WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis (August 25, 2012) – When the going gets tough, Dalton Zehr gets going. Zehr and pole-sitter John Zimmerman were the only two drivers not involved in a caution in TUNDRA Round Four Saturday at Dells Raceway Park. In the end they were the only two to lead laps in the Advanced Engine Concepts 80.

After the fifth caution on lap 26 claimed drivers from second on back, Zehr emerged for a single file restart in the second spot. Although he challenged at the drop of the green Zehr had to bide his time until he was able to take the lead on lap 50 and pocket his second straight TUNDRA win.

“Zimmerman was tough to pass,” Zehr explained. “Originally I thought it was going to be a breeze because he was giving such a wide lane out there, but when I got out there, it tightened up.”

Grabbing the lead from Mike Egan, the former track champion enjoyed one of his strongest runs since returning to DRP last season. Zimmerman broke away slightly to leave the field to battle until the first caution fell for Steve Lichtfeld on lap four.

From his third-place spot on lap four, Bobby Kendall picked the outside line for the restart and immediately challenged Zimmerman. Kendall found out early what Zehr would learn later – Zimmerman was ready to repel those who tested the top line. Kendall held the outside line for nearly ten laps until another caution fell on lap 14 for a Terry Schoppenhorst spin.

Although he looked strong on the outside before the caution, the temptation of selecting the bottom line was too much for Kendall to pass up. Leaving the outside lane vacated allowed Dennis Prunty to slide to the top line for a restart in the third position. Behind Prunty was Rich Bickle, who was developing a history with the TUNDRA Round Two winner.

The field sorted out at the drop of the green allowing Kendall to keep the second spot behind Zimmerman. As he closed in to challenge, attention turned toward Bickle and Prunty who started jousting back and fourth for the third spot.

Just as Kendall approached Zimmerman for another challenge, James Swan made contact with Mike Egan while racing for fifth. Swan gave Egan his spot back, but had not made his final appearance near the front of the field.

The caution also claimed Landry Potter and Dan Lensing. As Lensing tried to avoid, he caught the hood of Potter’s machine and went airborne. Lensing continued but brought out another caution just three laps later on lap 25 when his right rear tire failed and he hit the front stretch wall.

Behind Zimmerman frustration was poised to boil over. After racing in close vicinity through the first 25 laps Bickle and Prunty scrapped for second in a furious manner. Prunty worked the outside with very little room for error. After making contact on several occasions over the lap, Prunty came out with second. However, Bickle tapped the back bumper of Prunty enterting turn three. Unable to save his machine Prunty spun in front of the field out of four, brining the remaining drivers to a screeching halt.

The wreck was worst for Terry Schoppenhorst who was right behind the battle. He sustained major damage and could not continue. Although Zehr wasn’t damaged, he wasn’t immune to the melee in front of him.

“It was a big pileup in turn four there,” Zehr said. “We were lucky to be one of the ones who got hit in the back not in the front and didn’t have the radiator taken out.”

Only eight cars paced around DRP during the caution laps while others made repairs or were done for the remainder of the event. Even Bickle and Prunty, who were both able to continue, were able to restart in the top ten.

After the restart Zehr challenged, but was turned back by Zimmerman by lap 32. While the top two broke away, the line of Swan, Bickle and Prunty moved back toward the top five. After moving around Kenny Reiser for third, Swan, making his Super Late Model debut at DRP, closed the gap on Zehr.

Seeing his rear view mirror fill with a baby blue nose, Zehr decided it was time to roll the dice.

“Eventually (Swan) caught up to us and it was go time,” Zehr said. “I jumped to the outside and if I wouldn’t have made that pass, I probably would have ended up tenth. It worked out though, we were able to make the pass and build up a lead.”

Swan followed to the second spot just two laps later and seemed as though he might have had something for Zehr. Although Zehr proved to have the superior machine, Swan again forced Zehr to alter his plans.

“Swan broke free and it was time to put the hammer down,” Zehr said. He also discussed some handling conditions with Swan after the race completed. “He started losing the front end of his car before I started losing the back end on mine. If I lost mine five laps earlier, it might have been different.”

