WAUSAU (Aug. 24) – It was a day for celebrating the history of State Park Speedway, and the last super late model feature of the 2024 season certainly recalled past times at the track.
The olden days of fans cheering or booing emphatically-sometimes both at the same time-after a race came back one more time after Justin Mondeik won the 55-lap super late model feature Saturday. The race was the final one for super late models at the track and came as part of the Legends 55 event in honor of Phil Bickley’s 55 years involved in racing at the speedway.
Mondeik won his fourth feature of the season at the track, including two in weekly racing plus the ASA Midwest Tour Detjens Memorial 125 in July. His final feature brought out one of the louder reactions from fans to a race in recent memory at the track, and it wasn’t only because the finish involved two of the most popular drivers at the track.
At issue for fans likely was several restarts to the race on lap 48 with Mondeik on the outside of leader Travis Volm. Attempting to get a jump on the outside and especially after an earlier incident and long cleanup had left the outside groove extremely slick, Mondeik ran roughly three quarters of a car length ahead of Volm on the outside as the cars came to the green flag.
Protocol is that the lead car under caution is the one to dictate a restart, and a first attempt at starting was waved off. A second attempt appeared to follow much the same pattern, but this time was allowed to stand, and in turns 3 and 4 Mondeik was able to make his car stick enough on the outside to get by Volm and down to the bottom for the lead.
Tucker Miller of Wausau was right behind the leaders, and on lap 50 entering turns 1 and 2 he spun on the inside of Volm into the grass, bringing out the caution and one more restart. This time Mondeik had the inside, and immediately after taking the green Volm tucked in behind the leader. He drove inside Mondeik in turns 1 and 2, and the cars made contact coming out of Turn 2, but the resulting checkup allowed Mondeik to get away, with Jason Weinkauf of Merrill suddenly swooping in on the outside of Mondeik in Turn 3.
Weinkauf got within half a car length of the lead but no closer, and Mondeik had fought off the challenge a lap later and went on to win by three car lengths. Weinkauf finished second with a frustrated Volm back in third.
Volm had led for 33 laps up until the late chaos, taking the lead from M.G. Gajewski on lap 13. He held the point past the halfway point but had Miller hot on his heels and Mondeik not far behind them on lap 34 when the rear end of Wayne Breitenfeldt’s car let loose, resulting in some particularly slick fluid around a good portion of the 1/4-mile track. Miller and then Volm both spun in the fluid in Turn 3, but both received their spots back at the lead of the pack.
Miller chose to start behind Volm when racing resumed after a lengthy cleanup, and Mondeik moved up to the outside of Volm. The cars were side-by-side for nearly two laps after the restart and Mondeik held a slim lead at the line at the end of lap 34, but when he slipped high in turns 3 and 4 in oil dry it was Volm back in the lead.
Mondeik tried again on the outside on lap 43 but again slipped high in turns 3 and 4, but was back to Volm’s rear bumper on lap 46. Caution came out two laps later when Travis Walker of Vulcan, Mich., spun in turns 1 and 2 and into the wall, setting up the final hotly contested laps.
The early laps saw three cars lead before Volm took control on lap 13. Breitenfeldt and Walker started on the front row and Breitenfeldt, an eight-time SPS late model champion in his familiar yellow No. 14 car racing for the first time in years, led the opening lap before Walker held the top spot for the next seven laps. Gajewski got inside Walker for the lead on lap 9 and held the point for three laps before Volm assumed control.
Gajewski finished fourth in the feature with Nathan Goodwin of Wisconsin Rapids coming in fifth. Miller was sixth after leaving after his spin with five laps remaining.
A storybook ending for Tim Nawrocki at State Park Speedway was unfortunately not meant to be. The five-time pure stocks champion appeared to have one more feature under his belt after winning the 20-lap pure stocks main event, only for his car to fail post-race inspection.
Nawrocki returned to racing this year for the first time in 10 years, running the old orange No. 2T car that he had won a number of his nine career track championships between State Park and Tomahawk Speedway. He led all 20 laps of the feature from the inside pole and finished six car lengths ahead of Kyle Genett of Rangeline at the finish with Jeff Spatz of Wausau third. Instead it was Genett getting the win of cars on the track in his first appearance at the track this season. Genett’s car was ruled an ‘outlaw’ pure stock for the event, so Spatz was declared the winner under SPS’s regular pure stock rules.
Tim Anderson capped a prolific two-year run at State Park and a dominant finish to this season with another feature win, taking the 25-lap mini mods feature.
