JEFFERSON, Wis. (July 22, 2018) – On a night where more laps were turned in an effort to dry the racing surface than in actual competition, the portion of the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series event Mother Nature did allow was overflowing with action.

John Beale dashed to the lead from his Fifth Place starting spot on lap 27 of the rain-shortened feature to claim his first TUNDRA win in Round Four Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes Saturday night.

The win came just one year and one day after Beale challenged Wyatt Brooks to the very end of the 2017 main event.  Although the feature only made it to the halfway point before another persistent rain brought an ending, Beale was pleased finally to visit Victory Lane in a TUNDRA event – especially at his de facto home track.

“It’s special to win one here after coming so close last year,” Beale said.  “Everyone works so hard within this team.  This was a long time coming.”

Brief but heavy showers swooped through the Jefferson area on several occasions.  Just as it appeared the feature would start after a concerted track-drying effort, another rain shower chased teams back to the pits.  Finally, the feature began after a third drying of the track.

Rookies Collin Slife and Gabe Sommers led the field to the green flag.  Slife quickly secured the lead as Sommers engaged in battle with Jake Zellmer, Carson Kvapil, and Beale.

As Slife began to break away, Beale followed Zellmer on the inside line.  In a brief moment on the backstretch, Beale, Kvapil and Dennis Schmidt were three wide, with Schmidt backing out to elude danger.  Shortly after, Zellmer took Second from Sommers and brought Beale to Third.

On lap ten Beale swept to the inside of Zellmer to wrestle away the Second spot.  The move opened the inside line for Sommers to challenge, as well.  Behind them and Schimdt, Dennis Prunty made a move around the outside of Justin Mondeik to take Sixth.  One lap later he rocketed past Schmidt into Fifth.

After Beale had chased down Slife, he surveyed the inside line on several occasions, finally making his move to pull even on lap 22.  Once it appeared Beale had taken the lead, Slife put the nose to the backside of Beale’s machine and was able to take the lead back.  Another dazzling side-by-side battle would see Beale emerge with the top spot on lap 27.

The dispute between the leaders allowed Prunty to close the gap once he had taken Third from Sommers.  He found his way to the inside of Slife to grab the Second spot by lap 30.  Three laps later the lone caution fell for a spin, leaving a single-file restart and a showdown between Beale and Prunty.

At the drop of the green Beale was able to escape Prunty and maintain about a car-length lead.  Deeper in the field cars were beginning to lose traction as another bout of precipitation fell on the track.  The race had gone to the halfway point and officials decided the track surface was in no condition to continue.  The checkered was displayed and the race considered complete.

Beale kept Prunty at bay – although Prunty jokingly challenged Beale to a one-on-one in Victory Lane despite the track conditions.  Slife held on to Third to pick up his best-ever TUNDRA finish.  Sommers did the same with his Fourth Place finish.  Fast qualifier Casey Johnson had charged through the field from 12^th to round out the Top Five.

UP NEXT…

The TUNDRA Series takes a summer break and rolls back into action on Labor Day, Monday, September 3, at Golden Sands Speedway in Plover, Wis.

Golden Sands Speedway is located on State Highway 54 between Plover and Wisconsin Rapids.  For more information visit http://www.gssraces.com.

WAUSAU, Wis. (July 8, 2018) – There is a reason they call him the King of State Park Speedway.  For the second time in the past three season Mark Mackesy reigned supreme against the invaders of the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes at SPS.

Mackesy surged past Jordan Thiel on a lap-32 restart and repelled the advances of Mike Lichtfeld to secure victory in the 75-lap feature Saturday night.

It was a calculated effort by the four-time State Park Speedway Champion who exercised patience early and chose the outside line for restarts to advance his position.  Most drivers tried to play it safe by electing the inside.  Mackesy felt as though the gamble was going to pay off.  He was right.

“The outside was really good here tonight,” Mackesy said.  “A lot of nights it’s not so good.  The car rolled so good up on the top.”

