State Park Speedway: Heinrich gets by Mondeik for Lodi Memorial win, second SLM championship

Adam Glatczak | State Park Speedway track writer

The final weekly race night at State Park Speedway provided a finish worthy of the long Thursday night tradition at the venerable Rib Mountain oval.

Brock Heinrich and Justin Mondeik put on another show at the front of the pack in the closing laps, but Heinrich’s slick move with 10 laps left proved to be winner. The Wausau native got by Mondeik and went on to win the 66-lap Auto Select Super Late Models pres. by C-Tech feature in the 16th annual Wayne (Lodi) Lodholz Memorial, and on season championship night for the final points night of racing at the speedway.

Heinrich’s pass for the lead was also the pass for the championship, as he finished eight points ahead of Mondeik in the final standings. The late swap in positions resulted in a 10-point swing, with Heinrich gaining five points and Mondeik dropping five points with the change of positions.

The winners of the last five super late model championships at State Park went down to the wire for this year’s, with Heinrich winning his second straight title after Mondeik won three straight championships from 2020-22. Heinrich also won the Lodi Memorial for the first time, and kept Mondeik from joining Tim Sauter (2014-16) and Luke Fenhaus (2018-20) as three-time winners of the event.

Heinrich ran second to Mondeik for much of the race, but after a number of attempts on the outside made the winning move on lap 56.

Heinrich looked high briefly out of the fourth turn before crossing over to the inside coming to the start-finish line, and he was able to get inside position on Mondeik heading into Turn 1. The cars banged doors briefly but Heinrich got away and cleared Mondeik, who immediately had his hands full with fast qualifier Jevin Guralski of Wausau also taking a brief look to the inside.

Mondeik kept Guralski at bay, including after the latter again looked inside on lap 61, but Heinrich was able to get away. He went on to win by eight car lengths at the finish for his third feature win of the season at the track and his second this week in his come-from-behind run to the championship.

A field of 11 cars took the green for the feature, with Heinrich, Mondeik and Travis Volm separated by just eight points entering the race. Both Mondeik and Heinrich made their way forward quickly, as starting eighth and 10th in the field, respectively, the two advanced as the outside line moved forward, both into the top five by lap 9.

Jerry Brickner of Wausau held the lead for the first eight laps until M.G. Gajewski of Wausau took over first on lap 9, but Mondeik was inside Brickner for second by lap 13 and Heinrich was third a lap later. Mondeik then took to the outside of Gajewski for the lead on lap 16, with Heinrich also moving into second two laps later.

Mondeik led by 3-4 car lengths until Heinrich began closing in near the halfway point by using a higher line on the track. Heinrich made his first try to the outside on lap 38, but Mondeik slipped high in Turn 4 on lap 40, resulting in Heinrich slipping back behind the leader.

The cars ran 1-2 until a scheduled competition caution two-thirds of the way through after lap 44. That set up a restart with Mondeik and Heinrich on the front row, with Guralski and Travis Volm in the next row. Mondeik got away quickly, though, and the top four quickly settled in single file.

Heinrich closed back in, and tried the outside coming out of Turn 4 on laps 51, 53 and 54. Mondeik continued to protect the outside on the front straightaway, and Heinrich changed tactics and took to the inside on lap 56 to make what wound up being the winning pass.

Guralski finished third in the feature with Volm coming in fourth. The points leader after four weeks and right with Heinrich and Mondeik entering the night, with the top five separated by just five points coming into Thursday, Volm got caught in traffic on the inside at the start of the feature, dropping back to eighth and behind both Mondeik and Heinrich before moving forward. He entered the top 5 on lap 22 after a battle with Rayce Haase for position, and got by Gajewski for fourth on lap 25, but the loss of track position to the top three proved too much to overcome.

Haase finished fifth in the feature with Jason Weinkauf sixth, M.G. Gajewski seventh and Mark Mackesy eighth. Mackesy also won the first heat in the final race at the track, as the four-time SPS super late model champion will be competing with the Central Wisconsin Racing Associations at Dells Raceway Park Saturday.

Auto Select Super Late Models pres. by C-Tech

Fast Qualifier: Jevin Guralski, Wausau, 13.654 sec.

