Frank, Muenster capture first Shawano Speedway victories of the year

A bad night at the racetrack is often better than a good night anywhere else on a Saturday night, unless you’re a driver in early May. Seasonable temps greeted the die-hards in the stands as racing returned May 8 for week four at the Shawano Speedway.

The action on the track continues to be some of the best around, as young guns and veterans fight it out for wins each week. This week saw Jeremy Christians, Tyler Sobiesczyk, Todd Frank, Eddie Muenster and Tanner Westphal find their places in victory lane.

The IMCA Stock Cars led off feature action, and like every other week, they set the bar for great feature action. Christians found himself back in the pack to start the feature event with a host of heavy hitters in front of him.

At the front of the pack was an announcer’s nightmare as Mitch Stankowski, Josh Mroczkowski and Dan Michonski battled it out with Kyle Frederick and Chucky Forstner. Mroczkowski grabbed the lead and looked to escape the pack, and for awhile, it looked like he did.

Christians had other plans as he continued to pick up positions and eventually found his way to the runner-up spot. Christians cut into the lead lap after lap until eventually grabbing the top spot. Christians then cruised to another feature win, while Frederick was the best of the rest, grabbing the second spot. Mroczkowski and Trent Nolan rounded out the top four.

The IMCA Sport Mods competed through a caution-filled, time-shortened feature to see Sobiesczyk grab his spot in victory lane. Sobiesczyk tried to check out from the field after each restart, only to have Jayden Schmidt and Zackary Raab brought back to his bumper with each caution.

Each time, the Sobiesczyk car was up to the challenge, leaving Raab and Schmidt to fight it out for the runner-up spot. Last week’s feature winner, Jeffery Teske, joined the battle for second with Schmidt and Raab as Sobiesczyk made his breakaway.

When the checkers flew, it was Sobiesczyk leading Raab, Schmidt and Teske across the line. Max Oreskovich grabbed fifth after charging from mid-pack at the start.

The Late Model division came into the night missing some perennial front-runners as a couple regulars were traveling for other events. To those on the track, that didn’t matter as they still faced tough competition.

Aaron Wickersheim looked to grab a feature win as he jumped to a dominating lead from the front row starting spot. Further back, Iowa’s Frank began his attack by moving into the second spot. Once in second, Frank faced a nearly two-second gap to the leader.

Running the high side of the track, Frank began to move forward and gain on the leader. Frank grabbed the top spot on lap 11 and began to pull away. Wickersheim, determined to grab the lead back, didn’t lose sight of Frank and late in the race had one more shot when lapped traffic slowed the Frank machine. Frank eventually sneaked by the lap car and pulled away for the win.

Wickersheim was second, with Luke Postl, Derek Janke and Joel Bennett completing the top five.

The IMCA Modifieds looked to add to the excitement of feature action; however, Muenster had other plans. That isn’t to say the race wasn’t exciting, and I would love to give Muenster a few more props, but he simply checked out and dominated to the win.

If fans took their eyes off the leader and looked further back, they would have witnessed Konnor and Jerry Wilinski battling with Jordan Bartz and Kevin Feck for the runner-up spot, with positions changing hands lap after lap.

Marcus Yarie, battling mechanical issues all night, was regulated to a 21st starting position in the feature. Yarie and his crew made the right decisions to get the car right as he drove to the top five. When everything settled out, it was Muenster who was victorious, with Jerry Wilinski grabbing third from his son Konnor. Yarie was fourth and Bartz fifth.

Lucas Hacker looked to take the checkered flag in Mighty 4 action as he jumped out to the early lead. Westphal began to give chase and put another plaque on his wall as he moved into the second spot. Troubles for last week’s feature winner, Jason Stueck, brought the field back together as the caution lights illuminated the track.

Westphal wouldn’t let Hacker get away on the restart and was able to get by for the lead a lap later. Westphal cruised to another feature win, with Hacker running second. Brad Wedde continued his strong season with a third-place finish, as Clint Malueg and Tony Everard completed the top five.