Oshkosh, July 4- A perfect 4th of July day made for another great night for racing Friday night at the Oshkosh SpeedZone Raceway. A big holiday crowd watched a field of 129 cars run another well groomed track that produced three first time feature winners and three repeats. All topped off with a huge fireworks show.
The IMCA Sport Mods started off the feature portion of the program with 21 cars on the grid. Mark Howe set the early pace but it was current point leader, Ryan Besaw the quickly moved from mid pack to the lead by lap 4. A couple cautions on lap 5 bunched the field, but once the green appeared for good, Besaw took off and hid from the pack. The race was for the runner up spot with Steve Schneider, Clint Forstner, Howe, Jon Schultz and Lucas Lamberies.
Schneider finally worked into second by the mid point of the race but Besaw had built a lead that took the last half of the race to cut into. Besaw collected his first ever division feature here. Schneider was closing but ran out of laps to take second. Forstner was third with Colten Van Hierden, Shultz and Lamberies rounding out the top six.
Jeff Wicinski grabbed the top spot for the opening lap of the Outlaw Chassis Street Stocks before Lexii Ashcraft moved into the lead on lap 2. Mark Schultz, Jerry Winkler and Jeff Jungwith were moving to the front from mid pack and by lap 7 were in line behind Ashcraft. Schultz made his move to the lead on lap 8 with Winkler and Jungwirth following. Shcultz continued to hug the inside line and lapped traffic came into play after lap 10. With Winkler tight behind and also running inside, Schultz ran up on a lapped car in turn one on lap 14. Winkler quickly reacted when Schultz had to back off for second and darted outside exiting turn 2, and grabbed the lead. Once in front, Winkler moved away from the pack and ran to his 2nd feature win of the season. Jungwirth was able to wrestle the runner up spot from Schultz on the final lap with Steve Gawaresky taking fourth. Jon Ashcraft and Wicinski rounded out the top six finishers.
The Total Power Sales IMCA Stock Cars were next, and it took a couple tries to get the first lap recorded. But once Rod Snellenberger led the opening lap, the contest ran straight through. Joe Schwister, Randy Schimmel, Travis Van Straten and Justin Jacobsen were running behind. Snellenberger opened quite a lead as Van Straten worked into the runner up spot on lap 6, set out and caught Snellenberger on lap 10 and one lap later was able to take the lead entering turn three. It appeared Van Straten would pull away from Snellenberger at first but Hot Rod had other ideas and stayed outside to keep up with the leader. For the rest of the race, the pair ran nearly side by side with Snellenberger being scored as the lead a couple of laps. Van Straten was running strong on the inside and was able to hold off the challenges to collect his 4th feature win of the season. Snellenberger took second a half car legth back with Jacobsen taking third. David Hoerning, Schwister and Larry Karcz, Jr made up the top six.
Adam Reed led the opening three laps of the Automotive Supply Company IMCA Modified headliner before a couple cautions slowed the pace. The final 17 went green and Mike Wedelstadt took over the lead on the restart and pulled away to run alone at the front to collect his first feature win at he SpeedZone this season. The race was behind the leader and with Reed, Andy Gross, Marcus Yarie, Eddie Muenster and Jeremy Christians battling for the runner up spot. Yarie moved into second on lap 6 and pulled away from third place. Muenster moved into third a lap later and closed on Yarie working into the runner up spot on lap 12. Muenster spent the rest of the race trying to reel in Wedelstadt. Gross battled back and was able to take third with 2 laps remaining.
Wedelstadt cruised to victory lane with Muenster, Gross and Yarie in the top four. Christians and point leader, Sean Jerovetz rounded out the top six.
The Gold Star Racing Product Grand Nationals were up next and ran their most competitive race of the season. John Schultz III took the lead at the start with Ben Stumpf, Tyler Kulow, Tim Reichenberger and Brian Henry behind. Schultz was able to open a lead as Riechenberger and Henry moved through traffic into second and third by lap 6. As the pair closed on the leader, the rest of the pack also closed up with Jeff and Larry Richards with Tom Schneider and Charlie Sancinati joining the fun at the front.
