Lamberies rules Shawano IMCA Modified main

By Joe Orsini

SHAWANO, Wis. (May 27, 2023) – Former track champion Lucas Lamberies reigned in Saturday’s Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature at Shawano Speedway.

The main event saw ageless wonder Jerry Muenster start on the pole. When the green dropped, though, outside polesitter Nicholas Holtger launched into the early lead while Jeremie Hedrick put his familiar C19 machine into the runner-up spot.

That lead duo set the pace for the first nine laps until caution flew, restacking the field. The ensuing restart had Holtger lead Hedrick, Jordan Bartz, Lamberies and Marcus Yarie back to racing speeds.

Lamberies and Bartz wasted no time and worked to the front, where they traded the top spot back and forth with each driver having to run low or high in the door-to-door scrap. Lamberies eventually locked up sole possession of the lead and held on when the double checkers flew.

Bartz settled for a hard-fought second, Yarie claimed third and Konner Wilinski charged from ninth on the starting grid to round out the top four.

Travis Van Straten proved to still be the ruler of the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars at Shawano Speedway.

Travis Welch took advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead at the drop of the green.  His time at the top of the field was short lived however as Van Straten knifed through the field and into the lead in three laps after rolling off 10th from the starting grid.

With Van Straten comfortably holding the point, the battle behind him got hot and heavy and proved why the class is dubbed Too Tough To Tame as the pack fell into a dogfight with Dan Michonski working his way through the field and into the runner-up spot by lap seven.

The second place positioning came under heavy fire as Kyle Frederick ran up to third and put his 50F machine to work on the low side, hugging the infield tires while Michonski tickled the tulips on the high side.

That pair waged a door to door war until disaster struck on lap 17, when the duo tried to run side-by-side inside a lapped car in turn three.  The resulting contact sent both racers into a spin with Michonski coming out the worse for wear and retiring from the event while Frederick restarted at the tail of the field.

The restart with three laps to go saw Van Straten lead Vern Stedjee, Shawn Wagner and Tyler Wendt back to green flag conditions.  Van Straten picked up where he left off and topped the final circuits of the race.

Jeff Kropp took advantage of the late restart to mount a furious charge to second, Wagner held on to third while Stedjee completed the top four.

Tyler Sobiesczyk could argue for the title of “Prince of the Half Mile” with a dominating performance in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main event.

Sobiesczyk  dropped the hammer at the green and shot into the lead immediately. Max Oreskovich tried to play usurper to the throne as he raced his 75 car from eighth into the second spot by lap four. 

When the caution flew on lap 12 it looked as if Oreskovich had the opportunity to give Sobiesczyk a fight as that pair led JJ Vander Loop, Jeffery Teske and Dustin Wudstrack back to speed.

Oreskovich, however, fell prey to the restart as Teske worked past him and into second. That pair fought each other over the closing laps with Oreskovich grabbing the runner-up spot with three laps to go.

Sobiesczyk led from green to checkers while Oreskovich ran out of time to run him down. Teske settled for third and Vander Loop brought his car home fourth.  

Shawano Speedway is back in action Saturday, June 3 with Hall of Fame Night presented by Auto Select. Gordie Seegert and Eddie Muenster will be inducted into the hall of fame at intermission.

Racing kicks off at 6 p.m.