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Fans, drivers flock to Shawano Speedway during Memorial Day weekend

It took a month and a half, but Shawano Speedway was finally able to get its second week of racing in the books. It was a great night of racing, with 103 cars on hand as well as a nice-sized crowd.

The fact that 141 Speedway was not racing on Saturday night helped with car counts in the IMCA Modified, IMCA Stock Car and IMCA Northern SportMod divisions. The WISSOTA Late Model division car count was also boosted by a few western Wisconsin drivers. There were 22 WISSOTA Late Models, 21 IMCA Modifieds, 23 IMCA Stock Cars, 11 FASTRAK Late Models and 26 IMCA Northern SportMods.

Western Wisconsin drivers who participated in the WISSOTA Late Model division at Shawano Speedway on Saturday included: Jake Redetzke, Greg Nippoldt and Jake Hurtung. Hurtung won his heat race and finished 16th in the feature. Redetzke finished third in his heat race, but was able to finish fifth in the feature. Nippoldt finished sixth in his heat race and 13th in the feature.

Troy Springborn experienced the highs and lows of racing on Saturday night. He won his heat race, but then couldn’t make the call for the feature, as his car appeared to have motor problems.

Jeremie Hedrick had his strongest showing in his relatively short WISSOTA Late Model career. He won his heat race in convincing fashion and then finished a solid second in the feature.

As previously stated, with 141 Speedway not racing on Saturday night, there were several familiar drivers back at Shawano Speedway including: Jared Siefert, Eddie Muenster, Mike Wedelstadt, Kyle Lentz, Jamie Schmidt and Eric Vaniten. These drivers have been racing at 141 Speedway on a weekly basis.

Siefert had the best night finishing fourth in the feature. Muenster finished sixth, Wedelstadt finished eighth, Lentz finished ninth, Schmidt finished 16th and Vaniten finished 19th.

A name from the past was also on hand, as Brian Thielke is making a comeback in 2011, was also at Shawano Speedway on Saturday night. Thielke is a former Shawano Speedway track champion in the old Sportsman division as well as the IMCA Modified division. He also made a name for himself in the Late Model division. His night Saturday was short lived as he crashed in hot laps and didn’t race the rest of the night. It was a tough weekend of racing for Thielke, as he barrel-rolled his car at Langlade County Speedway in Antigo on Friday night.

The IMCA Stock Car feature was arguably the most exciting feature race of the night. That is nothing new as this division continually provides 20 laps of bumper to bumper and side by side racing. Shawn Wagner and Rod Snellenberger battled closely for much of the race, only to have a late race caution bunch up the field. On the restart, Snellenberger’s son, Devin, moved into second and applied heavy pressure on Wagner on the final lap, but couldn’t take the lead.

Larry Karcz Jr. made his return to the Speedway a successful one as he finished fifth in the feature.

It looks like the FASTRAK Late Model car count is going to be low all season. Wayne Block made his first appearance at the track last week, pushing the car count to 11 cars. Joel Bennett won the feature in dominating fashion.

Clint Forstner was back to his winning ways in the IMCA Northern SportMod division, winning the feature. Tracy Wassenberg turned what appeared to be a bad night into a top five finish. He had to pit early in the race but battled back to finish fourth in the feature.

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