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Fans will once again be able to vote in the Shawano Fans Fund in 2012

Mother Nature tried to take away a victory from Shawano Speedway on opening night when she brought cold temperatures. In that case racing action took the win. Mother Nature was back last weekend with even colder temperatures. This time Mother Nature took the win, forcing Shawano Speedway to cancel its racing program last weekend.

With the cancelation, I thought this would be a good opportunity to inform fans that the Shawano Fans Fund will be returning in 2012.

This is a fund in which fans donate money for the opportunity to vote for Dirt Late Model drivers from a pre-assembled list. That money is then offered in $500 increments to the leading vote getters if they agree to come to Shawano Speedway and take part in the World of Outlaws Dirt Late Model Series race on Wednesday, Aug. 1.

In 2011, more than $2,000 was raise. This money was split between Chad Simpson (Mount Vernon, Iowa), Jason Feger (Bloomington, Ill.), Kent Robinson (Bloomington, Ind.) and Frank Heckenast, Jr. (Orland Park, Ill.)

Josh Effenberger is once again heading up the Shawano Fans Fund, and he has informed me that in its second year, there have been some minor changes made to the format of the Shawano Fans Fund.

The first change is to add a chance for a local racer to participate in the fund. Any racer from Wisconsin is eligible for fans to vote for with each $5 donation.

“The fans asked for locals racers to have some part of this fund, and we heard them loud and clear,” Effenberger said.

The second change is to start the collection of donations and fan votes later in the racing season.

“We lost numerous weeks of voting and donating early in the season due to weather; so pushing back the start was the best solution,” Effenberger said.

This year the fund will kick off Saturday, May 26 of Memorial Day Weekend, and run up until the week prior to the World of Outlaw race.

Effenberger said so far six drivers that have agreed to participate.

“We are shooting for ten racers, but we are running out of time for them to commit to the fund,” Effenberger said.

The six drivers who have agreed to participate so far are (in no particular order):

Mike Spatola (Manhattan, Illinois). “Opie” had seven victories in his rookie 2011 season in a Dirt Late Model, and won Rookie of the Year in the Northern All Stars Series.

Chris Simpson (Oxford, Iowa). Simpson is coming off two consecutive years finishing in the top three of the Corn Belt Clash Series final points standings.

Ryan Unzicker (El Paso, Illinois). Unzicker is the reigning U.M.P. National Champion, as well as a top three finisher in series points the last 3 seasons.

Morgan Bagley (Longview, Texas). “Mo-Bags” is coming off of a stellar 2011 season with 11 feature wins propelling him to the S.U.P.R. Series Champion in his first attempt.

Jason Rauen (Farley, Iowa). Nicknamed, “Hammerdown,” Rauen has been making a name for himself the last few years, including sitting on the pole of the 2011 U.S.A. Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway.

Dillan White (Crofton, Kentucky). The “Cheeseburger” won the Brownstown (IN) Speedway track championship as well as Rookie of the Year in the U.M.P. Series and Northern All Stars Series in 2010.

Updates on the Shawano Fans Fund can be found by searching for “Shawano Fans Fund” on Facebook.

See you at the track.

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