It was the inside line that proved to be the best early.  Thiel grabbed the lead from fellow front-row starter Gabe Sommers and began to stretch out his advantage while Sommers scrapped for Second with Mike Egan and Justin Mondeik.  Drivers continued to test the waters until a caution fell when for an incident involving Steve Lichtfeld and Corey Jankowski.

On the restart Thiel again escaped Sommers by using the inside line.  Egan and Mondeik held serve and tucked in line, but were soon joined by Mike Lichtfeld and Casey Johnson.  Johnson looked the fastest of the bunch as he moved around Lichtfeld and swooped inside Mondeik.  However, the two made contact sending Mondeik spinning.  Both would have to restart at the tail of the field on lap 32.

The restart was short-lived as John Beale, Neil Knoblock and fast qualifier Colin Reffner tangled just across the start finish line.  Knoblock got the worst of the incident, backing into a tire barrier at the entrance of turn one.  Reffner also was forced to retire after sustaining heavy damage to his right front.

A second restart brought Mackesy to the forefront.  After working his way toward the Top Five, Mackesy was presented the opportunity to take the outside of the front row.  He did not hesitate.  Mackesy then used his veteran prowess to escape Theil and swipe the lead.

A final caution came on lap 49 when Colin Slife and Wyatt Brooks got together on the backstretch.  The ensuing restart saw one of the most breathtaking moments of the race.

As Mackesy and Thiel entered turn one, they bumped and Mackesy began to slide sideways.  Mackesy skated through one and two on the edge of spinning out but was able to hold on and maintain the lead.

“I didn’t think I was going to save it when Thiel and I got together.  We both made it,” Mackesy said.  “I thought we were both going to spin.  I don’t know how we held on to it, but we did.”

The near-calamity was avoided, but cost Thiel Second Place to Mike Lichtfeld.  Lichtfeld started to pull the chain on Mackesy and came close to challenging him.  But the challenges came up empty.

“For a little bit there I thought we might have had something for the leader, but it would have taken giving him the nose and Mark’s the last person I’d want to use the nose on,” Lichtfeld said.  “But then after a couple laps he was driving away from us.”

Mackesy went on to claim his third career TUNDRA win by almost a second over Lichtfeld.  Johnson charged furiously back through the field to finish Third.  Thiel held on for Fourth and John Beale reemerged after the restart incident to round out the Top Five.

Proving to be a wild night in the standings, the top nine in TUNDRA Super Late Model points are separated by just 31 points at the halfway mark of the 2018 season.  Despite the DNF, Reffner still holds a slim four-point advantage over Mondeik.

VOLM DELIVERS DOUBLE

Mark Mackesy wasn’t the only driver happy to defend his turf on Saturday night.  Travis Volm won both the 30-lap TUNDRA Sportsman Tour feature and the 40-lap TUNDRA Late Model Triple Crown feature.  Volm had only planned to run the Late Model, but decided to call in the Sportsman at around 3 p.m.

After setting fast time for both, Volm had to wait patiently for the right opportunities to open up.  In the Sportsman race, Volm outwaited early-race leader Phil Lehl.  Lehl maintained the inside line through the first half of the race with Volm putting pressure on him.  Eventually Volm was able to slip to the bottom on lap 15.  He nosed ahead on the front straight and secured the lead by the exit of turn two.  Volm would go unchallenged from that point.  Lehl finished Second and his teammate Andy Casavant was Third.

The story was much the same in the Late Model main.  Volm picked his way to Second in quick order, but then stalled when trying to find a way around Bryan Monday.  Making his first ever start at State Park, Monday – who had won his heat earlier – attempted to seal the inside line and hold Volm at bay.  Much like the Sportsman race before, Volm waited for the right time to pounce and found it at the halfway point.  He went on to cruise to victory with Monday holding Second.  Mike Meyerhofer held off Jesse Bernhagen in the final laps to finish Third.

Up Next…

It’s a quick turnaround for the TUNDRA Super Late Models as the series rolls into Wisconsin’s Action Track Jefferson Speedway on Saturday, July 21.  TUNDRA will be joined by Jefferson’s Hobby Stocks and Road Warriors.

