WAUSAU, Wis. (May 30) – An eventful night in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks netted Tom Lecher his first State Park Speedway feature win in a couple years, Garret Strachota his first win of the season, and Nick Kurth a well-earned prize for a pair of runner-up finishes.
Lecher won the first of two 25-lap features in the class for his first feature win at State Park in two years, while Strachota took the second feature. Kurth came in second in both features and took home a trophy and bonus money for the best combined finishes of any driver in the class for the night.
Lecher was in the right place at the right time in the first feature, taking the win after an incident involving the top two cars on the final lap. Eric Breitenfeldt of Wausau and Mike Meharg of Auburndale made contact on the frontstretch going into the first turn, resulting in Meharg’s car shooting up into the turn 1 wall and bringing a premature end to the race.
Meharg was uninjured, and Breitenfeldt was ruled to be part of the incident, putting him to the back. That resulted in Lecher taking the win, the Wausau native’s first at SPS since June 30, 2022.
Lecher had just slipped back to third on the white flag lap as Breitenfeldt continued a furious late charge to the front. Caught in traffic for much of the race, the defending mini stocks champion and feature winner in this year’s season opener moved into the top five with four laps to go, got inside Clayton Phillips of Marathon for fourth on lap 22 and got by Wausau’s Kooper Guralski for third the next lap.
Breitenfeldt then got inside Lecher on lap 24 and set his sights on Meharg a few car lengths ahead. Meharg slipped high in the fourth turn coming to the white flag and while passing a lapped car, giving Breitenfeldt an opening. The two made contact just after taking the white flag, though, and with the caution on the final lap the race was deemed complete.
Lecher earned the win while driving brother Brad’s No. 10 car while Tom completes work on his traditional No. 12 car. Guralski finished third after leading the first eight laps from the pole, with Phillips fourth and Strachota fifth. Meharg was credited with 13th and Breitenfeldt 14th in a field of 16 cars that all were running until the last lap incident.
The second mini stocks feature also turned on a late caution that foiled Zach Budleski’s bid for a first career feature win.
Budleski had taken the lead from Luke Mikula of Wausau on lap 6, cleared him after a four-lap battle and then pulled away from him again on a lap 11 restart. Budleski held a five-car length lead over Phillips for the top spot on lap 18 when the caution flew after the rear bumper cover on the back of Mikula’s car came off right in the middle of the track entering turn 1.
Phillips chose to start behind Budleski, though, allowing Strachota to move up from his third position to the outside of the front row. Strachota had just moved into third on lap 17 after a four-lap side-by-side battle with Kurth, but he needed no time to get by Budleski on the restart, getting a good jump and clearing him by turn 2.
Kurth also got by Budleski, who still tied his career-best feature finish taking third. Phillips finished fourth with Breitenfeldt fifth. Kurth (117 points), Strachota (108) and Lecher (107) all received additional bonuses at the top three finishers for the night.
Ayrton Brockhouse of Shakopee, Minn., dominated in winning the legends cars feature, taking the lead on lap 8 and going on to win by nearly half a lap over his nearest competition in the 25-lap feature.
Brockhouse started 12th in a healthy field of 16 cars but had already made his way halfway to the front to sixth on the second lap and was in the top four by the end of lap 3. He moved inside Russ Weiler of Marshfield for second on lap 7 and took the lead with a pass when outside polesitter Andy Karl of Mosinee drifted high on the backstretch on lap 8.
The 14-year old Brockhouse completed a sweep of the night that also included fast time honors and a heat win. He also remained undefeated in features in his visits to State Park going back to 2022, winning his last six times at the track.
Elliott Weiler of Marshfield held off Andrew Borntreger of Elroy for second in another battle between cars that came through the pack after starting 10th and 11th, respectively. Cael Slater of Kendall came in fourth and Russ Weiler finished fifth. Karl finished seventh after leading the first seven laps, and both he and Devin Dieringer of Marshfield also won heat races.
First-time SPS visitor T.J. Moon also had a big night with a sweep in the Bandoleros’ first visit to the track this season.
