MARSHFIELD, Wis. (June 8, 2024) – Former TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Champion Justin Mondeik notched a large statement win in Saturday night’s Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial presented by IncredibleBank and A&A Lock Service.
It was Mondeik’s second Bev Memorial win, having captured the event in 2022.
“The Aschenbrenners are a great family,” Mondeik said. “We always knew [Bev] through racing growing up. She was always there to support us no matter if we finished first or 21st.”
Mondeik stormed to the lead by lap four of the 75-lap affair and left the rest of the field battling for the runner up spot.
At the drop of the green Mondeik wasted no time proving he was a threat to capture the win. He dipped to look inside Jeremy Lepak and Darren Jackson who were in the second row as Mark Eswein grabbed the lead from Mitch Haver. The furious racing up front was brought to a pause for the lone caution on lap one for an incident involving John Beale and Ty Fredrickson. Both were able to continue.
On the restart Eswein was joined by Jackson in the front row as Mondeik took advantage of the lane choice to join Mitch Haver in row two. Jackson settled into Second and left the outside lane open for Mondeik, who was able to grab the spot on lap two. Mondeik then set his sights on Eswein.
After just two more laps the battle was on for the lead. Mondeik swung to the inside and had the lead coming back to the line on lap four. Behind him and Eswein, the field was starting to sort out with Brock Heinrich and Travis Volm on the move into the Top Five.
Heinrich quickly went on to pressure Eswin for Second. He and Volm made the same move entering turn one on lap seven to grab Second and Fourth respectively. Three laps later Volm was on the doorstep of the podium. He grabbed Third from Eswein on lap 11.
As the laps continued to click off, Mondeik stretched out his advantage. Both Jeremy Lepak and John Beale started to close in on Top Five spots. The field settled in as Beale started to close in on Jackson and Volm chopped away at the gap to Heinrich. Just past lap 25 Beale snuck past Eswein into Fourth.
It was Volm who was showing speed near the midway point of the race. On lap 40 Volm was able to power past Heinrich. However, Mondeik was ahead by nearly a straightaway. Unfortunately, gremlins under the hood of Volm soon took away his solid run. Heinrich got back past Volm on lap 50 and Volm retired just a couple laps later.
The final laps clicked off without any further incident for Mondeik. Beale chased down Heinrich late in the going and was able to take the spot with 11 laps remaining to take Second. Heinrich finished Third, Lepak Fourth, and Eswein rounded out the Top Five.
“We brought a really good package,” Mondeik said of his dominant race car. “It helped having no yellows, but I think we had them covered today.”
The win helped push Mondeik back to the top of the TUNDRA point standings as he seeks a second title. If it is any indication, the winner of the Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial has won the TUNDRA Championship the last three years.
Next up for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series is the North American Cup Dedicated to Carl Wegner at Dells Raceway Park on July 6. More info on the event will be available soon.
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