Ritchie wins thrilling WISSOTA Late Model feature at Shawano Speedway
By: Bert Lehman

            Shawano, WI (July 3, 2010) – The weather was hot and so was the action on the track Saturday night at Shawano Speedway. Justin Ritchie won his first WISSOTA Late Model feature of the year in a thrilling race. Eric Scribner won his second IMCA Modified feature, while Mike Schmidt won his first ever feature in the IMCA Stock Car division. A.J. Diemel was back in victory lane in the FASTRAK Crate Late Model division. Troy Jerovetz won his first IMCA Northern SportMod feature.

            Todd Frank jumped out to the quick lead in the WISSOTA Late Model feature with Justin Ritchie, Craig Bartz, Chris Oertel and Terry Anvelink following. It stayed that way until lap six when Oertel grabbed the third spot from Bartz. Ritchie began gaining on Frank over the next several laps.

            By lap twelve Ritchie began putting heavy pressure on Frank for the lead, engaging in side-by-side battles several times. Ritchie finally made the pass with five laps remaining. Frank stayed with Ritchie and made the pass for the lead on the high-side in turns three and four as they headed for the white flag. While in the lead on the last lap, Frank tagged the wall in turns one and two and came to a stop in turn two, bringing out the caution. The win went to Ritchie with Oertel, Bartz, Gordie Seegert and Troy Springborn following.

            The IMCA Modified feature turned out to be a “High, Wide and Handsome” race with the high groove the preferred line. Eric Scribner quickly gathered the lead at the drop of the green flag over Jamie Schmidt, Tim Van De Hei, Lance Arneson and Marcus Yarie. Arneson grabbed the third spot on lap three and the second spot one lap later. A caution on lap five slowed the action.

            Scribner continued to lead on the restart with Van De Hei, Arneson, Yarie and Schmidt following. Yarie took the third spot midway through the race, and the second spot four laps later. Yarie ran down Scribner and began applying heavy pressure for the lead with two laps remaining. Scribner was up to the challenge as he took the win.

            Rookie Mike Schmidt used his front row starting spot to jump into the lead in the IMCA Stock Car feature. Schmidt maintained the lead after a lap six restart, leaving Greg Gutt, Vern Stedjee, Larry Karcz Jr., and Rod Snellenberger all in pursuit. Midway through the race Gutt pressured Schmidt for the lead for five straight laps, even pulling alongside him a couple times but couldn’t make the pass stick. Another caution with six laps remaining slowed the action.

            On the restart Dan Michonski pulled alongside Schmidt for the lead and the two raced side-by-side for two laps with Schmidt up to the challenge. On the last lap the top five cars raced in a close pack with Shawn Wagner taking his turn at Schmidt, but to no avail. It was Schmidt holding on for the win over Wagner, Karcz Jr., Michonski and Snellenberger. After the race Larry Parshen claimed Schmidt’s motor. Schmidt took the cash. Chris Loewenhagen also claimed Dan Michonski’s carburetor. Michonski chose to swap carburetors.

            Terry Gorst led the first five laps of the FASTRAK Crate Late Model feature when A. J. Diemel and Jeff Curtin made it three-wide for the lead. Diemel came out ahead in that battle before the caution flag waved.

            Diemel continued to lead on the restart with Dave Fieber, Brett Swedberg, Curtin and Joel Bennett following. Curtin got by Swedberg after a lap 17 restart. It was all Diemel, though, as he cruised to the win.

            In the IMCA Northern SportMod feature Don Woller led the first three laps when Troy Jerovetz grabbed the top spot with Jason Jach following. Chuck Forstner joined the top five on lap eight. The caution flag waved with five laps remaining.

            With Jerovetz still in the lead, Travis Van Straten moved to second on the restart, Forstner to third and Johnny Whitman to fifth. Forstner moved passed Van Straten with two laps remaining, but there was no catching Jerovetz who took home the win.      

The Speedway will resume its season, Saturday, July 10, 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)Justin Ritchie, 2)Chris Oertel, 3)Craig Bartz, 4)Gordie Seegert, 5)Troy Springborn, 6)Ron Berna, 7)Tom Naeyaert, 8)Ryan Huettl, 9)Mark Mitchell, 10)M.J. McBride. FIRST HEAT: 1)Todd Frank, 2)Berna, 3)Terry Anvelink. SECOND HEAT: 1)Oertel, 2)Bartz, 3)Ritchie.

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE:1)Eric Scribner, 2)Marcus Yarie, 3)Tim Van De Hei, 4)Lance Arneson, 5)Jason Czarapata, 6)Brandon Czarapata, 7)Jamie Schmidt, 8)Jerry Muenster, 9)Eddie Muenster, 10)Tom Schaal. FIRST HEAT: 1)Yarie, 2)Scribner, 3)Schaal. SECOND HEAT: 1)Van De Hei, 2)B. Czarapata, 3)Brad Rohloff.

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE:1)Mike Schmidt, 2)Shawn Wagner, 3)Larry Karcz Jr., 4)Dan Michonski, 5)Rod Snellenberger, 6)Greg Gutt, 7)Mitchell Stankowski, 8)Devin Snellenberger, 9)Harley Simon, 10)Adam Clark. FIRST HEAT: 1)Barry Van Straten, 2)Alan Gast, 3)Stankowski. SECOND HEAT: 1)Karcz Jr., 2)Vern Stedjee, 3)Wager. THIRD HEAT: 1)Gutt, 2)Schmidt, 3)Snellenberger. FOURTH HEAT: 1), 2), 3).

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

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD FEATURE:1)Troy Jerovetz, 2)Clint Forstner, 3)Travis Van Straten, 4)Jason Jach, 5)Johnny Whitman, 6)Dave Stoffer, 7)Don Woller, 8)Joey Taycher, 9)Matt Oreskovich, 10)Chad Guyette. CONSI: 1)Matt Oreskovich, 2)Les Yeager. FIRST HEAT: 1)Taycher, 2)Jerovetz, 3)Stoffer. SECOND HEAT: 1)Forstner, 2)Greg Magsam, 3)Jach. THIRD HEAT: 1)Guyette, 2)Don Woller, 3)Van Straten