Springborn & Schutt Each Win Fourth Feature At Shawano
By Bert Lehman 

Shawano, WI (July 10, 2004) - On a night in which the track was tacky and fast, Troy Springborn won his fourth WISSOTA Late Model feature at the Shawano Speedway, in a shortened race due to a large section of the guardrail being torn down. Wade Schutt won his fourth IMCA Modified feature, while Brian Bruechert won his first feature of the year. The Limited Late Model feature was cancelled because of the downed guardrail.

Tom Naeyaert started on the outside of the second row in the WISSOTA Late Model feature and jumped out to the early lead over Jamie Schmidt, Gary Nelson, Mark Mitchell and Doug Blashe. Naeyaert used the outside groove to maintain the lead as Mitchell moved up to third and Troy Springborn, who started 12th grabbed the fourth spot on the second lap. Springborn then pulled alongside Mitchell, grabbed the second spot and set his sights on Naeyaert. 

Springborn gained on Naeyaert over the next couple laps, while A.J. Diemel was making his way to third place and Luke Roffers joined the top five. On lap seven, and Naeyaert still running the high groove, Springborn pulled to the inside of Naeyaert and made the pass for the lead. Naeyaert fought back, racing Springborn side-by-side for the lead, but each time Springborn held Naeyaert off until the race was slowed due to a caution on lap nine. 

On the restart, Springborn continued to lead, leaving Naeyaert, Diemel and Roffers to battle for the second spot. Coming out of turn two, they raced three wide with Naeyaert in the middle. Naeyaert’s car then wound up hitting the guardrail on the backstretch, getting airborne and tearing down around 30-40 feet of guardrail. Naeyaert was not injured in the accident. The repairs to the guardrail were too extensive to be completed on the spot, so the rest of the racing program was cancelled. Springborn was credited with the win, followed by Diemel, Buhler, Roffers and Mitchell.

Greg Stelse used his front row starting spot to grab the early lead over Jerry Muenster, Norm Walbruck, Jerry Wilinski and Brad Rohloff in the IMCA Modified feature. Riding the cushion, Stelse immediately began to pull away from the rest of the field. The best action over the next couple laps was the battle between Walbruck, Jeremy Hodkiewicz, Rohloff and Craig Bartz as they raced in a pack for the third spot on the tacky track. On laps six, with Stelse having a big lead, he spun by himself in turns three and four. No caution came out, as Stelse got going again once the field of cars passed him.

Muenster inherited the lead, with Walbruck, Hodkiewicz, Rohloff and Schutt following. Schutt started advancing toward the front and was gaining on Muenster when a caution came out with five laps to go. Schutt grabbed the lead on the restart, with Bartz following him one lap later. It was all Schutt in the end, as he took home the win. He was followed by Bartz, Muenster, Rohloff and Eric Scribner.

The IMCA Stock Car feature got of to a bit of a rough start, with two cautions over the first three laps. During the second caution, Jeff Brehmer rolled his car on the frontstretch, but he was not injured. When the race restarted, Dan Michonski grabbed the lead with Brian Bruechert, B.J. Giese, Rod Snellenberger and Larry Karcz following. Snellenberger faded out of the top five over the next several laps, while Karcz advanced to third. The top two cars of Michonski and Bruechert pulled away slightly from the rest of the field.

With six laps remaining, Bruechert used an inside pass to grab the lead from Michonski. The two then battled side-by-side with Bruechert holding off Michonski’s challenges. With three laps to go, Michonski edged ahead of Bruechert at the line, as they continued to race side-by-side. This battle went on the rest of the race, with Bruechert barely finishing ahead of Michonski when the checkered flag waved. Bruechert and Michonski were followed by Karcz, Mike Ashenbrenner and Greg Gutt.

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: 1)Troy Springborn, 2)A.J. Diemel, 3)Tim Buhler, 4)Luke Roffers, 5)Mark Mitchell, 6)Gordie Seegert, 7)Doug Blashe, 8)Ron Berna, 9)M.J. Hintz, 10)M.J. McBride. FIRST HEAT: 1)Berna, 2)Tim Lemirande, 3)Seegert. SECOND HEAT: 1)Buhler, 2)Springborn, 3)Mitchell. THIRD HEAT: 1)Roffers, 2)Diemel, 3)Jamie Schmidt. 

IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE: 1)Wade Schutt, 2)Craig Bartz, 3)Jerry Muenster, 4)Brad Rohloff, 5)Eric Scribner, 6)Jeremy Hodkiewicz, 7)Lance Arneson, 8)Norm Walbruck, 9)Eddie Muenster, 10)Roger Van Roy. FIRST HEAT: 1)Bartz, 2)Walbruck, 3)Joe Haferkorn. SECOND HEAT: 1)J. Muenster, 2)Julie McDermid, 3)Brad Moeller. THIRD HEAT: 1)Scribner, 2)Rohloff, 3)Van Roy. FOURTH HEAT: 1)Greg Stelse, 2)Jerry Wilinski, 3)E. Muenster. FIFTH HEAT: 1)Schutt, 2)Hodkiewicz, 3)Ron Figlinski. 

IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: 1)Brian Bruechert, 2)Dan Michonski, 3)Larry Karcz, 4)Mike Ashenbrenner, 5)Greg Gutt, 6)Jeremy Christians, 7)Derrick Bruechert, 8)Kevin Lamberies, 9)Brian Karcz, 10)Jeremy Thiex. FIRST HEAT: 1)Jason Czarapata, 2)Randy Rassmussen, 3)Jeff Brehmer. SECOND HEAT: 1)Lamberies, 2)B. Bruechert, 3)Ashenbrenner. THIRD HEAT: 1)Michonski, 2)Shannon Volkman, 3)Rod Snellenberger. 

LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE: Cancelled due to broken guardrail. FIRST HEAT: 1)Jesse Peebles, 2)Bob Schmidt, 3)Mike Kunschke. SECOND HEAT: 1)Jeff Curtin, 2)Justin Ritchie, 3)Tony Wudstrack.