Without incident over the final 25 circuits, Bickle followed Swan to third and Prunty rounded out the top four. Ken Reiser passed Zimmerman in the final laps to complete the top five.

In similar position to his wins in the Alive For Five Super Late Model Series last season, Zehr had seen these scenarios before – just as he referred to in an article leading up to TUNDRA Round Four. He said the roughest race in the Midwest is like every race in Florida. With rain looming Zehr might have felt like he was in the Sunshine State again.

“We kept taking the outside on the restarts with all the cautions,” Zehr said. “Every time we picked the outside we would go forward a position, but we would go to back and it wouldn’t stay green long enough for us to move back up. It all panned out in the very end.”

Most importantly for Zehr, however, was his ability to capture the point lead. Zehr embraced starting behind the invert in Round Four and said he looks forward to it again in the fifth and final round as he tries to lock up his first career championship

“We were really chasing points tonight and early in the race it didn’t look so good,” Zehr said. “We did everything we could do to put ourselves in contention.”

The fireworks between Bickle and Prunty crept into Victory Lane. Bickle explained why he and Prunty got so physical early in the race even though both seemed to put it behind them over the second half of the race. Bickle’s confession was met by a boisterous mixed-reaction, inciting the crowd of Prunty faithful to serenade him with boos as others cheered.

With a point battle that features Zehr holding a three point lead over Prunty and eight point lead over Bickle, the fireworks and emotions have seemingly only just begun and will most certainly boil up over the next two weeks.

TUNDRA Rounds out the 2012 season Saturday, Sept. 8 at Dells Raceway Park. Champions will be crowned in all five divisions.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (July 22, 2012) – It should have been an easier night at Dells Raceway Park, Dalton Zehr said. But when you’re lapping drivers in the top ten who are racing for position, and Rich Bickle is chasing you down, your heart rate is bound to rise.

Zehr built a commanding lead just halfway through the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Advanced Engine Concepts 80-lap feature and watched it shrink as he maneuvered through lapped traffic. Bickle caught and challenged Zehr with five laps remaining, but could not take the win from the 21-year-old driver from Daytona Beach, Fla.

With a couple chances to strike, Bickle looked high and low, but Zehr’s machine proved to be too strong. The final battle thrilled DRP’s largest crowd of the season, who were witness to a total of 30 TUNDRA Super Late Models rolling through the gate.

“It sure turned what was going to be a good feature win into a struggle, Zehr said of the lapped traffic. “It was a battle. It was understandable because those guys were racing for position, but it made it interesting.”

After winning the dash earlier in the evening, Zehr was placed on the outside of row three, two rows behind his eventual challenger. With a strong starting spot, Bickle surprisingly slid back at the start of the race on the outside as Josh Wallace and Dale Prunty exchanged the top spot.

With a win in TUNDRA Round One and a third-place finish in Round Two, Bickle seemed to be the early favorite. However, it was not to be at the beginning of the event.

“We put rear tires on tonight. This two tire thing is a little bit of a challenge because you have to put on a left rear somewhere along the line and the right front wouldn’t turn,” said Bickle who slid out of the top five in the first ten circuits. “I kind of just worked my way back up there.”

As drivers jockeyed for early positioning and Dale Prunty showed the way, the first caution of the race fell on lap 14. Landry Potter and Frank Kreyer made contact, sending last year’s Alive For Five Champion spinning. Both were sent to the tail of the field and the restart placed Prunty alone in the front row with Wallace flanked by Dan Lensing and Mike Egan flanked by Tommy Pecaro behind.

The restart was short-lived as two former DRP Late Model combatants Derek Childs and Bobby Kendall were involved in an incident and came to a stop in turns one and two. Kendall continued, but Childs’ night ended.

Yet another caution fell one lap after the restart when Dennis Prunty was sent spinning. The following restart would be the last with 61 caution-free laps clicking off.

Bickle and Zehr aligned side-by-side behind Pecaro and Lensing and the leader Dale Prunty. Utilizing a few laps to sort things out, Zehr waited, then seized his opportunity to lay siege to the top three.

During that move to the front Zehr found another uneasy moment when he soared to the top line in an attempt to capture third from Dan Lensing. On lap 25 Zehr slid to the top of the track in the middle of turns three and four. Lensing slid up, nearly opening the door for a three-wide situation with Wallace.

