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Diemel, Hedrick, Czarapata, Curtin Win At Shawano Opener
By Bert Lehman
Shawano, WI (April 30, 2005) - With 111 cars in the pit area, the Shawano
Speedway got its 2005 season underway under cold conditions. A.J. Diemel won
the WISSOTA Late Model feature, while Jeremie Hedrick won the IMCA Modified
features. The IMCA Stock Car feature went to Jason Czarapata, with Jeff
Curtian winning the Limited Late Model feature.
Todd Flannery jumped out to the quick lead over A.J. Diemel, Terry Casey,
Justin Ritchie and M.J. McBride in the WISSOTA Late Model feature. McBride
moved up to the fourth spot on the second lap, with Troy Springborn joining
the top five a couple laps later. By lap six, Diemel had pulled up to
Flannery’s rear bumper. Flannery and Diemel battled back and fourth over the
next several laps, with Diemel finally taking the lead just past the halfway
mark. Shortly after that, Cody Grosskreutz spun high in turns one and two,
with Flannery and Casey getting collected in the accident, ending both their
nights.
Diemel began to pull away once the race was restarted, as Springborn moved to
second. Tim Lemirande and Ron Berna, came flying through the field on the high
side, after starting the race in the 14th and 13th spots. Lemirande passed
Springborn for second with five laps remaining before another caution came
out. On the restart, there was an accident on the front stretch, with Ryan
Huettl’s car flipping. He was not injured. When the race was restarted,
Diemel led the rest of the way to claim the victory. He was followed by
Lemirande, Springborn, Berna and Gordie Seegert.
In the IMCA Modified feature, Lance Arneson grabbed the early lead over Tom
Schaal, Eddie Muenster, Mike Wedelstadt and Travis Spaulding. By the end of
the third lap, Wedelstadt had moved to third place, and grabbed the fourth
spot one lap later. Wedelstadt then took the lead on the next lap, while Eric
Van Iten joined the top five running the high-side. With Wedelstadt pulling
way a bit, Jeremie Hedrick was also using the high-side to charge to the
front.
A caution with three laps remaining bunched up the field and made it a
shootout to the finish. On the restart, Hedrick continued to use the high-side
and pulled alongside Wedelstadt. The two raced side-by-side before Hedrick
took control of the race and went on to the victory. He was followed by
Wedelstadt, Benji LaCrosse, Arneson and Van Iten.
Larry Kartz Jr., jumped out to the early lead over Jeff Brehmer, Rod
Snellenberger, Brian Bruechert and Jamie Van Ooyen in the IMCA Stock Car
feature. Bruechert moved to second on the second lap, as he raced Brehmer and
Snellenberger three-wide. Bruechert then began working on Karcz Jr., before
the first caution flag flew. On the restart, Snellenberger flew into the lead,
while Bruechert fell to fourth, and Jason Czarapata moved up to third.
Snellenberger continued to lead until another caution came out with half the
race in the books.
Bruechert grabbed the lead on this restart, as he battled side-by-side with
Snellenberger. Snellenberger grabbed the lead on the next lap, as Bruechert
got loose coming out of turn four. Bruechert didn’t give up, as he once
again caught Snellenberger a couple laps later. The two raced side-by-side for
the next three laps, before Bruechert was able to pull ahead of Snellenberger.
After taking the white flag, Snellenberger got into the rear of Bruechert’s
car, causing it to spin. Snellenberger was black flagged for rough driving,
giving the win to Czarapata. Bruechert, Dan Michonski, Karcz Jr., and Kevin
Lamberies rounded out the top five.
In the Limited Late Model division, Jeff Curtian took control of the race
early. The race was plagued by several cautions. Jesse Peebles was able to
challenge Curtian late in the race, but Curtain was too strong, and went on to
the victory. He was followed by Peebles, Chad Hohn, Rocky Miller and Bob
Schmidt.
Racing action continues next Saturday night, with the action starting at 6:30
p.m.
RACING SUMMARY
WISSOTA LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)A.J. Diemel, 2)Tim Lemirande, 3)Troy Springborn,
4)Ron Berna, 5)Gordie Seegert, 6)M.J. McBride, 7)Terry Anvelink, 8)Pete
Parker, 9)Justin Ritchie, 10)Randy Markwardt. FIRST HEAT: 1)Todd Flannery,
2)Ritchie, 3)Ryan Huettl. SECOND HEAT: 1)Terry Casey, 2)Berna, 3)Springborn.
THIRD HEAT: 1)Tom Naeyaert, 2)McBride, 3)Parker.
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE: 1)Jeremie Hedrick, 2)Mike Wedelstadt, 3)Benji LaCrosse,
4)Lance Arneson, 5)Eric Van Iten, 6)Jon Berna, 7)Eddie Muenster, 8)Eric
Scribner, 9)Travis Spaulding, 10)Brad Rohloff. FIRST HEAT: 1)Hedrick,
2)LaCrosse, 3)Rohloff. SECOND HEAT: 1)Arneson, 2)Jerry Wilinski, 3)Craig Bartz.
THIRD HEAT: 1)Wedelstadt, 2)Scribner, 3)Jim Hanson. FOURTH HEAT: 1)Tom Schaal,
2)Muenster, 3)Travis Spaulding.
IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE: 1)Jason Czarapata, 2)Brian Bruechert, 3)Dan Michonski,
4)Larry Karcz Jr., 5)Kevin Lamberies, 6)Kyle Frederick, 7)B.J. Giese, 8)Jeff
Brehmer, 9)Mike Ashenbrener, 10)Steve Kastning. FIRST HEAT: 1)Rod
Snellenberger, 2)Lamberies, 3)Bruechert. SECOND HEAT: 1)Giese, 2)Jamie Van
Ooyen, 3)Steve Frees. THIRD HEAT: 1)Czarapata, 2)Jon Wolf, 3)Brian Karcz.
LIMITED LATE MODEL FEATURE: 1)Jeff Curtian, 2)Jesse Peebles, 3)Chad Hohn,
4)Rocky Miller, 5)Bob Schmidt, 6)Luke Uttecht, 7)Jeff Deutscher, 8)Dan Hardtke,
9)Jeff Wickersheim, 10)Mark Phillips. FIRST HEAT: 1)Peebles, 2)Aaron
Wickersheim, 3)Mike Kunschke. SECOND HEAT: 1)Curtian, 2)Uttecht,
3)Hardtke.
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