PORTAGE, Wis. (July 12, 2021) – Since the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series began racing at Jefferson Speedway in 2013, more and more of the local track’s top competitors have been ready and waiting for the visiting Super Late Models. This year will be no different as two-time track Champion Shaun Scheel will be making his series debut at his home facility on July 17 in Transport Services LLC Round Three.

Although it is Scheel’s first time racing against the TUNDRA travelers, and Super Late Model racing is still relatively new to him, Scheel will be one to watch.  History has proven that track experience at the tricky quarter mile can be a huge advantage.  Both Casey Johnson in 2013 and Riley Stenjem last season proved so.

There is plenty of momentum for Scheel to work with heading into his TUNDRA debut. He has been the man to beat at Jefferson over the last two seasons and even claimed a win in the Wisconsin State Championships back in 2015.  He also grabbed the Late Model track title at Slinger in 2018.

Scheel, however, has noticed a bit of a learning curve making the move from his Late Model to the Super Late Model division.

“At first I kept asking myself what I was getting myself into. Getting ready for my first race in the car was a lot of work and we definitely took our time getting the car prepared,” Scheel said. “We don’t have a very big crew, typically it’s just my dad and I working in the shop on the cars, so that makes it a little more difficult.”

The liberty of using more technology was also something that Scheel noticed as a big difference. Super Late Models allow some more complexity in the suspension of their cars, bringing forth a whole new set of challenges.  Competing against some new faces has also brought challenges.

“Besides the speed, I would have the say getting the bump stops figured out. That was the majority of the adjustments we made with the car and with the Late Model we don’t have that luxury,” Scheel said. “Also with the bigger field of cars compared to a weekly show, it just made it that much harder to pass cars because the field is so tight.”

Although he’s faced some challenges Scheel is getting more comfortable, and there are few substitutions for being at a track where you know the fast way around.

“Once I finally hit the track, I felt pretty comfortable in the car,” he said. “So far we’ve raced the car twice, at Madison and Jefferson, which are two tracks that I have a lot of seat time in with the Late Model so that helped.”

One thing that has carried over into the Super Late Model racing is the work ethic of Scheel and his team.  It’s the ethic that has led to their success in the past, and the same work ethic displayed by the TUNDRA travelers.

“It takes a lot of late nights in the shop, I’m typically in the shop every night of the week, getting ready for the weekend,” Scheel said. “I feel what really helped our program was racing at other tracks. We started racing full time at multiple tracks in 2017 and since then have claimed three track championships. Just getting more experience and learning new things can translate to more success at your home track.  Another thing that is great to have is a dependable crew, whether it’s a big or small crew, always being able to count on those people to be there every week is huge.”

Scheel hopes his preparation and a little more familiarity with his Super Late Model will lead to success come next Saturday night.  He does have one Super Late Model race at Jefferson under his belt which happened on Memorial Day Weekend.

“My goal is to be able to complete the race and at the end of the race to be in contention to win,” he said. “The last time we raced the car was at Jefferson and we had a very strong car, unfortunately we weren’t able to qualify so I had to race my way in and start pretty deep in the field, but we passed a lot of cars and showed that we had a very good car.”

If previous history is any indication, experience at Wisconsin’s Action Track coupled with some more Super Late Model experience could lead to an excellent showing for the reigning track Champion when TUNDRA comes to town.

The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series head to Jefferson for Transport Services LLC Round Three next Saturday, July 17.  TUNDRA will be joined by the Hobby Stocks, Bandits, and Road Warriors. Qualifying is at 5 pm with racing beginning at 7 pm.

Jefferson Speedway is located on US Hwy 18 between Jefferson and Cambridge, Wis. For more information visit http://www.jeffersonspeedway.com