Anvelink makes first trip count with EWSC late model victory
Kudick, Erickson, Schroeder, Rivest, Bergene, Klumb notch triump
By Jeff Pederson of Pedal Down Promotions
(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) August 19, 2016 – On a night that featured a little bit of everything, from breathtaking last-lap passes and photo finishes to hard flips and multi-car pileups, it was Nick Anvelink of Bonduel who claimed the top prize in the 25-lap Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Late Model headliner Friday night at Manitowoc Speedway.
Making his first start of the season at Manitowoc, Anvelink bested a stout field of 21 Late Models to claim the A main victory in a race which carried an elevated $1,000 first place payout.
In the Modified division Kyle Kudick of Two Rivers held off a spirited last-lap challenge from Eric Scribner of Kiel to claim the 20-lap A main. Justin Erickson of Plymouth nipped Ryan Minster of Sheboygan in a photo finish to cap an entertaining 20-lap Grand National A main.
Cody Schroeder of Manitowoc was the victor in the 20-lap Sport Mod main event, while Brody Rivest of Sheboygan claimed the 12-lap Sport 4 A main in his initial appearance at Manitowoc Speedway this season. Walker Bergene of Whitelaw topped a field of three Thunder Trucks in the A main and Dennis Klumb of Adell came out on top in the main event for the visiting Winged Super Modified division.
After the initial start was negated for a spin involving Charlie Schmidt of Oostburg, outside front row starter Brett Swedberg of Shawano bolted past polesitter Ron Stroika of Mukwonago to take the lead in turn four on the opening lap
As Swedberg pulled away along the cushion, fifth starter Turk Letizia of Milwaukee used the outside groove to work past Stroika in turn two. Meanwhile, Taylor Scheffler of Waukesha was charging his way to the front of field as the moved into fourth place on lap 5 and passed Stroika to assume third two laps later.
Later on lap 7, Mitch McGrath of Waukesha slowed on the back stretch after losing a driveshaft to bring out the first caution flag of the event.
On the restart, a red flag was displayed to the field following a major incident on the frontstretch triggered by chain reaction contact between Justin Hirt of Tigerton, Justin Schmidt of Cleveland, Joe Bongiorno of Milwaukee and Dave Thomas of Franklin. Schmidt ended up flipping in the melee, which forced all four drivers to retire from the race.
After the restart, Scheffler cleared Letizia for third with a low move in turn two and quickly tracked down the high riding Swedberg on lap 8 before seizing the top spot in turn two on lap 9.
Nick Anvelink, who started 12th, moved into third place by passing Letizia on lap 10 before diving underneath Swedberg for second place on lap 11.
As Scheffler caught up to lapped traffic on lap 16, Anvelink cut into the gap significantly moving into challenge for the top spot on lap 18. After running an impressive race, Scheffler’s hopes of gaining the victory came to an end as he slowing with mechanical trouble on lap 20 to bring out another caution.
With Scheffler out of the race, Anvelink assumed the top spot in front of 11th starter Mike Mullen of Seymour in second and Swedberg in third. The former winner of the prestigious George Scheffler Memorial Race at Manitowoc pulled away over the final five years to post his first victory of the season at Manitowoc in his season debut at the track.
Mullen was second, followed by Swedberg in third, seventh starter Kyle Odekirk of Plymouth fourth and Turk Letizia in fifth.
The action was equally fast and furious in an action-packed 20-lap Grand National A main, which featured four different leaders.
Dan Schumacher of Germantown assumed the lead on the first lap from his outside front row starting spot before a spin by Brad Lubach of Kiel brought out an early caution.
On the restart, an eight-car pileup in between turns three and four slowed the pace again. Seven of the eight cars in the involving in the incident where able to return to action, while Chris Gilson of Elkhart Lake was knocked out of the race.
When the race resumed, fifth starter Tyler Kulow of Plymouth moved into the top spot with a low move in turn one with outside second row starter Josh Pierce of Fredonia following in second.
Point leader Ryan Minster moved up from the 12th starting position to battle with Kulow and Pierce for the lead, as the three drivers mounted a spirited duel for the top spot for six laps before Minster slid between Kulow and Pierce to gain the lead in turn two on lap 8.
Minster controlled the race for the next 11 laps, while eighth starter Justin Erickson of moved into second place on lap 12. Erickson steadily gained on Minster over the next seven laps to set up a thrilling battle to the finish on the white flag lap.
Erickson dove underneath Minster in turn two on the final lap and the two determined drivers raced side by side down the backstretch before Erickson again shot low in turns three and four to nudge his way in front of Minster.
When the dust cleared, it was Erickson nipping Minster at the line by half a car length to earn his first victory at Manitowoc Speedway this season. Despite leading the most laps in the race, Minster had to settle for second, Kulow was third, followed by seventh starter Tim Simon of Fond du Lac in fourth and Brad Lubach, who battled back from an opening lap spin to place fifth.
