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ATTENTION: SPORTS/MOTORSPORTS

By: Bert Lehman

Ritchie collects first WISSOTA Late Model feature win at Shawano Speedway

Shawano, WI (May 30, 2009) - Defending WISSOTA Late Model track champion Justin Ritchie raced his way to his first WISSOTA Late Model feature win of the year at Shawano Speedway on Saturday night. Kyle Lentz added his name to the record books, winning his first ever IMCA Modified feature at the speedway. John Heinz won his third IMCA Stock Car feature, while Tracy Wassenberg won his first IMCA Sport Mod feature of the year. Brett Swedberg returned to victory lane, winning his second Fastrak Late Model feature.

At the drop of the green flag in the WISSOTA Late Model feature, Justin Ritchie took the lead over Craig Bartz, Tim Buhler, Paul Parker and A.J. Diemel. Diemel dropped Parker to fifth on the next lap and grabbed the third spot two laps later. As Ritchie pulled out to a slight lead, Diemel used an outside pass on Buhler to grab the second spot. Over the next several laps, Diemel closed the gap on Ritchie and caught him halfway through the race.

Ritchie and Diemel pulled away from the rest of the field, as Diemel remained on Ritchie’s rear bumper. A caution with five laps remaining bunched up the field. Ritchie continued to lead on the restart with Diemel, Parker, Chad Mahder and Buhler following. As the white flag waved, Diemel jockeyed for position on the track looking for a way to take the lead. Diemel jumped to the outside of Ritchie entering turn three and was able to pull alongside the leader, but Ritchie was up to the challenge. A caution ended the race, though, with Ritchie taking the win with Diemel, Parker, Mahder and Ryan Huettl following.

After an early race caution in the IMCA Modified feature, Kyle Lentz jumped out to the lead on the restart with David Diemel, Brandon Czarapata, Eddie Muenster and Jason Czarapata following. As Lentz pulled out to a small lead, Diemel, Brandon Czarapata and Muenster battled in a three-car pack. Muenster grabbed the second spot at the race’s midpoint only to give the spot to Brandon Czarapata after a lap 11 restart.

Once in second, Brandon Czarapata caught Lentz and jumped to the high-side in an attempt to take the lead. Lentz fended him off, maintaining the lead. With the laps winding down, Lentz, Brandon Czarapata and Jared Siefert raced in a tight three-car pack. Lentz was up to the challenge, taking his first IMCA Modified feature win at the speedway. He was followed by Brandon Czarapata, Siefert, Muenster and Mike Mullen.

In the IMCA Stock Car feature Dan Michonski quickly took the lead with John Heinz, Alan Gast, Mike Asenbrener and Rod Snellenberger following. Snellenberger ducked onto pit lane on the next lap, and the caution flag waved one lap later. Michonski maintained the lead on the restart, but eventually waged a two lap side-by-side battle with Heinz. Heinz took the lead on lap seven and pulled out to a slight lead.

While Heinz was in control of the top spot, Michonski and Gast followed, with Barry Van Straten and Nate Michonski racing for fourth. A caution with five laps remaining allowed Shawn Wagner to join the top five. Gast faded over the last two laps allowing Wagner and Van Straten to move up positions. But it was all Heinz, as he cruised to the win.

Dan Wanta took the top spot on the first lap in the Fastrak Late Model feature with Todd Casper, Brett Swedberg, David Fieber and Jeff Curtin following. Wanta raced to a small lead as Swedberg, Fieber and Curtin all made their way by Casper. Swedberg began running down Wanta midway through the race. As Wanta approached slower traffic, it allowed Swedberg, Fieber and Curtin to catch the leader.

As they raced into turn three on lap 13, Wanta chose the wrong lane and got bottled up behind the slower cars. This opened the door for Swedberg, Fieber and Curtin to pass Wanta. Once in the lead Swedberg built himself a small lead before Fieber began closing in on the leader. When the checkers waved, it was Swedberg taking the win.

Jason Jach led the first three laps of the IMCA Sport Mod feature before Tracy Wassenberg moved into the top spot. Tim Jorgenson was picking his way through the field, and took over the runner-up spot on lap six. Once in second, Jorgenson began chipping away at Wassenberg’s lead.

While Clint Forstner and Matt Oreskovich joined the top five party, Jorgenson jumped to the high-side to challenge for the lead. He tried the outside pass with three laps remaining, but couldn’t make it stick. On the last lap Jorgenson drove into turn one on the outside of Wassenberg to take the lead for a moment. Wassenberg battled back and the two raced side-by-side down the backstretch. Wassenberg once again took control of the lead and went on to the victory over Jorgenson, Forstner, Johnny Whitman and Oreskovich.

Racing action continues Saturday, June 6 with racing getting underway at 6 p.m. For more information about Shawano Speedway, visit www.shawanospeedway.net.

RACING SUMMARY

WISSOTA LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Justin Ritchie, 2)A.J. Diemel, 3)Paul Parker, 4)Chad Mahder, 5)Ryan Huettl, 6)Chris Oertel, 7)Tim Buhler, 8)Craig Bartz, 9)Gordie Seegert, 10)Troy Springborn. FIRST HEAT: 1)Buhler, 2)Mahder, 3)Oertel. SECOND HEAT: 1)Diemel, 2)Ritchie, 3)Parker.

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE: 1)Kyle Lentz, 2)Brandon Czarapata, 3)Jared Siefert, 4)Eddie Muenster, 5)Mike Mullen, 6)Jason Czarapata, 7)Tim Van De Hei, 8)David Diemel, 9)Jerry Wilinski, 10)Brad Rohloff. FIRST HEAT: 1)Lentz, 2)Mullen, 3)J. Czarapata. SECOND HEAT: 1)Ron Figlinski, 2)Jerry Muenster, 3)Van De Hei. THIRD HEAT: 1)Diemel, 2)Travis Spaulding, 3)E. Muenster.

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: 1)John Heinz, 2)Dan Michonski, 3)Shawn Wagner, 4)Barry Van Straten, 5)Alan Gast, 6)Greg Gutt, 7)Nate Michonski, 8)Mitchell Stankowski, 9)Mike Brehmer, 10)Al Umentum. FIRST HEAT: 1)Heinz, 2)Ron Otto, 3)Michonski. SECOND HEAT: 1)Larry Karcz Jr., 2)Rod Snellenberger, 3)Mark Schuenemann.

FASTRAK LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Brett Swedberg, 2)David Fieber, 3)Jeff Curtin, 4)Dan Wanta, 5)Mike Stangl, 6)Aaron Wickersheim, 7)Justin Hirt, 8)Joel Bennett, 9)Joe Reuter, 10)M.J. McBride. FIRST HEAT: 1)Curtin, 2)Reuter, 3)Stangl. SECOND HEAT: 1)Hirt, 2)Todd Casper, 3)Swedberg.

IMCA SPORT MOD FEATURE: 1)Tracy Wassenberg, 2)Tim Jorgenson, 3)Clint Forstner, 4)Johnny Whitman, 5)Matt Oreskovich, 6)Jason Jach, 7)Aaron Holiday, 8)Chad Nelson, 9)Mike Czarapata, 10)Travis Van Straten. FIRST HEAT: 1)Whitman, 2)Chad Guyette, 3)Jorgenson. SECOND HEAT: 1)Forstner, 2)Wassenberg, 3)Van Straten.