Jefferson Speedway is located at W8135 US-18 just west of the city of Jefferson.  For more information visit http://www.jeffersonspeedway.com

MARSHFIELD, Wis. (June 9, 2018) – Colin Reffner may have been the happiest driver to see Marshfield Motor Speedway return to the schedule for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes. On Saturday he proved why.

Reffner set fast time and stormed through the field in the Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial Presented by River View Construction and A&A Lock Service to collect his first series win. To do it at the track where cut his teeth – and in honor of Bev Aschenbrenner – made the spoils of victory that much sweeter.

“This was long overdue. We’ve come up short so many times and had so many things happen. Today everything went right,” Reffner said. “I remember Bev coming down when I was 14 years old racing a Super Stock here. She came around with cookies, bars, and treats. The whole Aschenbrenner family are great people. To win a memorial for her…I’ll remember this one forever.”

Although it took some finessing by Reffner and his team throughout practice, they were on point from the drop of the green in qualifying. Reffner topped Carson Kvapil’s fast lap by .002 seconds on his first lap of time trials, then shattered his best by turning an 18.008 on his third lap of qualifying.

When it came to the feature, a few lucky breaks and some lane choices helped Reffner jump to the front from his 13th Place starting spot and secure the lead before the halfway point.

The field settled into place early behind polesitter Darek Gress and fellow front-row starter Mike Lichtfeld. In the first ten laps both Reffner and former TUNDRA Champion Casey Johnson were moving through the field. Johnson was to Fourth by lap 10 and Reffner was to Seventh.

After an incident between Jordan Thiel and John Beale that would see Thiel invoke the Gentleman’s Agreement, Lichtfeld had another chance to swipe the lead from Gress on a restart. Although Lichtfeld clipped Gress at the line on lap 15, Gress slid back to the top spot one lap later. His move to the lead allowed Johnson to move to Second, and on lap 17, Johnson grabbed the top spot. He then set his machine on cruise control.

While Johnson was setting the pace, Reffner was still grabbing spots. He moved from Fifth to Third in a matter of three laps, securing the position on lap 20.

The race saw a major change in complexion when Johnson lost power out of turn four coming to the line for lap 27. Johnson drew a yellow and went to the pit area in hopes of repair to his machine. Unfortunately for Johnson, the fuel pump failed, and he was forced to retire.

On the following restart Reffner joined Gress on the front row. He escaped on the top line to secure the lead. However, the race was far from over as several restarts awaited.

Perhaps the most spectacular incident involved Corey Jankowski. As several drivers battled for spots near the Top Ten, cars went into scramble mode on lap 34. Jankowki spun to the embankment outside the track and was momentarily airborne. Unfortunately, the incident ended his day as well as that of dash winner Jim Sauter Jr.

When the barrel was placed for the restart Reffner quickly slid in front of Gress to take the outside line. He would make the move on a later restart, as well.

“Knowing how this track gets late in the race and having a comfortable car was behind my decision,” Reffner said of his lane choice. “I picked it time and time again. I really had to work for this with the restarts.”

Despite having to outduel Beale on two occasions, Reffner was able to flex his muscle and jump away from the pack.

With Reffner out front, a trio of drivers began to find late-race surges. Perhaps the most impressive was that of Justin Mondeik. Mondeik spun coming to lap one and had to tag the tail of the field at the start. By lap 40 Mondeik had found his way back to Third. On lap 45 he swiped Second from Beale.

Making his TUNDRA debut, Carson Kvapil also found some late-race magic. Kvaipil was following Brent Strelka to the front of the field in the final 15 laps. Strelka got as high as Third and was preparing to challenge Mondeik until Kvapil prepared to make a move. Kvapil overtook Strelka on 54 then slipped past Mondeik on lap 59.

Kvapil would make a statement in his debut with the Second Place finish, Mondeik the same with a run from the back to Third, Beale slipped back to a Fourth Place finish, and Strelka recorded his best TUNDRA finish by rounding out the Top Five.

STARK SIZZLES IN SPORTSMAN
Much like Reffner, Jason Stark was the driver of the day in the TUNDRA Sportsman Tour. Stark set fast time, secured the lead by lap five, and cruised to his first ever TUNDRA Sportsman win in the 25-lap main event.

