Manitowoc,WI, 5/6/2016–Manitowoc Mayhem kicked off the 2016 racing season at the Manitowoc Speedway in style. Sport Mods and Grand Nationals joined the touring IRA Sprint Car stars to open the final season of racing at the third mile speed plant. Both Brad Lubach and Travis Arenz survived late race restarts to score impressive feature wins to start their seasons.
Mark Fieber grabbed the lead on lap one of the Grand National feature before a caution flag flew after a tire was kicked out on to the racing surface. When the green flag returned Fieber assumed the lead with Brad Lubach on his rear bumper. Lubach pulled even with Fieber on lap five and used an inside pass to take over the lead on lap six. With Lubach leading and Fieber in second, Brian Gilles, Justin Ericson, and Aaron Streblow went three wide in the battle for third. Eventually Gilles moved into third place with Streblow in fourth. By lap ten Streblow had passed Gilles to move to third. With Lubach continuing to lead the race Fieber, Streblow, and Gilles began a three wide battle for second. Gilles eventually powered his way to second on the track. A late race caution with only three laps left would bunch the field back up. As the final laps ticked away Lubach was able to keep Gilles at bay and go on to score the feature victory. Gilles was forced to settle for second, Streblow took third, Dan Sorce crossed the line in fourth, and Fieber finished fifth.
The Sport Mod feature turned out to be the Travis Arenz show. Arenz gracefully raced his way through a legion of lapped traffic en route to victory. Cody Schroeder gave chase to Arenz for much of the race while Brian Bruechert worked his way from deep in the field up to third place. Suspense built late in the race as the caution came out after lap twenty-three erasing the near straightaway lead that Arenz had built up. Things got even more interesting, as the field of cars sat on the front stretch while the restart lineup was set, the engine of the Arenz machine began to sound quite sour and would barely stay running. Schroeder and Bruechert would restart right on the back bumper of Arenz as the race went back to green with only two laps to go. Despite the sour tone from his engine, Arenz held on to pick up the win. Bruechert passed Schroeder to finish second, Schroeder took third, Nick Schultz took fourth, and Wyatt Block came home in fifth.
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