“I was waiting for the radio to key and say we were going three wide,” Zehr said of his pass of Lensing for third. “The way he was getting into me, it felt like he was getting helped up there.” Indeed it was a situation beyond Lensing’s control – he lost the power steering on his machine.

With a narrow escape Zehr chased down Pecaro for the second spot, leaving Lensing to try to hold off the advances of Bickle, Jeff Storm and fast qualifier Michael Bilderback.

Zehr swooped past Pecaro by lap 35, brining Bickle and Storm to battle for third and fourth. Just three laps later, Zehr was on the back bumper of Dale Prunty, surveying his options to grab the top spot. First looking to the bottom, Zehr was turned away by Prunty. On lap 39 coming to the start/finish line Prunty slipped, allowing Zehr to take the outside and the lead.

Holding off Bickle for another seven laps, Prunty’s defense allowed Zehr to break away. Bickle stole the second spot on lap 48 and brought Storm to third.

Bickle and storm hooked into battle for second while simultaneously trying to chase down Zehr. A furious battle erupted behind them with Pecaro, Bilderback, Corey Jankowski, Kreyer and Dennis Prunty.

With less than 20 laps remaining, and the leaders seemingly settled in their spots, attention turned to the battle for fifth. Jankowski repeatedly tried to move Bilderback off the bottom to the point of wrinkling his own fender causing a tire rub. After nearly ten laps of trying, Jankowksi took the spot. Behind them, Kreyer and Prunty raced in close quarters.

After Kreyer and Prunty both cleared Bilderback, he felt the heat from two other sources – a hard charging Kenny Reiser, and the leaders. Bilderback and Reiser locked into battle and Zehr suddenly found himself boxed in with less than ten laps remaining.

Although Bickle was closing in quickly, Zehr waited patiently for the lines to open. The seas parted just in time to escape Bickle and secure the win. Dale Prunty finished fourth about a half straightaway behind third-place Storm, Jankowski was fifth and, nearly a full lap behind the leader, Dennis Prunty and Kreyer made contact coming to the stripe for sixth. Prunty held on to the spot.

The win was Zehr’s third in his last seven visits to DRP. Zehr won rounds two and three of the Alive For Five Series last season and continued to prove his machine and team are a threat each time they hit the track.

“I felt like we had the race-winning car and it was just my job to get it there,” Zehr said. “It’s just the actual team and great equipment. That’s what it takes to win races, and we bring that every week.”

Bickle picked up his third podium finish and was relieved that the altercations in the race didn’t seem to follow him. “It’s unusual because it feels like lately everything has been happening around me,” he said. “Some nights you’re the bug and some nights you’re the windshield. Tonight we weren’t the bug so that’s a good thing.”

By virtue of his finishes Bickle remains one of the top drivers in TUNDRA standings. However, due to passing points utilized by the DRP point system, Corey Jankowski tops the standings by two points. The top five drivers are separated by only seven markers with two races remaining.

Round Four of the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series 2012 season is schedule for Saturday, Aug. 25.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (June 17, 2012) – It was smooth sailing through the first 74 laps of TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Round Two at Dells Raceway Park Saturday night for Dennis Prunty. However, a caution with six laps remaining brought a squall threatening to sink his chances of a first DRP win.

Prunty grabbed the lead just six laps into the Advanced Engine Concepts 80-lap feature event and built his advantage to over five seconds until a caution with six to go brought challenges from Frank Kreyer and Tanner Whitten. Prunty was able to turn back both.

Before the caution Prunty began to foreshadow his fate. “With 20 to go I was starting to think, ‘when is something going to happen?’ I definitely didn’t want to see (the caution),” Prunty said.

“I knew that Tanner Whitten was going to be fast. He was able to get alongside me, but we held him off. It felt good.”

Prunty built his enormous advantage by streaking to the front of the field from his fifth-place starting spot. After the green fell Terry Schoppenhorst grabbed an early lead from Dennis’ brother Dale Prunty. Quickly after Schoppenhorst took the top spot, Kenny Reiser and Dennis Prunty moved past Dale Prunty into second and third.