From his Sixth Place starting spot Stark caught an early break and stormed to Second by the time the field hit the stripe for lap one. Stark immediately pressured Travis Volm, who had snuck around Andy Casavant and Dylan Wenzel on the first circuit.

Stark wasted no opportunities as he found a line around Volm on lap five. He then left Volm to deal with heat-race winner and defending Sportsman Tour Champion Dave Trute.

While Stark broke away, Trute and Volm engaged in a spirited battle for Second. At the same time Wenzel and Phil Lehl continuously swapped the Fourth spot.

By lap 20 it appeared Trute had fled from Volm and was making up some ground on Stark. However, Volm closed back in on Trute and swiped Second with two laps remaining to claim the runner-up spot.

Trute was Third, and Wenzel outgunned Lehl for Fourth.

UP NEXT…
TUNDRA will break for the remainder of June and spring back into action at State Park Speedway in Wausau, Wis. on Saturday, July 7. Round Three will feature the Super Late Models, Sportsman, the second leg of the Late Model Triple Crown, and fireworks display. More information will be available in the coming weeks through the TUNDRA web site.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (September 25, 2017) – Even scorching hot, record temperatures at Dells Raceway Park paled in comparison to the hot streak of Jordan Thiel Sunday. Thiel scored his third straight Super Late Model win and first in the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes.

By virtue of an Eighth Place finish Dalton Zehr collected his third TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Championship.

Thiel had waited nearly 11 years to capture his first Super Late Model win. Although the first two in weekly action at Golden Sands Speedway were meaningful, outgunning a powerful field on Sunday in the Country Plumber 75 tops the charts according to Thiel.

“This is as good as both of those combined,” Thiel said in Victory Lane. “I’ve always wanted to win a TUNDRA race and put one of those orange stickers on my windshield.”

With his win, Thiel became the sixth different first-time winner in the six TUNDRA events this season. Included in that is his teammate Wyatt Brooks, who was victorious in Round Three at Jefferson in July. It made for a memorable season for Brooks & Thiel Motorsports.

“It’s been a great year. We ended the year on a high note after starting off a little slow,” Thiel said. “Once we started putting our heads together and hollering at each other a little more, here we are.”

Although Thiel was able to flex his muscle late in the feature, the race was anything but a walk in the park. Mike Lichtfeld looked to be well on his way to a second straight TUNDRA win until a shock mount broke. Thiel then had to fight past Round Two winner Cole Anderson after Anderson captured the lead from Thiel on a late-race restart.

“I have to commend Cole for running me very clean,” Theil said. “I put him into the fence on one of those starts, so I had to thank him for running me so clean.”

Last year’s Dean’s Satellite and Security Rookie of the Year Braison Bennett seized control of the early lead, fending off Collin Slife. After a caution for an incident involving Dan Church and Josh Wallace on lap nine, Slife surged past Bennett on the restart.

While Slife settled at the head of the pack, Lichtfeld, Thiel, and Anderson began to move through the field. Lichtfeld tracked down Slife by lap 26 and grabbed the lead on lap 28. He then went to build a large lead as Anderson and Thiel worked in tandem to secure Second and Third from Slife. On lap 50, Thiel made the move past Anderson into Second.

That move would prove to be one for the lead as Lichtfeld was struck by misfortune just two laps later when his shock mount broke and sent him spinning in turn four. After a botched restart due to a spin in the field, Anderson jumped away from Thiel. Anderson began to build his lead, but Thiel tracked him down as the laps clicked off. On lap 68 Thiel made his move into the top spot by sliding down to the inside.

As Thiel stretched out his advantage, Bobby Kendall and Alex Prunty locked into a furious battle. Initially it was for Third behind Anderson, but both drivers were able to slide past and contend for Second. Eventually Kendall muscled his way to the inside and swiped the spot from Prunty.

By that time Thiel had built a large advantage and set sail to the win. Kendall was Second, Prunty Third, Anderson held on to Fourth, and Wyatt Brooks – who started 18th – rounded out the Top Five.

