WAUSAU, Wis. (August 14, 2016) – The 75-lap TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes feature on Sunday evening at State Park Speedway was full of twists and turns.  When the dust settled it was multiple-time track Champion Mark Mackesy who showed that there is little substitute for years of experience at the tricky quarter mile.

Mackesy aced the outside line on a restart with ten laps remaining to pull away from 14-year-old up-and-comer Derek Kraus.  It was Mackesy’s second time on the podium in a TUNDRA race, and retribution for a Seventh Place finish in last year’s event.

“That’s pretty neat.  We haven’t won a big race here since the Flip Merwin Memorial race in 2013,” Mackesy said.  “To beat this stellar field of cars that’s here tonight is amazing.  There is so much talent in this feature tonight, it’s unbelievable.”

The win was also satisfaction after a tough week of healing an ailing machine.  Mackesy suffered what he thought were motor issues in State Park’s Thursday event.

“I thought we had some motor issues and we weren’t going to run,” he said.  “We worked on it yesterday.  It wasn’t the motor at all.  I actually had some loose battery cables.”

The feature worked its way to a boil slowly.  Ernie Schlough seized the lead from the pole position driving the #7-11 which is piloted by reigning TUNDRA Champion and fast qualifier Dalton Zehr at State Park on Thursday nights.  Schlough looked every bit as confident behind the wheel as Zehr as he paced the field through the first 20 circuits while the quicker qualifiers were mired deep in traffic.  Even a caution and restart on lap 15 couldn’t shake Schlough.

Once the field had settled in from the lap-15 restart the plot began to thicken.  On lap 21 Zehr tried to duck to the bottom line in front of point leader Casey Johnson.  Zehr spun and Johnson rode up the track.  The point leaders and fastest qualifiers had just slid into the Top Ten after starting 11^th and 12^th on the grid.  Zehr’s machine appeared to suffer the most damage with some body work hanging.

Zehr accepted blame for the incident and attempted to use the gentleman’s agreement to allow Johnson to take his spot back.  However, both cars went to the pit area to assess the damage.  By rule, once a car leaves the track it must restart at the tail of the field.  Both Johnson and Zehr went to work regaining positions immediately after the green fell again.

Up front, Schlough continued to battle Billy Mohn for several laps after the restart, but was too strong on the inside line.  Schlough’s solid effort forced Mohn to tuck back in line in Second.  Through the next 15 laps, the field continued to tiptoe on the inside line while track position looked to be at a premium.  However, another caution caused another shakeup on lap 37.  It involved Zehr for the second time and he and Bryan Keske wrestled for position.

The lap 37-restart brought some changes to the front of the field.  Ryan Farrell was able to work past Billy Mohn for Second and brought Kraus into Third.  The duo of Farrell and Kraus feverishly worked to chase down Schlough, but would not catch up until a yellow came out for another spin on lap 47.

By this point two cars were starting to find their stride.  Both Mike Lichtfeld and Mackesy had been hanging in the Top Ten throughout the first half of the race.  On the lap-47 restart both were in the Top Six and were prepared to make some moves after the green fell again.  Just after the field was set back into motion, Kraus stole Second from Farrell and Lichtfeld followed to Third.  Mackesy moved past Farrell just four laps later.

Although Schlough had another comfortable cushion after the restart, he was unable to run away from Kraus.  However, Kraus was caught by Lichtfeld on lap 59.  A quick slide to the inside allowed Lichtfeld to take the runner-up spot and set his sights on Schlough.  Mackesy soon caught Kraus and prepared to battle for Third.

On Lap 64 Lichtfeld was to the bumper of Schlough for the lead.  Just after the lead pair crossed the line for lap 65, Lichtfeld prepared to make his move.  He looked to the inside entering turn one, then tried to hold the line coming off turn two for a run down the back stretch.  Unfortunately for both drivers, space became limited.  The two came together, sending Schlough spinning into the infield.  Lichtfeld would have to rejoin at the tail of the field and Schlough’s excellent TUNDRA debut was cut short.

The tangle between the leaders set up the lap-65 restart in which Mackesy elected to take the high line on Kraus.  No other driver was able to make the line work, but the years of experience paid dividends for Mackesy.

“I could see when I was behind Derek that he couldn’t get up and out of the corners and I could get a good run,” Mackesy said.  “I knew if I could get a run on him through the corner I could get around him on the outside.”

“That was a lot of work,” he commented.  “We started so deep in the field and we just had a hard time getting through traffic.”

Behind Mackesy Kraus settled for Second.  “We had a pretty good car, we just didn’t have the forward drive off and that’s where he beat us,” Kraus commented.

