Once again, it wasn’t ideal racing weather at Shawano Speedway Saturday night, but the show did go on. Despite about 10 minutes of sprinkling which didn’t interrupt the racing program, the rain was avoided, but the cold weather was not.
I am a die-hard race fan and have attended races in many types of weather. That said, I am looking forward to a race night when there is warmer weather.
Now on to the action on the track, and there was plenty of action on the track.
Troy Springborn put the bad luck from opening weekend behind him, as he won the WISSOTA Late Model feature. Paul Parker had another impressive second place finish in the feature.
Mark last week’s races on your calendar when we look at the point standings at the end of the year. That’s because Ron Berna was on his way to a top three finish when he was involved in an incident with Aaron Holiday while battling for second place. Berna was ruled the cause of the accident and put to the back on the restart. He rebounded to finish eighth in the feature.
Say he would have finished third without the incident, the difference between third and eighth place is five points in the standings. It’s just something to file in the back of your mind until the end of the season.
It was a tough break for Holiday, a rookie in the WISSOTA Late Model division. It was the second feature in a row in which his night ended in the turn three and four wall.
Craig Bartz made his first appearance at the Speedway this year in the WISSOTA Late Model division. His night didn’t get off to a good start when the air cleaner cover flew off his car before his heat race started. This forced him to the pits before he even took the green flag. He did finish 13th in the feature.
Jake Redetzke, who is from western Wisconsin, was on hand last week. He usually makes the trip to Shawano Speedway once or twice a year. And he usually finishes in the top five. That was the case again last week as he finished third in the WISSOTA Late Model feature.
The IMCA Modified feature was a race of attrition. Almost half the field fell out of the race for a variety of reasons, with a rough track being one of the reasons.
Charlie Wild was poised to make a run at the lead late in the race when it appeared he broke a tie-rod in the right front of his race car with only a couple laps remaining. Former track champion Jerry Wilinski made his way back to victory lane in the feature.
The brothers of Dan and Nate Michonski were the class of the field in the IMCA Stock Car division as they finished first and second in the feature. I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t the only time this year they finish first and second.
Brandon Czarapata has had nothing but bad luck so far in 2012. Opening week he was running near the front of the feature but had to pull into the pits with motor issues. Then last week he was running in the top three with only a few laps remaining, when he and Barry Van Straten made contact on a restart. The contact was severe enough to force Czarapata to retire from the race.
Tracy Wassenberg, who won the first-ever Shawano Speedway IMCA Northern SportMod track championship, returned to victory lane.
Cody Hudson was in position for a top three finish when he spun by himself late in the race. He eventually finished sixth.
An IMCA Northern SportMod driver who has impressed me so far this year is Jordan Barkholtz. He finished fourth in the feature last week, and fifth opening night.
Brothers also finished first and second in the FASTRAK Late Model feature. Joel Bennett won his second straight feature, while his brother Aaron Bennett finished second. Tim Bennett, another brother, also raced in the feature but retired early and finished 11th.
This is Aaron Bennett’s first season in the FASTRAK Late Model division after racing the last several seasons in the WISSOTA Late Model division. He has looked good so far in the division, racing the car former FASTRAK Late Model driver Bob Schmidt used to race.
See you at the track.