NORWAY, Mich. (July 29, 2023) – Dalton Zehr remained perfect in TUNDRA Super Late Model Series features at Norway Speedway as he captured the 75-lap Eh Main on Saturday night. The win backed up Zehr’s TUNDRA victories at Norway from 2014 and last season.
Zehr slipped to the lead past Braison Bennett on lap 20 and outgunned Brock Heinrich on a couple of restarts to score the win.
For Zehr and the team, preparation for the feature was key. Despite having a strong setup, the team was diligent during the afternoon’s practice session, striving for improvements even while they were at the top of the charts.
“We worked hard in practice. We were good, but we made it strong for the long runs,” Zehr said “We made 12 changes in practices and I would say ten of them were improvements.”
The invert of seven placed Zehr on the outside of row two with Ken’s Sports Fast Qualifier Riley Stenjem in the row behind. The outside line shuffled into place early with Braison Bennett taking the lead from Gregg Haese on lap one. Chad Butz settled into Third in front of Heinrich with Zehr right behind in Fifth.
Heinrich and Zehr got around Butz into Third and Fourth just before the caution fell on lap eight when Stenjem and Kole Guralski got together in turn one. Mickey Schallie was shuffled out of line and collided with Guralski. Guralski continued at the tail with Stenjem while Schallie was forced to retire due to damage.
On the restart Bennett took the lead from Heinrich who chose the outside for the restart. Zehr quickly wrestled Third from Haese.
As the top three set sail ahead, Zehr waited for the right opportunity to move past Heinrich. He did so on lap 15. At the same time Justin Mondeik moved into the top four by slipping past Haese. Andy Monday and Chad Butz soon slipped by as Haese nursed an ill-handling machine.
Just five laps later Zehr was on the bumper of Bennett. Again he waited for the right opportunity and found it on the exit of turn four coming back to lap 20. Zehr slipped past and left Bennett to try to deal with Heinrich in a battle for Second.
Zehr began to reel in the tail end of the field just as the caution fell on lap 28 for a spin involving Justin Woller. The field reset for the restart with Zehr on the inside of Henrich in the front row and Bennett alongside Mondeik in row two.
A perfect restart allowed Zehr to jump away from Heinrich who settled into Second. Bennett secured Third and left the door open for Andy Monday to grab Fourth.
While the top two got away again, Monday went to work on Bennett. On lap 35 Monday slid to the inside of Bennett to take Third and brought Chad Butz along into Fourth. Just behind, Stenjem had moved to Sixth and was looking for a spot in the Top Five. He secured the spot at halfway.
As Zehr and Henrich once again closed in on lapped traffic, Butz started to put heat on Monday in the battle for Third. He closed in repeatedly as the race closed in on lap 50.
At lap 58, lapped traffic began to get thick in front of Zehr, allowing Heinrich to close the gap. Although Zehr had to tip toe through traffic, once he was clear, he was able to build another healthy advantage.
Zehr’s lead was erased on lap 72 for a spin involving Jerry Mueller. With less than five laps remaining it set up a single-file restart.
The restart was short-lived, however, as Chad Butz lost brakes going into turn one on the next lap and spun wildly into the grass. He was ok, but the car was sidelined with heavy damage. This set up a final restart with Zehr, Heinrich, Monday, Stenjem and Mondeik in the Top Five.
One final restart brought an opportunity for Heinrich, but again Zehr was just too strong and was able to jump away to the checkered flag.
Despite the late restarts, Zehr felt plenty of confidence on his way to the three-peat.
“Brock kept me honest, that’s for sure. But as the race progressed, it seemed like we could build the gap,” Zehr said.
Heinrich was Second, Andy Monday was Third, Riley Stenjem Fourth, and Justin Mondeik rounded out the Top Five.
The win helped Zehr build a bigger gap for his team over the tandem of Heinrich and Travis Volm in the TUNDRA standings. The gap sits at 19, but plenty of intrigue will surround the next event as Heinrich will look for some home cooking in Wausau and John Beale tags in for team Gildan.
The next event for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series is The Rib Mountain Rumble at State Park Speedway in Wausau on Sunday, August 13. TUNDRA will be joined by the WIR ¼-Mile Late Models and the Wisconsin Sport Trucks. More details, including start times, will be available shortly.
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