Although his bid for three straight feature wins came up just one spot shy, Kraus was pleased with the run.  He continues to impress with a calm demeanor, and an ability to stay out of troublesome spots.

The frantic day of Dalton Zehr continued behind Kraus.  While most attention was focused on the battles for the lead up front, Zehr was on a mission.  He had moved to Fourth with just two laps to go and quickly closed on Farrell as the white flag fell.  Zehr used some physicality to open up the inside line in the final sweep through three and four, and stole Third at the checkered.  Farrell settled for Fourth and Mohn rounded out the Top Five.

With his move into Third, Zehr was able to salvage what could have been a harmful day in the TUNDRA points race.

“It definitely wasn’t my proudest race,” Zehr said.  “We were involved in a lot of yellows and I really don’t like being in any of them.  It’s a tight track and tough to get around.  Unfortunately we made more contact with guys than I would like to.  But we were able to make it back up to Third all the same.”

Johnson was able to salvage his day after the incident with Zehr as well.  Although he did not make the same kind of late run, Johnson was still able to return to the Top Ten and finish Seventh.  His lead now sits at 29 points atop the standings heading into the next race at Golden Sands Speedway.

TRUTE HOLDS OFF VOLM IN SPORTSMAN

An incredible battle for the win wasn’t just for the Super Late Models to display.  The 30-lap Sportsman race came down to the final circuits as fast qualifier Travis Volm pressured Dave Trute.  Trute was able to hold on and secure his second win of the season.

Scott Luck grabbed the early lead from the front row and began to check out over the rest of the pack.  Behind him Jason Thoma had secured Second and would soon be run down by the trio of Trute, Volm and Greg Back.

At the halfway point Trute made his move on Thoma for Second.  By opening up the inside line, Trute brought Volm to Third and Back to Fourth.  Just three laps later the trio had caught Luck and were ready to test him for the lead.

On lap 19 Luck was shaken off the bottom line, which allowed Trute to cruise to the lead.  The slip by Luck was unfortunate for Volm who was challenging for Second on the outside.  Volm fell back behind Back and had to recover quickly.  By lap 25 he moved past Back into Second and set his sights on Trute.

After three laps Volm had caught the back end of Trute.  He took a quick look to the outside, but then tucked back in line before the white flag fell.  Volm kept right on Trute’s bumper through one and two, but could not get to the inside.  Entering three and four, Volm again looked low, but found no space to make the pass.

Trute went on to win by a car length over Volm, Back was Third, John Zuch finished Fourth, and Thoma rounded out the Top Five.  The win propelled Trute back into the point lead of the division.

ROSSIER ROCKETS TO ANOTHER VINTAGE WIN

Rex Rossier made it two Vintage wins in a row after he carefully picked through the field in the 30-lap feature.  Rossier took the lead from Pat Heaney on lap 18 and didn’t look back.

There was one final challenge that Rossier would have to face – a long yellow after one of the machines dropped fluid around the track.  With some oil dry down on the surface, Rossier was still able to hold off Heaney and his brother Royce on the restart.

Heaney went on to finish Second, fast qualifier Jerry Schneider made a late pass on Royce Rossier for Third and Darrell Paasch finished Fifth.

UP NEXT…

The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series heads to Golden Sands Speedway for Round Five Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes on Labor Day, Monday, September 5.  Racing will begin at 2 P.M.  TUNDRA will be joined by the Midwest Truck Series, Vintage, and Sportsman.

WEST SALEM, Wis. (July 2, 2016) – The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series has visited nine tracks since it began as the Alive For Five Super Late Model Series in 2011.  Dalton Zehr has now won at eight of those nine tracks.

The two-time and reigning series Champion put a check mark next to LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway on Friday night as he survived several restarts to win the Johnny’s Hobbies 50.  The win was his 11^th in TUNDRA and 100^th of his career.

“We’ve been doing a lot of racing,” Zehr said of his team’s 2016 calendar.  “Any time you can do a lot of racing you build momentum behind the team and they get better at working together.”

Starts and restarts proved to be a critical formula for Zehr and some of the other quick machines to come through the field.  A ten-car invert placed Jordan Thiel on the pole for the 50-lap feature alongside Joel Thiesen.  Thiel broke away in the first ten laps before a caution gave those faster qualifiers a chance to work some magic on the lane choice.

On the lap 10 restart, Johnson, Nick Panitzke and Zehr chose the outside line behind Thiesen.  This particular restart would prove to be crucial in shaping the eventual podium as Johnson moved to Second, Panitzke to Third, and Zehr settled in Fifth.