First Heat: 1. Mark Mackesy, Wausau; 2. M.G. Gajewski, Wausau; 3. Noah Gajewski, Marathon; 4. Jerry Brickner, Wausau; 5. Alex Volm, Mosinee

Second Heat: 1. Rayce Haase, Wausau; 2. Brock Heinrich, Wausau; 3. Justin Mondeik, Gleason; 4. Travis Volm, Wausau; 5. J. Guralski; 6. Jason Weinkauf, Merrill

Feature: 1. Heinrich; 2. Mondeik; 3. J. Guralski; 4. T. Volm; 5. Haase; 6. J. Weinkauf; 7. M.G. Gajewski; 8. Mackesy; 9. N. Gajewski; 10. A. Volm; 11. Brickner

Anderson closes out championship season with feature win; Breitenfeldt cousins, Weiler, Thompson also clinch titles

Six champions were crowned at State Park Speedway in the final night of points racing Thursday, but only two of those six finished their championship seasons with victories.

Tim Anderson of Pittsville joined super late models champion Brock Heinrich in wrapping up their championship with a feature win, with Anderson taking the Snap-on Mini Mods main event. Also winning titles were Brett Breitenfeldt in the Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks, Eric Breitenfeldt in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks, Elliott Weiler in the legends and Bentley Thompson in the Bandoleros. Feature winners on the night also included Bo Bennish in the pure stocks, Garret Strachota in the mini stocks, Ayrton Brockhouse in the legends and T.J. Moon in the Bandoleros.

Anderson took his second straight championship in the mini mods and did so in style. He started seventh, took the lead from Pat Dickman of Marshfield midway through the 25-lap race. Anderson rolled from there to the win, finishing more than a straightaway ahead of his nearest competition to wrap up the title by 78 points over nearest competitor Josh Willhite of Wausau.

The much more heavily contested racing happened behind, with fierce competition throughout the 14-car field. Junction City native Adam Krzykowski, now living in Yale, Mich., raced at State Park for the first time in nine years, and the son of former late model racer Joe Krzykowski got by Dickman on the white flag lap to finish second. Dickman came home third for his best career feature finish at the track, Willhite was fourth and Cameron Kemnetz of Hancock moving into the top five in the final laps and finishing fifth.

Anderson also added a heat win earlier in the night, and Travis Hill of Marshfield won the first heat. Tyler Muller of Sun Prairie posted the fastest lap in qualifying for her first career fast time.

Brett Breitenfeldt won his first career championship in any class at State Park, avoiding trouble in a hectic 25-lap feature to finish second. He finished 30 points ahead of defending champion Dave Cabelka of Wausau and became the third member of the extended Breitenfeldt family to win a championship at the track, joining his father Wayne (nine-time late model champion) and cousin Eric as champions.

Bennish came from the back of the 10-car field to win the feature in his first appearance at SPS this season. Bennish won the pure stocks title at Golden Sands Speedway this year, and he took the lead after a chain reaction of contact and cars checking up on lap 10 resulted in him moving from fourth to first.

Bennish pulled away from Jeff Spatz of Wausau after two restarts the rest of the way, the second time after the two raced side-by-side for four laps after a lap 18 restart. Spatz drifted high on lap 23, putting Bennish in the clear, and Breitenfeldt and Cabelka also got by with Spatz slipping back to fourth at the finish.

Joey Blaschka of Wausau and Kyle Kluetz of Schofield won heat races, while Breitenfeldt opened the night setting fast time. The championship was the third in four years for the 19th Hole car, after Mitch Stankowski won back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

Eric Breitenfeldt survived a wild final lap-plus to win his third mini stocks title, and third in four years. The Wausau driver was holding on for second in front of Nick Kurth, who also entered the feature second in points behind Breitenfeldt, when Kurth got into Breitenfeldt entering Turn 3 on the white flag lap. Breitenfeldt got loose, and the cars made contact again coming out of Turn 4, sending Breitenfeldt sliding to the bottom and into the infield grass.

Breitenfeldt hung on and came back on the track entering the first turn, just in front of Kurth and Zack Rogers now running side-by-side. Breitenfeldt briefly wound up in the middle of the two cars on the backstretch, and he finished third just behind Kurth at the finish with Rogers just behind both.

Breitenfeldt finished 31 points ahead of Kurth for the title, with Strachota coming in 38 points back in third. Strachota took the lead from Jacob Hintze of Wausau on lap 5 and rolled the rest of the way to win his second feature of the season.