Schoppenhorst’s lead was short-lived as Reiser took to the lead on lap two. Right behind, Prunty was lurking and waiting for his opportunity to pounce. Prunty found his chance on lap six when he swooped to the inside and left Reiser to deal with the rest of the pack.

Just past the ten-lap mark Reiser fell into the clutches of Dalton Zehr, Whitten and fast qualifier Bobby Kendall. Zehr worked furiously in an attempt to move past Schoppenhorst and Reiser, but found no room to grab the runner-up spot.

As second spot on back stayed in heavy dispute, Prunty worked calmly through lapped traffic and built his lead to over four seconds. The pack finally broke open on lap 36 when Whitten was able to negotiate his line around Reiser. Reiser began to reel backward with Dalton Zehr stuck on the outside line, as well. In a matter of just five laps they fell to the tail end of the top ten.

Sour luck for Reiser and Zehr opened up room for two of the stars of TUNDRA Round One. As the field clicked past the midway point Kreyer and Round One winner Rich Bickle made an appearance in the top five. The duo locked into a tussle for the next ten laps in hopes to settle a dispute for third. Kreyer emerged with on lap 54 and began to chase down his teammate Whitten.

Over the next 20 laps, Prunty kept picking off lapped traffic and got as near to the top ten as 13th place John Zimmerman.

When things seemed to be completely in Prunty’s favor, the caution fell for a Derek Childs spin. With a brand new script to write over the final six circuits, Prunty was set to face off against a driver he chased in title standings last year in Kreyer.

The cone was placed leaving Prunty all alone in the front row. Kreyer, who just six laps before the yellow had taken second from Whitten, chose the inside line. Whitten swung to the outside with Bickle being flanked by Kendall in the third row.

Initially Prunty broke away on the restart. However, Kreyer caught him quickly and provided a challenge to the inside. Sealing off the bottom Prunty turned back Kreyer. However, the outside line was left wide open for Whitten. Whitten got side-by-side with Prunty and on some occasions appeared to have the advantage. However, Prunty proved too strong in the bottom groove.

Whitten, who earlier in the evening upset Bickle in the five-for-five dash, tucked back into line hoping to shake Prunty off the bottom. Prunty kept his composure and held on to win by less than a car length. Bickle grabbed third from Kreyer with three laps to go and secured his point lead. Zehr made a late run back into the top five and stole fourth from Kreyer on the final circuit.

After challenging Bickle, and his 14-race winning streak since 1989, in Round One, Prunty was satisfied to be the one who ended the tremendous feat.

“It’s not that you want to go out and be the one that ruins people’s streaks, but I wanted to be the one to do it,” he said.

Bickle, racing with a heavy heart after the passing of his mother on Friday, was first to congratulate Prunty on the win.

“I’m not really that much of a points racer, I just like to win,” said Prunty who now trails Bickle by four points in TUNDRA standings. “If I can win races the points will be there at the end. It would be really cool to win two championships this year. That would be quite an amazing season.”

Earlier in the night TUNDRA preliminaries provided excitement, as well. Tom Lichtfeld made his return after missing Round One and turned back Tim Lampman to win the Waterfurnace Shootout.

Kelsey Bauer was victorious in the Leo’s Upper Dells Bar Gong Show, a six-car, six-lap last chance race with only two transfers. The race dazzled as Corey Jankowski made a late move to the second and final transfer spot. Jankowski later cruised through the feature field, finishing seventh. His passing points helped locked him into a tie with Prunty for second behind Bickle.

The next Round of TUNDRA action at Dells Raceway Park is on Saturday, July 21. TUNDRA will be joined by the DRP Late Models, Sportsman and Pure Stocks. Racing is slated for 6:30 p.m.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (May 27, 2012) – Streaks may be made to be broken, but some streaks last a long time before they’re snapped. On Saturday night Rich Bickle stretched his Dells Raceway Park winning streak to 14 straight since 1989.

Bickle passed Dalton Zehr with 11 laps remaining in the 80-lap TUNDRA Super Late Model Series feature event. He felt late pressure from Dennis Prunty, who charged through the field after an early caution, but held on to win in front of a thrilled crowd.