Moon zipped from his ninth starting spot to the lead on the second lap and sailed away to win the 15-lap feature. The 13-year old took the lead from Ethan Jensen of Baraboo on the second lap and was unchallenged the rest of the way.
Moon is a native of Taylorsville, N.C., who travels nationally racing Bandos, and the 13-year old is in Wisconsin this weekend for a three-day stretch that will also include Tomah-Sparta Speedway Friday and Jefferson Speedway Saturday. His visit to State Park added to his estimated total of at least 65 different tracks he has raced on.
Bentley Thompson of West Salem had his best-ever State Park feature finish, coming in second. Carter Stein of Germantown finished third, Blake Michael of Evansville was fourth and Merrill’s Oliver Weinkauf rallied from an early incident to finish fifth.
Returns returns at State Park Speedway in two weeks with Aqua Finance Night Thursday, June 13th. Super late models return and the night also will include the 8th annual Dave Lashua Memorial for pure stocks plus the Midwest Dash Series racing. Mini stocks, legends and Bandoleros all will also be on hand. Menke Auto Group Qualifying begins at 6 p.m. with racing to follow at 7 p.m.
Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Eric Breitenfeldt, Wausau, 16.603 sec.
First Feature: 1. Tom Lecher, Wausau; 2. Nick Kurth, Wausau; 3. Kooper Guralski, Wausau; 4. Clayton Phillips, Marathon; 5. Garret Strachota, Wausau; 6. Heidi Cuff, Endeavor; 7. Zach Budleski, Wausau; 8. Jacob Hintze, Wausau; 9. Luke Mikula, Wausau; 10. Jenny Wegner, Wausau; 11. Shawn Carpenter, Marshfield; 12. Austin Bohman, Wausau; 13. Mike Meharg, Auburndale; 14. E. Breitenfeldt; 15. Kendra Baumann, Wausau; 16. Joe Schoener, Wausau
Second Feature: 1. Strachota; 2. N. Kurth; 3. Budleski; 4. Phillips; 5. E. Breitenfeldt; 6. Lecher; 7. Cuff; 8. Guralski; 9. Mikula; 10. S. Carpenter; 11. Wegner; 12. Bohman; 13. Hintze; 14. Baumann; 15. Schoener
Legends
Fast Qualifier: Ayrton Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn., 15.459 sec.
First Heat: 1. Devin Dieringer, Marshfield; 2. Gage Schmidt, Elk River, Minn.; 3. Hayden Dieringer, Marshfield; 4. Ernie Duerr, Hewitt; 5. Kevin Voelz, Merrill
Second Heat: 1. Andy Karl, Mosinee; 2. Eric Niemi, Belleville; 3. Braxton Paul, Hewitt; 4. Travis Paul, Hewitt; 5. Daden Barclay, Marshfield
Third Heat: 1. Ayrton Brockhouse; 2. Russ Weiler, Marshfield; 3. Elliott Weiler, Marshfield; 4. Andrew Borntreger, Elroy; 5. Cael Slater, Kendall; 6. Ayden Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn.
Feature: 1. Ayrton Brockhouse; 2. E. Weiler; 3. Borntreger; 4. Slater; 5. R. Weiler; 6. Ayden Brockhouse; 7. Karl; 8. B. Paul; 9. Niemi; 10. D. Dieringer; 11. T. Paul; 12. Duerr; 13. H. Dieringer; 14. Barclay; 15. Schmidt; 16. Voelz
Bandoleros
Fast Qualifier: T.J. Moon, Taylorsville, N.C., 16.181 sec.
First Heat: 1. Cole Kurth, Wisconsin Rapids; 2. Blake Michael, Evansville; 3. Chris Flynn, Farmington, Minn.; 4. Ethan Jensen, Baraboo; 5. William Carpenter, Marshfield
Second Heat: 1. Moon; 2. Bentley Thompson, West Salem; 3. Jacob Bradley, Rockwell, N.C.; 4. Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill; 5. Carter Stein, Germantown; 6. Paxton Benz, Wausau
Feature: 1. Moon; 2. Thompson; 3. Stein; 4. Michael; 5. Weinkauf; 6. Jensen; 7. Flynn; 8. P. Benz; 9. W. Carpenter; 10. C. Kurth; 11. Bradley