“We chose the outside on (that) restart, which I honestly thought was a little bit of a risky move.  I’m not sure what happened on that inside row, but it checked up pretty good.  Then it was a race to the front from there.”

As the field began to sort out from the lap 10 restart, Johnson closed the gap on Thiel in front, but was unable to make a move.  On lap 16 the top four had broken away from Thiesen in Fifth and the battle for Sixth which included Travis Dassow, Mike Lichtfeld and Ty Majeski.  With some ground to make up, Majeski moved past Lichtfeld on lap 18 and Dassow on lap 20.

Unfortunately for the night’s fastest qualifier, the race came to an end just five laps later.  Majeski slowed on the front stretch and attempted to pull off the track surface after it appeared he lost all power in his machine.

The restart at lap 25 pitted Thiel on the inside and Johnson to his outside.  After one botched restart, Johnson powered past Thiel through turns one and two to take the top spot.  Zehr followed on the outside into Second and Panitzke secured Third just three laps later.

Just as the race was approaching lap 30, Zehr began to challenge Johnson for the lead.  Zehr slid to the inside line on lap 30 and began a back-and-forth battle with Johnson.  Zehr nosed past Johnson by mere inches at the line on lap 32, just before a caution came out for a spun Lichtfeld on the front stretch.  Zehr was given the lead and the critical first choice when the TUNDRA barrel was placed to pick a lane for the restart.

Surprisingly, Zehr chose the outside on the restart, giving Johnson the bottom groove.  Johnson enjoyed an exceptional restart and cleared Zehr without issue.  Johnson built an advantage of about three car lengths until the yellow fell again when Michael Sauter came to a stop on the back stretch.

This time it was Johnson who had the first choice.  Just like Zehr on the previous caution, Johnson selected the outside line, leaving the bottom for Zehr.  Johnson tried to clear Zehr on the top side, but could not turn him away.  Zehr held on in the low groove as the pair raced door-to-door for the next two circuits.  Finally on lap 36 Zehr was able to surge past Johnson and secure the top spot.

“It was kind of a shaky call,” Johnson said of selecting the top groove.  “I got him on the inside before that but I thought maybe we’d get a run on the outside.  But I spun the tires and that was all it took.”

There was still some doubt to be had about a Zehr win.  With 11 laps remaining Panitzke swiped Second from Johnson and set his sights on running down the leader.  Although he made up some ground, it appeared Panitzke would need some help to close the gap.  That help came on lap 47 when a final caution fell for a Joel Thiesen spin.

Because the restart came with less than 5 laps left, the field was single-file at the drop of the green.  Zehr played the restart to perfection and had enough of a cushion to keep Panitzke in the rear view mirror.

“Restarts weren’t our best game for sure, so I was glad to see that last one be single file,” Zehr said.

For the former Champion Panitzke, a Second Place finish in his return to the series was a satisfactory result.   “We had a lot of fun coming back to TUNDRA.  I kind of let (Zehr) and (Johnson) go and figured I’d let them beat up on each other a little bit and see if I could capitalize late, but they kind of cleared up.”

Behind Panitzke, Johnson scored yet another podium finish in TUNDRA action.  To go with his two Second Place finishes already, the Third Place finish helped cap another decent day in regard to the TUNDRA standings.   “Not a bad day at all.  Obviously we’re hunting for trophies but in the long run it was definitely a good points day.”

Nick Barstad enjoyed a solid late-race run to take Fourth in just his second ever TUNDRA start.  After leading the race early, Thiel held on for a TUNDRA career-best finish of Fifth.

Despite Zehr’s win, Johnson’s better qualifying effort and a lap led secured enough bonus points to keep his healthy lead in the standings.  He holds a 49-point edge over Zehr, who moved to Second and a 72-point lead over Dassow.  Terry Schoppenhorst sits in Fourth, 84 points out of the top spot.  Thiel’s Fifth place finish moved him to Fifth in the standings, 94 points out of the lead.

The Super Late Models will enjoy a six-week break until the next event at State Park Speedway.

Double the Fun for Prietzel in Sportsman Twin Features

Patience was the name of the game for the faster cars in the wildly entertaining Sportsman twin features.  Veteran and Hall of Fame racer Bill Prietzel played that game to perfection, picking up both 15-lap events.

Prietzel also collected an extra $200 from Dean’s Satellite and Security for his trips to Victory Lane.

Rachel Kallas and John Zuch led the field to green in the first feature.  The two leaders jousted for the top spot for the first five laps, until Kallas secured the lead.  Just after she took the top spot, Kallas immediately was pressured by LaCrosse regular Brian Hesselberg.  Hesselberg took the lead on lap six as Prietzel and fast qualifier Dave Trute scrapped for Second.

