WAUSAU, Wis. (July 18) – Jeff Weinfurter and Travis Volm both took eventful paths to get there, but in the end they were in the exact same place Thursday night at State Park Speedway as they were just under three weeks earlier.
Weinfurter and Volm both claimed victories in the twin 35-lap super late model features Thursday night as part of the Central Wisconsin Racing Association Stars to Legends Tour, which made its second stop at State Park this season. The CWRA highlighted the racing program as part of a special night that also saw the release of the latest book by longtime Central Wisconsin racing writer Father Dale Grubba.
Weinfurter won the first feature and Volm took the second, and both repeated their CWRA feature wins at the track on June 29th, when Weinfurter also won the first feature and Volm the second one.
Both had their own drama to work through to get to Brickner Family Auto Group Victory Lane, including Weinfurter benefitting from Volm’s misfortune in the first race.
Volm appeared in good position to win the first 35-lapper when he cleared a loose Mark Mackesy on the outside on lap 24, one lap after the two started side-to-side on a restart. Less than a lap later, though, Volm was spinning in turns 3 and 4 after contact from Mackesy that would send both to the back of the pack.
Weinfurter was the beneficiary, moving up to the top spot after having run a solid third for the previous six laps. The Wisconsin Rapids racing veteran and defending CWRA champion then fended off Nick Roehl on the restart and led the final 11 laps for his overall third CWRA win of the season.
Roehl and Chad Butz raced side-by-side for second for the last eight laps, with Butz edging Roehl at the line for the position. Putch Bentley of Iron River, Mich., finished fourth after having led for the first 13 laps before Mackesy and Volm took over the top two spots.
Volm and Mackesy wound up 13th and 14th, respectively, in the first feature, but a silver lining for both was prime starting positions in the second feature due to the CWRA’s invert rule. Mackesy started on the outside of the front row with Volm on the inside of the second row, and it took both only a few laps to drive away from the rest of the field.
The two were so strong that they started catching lapped traffic by lap 16, and lapped cars provided Volm the opportunity he needed after chasing the leader for the first 23 laps. Mackesy went to the outside of the lapped car of Dakota Blakeslee on lap 24 when Blakeslee drifted a bit high in turn 3, opening the door for Volm to look to the inside and make the pass.
The two leaders weren’t done, though. Volm appeared to be getting caught up in a similar situation amidst heavy lapped traffic when Brett Breitenfeldt and Darek Gress were involved in a turn 1 spin on lap 29. Volm and Mackesy then were side-by-side on a restart with seven laps to go, but Volm cleared him after one lap and held on for his third feature win at the track at the last three weeks.
Mark Mackesy and fast qualifier Mitch Stankowski followed close behind in second and third, respectively. Dillon Mackesy finished fourth while Roehl was fifth for his second top five of the night.
Results
CWRA Super Late Models
Fast Qualifier: Mitch Stankowski, Wausau, 14.927 sec.
First 35-Lap Feature: 1. Jeff Weinfurter, Wisconsin Rapids; 2. Chad Butz, Green Bay; 3. Nick Roehl, Fond du Lac; 4. Putch Bentley, Iron River, Mich.; 5. Greg Back, Vesper; 6. Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 7. Dillon Mackesy, Athens; 8. Darek Gress, Neillsville; 9. Stankowski; 10. Derrick Van Dreel, Kellner; 11. Monte Gress, Neillsville; 12. Mike Sievers, Wisconsin Rapids; 13. Travis Volm, Mosinee; 14. Mark Mackesy, Wausau; 15. Curt Tillman, Rockton, Ill.; 16. Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 17. Frank Nitzke, Berlin; 18. Rachel Kallas, Winneconne; 19. Dakota Blakeslee, Rudolph; 20. Brian Henry, Omro
Second 35-Lap Feature: 1. T. Volm; 2. M. Mackesy; 3. Stankowski; 4. D. Mackesy; 5. Roehl; 6. Butz; 7. Weinfurter; 8. D. Gress; 9. Sievers; 10. Van Dreel; 11. M. Gress; 12. Back; 13. Jankowski; 14. Tillman; 15. Bentley; 16. Blakeslee; 17. Kallas; 18. Nitzke; 19. Breitenfeldt; 20. Henry
Full RacePass Results
More: Volm, Strachota get third feature wins; Rowe back up front in Mini Stocks
CWRA website