Jacob Iverson of West Salem won the semi-feature in his first visit to the track. Shawn Carpenter of Marshfield, Hintze and Clayton Phillips of Marathon won heat races, while Kurth set fast time. Kooper Guralski of Wausau finished fifth in the feature and was named rookie of the year in the class.

Ayrton Brockhouse showed why he will be a heavy favorite to win the Legends 55, $5,500-to-win special event on Saturday at State Park, posting a clean sweep in the legends class. He set fast time, won the fast heat and then sliced through traffic in a caution-free 25-lap feature.

Brockhouse was running third just behind leader Rose Borntreger of Elroy and Weiler in second when he took to the outside of both on lap 11. He worked past Weiler over two laps and then overtook Borntreger on lap 13, and from there drove away for his third feature win at SPS this season.

Borntreger and Weiler battled for second for the remainder of the race, with Borntreger holding on for second. Weiler finished third and won the championship by 49 points over Brockhouse, his second straight top points finish at SPS after he was the former late model racer was the unofficial champion in the class a year ago.

Chris Weinkauf of Merrill won the semi-feature, racing in the legends class after his super late model car was heavily damaged Sunday. Ernie Duerr of Hewitt and Craig Haack of Fayetteville, Ohio joined Brockhouse as heat winners.

Thompson won his first State Park Bandoleros championship and his third championship in a breakout season, after also clinching titles at Golden Sands Speedway and Tomah-Sparta Speedway. The only one keeping from his fourth feature win of the season was Moon, the North Carolina visitor and national Bandos traveler who also won the class’s season opener at State Park.

Thompson needed just over three laps to go from ninth to the lead in the 15-lap feature. , but Moon moved into second on lap 6 and later got inside Thompson after a lap 9 restart. Moon cleared him a lap later and went on to win, with Thompson second, Paxton Benz of Wausau third, Emily Billings of Waterloo fourth and Wesley Baumeister of Beloit fifth.

Thompson and Blake Michael of Evansville won heat races. Carter Stein of Germantown came home seventh in the feature and wrapped up rookie of the year honors in the class.

State Park Speedway hosts its final regular racing stock car show on Saturday with the Legends 55 event, in honor of Phil Bickley’s 55 years at the speedway. All six classes will again be in action. Fan gates will open at 11:30 a.m., Menke Auto Group Qualifying will begin at 12:30 p.m. and racing starts at 2 p.m.

Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks

Fast Qualifier: Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau, 15.739 sec.

First Heat: 1. Joey Blaschka, Wausau; 2. Braxton Bennish, Merrill; 3. Tim Nawrocki, Rhinelander; 4. Steve Schilling, Ringle; 5. Dustin Ochodnicky, Ogema

Second Heat: 1. Kyle Kluetz, Schofield; 2. Jeff Spatz, Wausau; 3. Kyle Check, Shantytown; 4. Bo Bennish, Merrill; 5. B. Breitenfeldt; 6. Dave Cabelka, Wausau

Feature: 1. Bo Bennish; 2. B. Breitenfeldt; 3. Cabelka; 4. Spatz; 5. Kluetz; 6. Braxton Bennish; 7. Check; 8. Schilling; 9. Ochodnicky; 10. Blaschka

Snap-on Mini Mods

Fast Qualifier: Tyler Muller, Sun Prairie, 15.661 sec.

First Heat: 1. Travis Hill, Marshfield; 2. Pat Dickman, Marshfield; 3. Dale Louze, Mosinee; 4. Keagen Benz, Wausau; 5. Shawn Kemnetz, Hancock; 6. Brian Marquardt, Weston; 7. John Lietz, Mosinee

Second Heat: 1. Tim Anderson, Pittsville; 2. Adam Krzykowski, Yale, Mich.; 3. Jim Lietz, Mosinee; 4. Josh Willhite, Wausau; 5. Muller; 6. Cameron Kemnetz, Hancock; 7. Joe Kuehn, Wausau

Feature: 1. Anderson; 2. Krzykowski; 3. Dickman; 4. Willhite; 5. C. Kemnetz; 6. Kuehn; 7. Muller; 8. Hill; 9. Jim Lietz; 10. S. Kemnetz; 11. Louze; 12. John Lietz; 13. K. Benz; 14. Marquardt

Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks

Fast Qualifier: Nick Kurth, Wausau, 16.355 sec.