Although on the outside, Prietzel was able to take the lead from Hesselberg with three laps left in the first feature.  Trute followed quickly and set his sights on Prietzel.  Meanwhile, Greg Back had captured Third and was closing quickly.

Trute tried frantically to find a line past Prietzel, but could not make the last-lap pass.  Prietzel cruised to the win in the first 15 and Back was able to clip Trute at the line for Second.

In the second 15-lap feature Kallas and Zuch again led the field to green, but this time their battle for the top spot intensified.  There was little to no separation between the two.  When Kallas pulled ahead, Zuch fought back.  When Zuch had the edge, Kallas regained position.

Things finally broke free with three laps to go when Zuch finally cleared Kallas.  The result was a mad scramble as Trute, Back and Prietzel tried to rush to the lead.  With two laps to go both Trute and Prietzel were winding up ready to make their moves on the leader from as far back as fifth and sixth.

Back tucked into second on the inside behind Zuch, Trute was behind Back and Prietzel had taken Fourth when the white flag fell.  As the top four went into turn one Trute attempted to go to the inside of Back, leaving the outside for Prietzel.  Prietzel went door-to-door with Back down the back stretch, then charged to pull even with Zuch through turns three and four.  With a run to the stripe, Prietzel was able to hold off Zuch by half a car length.  Back was Third and Trute had to settle for Fourth.

Drivers were awarded points on the average of their finishes.  The order was Prietzel, Back, Trute, Zuch, Hasselberg, and Kallas.

Rossier Rockets to Vintage Win

The Stockton Rocket was back in form in the 25-lap Vintage feature event.  After setting fast time earlier in the evening, Rex Rossier blazed a path to the front of the field and picked up his first series win of the season.

Roger Peterson and Royce Rossier battled for the lead early, only to see Rex on their doorstep by lap four.  After making the pass on Peterson, Rex went to the outside of his brother Royce to take the lead.

A yellow fell for a spin with ten laps to go, giving Dave Gawronski and Ken Lewis a chance to steal the win from Rossier.  However, the battle between Lewis and Gawronski allowed Rossier to escape.  Gawronski finished Second, Lewis Third, JJ Meyer was Fourth and Gene Pennington rounded out the Top Five.

Next Up…

TUNDRA will take a mid-summer break and be back in action on Sunday, August 14 at State Park Speedway.  Details on the event will be release in the coming weeks on TUNDRA’s web site.

State Park Speedway is located at the foot of Rib Mountain at 5711 North Mountain Rd in Wausau.  For more information visit http://www.stateparkspeedway.com

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (June 4, 2016) – The rains came, the red flag was displayed and a large pause was put on TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Round Two Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes on Saturday at Dells Raceway Park.  At that point, some of the Prunty clan decided to make their way back to a local campground.

“The kids are at the campground waiting for me. I guess it’s better than seeing me finish last,” Prunty joked.

What they missed was another dazzling run by the former TUNDRA Champion at the third-mile.  After the rain delay on lap 12 of 75 Prunty methodically picked his way from eighth to second, putting himself in a good position when race leader Mike Lichtfeld’s machine experienced electrical issues.

“We’ve been really strong here over the past couple of years,” Prunty said of his continued success at the venue.

The win was the third in TUNDRA action for Prunty.  All three have been at DRP including the Championship clinching feature win in 2012.  The last time Prunty appeared in a TUNDRA event at DRP he finished Second in 2014.

Although Prunty was able to claim victory, there were several key moments after the race resumed which put him in position to capitalize.  The biggest key could have been his pass on Casey Johnson for Third on lap 48 as Johnson proved to be strong in the late stages of the feature.

Once into Third, Punty went on the attack to take Second from Travis Dassow on lap 51.  After Prunty took the spot, it looked as though he would need a monumental run to catch Lichtfeld, who had captured the lead shortly after the race resumed from the rain delay on lap 12.  Lichtfeld’s lead was nearly a straightaway, and he was having no trouble picking off lapped traffic.

However, shortly after Prunty had taken Second away, a distinct rumbling sound began under the hood of the 44.  Although Lichtfeld continued to nurse the machine, it was clear that he was underpowered and unable to hold off the rest of the field.  Prunty caught him on lap 54 to take the lead.  Dassow followed back into Second with Johnson right on his bumper in Third.

As Prunty started to build a lead, Johnson tested Dassow.  He was able to make the pass on lap 59 and set his sights on Prunty, who was starting to find the thickest lapped traffic.  With laps clicking off the board, Johnson continued to make gains and was to Prunty’s bumper with less than ten laps remaining.