“Once I passed (Zehr) I thought I had it licked and kind of backed off,” Bickle said. “(Prunty) ran a good race. I knew he wasn’t going to go by me unless he hit me. I have a lot of respect for the guy; he’s come a long way in ten years of racing.”

With a late start due to poor weather conditions throughout the afternoon, TUNDRA drivers drew for their starting spot in the feature. The field was led to green by Landry Potter and Terry Schoppenhorst. Potter got the early jump on Schoppenhorst and led the first circuit.

The first caution of the race fell on lap one when Kelsey Bauer was sent spinning in turns one and two. Prunty stopped as part of the yellow and headed to the pit area to check over his machine before the green flew again.

On the restart Zehr, who won two features at DRP last season, jumped to the outside. Zehr worked furiously to find away around Potter, who seemed to be fighting an ill-handling machine. On lap nine Zehr moved past potter into the lead.

Before Zehr had the chance to build his lead, a caution fell when Mike Egan and Kenny Reiser tangled. The restart gave Zehr the front row to himself with Potter and Bickle starting side-by-side in the second row.

Coming back to green on lap 11, Potter and Bickle made contact, which sent the remainder of the 26-car field scurrying. Zehr built up a large advantage while Bickle battled with the likes of Michael Bilderback, Bobby Kendall and Josh Wallace in the top five.

As Bickle began to close in on Zehr another caution fell on lap 18 when Dan Lensing spun in turn two. Bickle this time was accompanied in the second row by Bilderback with Kendall and Wallace behind.

With Zehr taking off on the short run once again, defending Champion Frank Kreyer and Corey Jankowski were moving through the field. By lap 22 Kreyer and Jankowski were door-to-door for the sixth spot with Prunty in hot pursuit. Eight laps later, Kreyer had moved past Jankowski with Prunty still hanging on his back bumper. The tandem then passed Bilderback to secure fourth and fifth.

Zehr and Bickle continued to cruise out front while Kreyer and Prunty sliced through the top ten. On lap 38, the pressure from Prunty was too much and Kreyer surrendered the fourth spot. The duo then crept to the back bumper of Bobby Kendall when another caution fell on lap 50 for a spin on the front stretch.

With another solid restart, Zehr jumped out to another sizeable advantage. Bickle was left to deal with Prunty, who soon swung behind Bickle and began to log laps.

A seemingly insurmountable lead for Zehr was slowly closed on by Bickle. With 15 laps remaining Bickle caught Zehr and began to survey his options. Three laps later Bickle went to the top and slid past Zehr. Two laps later Prunty rocketed past on the inside.

“I’ve never raced that kid before, and he was really fast,” Bickle said of Zehr. “I saw his car giving up a little. My car seemed to get better in the longer run. The thing I liked best about the race was that I passed him on the outside. People say you can’t pass on the outside, but I always have and always think you can.”

In the closing laps Prunty got to Bickle’s bumper on several occasions, but could not find enough room to make a maneuver. In the final trip through turns three and four Prunty gave Bickle a nudge, but did not shake him off the bottom.

“My brother David came on the radio and said, ‘just so you know, Rich Bickle hasn’t lost a race here since 1989,” I wanted to change that for him,” Prunty said. “I wanted to do it clean, but I just couldn’t quite get there.”

Kendall capped off a strong run with a third-place finish, Kreyer was fourth and Jankowski made a late-race pass to round out the top five.

In securing a victory in TUNDRA Super Late Model Series Round One Bickle made a statement that he may have been out of the game for a few years, but he is still a force. The win was Bickle’s first since 2006 and also had special significance.

“It felt good to win here with my mom being really sick and being able to win the race for her tonight was really special,” Bickle said.

Bickle said he hopes to extend his streak over the next four TUNDRA Super Late Model Series races at Dells Raceway Park.

“It’s like the same racing we’ve had here forever. It’s a good group of guys with a lot of fast cars. I really thought my streak could get broken tonight.”

Whether Bickle’s streak gets stretched to 15 straight will be determined when TUNDRA comes back to DRP on June 16 for Round Two.

Dells Raceway Park is located at N1070 Smith Road, five minutes north of downtown Wisconsin Dells, Wis., off highway 12-16. For more information including the latest news, the 2012 schedule and more visit http://www.dellsracewaypark.com