Springborn, Schutt & Ritchie Become 2-Time Winners At Shawano
By Bert Lehman 

Shawano, WI (May 1, 2004) - It was a night to become a two-time winner at the Shawano Speedway, as Troy Springborn, Wade Schutt and Justin Ritchie won their second features of the year in the WISSOTA Late Model, IMCA Modified and the Limited Late Model divisions. Jeremy Christians won the IMCA Stock Car feature.

Mark Weisnicht jumped out to the early lead over Tom Naeyaert, Greg Dhein, Ron Berna and Troy Springborn in the WISSOTA Late Model feature. Weisnicht led the first two laps on the tacky and fast half-mile track before a caution came out due to an accident involving six cars. Springborn made his way up to the second spot following Weisnicht on the restart. Springborn pulled alongside Weisnicht on the next lap, before taking the lead one lap later, when another caution came out.

Springborn continued to lead on the restart, with Dhein, Weisnicht, Naeyaert and Nick Anvelink following. Springborn immediately began to pull away from the rest of the field, while Naeyaert began challenging Weisnicht for the third position. Weisnicht eventually fell from the top five, while Anvelink was working his way through the top five. With a few laps remaining, Berna and M.J. McBride were swapping the fifth spot, while Anvelink had worked his way up to second. There was no denying Springborn, though, as he cruised to his second feature win of the season, after starting the race in eighth place. Anvelink, Dhein, Naeyaert and Berna rounded out the top five.

In the IMCA Modified feature, Brian Shambeau jumped out to the early lead over Matt McDermid, Mike Wedelstadt, Lance Arneson and Brad Moeller. Using the high groove, Wedelstadt grabbed the lead on the next lap, as Arneson also grabbed the third spot, and began challenging for second. Over the next couple laps, Wedelstadt pulled out to a slight lead, with Wade Schutt and Eddie Muenster moving up in the top five. A caution on lap five slowed the action. 

On the restart, Schutt ducked underneath Wedelstadt to take the lead, with Arneson, Muenster and Jerry Wilinski following. The rest of the race saw Schutt and Wedelstadt racing side-by-side, with Wedelstadt running the high line, and Schutt running the low line. The two swapped positions several times. Lapped traffic was encountered with three laps to go, forcing Schutt to settle in behind Wedelstadt. Once the lapped traffic was cleared, Schutt was once again battling for the top spot. The two raced side-by-side the final lap of the race, and were still side-by-side coming out of turn four to the checkers. At the line, it was Schutt by inches to win his second feature of the season. Wedelstadt, Arneson, Muenster and Eric Van Iten followed him across the line.

Leslie Slater jumped out to the early lead over Brian Karcz, Rod Snellenberger, Tyler Rassmussen and Jeremy Christians in the IMCA Stock Car feature. Snellenberger wasted no time in taking the lead from Slater on the second lap, leaving Slater and Karcz to battle for the second spot. By lap four, Shannon Volkman came out of nowhere, moving up to the second spot, with Christians soon following. By the time half the race was in the books, Snellenberger had built himself a good lead, while Christians was putting heavy pressure on Volkman for the second spot. Christians grabbed the second spot on the next lap.

Once in second, Christians began tracking down Snellenberger. Using an outside pass, Christians grabbed the top spot with six laps to go, when the first and only caution flag flew. Christians continued to lead on the restart, with Snellenberger, Volkman, Jason Czarapata and Brian Bruechert following. The best battle on the track was between Snellenberger and Volkman, as the two battled side-by-side, with Volkman eventually winning that battle. There was no stopping Christians, as he went on to win his first feature of the year. Volkman, Snellenberger, Czarapata and Larry Karcz rounded out the top five.

In the Limited Late Model feature, Aaron Wickersheim used his front row starting spot to take the early lead over Chad Hohn, Brian Jensen, Mike Kunschke and Gary Janke. Wickersheim immediately began to pull way from the field, when the first caution of the race came out. Wickersheim continued to lead on the restart, with Jensen, Justin Ritchie, Tony Wudstrack and Hohn following. Wickersheim once again began building up a lead. Ritchie took the second spot from Jensen at the midpoint of the race, and set his sight on Wickersheim.

Wickersheim and Ritchie were racing side-by-side when another caution occurred. It was Wudstrack grabbing the lead on the restart, but that lead only lasted one lap, with Ritchie taking the top spot with five laps remaining. It was all Ritchie, as he went on to win his second feature of the year. He was followed by Wudstrack, Larry Drefahl, Janke and Jensen. 

Racing action continues next Saturday night, with the action starting at 6:30 p.m.


RACING SUMMARY
WISSOTA LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Troy Springborn, 2)Nick Anvelink, 3)Greg Dhein, 4)Tom Naeyaert, 5)Ron Berna, 6)M.J. McBride, 7)Gordie Seegert, 8)Tim Buhler, 9)Randy Markwardt, 10)Terry Anvelink. FIRST HEAT: 1)Seegert, 2)McBride, 3)Naeyaert. SECOND HEAT: 1)N. Anvelink, 2)Todd Flannery, 3)A.J. Diemel. THIRD HEAT: 1)Berna, 2)Doug Blashe, 3)Lonnie Hoeft. 

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE: 1)Wade Schutt, 2)Mike Wedelstadt, 3)Lance Arneson, 4)Eddie Muenster, 5)Eric Van Iten, 6)Jerry Wilinski, 7)Brad Moeller, 8)John Berna, 9)Julie McDermid, 10)Greg Stelse. FIRST CONSI: 1)Craig Bartz, 2)McDermid. SECOND CONSI: 1)Van Iten, 2)Joey Braatz. FIRST HEAT: 1)Wedelstadt, 2)Moeller, 3)Schutt. SECOND HEAT: 1)Stelse, 2)Wilinski, 3)Matt McDermid. THIRD HEAT: 1)E. Muenster, 2)Jerry Muenster, 3)Brian Schambeau. FOURTH HEAT: 1)Arneson, 2)Jeremy Hanson, 3)Berna. 

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: 1)Jeremy Christians, 2)Shannon Volkman, 3)Rod Snellenberger, 4)Jason Czarapata, 5)Larry Karcz, 6)Cory Lemirande, 7)Brian Bruechert, 8)Tyler Rasmussen, 9)Greg Gutt, 10)Kyle Fredrick. CONSI: 1)Kevin Lamberies, 2)Jon Wolf. FIRST HEAT: 1)Christians, 2)Fredrick, 3)Rasmussen. SECOND HEAT: 1)Lemirande, 2)Gutt, 3)Bruechert. THIRD HEAT: 1)Volkman, 2)Karcz, 3)Snellenberger. 

LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Justin Ritchie, 2)Tony Wudstrack, 3)Larry Drefahl, 4)Gary Janke, 5)Brian Jensen, 6)Bud Lynn, 7)Jeff Curtin, 8)Bob Schmidt, 9)Dan Thompson, 10)Jeff Doucher. FIRST HEAT: 1)Drefahl, 2)Ritchie, 3)Chad Hohn. SECOND HEAT: 1)Curtin, 2)Aaron Wickersheim, 3)Jesse Peebles.