After a few challenges in the final five circuits, Johnson was continually turned away.  Finally, with two laps to go, Prunty was able to get some breathing room after clearing more lapped traffic.

“We were right there, I don’t know if I would have had enough for him,” Johnson said of the battle with Prunty.  “Traffic played a big part in the race.”

Behind the lead duo, reigning two-time TUNDRA Champion Dalton Zehr was making a frantic run to cap a frantic day.  He made the pass on Dassow for third with six laps remaining, securing a podium finish after going to the back of the field.

“That’s only half of the day,” Zehr said of his finish.  “We showed up with a rear end that was blown out and worked on it throughout all of practice.  We started at the back of the pack and had a fast race car obviously.  The thing was just awesome in traffic.  In open traffic I think the two guys in front of me would have been really hard to pass.”

Aside from the problems during practice, Zehr was also involved in a caution on lap 12, just before the rains came.  When the field came out to finish drying the track, he experienced a dead battery, which was changed in time to get him out at the tail end of the field before the green fell again.

Although the defending Champion may have saved his chances to contend again, there is still a gap to make up due to the strong runs of Johnson, Dassow and Bobby Kendall, who sit ahead of Zehr in the TUNDRA standings.

With his second consecutive runner-up finish, Johnson has made an early statement in the TUNDRA points.  He leads Dassow by 34 markers.  Kendall is just 49 points behind, with Zehr (53 behind) and Terry Schoppenhorst (57 points behind) rounding out the Top Five.

Johnson, who has won a TUNDRA race in his own Super Late Model, was quick to credit the relationship with Chase Motorsports, now in its second season.

“This car has been real stout,” he said. “We’ve finished Second in both TUNDRA races and qualified top two in both of them.  Any time I get a chance to sit in here, I’ll do it.”

He’ll get another chance to sit behind the wheel at the next event which is Friday, July 1 at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.  Johnson finished Seventh in the event last season, one spot behind Zehr.  Dassow has had a team driver compete for him at the last two events – his wife Kelsey last season, and Brad Keith two seasons ago.  Kendall last competed with TUNDRA at LaCrosse in 2014.  He finished Eighth.

KALLAS GRABS SPORTSMAN CHECKERED

The second TUNDRA Sportsman Series feature event provided just as much excitement as the first.  Seventeen-year-old Rachel Kallas held off Hall of Fame racer Bill Prietzel to capture the feature win.

It was Kallas’ second career feature win in a Super Stock/Sportsman type car.  She has also been competing in the Late Model division at Dells Raceway Park.

With curfew looming and another race to run afterward, the feature length was shortened to 18 laps.  Kallas and Jason Thoma led the field to green and remained side-by-side for the first six laps of the race.  The incredibly competitive field remained nose to tail behind them.

Kallas was able to clear Thoma on lap six, leaving him to deal with Bryce Miller.  As they went side-by-side, Prietzel and Greg Back found enough room to make some passes into the Top Five.  On lap 10 Prietzel moved to Third with Back coming to fourth.  Meanwhile, it was tough sledding for fast qualifier Dave Trute, who was still bottled up in traffic.

On lap 12, Prietzel caught and made the pass on Miller for Second.  Back soon followed.  Trute had finally shaken free and was closing in on the Top Five.

In the final five laps Prietzel began to size up Kallas.  She was able to fend off Prietzel’s charge just after the white flag fell and dashed back to the line for the win.  Back beat Trute by a nose to the line for Third and Kevin Berg narrowly slipped past Miller for Fifth at the stripe.

ECHLIN HOLDS OFF SCHNEIDER IN TUNDRA VINTAGE

A long ride from Dyer, Indiana and a long night of waiting ended up worthwhile for Pat Echlin.  He captured the win in the TUNDRA Sportsman feature by holding off a charge from Round One winner Jerry Schneider.

Just like the Sportsman race, the feature had to be shorted due to curfew.  Echlin cruised to the front of the field and built a healthy advantage before Schneider attempted to track him down.

Rex Rossier was Third, Ken Lewis was Fourth, and Royce Rossier rounded out the Top Five.

UP NEXT…

TUNDRA heads to LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway for Round Three Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes on Friday, July 1.  The program will feature Super Late Models, Sportsman, Vintage and the Midwest Truck Series.  Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:30.  More details on the event will be released soon.

LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway is located at N4985 Cty Rd M in West Salem, Wis.  For more information visit www.lacrossespeedway.com

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (May 8, 2016) – Saturday’s Duke FM 50 for the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series as part of Round One Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes was eerily reminiscent of the 2015 season opener.  This time, however, Ty Majeski was the chaser instead of the chasee.  And this time he was able to make the pass.

