Ritchie Wins Fourth Straight, Then Rain Falls
By Bert Lehman

Shawano, WI (July 3, 2004) - The Shawano Speedway continues to be plagued by rain, as once again, rain cut short the racing program. Only one feature race was completed, with Justin Ritchie winning his fourth straight Limited Late Model feature, his sixth of the season.

Mike Kunschke grabbed the early lead in the Limited Late Model feature, with Gary Janke, Bob Schmidt, Larry Drefahl and Brian Jensen following. Jensen was on the move early, quickly grabbing the fourth spot from Drefahl, and then the third spot from Schmidt on the next lap. Justin Ritchie, who had just joined the top five, began putting pressure on Jensen, passing him and Janke to take over the second spot just before half the race was in the books. 

Ritchie gained quickly on Kunschke, who was still leading, and grabbed the lead just before the caution flag flew. Ritchie continued to lead on the restart, with Jensen, Curtin, Kunschke and Tony Wudstrack following. Ritchie pulled out to a five car length lead over Jensen, but could not pull away any further. That was all the lead he would need, as he went on to the victory. Jensen, Curtin, Kunschke and Schmidt rounded out the top five. 

Racing action will continue next Saturday night, with the action starting at 6:30 p.m. For more information about the Shawano Speedway, visit www.shawanospeedway.com.  

RACING SUMMARY
WISSOTA LATE MODEL FEATURE: Cancelled due to rain. FIRST HEAT: 1)A.J. Diemel, 2)Randy Markwardt, 3)Pete Parker. SECOND HEAT: 1)M.J. McBride, 2)Gordie Seegert, 3)Troy Springborn. THIRD HEAT: 1)Luke Roffers, 2)Nick Anvelink, 3)Tim Lemirande. 

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE: Cancelled due to rain. FIRST CONSI: 1)Joe Haferkorn, 2)Shannon Ninham. SECOND CONSI: 1)Brad Rohloff, 2)Ron Figlinski. THIRD CONSI: 1)Jim Hanson, 2)Jerry Muenster. FIRST HEAT: 1)Frank Heller, 2)Eric Scribner, 3)Tom Schaal. SECOND HEAT: 1)Jeremy Hodkeiwicz, 2)John Peters, 3)Eddie Muenster. THIRD HEAT: 1)Wade Schutt, 2)Craig Bartz. FOURTH HEAT: 1)Lance Arneson, 2)Dave Diemel, 3)Jeremy Hanson. 

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: Cancelled due to rain. FIRST HEAT: 1)Jeremy Christians, 2)Jon Wolf, 3)Shannon Volkman. SECOND HEAT: 1)Kyle Frederick, 2)Dan Michonski, 3)Shawn Wagner. 

LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Justin Ritchie, 2)Brian Jensen, 3)Jeff Curtin, 4)Mike Kunschke, 5)Bob Schmidt, 6)Tony Wudstrack, 7)Eric Derks, 8)Luke Uttecht, 9)Larry Drefahl, 10)Gary Janke. FIRST HEAT: 1)Wudstrack, 2)Schmidt, 3)Ritchie. SECOND HEAT: 1)Curtin, 2)Drefahl, 3)Chad Hohn.