WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (July 1, 2023) – There are some races that are incredibly meaningful to racers. When it comes to Mike Lichtfeld, the North American Cup Dedicated to Carl Wegner at Dells Raceway Park is one of those races.
Lichtfeld took the lead from Justin Mondeik on lap 58 and didn’t look back on his way to the win in Saturday night’s main event.
It was the perfect blend of remembering a friend, being at home, racing in a series the family helped build, and exorcising some old demons.
“As much as this means to me, it means a hell of a lot to my dad. I’m just so happy,” Mike Lichtfeld said, recalling his dad Tom’s close relationship with Carl Wegner.
The win was Lichtfeld’s second TUNDRA victory at Dells Raceway Park, as he captured one of two 55-lap twin features in 2018. It also helped him pull the monkey off his back, having seen a couple more potential wins fall by the wayside.
“I feel like we’re so snakebitten in these. I’ve been leading and had a shock mount break. I’ve been leading and had the car shut off here. It just feels so good,” he finished.
Steve Lichtfeld paced the field early after the green flag fell. He and Braden Berge began to break away from the field in the early laps, with Berge holding close to the tail of Lichtfeld. On several occasions Berge closed the gap, but waited patiently for the right opportunity to make a move.
The chance came just past halfway when Berge snuck to the inside of Steve Lichtfeld exiting turn two. He then started to stretch out a lead as Steve Lichtfeld settled into Second. Behind them Justin Mondeik was battling in the Top Five with Dalton Zehr, Mike Lichtfeld, and Kole Guralski.
A yellow flag fell for a spin by Ken’s Sports Fast Qualifier Barrett Polhemus on lap 44. During the caution laps Steve Lichtfeld dropped out due to brake issues. That handed the second spot to Mondeik, who would join Berge on the front row for the restart.
After one lap of side-by-side battling for the lead, the lead duo were involved in an incident that sent Berge spinning. Race control ruled Mondeik maintained his line and would keep his spot for the restart.
The following restart on lap 35 then saw Mondeik and Mike Lichtfeld on the front row. After a botched restart that saw Luke Westenberg and Jesse Bernhagen involved in a chain reaction, Licthfeld and Mondeik battled again at the restart.
Mondeik initially got away to the lead with Lichtfeld looking to get back in line before Zehr could take Second. Lichtfeld was able to do so, then began to track down Mondeik. He caught him with under 20 laps remaining, then made the pass on lap 58.
As Lichtfeld started to build his advantage, Mondeik was left to deal with Zehr and Jordan DeVoy, whose machine had come alive in the second half of the race. Zehr and DeVoy would both slip by late in the race, but would not have enough to close in on Lichtfeld.
Mike Lichtfeld when on to grab the win, then went into celebration mode on the front stretch and in turn one. Zehr was Second, DeVoy was Third, Mondeik maintained Fourth, and Kole Guralski rounded out the Top Five.
With his Second Place finish Zehr (and teammate John Beale) placed himself into the TUNDRA point lead over Brock Heinrich (and teammate Travis Volm). Kole Guralski settled into Third.
The next stop for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series is at Norway Speedway on Saturday, July 29. More information on the event will be available soon.
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