Majeski picked up his second straight TUNDRA season-opening win at Wisconsin International Raceway after carefully ascending through the field and making a late-race pass of Steve Apel, who chased Majeski to the finish line last season.

Just like last season, the battle between Majeski and Apel raged on for over a dozen laps before it was finally settled.  Apel had paced the field for the first 27 laps from the front row without much of a challenge.  Fellow front-row starter Brent Strelka kept close, but Apel was able to distance himself as the race matured.

Then, a caution on lap 27 tightened the field.  By this time Majesi was to Third.  After making the pass on Strelka after the restart, he set his sights on Apel.  What ensued was another dazzling battle between the two young Super Late Model stars.  Majeski began his challenges immediately after passing Strelka on lap 28, but could not make the pass.

With a Red, White and Blue Championship under his belt from last season, Apel looked like a sly veteran of the half-mile.  Any time Majeski got to the inside to provide a challenge, Apel would get a perfect run off turn two or four to clear Majeski and settle back into the lead.  As time ticked away, Majeski’s efforts stepped up.  He eventually made his fateful move on lap 43.

Entering turn one Majeski was able to force Apel’s hand by changing his line.  Apel tried to hold him off, but this time could not get enough of a run off turn two to defend the lead.

“It’s a little tough when you’re side by side,” Majeski said.  “The outside is definitely preferred.  I crowded him up just a little bit just to ruin his run off turn two and that was enough to do it.”

While Majeski and Apel were battling, last year’s Third Place finisher was reeling in the leaders.  Casey Johnson was on Majeski’s bumper when he made the pass for the lead.  He then followed Majeski into Second and had hopes of challenging for the win.

As the final laps clicked off Johnson held within striking distance of Majeski and looked to be setting up for a final challenge.  He got his opportunity when the second yellow fell on lap 48 for oil spotted in the top racing groove in turns one and two.  After the cleanup Majeski paced the field to perfection.  He jumped away from Johnson to the tune of three car lengths and didn’t look back.

Although pleased with a strong run through the field to Second, Johnson was hoping to capitalize on the restart.  He said his car was best on long runs, but may have had an opportunity.  “On that last restart we thought we might have had something,” Johnson said.  “But Ty knew what he had to do to hold on and he did it.”

In similar fashion to the previous two TUNDRA events at WIR, the 2016 version featured plenty of passing and drivers coming from deep in the field to challenge for the win.  Majeski started 11^th on the grid.  Johnson started 12^th.  Ironically enough, Johnson had passed Majeski early in the race and blazed a path to the front.  Majeski made his pass on the outside of Johnson on lap 11 for the Fifth position.

In fact, most of Majeski’s passes – with the exception of the one for the lead – were made by going to the high side.  Johnson’s path to the front was similar.  “I got to the outside really quickly and had a pretty good battle back there,” Majeski said of his run through the field.  “After that I started picking them off one by one.”

Behind the Majeski and Johnson tandem, Apel came home Third.  It was his second consecutive podium finish in the event after a Second Place finish to Majeski last season.

Aside from the incredible battles up front, there was plenty of movement in the Top Five all race long.  Toward the end of the race defending Champion Lowell Bennett led a pack that included Travis Dassow, Dalton Zehr, Jeff Van Oudenhoven and fast qualifier Maxwell Schultz.  Bennett had started Fifth, but fell back early in the race.  He also had to take to the outside to move back up to a Fourth Place finish.  He brought Travis Dassow with, who remained on the bumper of Bennett right up until the checkered flag.

In a field full of strong competition, a Sixth Place finish for Jeff Van Oudenhoven (who made his return to action after injury sidelined him for most of 2015) was a good indicator that the rust has been shaken off.  Behind him, Maxwell Schultz came home Seventh.  The fast qualifier fell back from his 13^th Place starting spot early and fought hard to climb back into the Top Ten.

Those two had battled with reigning TUNDRA Champion Dalton Zehr, who looked to be on his way to a solid Top Ten finish.  However, Zehr’s machine experienced issues in the closing laps of the race.  He was forced to retire on lap 48, which marks his first TUNDRA DNF since the final round of 2014 at Slinger Speedway.  He had already locked up the Championship in that race.  A 20^th Place finish for Zehr will leave little room for error over the rest of the TUNDRA season.

LAST LAP PASS GIVES TRUTE FIRST TUNDRA SPORTSMAN WIN

In a field full of some of the best Sportsman/Street Stock/Super Stock/Mid-American drivers the area had to offer, the king of the Sportsman was able to take down the Hall of Famer with a last-lap pass in the 30-lap affair.