Schultz was running the inside line to perfection, forcing any passing to be done on the outside. Reichenberger and Henry tried 2 and 3 wide runs, but could not shake the leader. On lap 14, Reichenberger pulled alongside Schultz entering turn 1 and slipped up a bit allowing Henry a gap to try to go between the pair making it three wide again. Reichengerger got sideways up high and came down in front of Henry so both had to back off allowing Schultz to maintain the lead and Sancinati and Schneider to get by. There was no contact and both dropped in line with Henry 4th and Reichenberger in 6th. The battle at the front stayed tight with Sancinati, after starting 15th, right behind Schultz on the inside and Schneider making his way on the outside. Schultz and Schneider crossed to get the white flag in a dead heat with Sancinati and Henry right behind. In a tight final lap, Schneider was able to gain the lead and the shuffle continued behind as both Sancinaiti and Henry were able to get by Schultz. After 5 years competing in the division, Schneider collected his first ever feature win here at the SpeedZone, Sanciniati took second with Henry third. Schultz was fourth. Jeff Richards and Terry Van Roy rounded out the top six.
A Lap 2 caution was the only gap in the Ellington Mutual Insurance Dirt Devil feature. Seth Hickman led before and after the caution with Erik Kollmann taking over the top spot on lap 6. By the mid point of the race, Jason Fairbank, Hickman, Kasey Gross, Shaun Bangart and Wes Lungwitz had joined the leader in a tight battle for the top spot. The group ran three and four wide swapping spots. Kollmann help the elad unti Bangart made the outside line work on lap 14, and he led the race for the next three laps before Kollmann was able to retake the spot with four laps left.
Kollmann was able to withstand the pressure and record his second feature win of the season. Gross ended the race taking second with Lungwitz, Hickman and Fairbank in the top five. Jeff Behm rounded out the top six.
A brilliant Fireworks show closed the night of fantastic racing.
The SpeedZone Raceway will be off next week, July 11, due to the Lifefest concert at the fairgrounds. Racing resumes on Friday July 18 with all six divisions in action on Track Sponsor Appreciation Night. They will be joined by the Spectator Eliminators.
The Oshkosh SpeedZone Raceway is a featured member track of www.Racetext.net , a website dedicated to bringing fane the best possible coverage of local short track racing.
SUMMARY
AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY COMPANY IMCA MODIFIEDS
20 Lap feature l. Mike Wedelstadt 2. Eddie Muenter 3., Andy Gross 4. Marcus Yarie 5. Jeremy Christians 6. Sean Jerovetz
12 Lap Consy First l. Joe McGrath 2. Craig Priewe
Second l. Brian Drexler 2. Dennis Schultz
8 Lap Heats First l. Taylor Scheffler 2. John Schultz
Second l. Tony Wedelstadt 2. Yarie
Third l. Mike Wedelstadt 2. Gross
Fourth l. Chris Engels 2. Ed Lemay
TOTAL POWERE SALES IMCA STOCK CARS
20 Lap Feature l. Travis Van Straten 2. Rod Snellenberger 3. Justin Jacobsen 4. David Hoerning 5. Joe Schwister 6. Larry Karcz, Jr
8 Lap Heats Fiorst l. Jacobsen 2. Karcz, Jr
Second l. Snellenberger 2. Van Straten
OUTLAW CHASSIS STREET STOCKS
20 Lap feature l. Jerry Winkler 2. Jeff Jungwirth 3. Mark Schultz 4. Steve gawaresky 5, Jon Ashcraft 6. Jeff Wicinski
8 Lap Heats First l. Frank Knaus 2. Jerry Winkler
Second l. Jonny Ashcraft 2, Steve Ecker
Third l. Wicinski 2. Lexii Ashcraft
GOLD STAR RACING PRODUCTS GRAND NATIONALS
20 Lap Feature l. Tom Schneider 2. Charlie Sancinati 3. Brian Henry 4. John Schultz III 5. Jeff Richards 6. Terry Van Roy
8 Lap Heats First l. Tim Reichenberger 2. Schneider
Second l. Schultz III 2. Jeff Richards
IMCA SPORT MODS
20 Lap Feature l. Ryan Besaw 2. Steve Schneider 3. Clint Forstner 4. Colten Van Hierden 5. Jon Schultz 6. Lucan Lamberies
8 Lap Heats First l. Lamberies 2. Brock Saunders
Second l. Jordan Tuyls 2. Jeff Schmuhl
Third l. Schultz 2. Schneider
ELLINGTON MUTUAL INSURANCE DIRT DEVILS
20 Lap Feature l. Erik Kollmann 2. Kasey Grosds 3. Wes Lungwitz 4. Seth Hickman 5. Jason Fairbank 6. Jeff Behm
8 Lap Heats l. Gross 2. Behm
Second l. Lungwitz 2. Faibank
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