KAUKAUNA, Wis. (May 14, 2022) – Casey Johnson outmuscled a field full of champions and challengers in Saturday afternoon’s The Bear 66 Presented by Stump Ford as part of Great Lakes Testing Round One at Wisconsin International Raceway. It was his second consecutive season-opening win in TUNDRA Super Late Model Series openers.

Behind Johnson, Justin Mondeik was able to slip past fast qualifier Jeff VanOudenhoven to score the runner-up spot over the former track Champion. Sawyer Effertz and a hard-charging Braison Bennett rounded out the Top Five.

Post-Race Interview with Casey Johnson

It was more than just another impressive day at the track for Johnson as he had to recover from an early slip to 15^th.  Due to some frantic racing in front of him, the inside line sank, leaving Johnson to wait patiently for his opportunities. Those opportunities would be presented to him through some early cautions and the right lane choices.

The biggest shake up of the race came after a lap 12 caution involving Max Kahler and Brock Heinrich. Justin Mondeik was able to wrestle the lead away from early-race leader Jordan DeVoy and secure the top spot while the field sorted out behind him.  Just two laps later DeVoy would spin exiting turn four while racing shoulder-to-shoulder with Grant Griesbach.

On the restart both Johnson and Ken’s Sports Fast Qualifier Jeff VanOudenhoven found themselves in the mix.  VanOudenhoven shot around the outside of Mondeik on lap 16 while Johnosn found himself bottled up behind a furious battle between Griesbach and Dalton Zehr. That battle came to a head with both spinning coming out of turn four on the following lap.

VanOudenhoven outpaced Mondeik on the restart while Jesse Oudenhoven took advantage of a bobble to get past Mondeik. Johnson followed in his tire tracks to secure a Third on lap 18. He wasted no time putting pressure on Oudenhoven, who was also closing the gap on Van Oudenhoven.

Johnson nosed past Oudenhoven on lap 21 and tucked in behind VanOudenhoven. He patiently waited for the right opportunity which came on lap 24. Johnson powered to the outside of VanOudenhoven and set sail into the lead.

Despite a few more showings of the yellow, there was no denying Johnson his second straight TUNDRA season-opening win at the half-mile.  He would go on to build his lead while Mondeik slowly chipped away at Second Place and stole it from Van Oudenhoven late.

The win was Johnson’s fifth of his TUNDRA career, moving him one behind second-place Dennis Prunty. It was also his 26^th Top Five, placing him three behind Dalton Zehr’s leading 29.

The next event for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series is the Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial at Marshfield Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 11. TUNDRA will be joined by the Legends, Upper Midwest Vintage Racing Series, and Bandits. Fan gates open at 4:30 with qualifying at 5:45 and racing beginning at 7.