The first ever TUNDRA Sportsman event featured a dazzling battle between three-time Mid-American Series Champion Bill Prietzel and five-time Dells Raceway Park Champion Dave Trute.  When Prietzel made his pass of Trute after a restart on lap seven, the race looked like it was all over.  Trute disagreed.

The duo of Trute and Prietzel came from Eighth and Ninth in the pack.  Once outside pole-sitter Dusty Mann’s machine expired on lap seven, it became a battle of will between Prietzel and Trute.  Although Prietzel nabbed the lead on the restart, Trute kept within two car lengths over the final 23 laps.

There were several opportunities for Trute to challenge Prietzel just past the halfway point.  However, he could only get close enough to give Prietzel a slight tap to the bumper and remind him he was there.  While the battle raged on, and the duo weaved through lapped traffic, Greg Back moved into Third.  He looked to have a strong machine also, as he reeled in the top Two.  However, Back ran out of time and had to settle for Third.

The final challenge was set up by Trute with four laps to go.  After clearing lapped traffic, Trute closed to Prietzel’s back bumper.  He surveyed the inside line over the next two laps until Prietzel left just enough room for Trute to get a run to the inside.  Once the door cracked open, Trute was able to swing it wide open and take the inside line.

Charging out of turn two, Trute pulled even with Prietzel.  With the preferred line he was able to push ahead entering three and four.  However, Prietzel – who had won several Mid-American Series races at WIR – exited turn four well on the outside and drag raced Trute to the stripe.  Unfortunately for Prietzel, Trute was able to outlast him and take a win in his first ever trip to the half-mile.

Back cruised home to the Third spot.  Brian Wienfurter was Fourth and Jason Thoma rounded out the Top Five.

SCHNEIDER DEFENDS HOME TURF IN VINTAGE

It would have taken some pretty strong sandpaper to get the smile off Jerry Schneider’s face after the TUNDRA Vintage feature Saturday afternoon.  The former Super Late Model racer at WIR brought his Chevelle home to victory in a wild Vintage 30-lap feature.

Schneider found himself in the lead about midway through the feature event.  He then powered to the win after a late red flag for a wreck that involved Roger Stanczyk and Ken Olson.  Both drivers were ok.

Behind Schneider, Royce Rossier, Ken Lewis, Pat Echlin, and Dick Kath rounded out the Top Five.

NEXT FOR TUNDRA

The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series as well as the Sportsman and Vintage divisions will head to Dells Raceway Park for Round Two Powered by Wisconsin Potatoes on Saturday, June 4.  Qualifying is slated for 5:30 with racing at 7 P.M.  The series will also be joined by the Midwest Truck Series.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road just north of downtown Wisconsin Dells.  For more information visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com

JEFFERSON, Wis. (September 20, 2015) – Entering the final event of 2015 at Jefferson Speedway, defending TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Champion Dalton Zehr knew there was only so much he could control. He controlled it well.

Zehr dominated a caution-free final 75-lap feature of the season, propelling him to a five-point win in the Championship standings over Ty Majeski, who lost power steering early in the race and manhandled his machine to an eighth-place finish. Zehr had trailed Majeski by 25 points entering the main event.

“I guess this would be the turning point of the season,” Zehr said. “I didn’t come into this race very optimistic about the points. We just set out to put the best car we could on the track and go out for the win.”

Zehr captured the top spot from early race-leader Ryan Farrell and outdueled defending TUNDRA Jefferson race winner Casey Johnson to pick up his second win of the season.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “The race went exactly the way we needed it to go, straight through. Credit goes to the TUNDRA drivers. Casey (Johnson) and I were racing hard and no one was holding that up.”

A quick scramble to the front saw some of the faster qualifiers push into the top five early in the race. The original invert was nine, which would have placed Steve Rubeck on the pole for the feature. However, just prior to the feature, Rubeck elected to start in the rear, putting eighth-place qualifier Duke Long on the front row alongside Ryan Farrell.

After a strong performance at Jefferson last season, Farrell proved to have a solid machine early by taking the lead from Long. He led a parade of cars from the outside line into the top three, which included Zehr and Johnson.

Farrell held a tenuous lead until lap ten when Zehr shot to the outside line to challenge. On lap 11 Zehr secured the lead from the rookie. One lap later Johnson found a way past Farrell into second.

A quick run to the front was part of the race strategy for Zehr. “It’s hard to pass when the cars are equal,” he said. “It would have been really interesting with Casey and I because I ran the outside the whole race. If Casey would have been ahead of me I would have burned my stuff up trying to get around him, so the key was to get to the front first.”

