASTRAK LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)A.J. Diemel, 2)Dave Fieber, 3)Joel Bennett, 4)Cody Grosskreutz, 5)Jeff Wickersheim, 6)Jeff Curtin, 7)Terry Gorst, 8)Aaron Wickersheim, 9)Brett Swedberg, 10)Wayne Block. FIRST HEAT: 1)Diemel, 2)Swedberg, 3)Curtin. SECOND HEAT: 1)Grosskreutz, 2)Fieber, 3)Justin Hirt.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD FEATURE: 1)Clint Forstner, 2)Troy Jerovetz, 3)Tracy Wassenberg, 4)Matt Oreskovich, 5)Travis Van Straten, 6)Chad Guyette, 7)Kevin Bethke, 8)Eric Arneson, 9)Jason Guyette, 10)Johnny Whitman. FIRST CONSI: 1)Tom Natzke, 2)Jason Raab. SECOND CONSI: 1)Scott Besaw, 2)Joey Taycher. FIRST HEAT: 1)Arneson, 2)Bethke, 3)Dave Stoffer. SECOND HEAT: 1)Forstner, 2)Oreskovich, 3)J. Guyette. THIRD HEAT: 1)Wassenberg, 2)C. Guyette, 3)Johnny Whitman. FOURTH HEAT: 1)Van Straten, 2)Jerovetz, 3)Jason Jach.