First Heat: 1. Shawn Carpenter, Marshfield; 2. Austin Bohman, Wausau; 3. Jacob Iverson, West Salem; 4. Kendra Baumann, Wausau; 5. Jim Schara, Hamburg; 6. Trentyn Wanta, Wisconsin Rapids

Second Heat: 1. Jacob Hintze, Wausau; 2. Tom Lecher, Wausau; 3. Amanda Rowe, Mosinee; 4. Garret Strachota, Wausau; 5. Joe Schoener, Wausau; 6. Jenny Wegner, Wausau

Third Heat: 1. Clayton Phillips, Marathon; 2. Kooper Guralski, Wausau; 3. Zack Rogers, Wausau; 4. Kurth; 5. Eric Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 6. Hunter Landwehr, Stratford

Semi-Feature: 1. Iverson; 2. S. Carpenter; 3. Bohman; 4. Wanta; 5. Baumann; 6. Schara

Feature: 1. Strachota; 2. Kurth; 3. E. Breitenfeldt; 4. Rogers; 5. K. Guralski; 6. Hintze; 7. Phillips; 8. Landwehr; 9. Lecher; 10. Rowe; 11. S. Carpenter; 12. Iverson; 13. Schoener; 14. Wegner

Legends

Fast Qualifier: Ayrton Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn., 15.372 sec.

First Heat: 1. Ernie Duerr, Hewitt; 2. Matt Schecklman, Marshfield; 3. Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 4. Branden Sischo, Stratford; 5. Anthony Lashua, Mosinee; 6. Daden Barclay, Marshfield; 7. Michael Holewinski, Necedah; 8. Kevin Voelz, Merrill

Second Heat: 1. Craig Haack, Fayetteville, Ohio; 2. Art Hahn, Hartford; 3. Ayden Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn.; 4. Alex Haese, Manitowoc; 5. Rose Borntreger, Elroy; 6. Dalton Lee, Hustler; 7. Devon Lee, New Lisbon; 8. Hayden Dieringer, Marshfield

Third Heat: 1. Ayrton Brockhouse; 2. Elliott Weiler, Marshfield; 3. Andrew Borntreger, Elroy; 4. Russ Weiler, Marshfield; 5. Robby Carter, Lakeville, Minn.; 6. Cameron White, Lakeland, Fla.; 7. Devin Dieringer, Marshfield; 8. Cael Slater, Kendall; 9. Tim Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn.

Semi-Feature: 1. C. Weinkauf; 2. Duerr; 3. Hahn; 4. Dalton Lee; 5. Barclay; 6. Lashua; 7. Holewinski; 8. Schecklman; 9. H. Dieringer; 10. Voelz; 11. Sischo

Feature: 1. Ayrton Brockhouse; 2. R. Borntreger; 3. E. Weiler; 4. R. Carter; 5. Ayden Brockhouse; 6. C. White; 7. A. Borntreger; 8. Slater; 9. Haack; 10. Devon Lee; 11. R. Weiler; 12. Haese; 13. D. Dieringer; 14. C. Weinkauf; 15. Duerr; 16. T. Brockhouse

Bandoleros

Fast Qualifer: T.J. Moon, Taylorsville, N.C., 16.042 sec.

First Heat: 1. Blake Michael, Evansville; 2. Mandi Lee, Granite Quarry, N.C.; 3. Gerald White, Lakeland, Fla.; 4. Logen Carter, Lakeville, Minn.; 5. William Carpenter, Marshfield; 6. Chris Flynn, Farmington, Minn.; 7. Gage Kubicz, Whitewater

Second Heat: 1. Bentley Thompson, West Salem; 2. Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill; 3. Moon; 4. Emily Billings, Waterloo; 5. Paxton Benz, Wausau; 6. Carter Stein, Germantown; 7. Wesley Baumeister, Beloit

Feature: 1. Moon; 2. Thompson; 3. P. Benz; 4. Billings; 5. Baumeister; 6. O. Weinkauf; 7. Stein; 8. Kubicz; 9. Michael; 10. M. Lee; 11. L. Carter; 12. Flynn; 13. W. Carpenter; 14. G. White