Johnson gave Zehr no time to relax once they separated themselves from Farrell. With the inside line open, Johnson ducked to the bottom and tested the low groove in both sets of turns. Surprisingly, Zehr gave Johnson the bottom lane in turns one and two. Lap after lap, Zehr was able to escape. Johnson was able to pull even on a couple of occasions, but ultimately couldn’t make the pass. As the race hit the halfway point Zehr slowly cleared Johnson and started to stretch out his lead.

“We just kind of threw something at it and hoped for the best. It unloaded pretty good right away,” said Johnson, who was driving the Chase Motorsports 47 at his home track for the first time. “Dalton could just hang on out the outside really well. He gave me the line so there was no need to rough him up at all. We just raced around and he was better at the end.”

As Zehr and Johnson rode out front, the remainder of the top five continued to sort out. Mike Lichtfeld made a run to fourth on lap 14, then, after tracking down Farrell, shot into the third spot on the outside line. Although his machine had some jump in only his second visit to Jefferson, Lichtfeld wasn’t able to make up the deficit.

“A yellow would have been nice by the time I got into third place,” Lichtfeld said. “Those two guys were half a track ahead. We kind of rolled around saving our stuff hoping for a caution, but we never caught it.”

As Lichtfeld settled into third, and the trio of Farrell in fourth, Performance Diesel Fast Qualifier Dan Lensing in fifth and Gregg Pawelski in sixth (which is where they would finish the event) sorted out the final spots in the top five, attention turned to Majeski. Majeski had started in the fifth position, but fell back to seventh early in the race when the outside lane made its run to the front.

After closing on Pawelski on lap 25, Majeski fell back a few car lengths. Because of his power steering issue, a run back into the top five wasn’t in the cards for the two-time winner in 2015. Eventually, on lap 57, Travis Dassow nudged his way past Majeski, leaving him to settle for eighth. It was only the second time in a stellar season that Majeski finished outside of the top two.

“With all the caster we run in these wheels it’s almost impossible to turn the car, so I just tried to hang on and come home with the best finish I could,” Majeski said. “There was no time to give my arms a rest, I was just fighting it. Congratulations to Dalton Zehr on the Championship, he ran great all year. I’m disappointed we couldn’t take it home, but you have to take the good with the bad.”

Up until the final circuits Zehr was unaware that Majeski was not in position to hold the points lead.

“To be honest with you those last couple of laps I was thinking about how I was going to congratulate Ty on the Championship,” Zehr said. “I had no idea. I was just out there running my hardest every lap.”

Heading into the Championship race with the point lead was not unfamiliar territory for Zehr. However, Zehr had the title wrapped before the final race of last season. The 2015 story looked similar to the 2012 point battle where Zehr led the points coming into the evening, but did not come out with that title. Dennis Prunty won the feature and captured the Championship.

Sometimes history repeats itself in more ways than one.

Keske and Anderson are co-Rookies of the Year, Lensing Finishes Third in Points

For the first time this season both Bryan Syer-Keske and Cole Anderson appeared at the same TUNDRA event. Keske, being the primary driver, accumulated the points at Jefferson. With his heat race win he put the wraps on the Dean’s Satellite and Security Rookie of the Year title for the team. Anderson was on hand to compete in the 75-lap event and celebrate after the race, as well.

“It’s awesome to come out here and compete for Rookie of the Year,” Keske said. “I had Nick Panitzke and Dan Fredrickson over my shoulder. We have a five hour ride home to think the race over.”

“It was a good short track race,” Anderson said of Jefferson. “I had a great time in the series.”

The team of Keske and Anderson finished fourth in series standings behind Dan Lensing.

“We’ve had a lot of ups, but we had some downs,” said Lensing, who set a new track record in qualifying. “I really like the series. We went to a lot of tracks that I never went to. I really like how they run everything and I’ll probably be back.”

The TUNDRA Super Late Model Series would like to thank its 2015 partners: The Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, Dean’s Satellite and Security, Performance Diesel, The World Championship Snowmobile Derby, Habelman Brothers Company Cranberries, Johnnie’s Hobbies, RSI X-ray, The Country Plumber, Five Star Race Car Bodies, TD Graphics, Coleman Racing Products and Wegner Automotive Research. The series would also like to thank its 2015 partner tracks and their staffs, race teams, and countless fans who supported TUNDRA this season.

An Awards banquet for the series will be announced in the coming weeks. TUNDRA has announced the 2016 season will begin at Wisconsin International Raceway on Saturday, May 7, 2016.