WAUSAU (Aug. 24) – A ‘bucket list’ season over 20 years in the making for Wausau’s Dave Cabelka ended in the best way possible on Season Championship Night at State Park Speedway.
A longtime part-time racer, Cabelka made the most of his first season getting to race a full schedule and won his first-ever Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks championship. He clinched the championship and for good measure also won the feature on the final night of weekly racing at the track Thursday.
Cabelka joined Wausau native Eric Breitenfeldt as drivers who capped championship seasons with a feature win in the season finale. Mike Meharg of Auburndale also won the feature in the Snap-on Mini Mods while Tim Anderson of Pittsville wrapped up his first-ever championship in the class at State Park.
Cabelka drove outside of Kyle Check of Shantytown for the lead, taking over first for good on lap 8 and leading the rest of the way comfortably in the 20-lap feature. He finished the season with six feature wins, most of any driver in any class.
Check finished second in the feature with Kyle Kluetz of Schofield third. Kluetz captured rookie of the year honors in the class, edging Steve Schilling of Ringle in a hard-fought battle all season between the two.
Cabelka also finished up the season winning the championship by 88 points over Brett Breitenfeldt. The top two entered the night 27 points apart, but Breitenfeldt did not compete in the feature race.
Eric Breitenfeldt finished his second SPS championship in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks with a wild finish to the 20-lap feature.
Breitenfeldt and perennial fellow frontrunner Garret Strachota battled side-by-side most of the final seven laps. Breitenfeldt was holding a slim lead with two laps left when Strachota dove to the inside and the two made contact entering the third turn, resulting in Strachota taking the lead.
Breitenfeldt then dove to the inside entering turn 3 on the final lap, causing both cars to wash up the track and get sideway between the final two turns. The contact slowed both cars as well as those behind them, and the race ended with Breitenfeldt’s car crawling across the finish line just ahead of Ashley Schoone of Gleason.
The finish was allowed to stand due to no caution being thrown on the final lap, resulting in Breitenfeldt’s fifth feature win of the season. Tom Lecher of Wausau finished third with Marathon’s Clayton Phillips fourth and Luke Mikula of Wausau fifth. Strachota spun again just before the finish line and wound up ninth in the final rundown, allowing Schoone to slip past him for second in the final point standings.
Meharg finished the season as the hottest driver in the mini mods, with his third feature win in the final four races. He initially fell behind Solutionz Racing teammate Anderson after starting outside of him on a lap 7 restart, but then came back on the outside on lap 9 and took sole possession of the lead a lap later.
Meharg would drive away to win by more than a straightaway on his way to a second-place points finish and rookie of the year honors in the class. Zach Degner of Merrill came back from being caught up in contact early in the race to come through the field and finish second, nipping Anderson by a few feet at the finish line. Tyler Muller of Sun Prairie also ran in the top 3 most of the second half of the race and finished an SPS career-best fourth. Anderson finished the season 34 points ahead of Meharg and won his first track championship at State Park, leading the class with four feature wins this season..
A mechanics race also was held at the end of the night, and Jacob Hintze won the 10-lap race driving the No. 21/98 mini stock car wheeled by Zack Rogers and Nick Kurth this year.
Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau, 15.313 sec.
First Heat: 1. Kyle Check, Shantytown; 2. Jeff Spatz, Wausau; 3. Steve Schilling, Ringle; 4. Dustin Ochodnicky, Ogema
Second Heat: 1. Dave Cabelka, Wausau; 2. Mitch Stankowski, Wausau; 3. B. Breitenfeldt; 4. Kyle Kluetz, Schofield
Feature: 1. Cabelka; 2. Check; 3. Kluetz; 4. Spatz; 5. Schilling; 6. Ochodnicky
Snap-on Mini Mods
Fast Qualifier: Zach Degner, Merrill, 15.852 sec.
First Heat: 1. John Lietz, Mosinee; 2. Brian Marquardt, Weston; 3. Travis Hill, Arpin; 4. Pat Dickman, Marshfield; 5. Gary Garand, Weston
Second Heat: 1. Jim Lietz, Mosinee; 2. Degner; 3. Mike Meharg, Auburndale; 4. Tyler Muller, Sun Prairie; 5. Tim Anderson, Pittsville; 6. Keagen Benz, Wausau
Feature: 1. Meharg; 2. Degner; 3. Anderson; 4. Muller; 5. Jim Lietz; 6. John Lietz; 7. Benz; 8. Marquardt; 9. Dickman; 10. Hill
Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Garret Strachota, Wausau, 16.513 sec.
First Heat: 1. Joey Blaschka, Wausau; 2. Kendra Baumann, Wausau; 3. Austin Bohman, Wausau; 4. Abby Kohn, Wausau; 5. Joe Schoener, Wausau
Second Heat: 1. Tom Lecher, Wausau; 2. Hunter Landwehr, Stratford; 3. Mark Schoone, Gleason; 4. Zack Rogers, Wausau; 5. Amanda Rowe, Mosinee
Third Heat: 1. Clayton Phillips, Marathon; 2. Eric Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 3. Ashley Schoone, Gleason; 4. Strachota; 5. Luke Mikula, Wausau; 6. Tyler Custer, Stratford
Feature: 1. E. Breitenfeldt; 2. A. Schoone; 3. Lecher; 4. Phillips; 5. Mikula; 6. Rogers; 7. Blaschka; 8. Bohman; 9. Strachota; 10. Kohn; 11. Schoener; 12. Custer; 13. M. Schoone; 14. Baumann; 15. Landwehr
Mechanics Race: 1. Jacob Hintze; 2. Kaden Body; 3. Conrad Lemmer; 4. Eddie Andraschko