ZEHR WINS THIRD TUNDRA TITLE
A little early-day adversity didn’t shake Dalton Zehr and his team. However, it did adjust his strategy for the 75-lap feature. Zehr qualified 19th, but made some ground back up on Second Place points-getter and Fast Qualifier John Beale by winning his heat race.

“We had probably a better car than where we finished today, but there was a lot of points talk going into it,” Zehr said. “I didn’t chance a single pass. I just took it easy and took whatever the track gave me, and it was enough. I don’t like racing for points; I like to race for wins, but it’s cool to win another TUNDRA Championship.”

“I was quite disappointed in myself after qualifying. If I would have been higher up in qualifying we could have raced a lot harder. After that we knew we just had to salvage the Championship.”

During the first caution on lap nine, Zehr ducked into the pits and made some adjustments to the machine. Although he surrendered several spots, he gained them back quickly after the green fell again. Zehr patiently worked his way through the field. The most jeopardizing time came when Anderson closed in on the lead while Zehr was still deep in the field.

Eventually things fell into place as Zehr stuck behind Steve Lichtfeld and followed him into the Top Ten. Zehr’s final advantage was 28 points over Anderson and 52 over Beale, who secured the Dean’s Satellite and Security Rookie of the Year title.

The third title comes in a much different fashion for Zehr as he did not win a TUNDRA event for the first time in the series’ seven-year history. It was consistency and resiliency that helped him score the Championship. He now has three Championships and three Second Place point finishes. Zehr said he hopes to tilt the count toward more Championships in 2018.

“I’m already looking forward to next year,” Zehr said. “Now I’ve tied my Second Places. Next year we can go for it again and hopefully have won 50 percent of the TUNDRA Championships then.”

BIRDSILL FLIES TO SPORTSMAN WIN, TRUTE SECURES CHAMPIONSHIP
What looked to be a runaway win for Brandon Birdsill at his home track, quickly became a virtual foot race with an Olympic sprinter to the finish line. Birdsill secured the lead, built it to over six seconds, and then had to hold on as Dave Trute attempted to track him down.

Birdsill’s move into the lead of the 40-lap feature was impressive as he rallied around the outside of Bryce Miller and Daron Fish. As Fish and Miller continued to scrap for Second, Birdsill proved his strength stretching out his advantage to nearly half a lap over the rest of the field. However, once Miller and Fish sorted out Second, the gates opened, and drivers such as fast qualifier Dave Trute and Scott Luck were able to shake free.

Trute made his move into Second on lap 22. By that point Birdsill’s lead was nearly seven seconds. With some free space, Trute started to chop away by half-a-second per lap. Birdsill was able to work cleanly through lapped traffic, not allowing Trute to make up any extra time. The laps ran out on Trute as his closed the gap down to 0.7 seconds on the final lap. He would settle for Second and Scott Luck was Third.

With his Second Place run Trute was able to secure his second TUNDRA Sportsman Championship. His final advantage was 22 points over Greg Back and 53 over Jason Stark.

UP NEXT…
The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series rolls into the offseason after its most competitive campaign with eyes on 2018. In the coming weeks the series will announce dates for the awards banquet, off-season meetings, and 2018 schedule dates.

TUNDRA would like to thank its fine partners of the 2017 season: Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, Dean’s Satellite and Security, Kroll’s West Restaurant, Wegner Automotive Research, Johnny’s Hobbies, Epyk Media, BrakeOMeter, Circle Track Magazine, Coleman Racing Products, B&B Race Engines, Habelman Brothers Cranberries, RacePal, Wehrs Machine, and FiveStar Race Car Bodies.

The Series would also like to thank the drivers and members of all the Super Late Model, Sportsman, and Midwest Truck Series teams who helped make our events so successful as well as the management and staff of our host facilities – Wisconsin International Raceway, LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Jefferson Speedway, State Park Speedway, Golden Sands Speedway, and Dells Raceway Park.

Finally, TUNDRA would like to offer its gratitude toward the great short track fans of the Midwest. We look forward to continuing to bring you the Thunder of TUNDRA in 2018!