The Modified A main featured an equally fabulous finish courtesy of the fleet tandem of Kyle Kudick and Eric Scribner.
Joel Crowbridge of Union Grove grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag from his outside front row starting spot. On lap 3, seventh starter Kyle Kudick assumed second place and quickly set his sights on the leader.
After the lone caution flag of the race flew on lap 9 for the stalled car of Ben Godlewski of Sussex, Kudick bolted past Crowbridge to grab the lead on the restart.
As Kudick paced the field, Scribner, who started fifth, raced into second place on lap 13 and began to pressure Kudick for the lead. With Kudick running high and Scribner down low, the two dueled side by side to the finish with Kudick holding off Scribner’s final lap charge by a matter of mere feet to claim his second Modified victory of the season at Manitowoc.
Scribner wound up second, followed by Crowbridge in third, polesitter Matt Jackson of Sheboygan in fourth and third starter Joel Seegert of Sheboygan fifth.
Jayden Schmidt of Seymour grabbed the lead on the drop of the green flag from his outside front row starting position of the Sport Mod A main.
Schmidt held the top spot before a red flag halted the race by a four-car incident involving Justin Bauer of Sheboygan Falls, John Rothmund of Manitowoc, Glenn Blanke of Sheboygan Falls and Chad Vetting of Valders. Rothmund spun exiting four turn and, with nowhere to go, Bauer hit Rothmund’s car head on before flipping. Despite the heavy contact, both drivers emerged from their cars without injury.
Schmidt continued to lead when the race resumed, but he quickly began to feel pressure from fifth starter Cody Schroeder. The 2014 Manitowoc Speedway Sport Mod track champion, ducked low on lap 5 to challenge Schmidt for the lead. The two drivers battled door handle to door handle over the better part of the next six laps, before Schroeder finally surged ahead in turn two on lap 11.
Meanwhile, seventh starter Travis Arenz of Sheboygan assumed second place on lap 12 and closed on Schroeder on lap 14. However, Schroeder proved to be too strong as he maintained a solid advantage en route to his first Sport Mod A main victory of the season at Manitowoc.
Arenz was second, followed by sixth starter Travis Hansen of Brillion in third, point leader Brian Bruechert of Kewaunee, who started eighth, in fourth and third starter Hunter Parsons of Green Bay fifth.
In the 12-lap Sport 4 A main, fourth starter Brody Rivest took the lead from second starter Ben Meyerhofer of Menasha on lap 2 and cruised to a comfortable victory in his first appearance at Manitowoc Speedway this season.
Meyerhofer was second, Shaun Bangart, who started seventh, was third, Mike Zitzer of Sheboygan was fourth after starting eighth and Mitch Meier of Chilton finished fifth after starting sixth.
Walker Bergene was the victor in the Thunder Truck A main ahead of Tory Peterson of Sturgeon Bay and Mark Starr of Seymour.
After starting fourth in the Winged Super Modified A main, Dennis Klumb cruised to victory over Keith Anderson of Sheboygan, Keith Borth of Sheboygan, Roy Stern of Hustisford and Bob Brion of Plymouth.
The evening, which drew a field of 86 cars in seven divisions, marked Past Champions and Police, Fire and EMS Night at the Races.
EWSC racing action continues this Wednesday, Aug. 24 with the annual fair race during the Manitowoc County Fair. The racing program will feature Sprint Cars, Late Models, Grand Nationals and Sport Mods with action to begin at 7 p.m.
The final night of racing ever at Manitowoc Speedway will take place the following week on Saturday, Sept. 3 as season champions will be crowned in the Sprint Car, Late Model, Modified, Sport Mod, Sport 4 and Thunder Truck divisions. Racing will begin for the Manitowoc Speedway curtain closer at 6 p.m.
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For more information on Pedal Down Promotions, email pedaldownpromotions@gmail.com, visit www.pedaldownpromotions.com or call 920-323-7970.
LATE MODELS
HEAT 1
1, Mike Mullen. 2, Taylor Scheffler. 3, Ron Stroika. 4, Tim Buhler. 5, Eric
Michaels. 6, Bill Rezutek. 7, Justin Hirt.
HEAT 2
1, Brett Swedberg. 2, Jim Schmidt. 3, Kyle Odekirk. 4, Charlie Schmidt. 5,
Mark Rose. 6, Dave Thomas. 7, Joe Bongiorno.
HEAT 3
1, Mitch McGrath. 2, Turk Letizia. 3, James Letizia. 4, Nick Anvelink. 5,
Randy Markwardt. 6, Justin Schmidt. 7, Derek Janke.