Anderson took the lead from Phil Malouf of Manitowish Waters on lap 16 but then had no room for error with Cameron Kemnetz of Hancock in his tracks over the final laps. Kemnetz trailed Anderson everywhere and got to the leader’s rear bumper in turns 1 and 2 on at least four occasions, including on the final lap. Anderson had just enough to hang on, with Kemnetz coming in second, Malouf third, Adam Krzykowski of Yale, Mich., fourth and Wausau’s Keagen Benz fifth.
Dale Louze of Mosinee finished sixth in the feature. The veteran of 55 years of racing at State Park Speedway also posted the fastest lap in time trials while exchanging cars with Mosinee’s Jim Lietz for the day.
Nick Kurth of Wausau finished a breakout year in the mini stocks class with a feature win. Kurth registered his third feature victory of a season where he finished second in the final points in his first full year racing in the class.
Kurth received a battle for three laps from Jacob Hintze early in the 25-lap race, the two racing side-by-side after a restart before Hintze briefly retook the lead. Both were lined up for a restart again on lap 9 after a Joe Schoener spin, and this time Kurth got the holeshot on the outside and quickly pulled away.
Garret Strachota finished second with Eric Breitenfeldt third and Hintze fourth after posting his best feature run of the season. The three were involved in a good battle for 10 laps, with Hintze holding both off until Strachota finally got inside him to move into second on lap 20.
The final Bandoleros feature of the season went to Oliver Weinkauf, who won his second feature of the season at State Park.
The 11-year old from Merrill needed just three laps to go from his eighth starting spot to the lead, getting by Paxton Benz of Wausau for the top spot on lap 3. Weinkauf held the lead through a pair of restarts and won after also setting the fastest lap in qualifying.
Bandos Rookie of the Year Carter Stein of Germantown finished second. Benz finished third with a rally after going to the back of the pack on lap 6 after he was involved in a spin with Thursday feature winner T.J. Moon of Taylorsville, N.C., an incident that saw Moon’s car unable to continue.
Super Late Models
Fast Qualifier: Tucker Miller, Wausau, 13.634 sec. (outlaws); Justin Mondeik, Gleason, 13.684 sec.
Feature: 1. Mondeik; 2. Jason Weinkauf, Merrill; 3. Travis Volm, Wausau; 4. M.G. Gajewski, Wausau; 5. Nathan Goodwin, Wisconsin Rapids; 6. Miller; 7. Travis Walker, Vulcan, Mich.; 8. Lou Goss, Green Bay; 9. Wayne Breitenfeldt, Wausau
Pure Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Kyle Genett, Rangeline, 15.808 sec.
Feature: 1. Kyle Genett; 1. Jeff Spatz, Wausau; 3. Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 4. Kyle Check, Shantytown; 5. Steve Schilling, Ringle; DQ: Tim Nawrocki, Rhinelander
Mini Mods
Fast Qualifier: Dale Louze, Mosinee, 15.999 sec.
Feature: 1. Tim Anderson, Pittsville; 2. Cameron Kemnetz, Hancock; 3. Phil Malouf, Manitowish Waters; 4. Adam Krzykowski, Yale, Mich.; 5. Keagen Benz, Wausau; 6. Louze; 7. John Lietz, Mosinee; 8. Jeremy Whitman, Milwaukee; 9. Shawn Kemnetz, Hancock; 10. Jim Lietz, Mosinee; 11. Brian Marquardt, Weston; 12. Travis Hill, Marshfield
Mini Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Eric Breitenfeldt, Wausau, 16.687 sec.
Feature: 1. Nick Kurth, Wausau; 2. Garret Strachota, Wausau; 3. E. Breitenfeldt; 4. Jacob Hintze, Wausau; 5. Zack Rogers, Wausau; 6. Tom Lecher, Wausau; 7. Andy Rindfleisch, Wausau; 8. Rowdy Burns; 9. Shawn Carpenter, Marshfield; 10. Joe Schoener, Wausau; 11. Kevin Tessmer, Wausau; 12. Kendra Baumann, Wausau; 13. Austin Bohman, Wausau; 14. Amanda Rowe, Mosinee; 15. Dawson Knutson, Almond; 16. Brad Lecher, Wausau
Bandoleros
Fast Qualifier: Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill, 16.155 sec.
Feature: 1. O. Weinkauf; 2. Carter Stein, Germantown; 3. Paxton Benz, Wausau; 4. Gerald White, Lakeland, Fla.; 5. Mandi Lee, Granite Quarry, N.C.; 6. Logen Carter, Lakeville, Minn.; 7. Chris Flynn, Farmington, Minn.; 8. William Carpenter, Marshfield; 9. T.J. Moon, Taylorsville, N.C.