The Scoop
TEMPERS FLARE IN SHAWANO STOCK CAR OPENER
Posted on: Monday April 27, 2026
Shawano Speedway official Jay Flaig (flannel shirt) steps in between IMCA stock car drivers Travis Spaulding (right) and race winner Trent Nolan following last lap contact between the two racers.
Shawano Speedway’s Dirt Kings late model series opener Saturday was this scribe’s first race of 2026.
A fairly decent crowd turned out for the lid-lifter at the historic half-mile. Perhaps it was the Dirt Kings appearance? Opening night? Whatever the case, a healthy crowd turned out in weather conditions that turned out a bit chilly towards the end of the night.
The track had some “character” to it. In fact, the grader made a trio of appearances during the course of the night in between divisions running. With all the rain our region received in the past couple of weeks, it’s not a surprise. And, the fact that no practice laps were held. It’s a tough gig, either way. The attitude by most in the pits I talked to was “hey, at least we are racing.”
Of note – defending Midwest Truck Series champion Brandon Reichenberger was in the perch, throwing the flags at Shawano for the divisions supporting the DK. Reichenberger has morphed into a true “Swiss Army Knife” of sorts in the racing community. Not only does he race multiple divisions, he’s announced and even last year, he’s added flagging to his resume.
Random Lake veteran Brad “JJ” Mueller hustled up to Shawano after shaking down his pavement super late model at Slinger Super Speedway earlier in the day. Mueller wound up 12th in the Dirt Kings A main, which was won by Turk Letizia, who led every lap from the front row. 18 late models were in attendance.
The IMCA stock car feature finish got the crowd fired up. Greenville veteran Travis Spaulding led a bulk of the contest, fending off stiff challenges from hometown Ace Trent Nolan. As the pair ducked into turn one on the white flag lap, Nolan muscled his way inside of Spaulding in corners 1 and 2. It looked like the favor was “returned” in turns 3 and 4, as contact between the two leaders sent Nolan spinning.
Hometown driver Trent Nolan was awarded the IMCA stock car feature win at Shawano Speedway after last lap contact with Travis Spaulding sent Nolan’s racer into a spin.
Track officials deemed Spaulding as the cause of the caution, and the victory was awarded to Nolan. The announcement by track announcer Dave Buss elicited a chorus of both cheers and jeers. The two had a “discussion” about the incident afterwards.
A few observations from scanning MyRacePass over the weekend. Very little “new blood” in any divisions that I noticed. On dirt, it’s tough to find a true “starter class” as even the four-cylinder cars aren’t even really a “bare bones,” affordable starter division. But, there are more than enough (most likely TOO many classes) in weekly racing. But, that proverbial Genie is out of the bottle.
Shawano added street stocks to their regular program Saturday, but only four showed up. Perhaps a lack of getting the word out? I didn’t realize they hosted the class myself until the day prior.
DOUBLED DOWN – Two drivers picked up a pair of feature wins over the weekend. Casco’s Coy Vlies scored both IMCA northern sportmod features at Luxy Raceway and 141 Speedway, while Denmark’s Cole Czarneski picked up the mod win in Luxemburg Friday, and the stock car victory at 141 Saturday.
Opening night car count totals (source is MyRacepass)
Shawano Speedway – 97 cars, 6 divisions (16 car average per class)
141 Speedway – 173 cars, 6 divisions (29 car average per class)
Plymouth Dirt Track – 102 cars, 4 divisions (25 car average per class)
Luxy Raceway – 106 cars, 5 divisions (21 car average per class)
Gravity Park USA – 52 cars, 6 divisions (8.6 car average per class)
Moving forward, is the car count situation something to be concerned about? Currently in our sport, the back gate (drivers & pit crew members) continues to be much healthier than the front gate (the fans) in terms of sheer numbers.
Granted, the April weather wasn’t close to ideal, as it was gloomy and overcast. Some old school folks like myself will always lament about the “Good Ol’ Days” when two or three divisions was all it would take to put on a great show.
These days, however, with the weekly shows very much back gate driven, and profit margins for promoters razor thin if any at all, in some situations promoters are almost forced to add these classes. Gravity Park USA, for example, added the LS late model division this year. That class did not run on opening night, however.
Will racers (and fans) simply stick closer to home this year? Time will tell. The situation in Iran does have an effect to a certain extent on fuel prices back home.
This coming Friday, May 1 Outagamie Speedway in Seymour will kick off it’s 2026 season. Action at the third-mile, clay oval will get underway at 6:30 p.m. Yours truly will be on the mic. Get out and support your local racetrack IN PERSON whenever you can. Online streaming is ok, but NOTHING beats BEING THERE.
2026 REGIONAL DIRT TRACK FEATURE WINNERS (as of 04-27-26)
(Tracks included, but not limited to: Outagamie Speedway, Gravity Park USA, Luxy Raceway, 141 Speedway, The Hill Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track & Shawano Speedway. We’ll also include feature wins by N.E. Wisconsin drivers scored at other tracks, including out-of-state and series victories. These include both IMCA sanctioned & non-sanctioned wins)
LATE MODELS
Turk Letizia 1
IMCA MODIFIEDS
Cole Czarneski 1
Joel Seegert Sr 1
Lucas Lamberies 1
Johnny Whitman 1
IMCA STOCK CARS
Brett Wenzel 1
Rod Snellenberger 1
Marcus Hoeppner 1
Trent Nolan 1
Cole Czarneski 1
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMODS
Coy Vlies 2
Tony Gates 1
AJ Springborn 1
Brad Buckman 1
UNIFIED DIRT STREET STOCKS
Trey Van Straten 1
Cory Romenesko 1
Todd Berzowski 1
Travis Zirbel 1
GRAND NATIONALS
Nate Ruh 1
Jeff Richards 1
Tyler Kulow 1
FOUR CYLINDERS/IMCA SPORT COMPACTS
Brian Watzka Jr. 1
Cody McLain 1
Autumn Allard 1
TJ Everard 1