A FEATURE
1, Nick Anvelink. 2, Mike Mullen. 3, Brett Swedberg. 4, Kyle Odekirk. 5, Turk
Letizia. 6, Mark Rose. 7, Tim Buhler. 8, Ron Stroika. 9, James Letizia. 10,
Randy Markwardt. 11, Eric Michaels. 12, Jim Schmidt. 13, Charlie Schmidt.
14, Taylor Scheffler. 15, Derek Janke. 16, Justin Hirt. 17, Justin Schmidt. 18,
Dave Thomas. 19, Joe Bongiorno. 20, Mitch McGrath. 21, Bill Rezutek.
GRAND NATIONALS
HEAT 1
1, Brad Lubach. 2, Tim Simon. 3, Matt Berlin. 4, Josh Pierce. 5, Donny
Kulow. 6, Kodiak Wirtz. 7, Bobby Tackman. 8, Steve Wirtz.
HEAT 2
1, Daniel Schumacher. 2, Gregg Haese. 3, Ryan Minster. 4, Tyler Kulow. 5,
Jesse James Cullen. 6, Michael Gilson. 7, Nick Schumacher. 8, Noah
Wachowiacz.
HEAT 3
1, Jason Dyer. 2, Steven Weber. 3, Justin Erickson. 4, Kevin Lubach. 5, Chris
Gilson. 6, Brett Wachowiacz. 7, Jonathan Otte.
A FEATURE
1, Justin Erickson. 2, Ryan Minster. 3, Tyler Kulow. 4, Tim Simon. 5, Brad
Lubach. 6, Kodiak Wirtz. 7, Josh Pierce. 8, Noah Wachowiacz. 9, Gregg
Haese. 10, Jason Dyer. 11, Steven Weber. 12, Nick Schumacher. 13, Donny
Kulow. 14, Matt Berlin. 15, Kevin Lubach. 16, Brett Wachowiacz. 17, Steve
Wirtz. 18, Bobby Tackman. 19, Daniel Schumacher. 20, Jesse James
Cullen. 21, Chris Gilson. 22, Michael Gilson. 23, Jonathan Otte (DNS).
PROFESSIONAL PLATING MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1
1, Kyle Kudick. 2, Matt Jackson. 3, Eric Scribner. 4, Joel Seegert. 5, Matt
Theys.
HEAT 2
1, Joel Crowbridge. 2, Jamie Schmidt. 3, Randy Markwardt Jr. 4, Jason
Hyerdall. 5, Jeff Bodendorfer Jr..
A FEATURE
1, Kyle Kudick. 2, Eric Scribner. 3, Joel Crowbridge. 4, Matt Jackson. 5, Joel
Seegert. 6, Jamie Schmidt. 7, Jason Hyerdall. 8, Jeff Bodendorfer Jr.. 9,
Matt Theys. 10, Randy Markwardt Jr.
CALIBRE COATINGS UNLIMITED SPORT MODS
HEAT 1
1, Cody Schroeder. 2, Brandon Knepprath. 3, Brian Bruechert. 4, John
Rothmund. 5, Andrew Meyerhofer. 6, Chad Vetting.
HEAT 2
1, Travis Hansen. 2, Travis Arenz. 3, Jayden Schmidt. 4, Hunter Parsons. 5,
Justin Bauer. 6, Glen Blanke.
A FEATURE
1, Cody Schroeder. 2, Travis Arenz. 3, Travis Hansen. 4, Brian Bruechert. 5,
Hunter Parsons. 6, Andrew Meyerhofer. 7, Brandon Knepprath. 8, Jayden
Schmidt. 9, John Rothmund. 10, Justin Bauer. 11, Chad Vetting. 12, Glen
Blanke.
SPORT 4
HEAT 1
1, Ben Meyerhofer. 2, Mike Zitzer. 3, Mike Meier. 4, Mitch Meier. 5, Jason
Dondlinger. 6, Randy Dent.
HEAT 2
1, Brody Rivest. 2, Shaun Bangart. 3, Scott Kafka. 4, Dusty Salm. 5,
Matt DeWilde. 6, Corey Suttner.
A FEATURE
1, Brody Rivest. 2, Ben Meyerhofer. 3, Shaun Bangart. 4, Mike Zitzer. 5,
Mitch Meier. 6, Mike Meier. 7, Corey Suttner. 8, Matt DeWilde. 9, Scott
Kafka. 10, Jason Dondlinger. 11, Dusty Salm. 12, Randy Dent (DNS).
THUNDER TRUCKS
HEAT 1
1, Tory Peterson. 2, Walker Bergene. 3, Mark Starr.
A FEATURE
1, Walker Bergene. 2, Mark Starr. 3, Tory Peterson.
WINGED SUPER MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1
1, Keith Anderson. 2, Bob Brion. 3, Keith Borth. 4, Roy Stern. 5, Dennis
Klumb
A FEATURE
1, Dennis Klumb. 2, Keith Anderson. 3, Keith Borth. 4, Roy Stern. 5, Bob
Brion.