B Main to Victory Lane For Michonski on Hall of Fame Night
By Scott Owen
Shawano,WI,6/27/20—Fans came out in droves as the Shawano Speedway honored its two most recent inductees into the tracks Hall of Fame as Bob Maas and the late Mark Mitchell were honored at intermission. Cheers, smiles, and tears were present as family and friends celebrated the careers of these two men. The excitement of the moment was only a precursor of things to come. Matthew Radtke notched his first Shawano Speedway IMCA Sport Mod win, Dan Michonski hustled his way from 17th to first in the IMCA Stock Car feature, Brett Swedberg sailed from 6th to win the Late Model feature in dominating fashion, Lucas Lamberies scored his second IMCA Modified win on the young season, and Jason Stueck made a late race pass to win the Mighty Four feature.
The IMCA Modified feature was the first to the track. Kevin Feck showed the way early on before giving way to Matt Oreskovich as Lucas Lamberies and Marcus Yarie marched forward as well. Lamberies got to the inside of Oreskovich and brought Yarie along to second. Caution flags on laps 14 and 17 brought Yarie to the back bumper of Lamberies, but it would not be enough for Yarie to overtake Lamberies. Lamberies would cruise to victory for the 60th time in his career. Yarie, Mike Mullen, Jordan Barkholtz, and Jerry Wilinksi rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Stock Car class was next to the track. Trent Nolan and Jeremie Hedrick fought for the lead at the start and were quickly joined by Rod Snellenberger and Brandon Czarapata at the front. With Nolan leading, Czarapata took to the outside to pass for the lead on lap 7. Czarapata looked to be firmly on charge when a caution flew on lap 13. Czarapata continued to lead while Dan Michonski steadily worked his way through traffic after starting 17th in the race. Things got really interesting as a late caution after lap 17 meant a two lap shootout would decide the race. On the restart Czarapata’s car seemed to stumble heading down the front stretch. It looked like rush hour traffic entering turn one with Michonski, Nolan, Snellenberger, and Travis VanStraten now overtaking Czarapata. VanStraten made a last lap charge to the inside of Michonski, but it would not be enough as the crowd jumped to their feet to watch the finish. Michonski scored the win followed by VanStraten, Nolan, Snellenberger, and Czarapata.
Joel Bennett took the lead at the drop iof the green flag in the Late Model feature. By lap 5 Brett Swedberg had begun to pressure Bennett for the lead. Swedberg got to the inside of Bennett on lap 8 and quickly began to distance himself from everyone else. Nick Anvelink moved to second lap 10, but Swedberg continued to pull away. In the end it was Swedberg for the win followed by Anvelink, Troy Springborn, Bennett, and Justin Ritchie.
In IMCA Sport Mod action Matthew Radtke grabbed the lead on lap one but was overtaken by rookie John Holtger. Teenage Holtger looked like a veteran as he quickly began to pull away from the field. Holtger’s line around the historic halfmile was only inches from the outside concrete wall. A caution after lapo 13 would wipe away Holtger’s significant lead. On the restart of the race Holtger spun causing another yellow and sending him to the back of the field. Radtke would inherit the lead but had to deal with the charges of Jayden Schmidt and Jeffery Teske. The three cars battled to the end with Radtke prevailing. Schmidt, Teske, Jason Jach, and Cole Magnin completed the top five.
TJ Everard took the lead on lap one of the Mighty Four feature before giving wat to Austin Pingel on lap 2. Pingel continued to lead until lap 9 when Jason Stueck went to his outside to grab the lead. Over the final three laps Tanner Westphal pressured Stueck, but in the end Stueck would hold on for his first win of the year followed by Westphal, Scott Blanke, Brad Wedded, and Pingel.
Racing continues next Saturday night with the Salute to the Veterans. Racing kicks of at 6:00. More information can be found online at www.shawanospeedway.net.
