PLOVER, Wis. (September 7, 2021) – In September of 2016 Jordan DeVoy, his family, and crew decided to try their hand at converting their weekly Late Model to run with the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series for the season finale at Jefferson. The results surprised them, sparking them to eventually make the change and join the series the following season.
Fast forward five years later to where DeVoy and that very same team are now a constant threat to visit Victory Lane at TUNDRA events. In Monday’s Round Five Presented by Fox City’s Towing and A&A Lock Service, they made good on the threat with DeVoy capturing his first TUNDRA win at Golden Sands Speedway.
DeVoy was in full celebration mode after out-dueling two heavy hitters. “Did I just beat Justin Mondeik and Mike Lichtfeld?” DeVoy stated in Victory Lane. In fact, he did. DeVoy powered past defending race winner at reigning GSS Champ Mondeik on a lap-45 restart then outgunned Lichtfeld – a past TUNDRA winner at the facility – on two late-race restarts.
The field rolled to green in the 75-lap feature behind Jordan Thiel and Mondeik. With the preferred inside line, Thiel jumped to an early lead and tried to build an advantage over Mondeik. The field froze two laps into the race when Brock Heinrich and Wyatt Blashe were involved in an incident in turns three and four.
On the following restart Thiel was joined by defending TUNDRA Champion Casey Johnson on the outside line. Mondeik slid to the inside, regaining the Second spot and set his sights on Thiel. After hounding Thiel for a few laps, Mondeik was able to slip to the inside line. Thiel held strong on the high line for as long as he could, but surrendered the lead to Mondeik on lap 18.
The yellow flew shortly after Mondeik took the lead when Corey Jankowski’s machine faced issues and spewed water on the race track. Mondeik elected to take the inside line with Thiel on the outside. It was this restart where DeVoy made his first big move, electing to go to the outside line in the second row with Johnson.
After three laps of working on the outside, DeVoy was able to grab the Third spot from Johnson. Four laps later he tracked down Thiel and slid past him on the inside line. By this time Mondeik had built nearly a straightaway lead. DeVoy began the task of trying to track down Mondeik as the laps clicked off and appeared to be reeling him in steadily.
Eventually Mondeik caught lapped traffic. As he tried to dip past the lapped car of Kevin Kneuse the two made contact, sending Mondeik spinning into the grass. Kneuse invoked the gentleman’s agreement taking accountability for the caution. Mondeik would retain the lead, but was now joined by DeVoy on the front row for the lap-45 restart.
DeVoy was able to make a strong move on the outside when the green flag dropped. He held even with Mondeik and eventually powered away as it appeared Mondeik’s car was not quite the same after the incident.
As the laps clicked away Lichtfeld was working his way toward the front. He eventually found his way past Jordan Thiel and into the Third spot before another caution fell with 16 laps to go, this time for an incident involving Blashe and Grant Thompson on the front stretch.
Lichtfeld would have a chance to battle DeVoy on the outside for two restarts. Both times DeVoy proved to be too strong on the inside line. Once the green flag stayed out, DeVoy started to build his advantage over Lichtfeld.
Behind them Riley Stenjem made a late-race move to climb into the Top Five and took advantage of the outside line himself. Stenjem joined Mondeik in the second row for the final restart and was able to dash past him into the final podium spot.
DeVoy cruised over the final circuits, picking up where he left off in last year’s Harvest race where he was victorious for the first time in a Super Late Model. Lichtfeld held a comfortable advantage to finish Second, and Stenjem did the same in Third. Mondeik was able to nurse his machine to a Fourth Place finish and Thiel rounded out the Top Five.
The race proved to be a microcosm of how competitive TUNDRA has been this season with a first-time winner, a new driver on the podium and some point standings implications. By virtue of his Third Place finish, Stenjem grabbed a four-point lead over Johnson with one final race remaining at Dells Raceway Park.
TUNDRA heads to its birthplace, Dells Raceway Park, on Sunday, September 26 as part of the Midwest Championships weekend. TUNDRA will be joined by the DRP Sportsman and a division to be named soon. Qualifying is scheduled for 12:30 with racing at 2 pm.
Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road just outside of downtown Wisconsin Dells. For more information visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com
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