Adam Glatczak | State Park Speedway track writer
The 2024 season has been filled with drivers earning their first wins at State Park Speedway, and Wausau’s Nick Kurth and Merrill’s Oliver Weinkauf added their names to a long and growing list Thursday night.
Kurth won for the first time in the Rockstar Mini Stocks, taking the class’s 25-lap feature, and Weinkauf earned his first-ever feature win in the Bandoleros in their 12-lap event. Dave Cabelka of Wausau (Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks), Tim Anderson of Pittsville (Snap-on Mini Mods) and Ayrton Brockhouse of Shakopee, Minn., also added to their win counts in their respective divisions with feature wins on a full night of racing.
Kurth inherited the lead after an accident involving the leaders 11 laps in and held off mini stock frontrunners Eric Breitenfeldt and Garret Strachota over the final 14 laps. Kurth cleared Breitenfeldt on the lap 12 restart and the top three then proceeded to put on a show the rest of the way.
Breitenfeldt got to Kurth’s bumper a number of times, getting the leader loose on several occasions, and Strachota eventually drove to the outside of both with four laps left. Strachota got nearly even with Kurth on the backstretch twice but Kurth surged back ahead in the corners and held on by less than a car length for his second career stock car feature win, after winning his first career feature driving one of Breitenfeldt’s cars at Golden Sands Speedway last year.
Strachota finished second with Breitenfeldt third, Clayton Phillips of Marathon fourth and Wausau’s Kooper Guralski fifth. The feature had a pair of incidents with leaders spinning in front of the field, the worst on lap 12 involving Heidi Cuff of Endeavor and Auburndale’s Mike Meharg. Cuff had taken the lead from Meharg on lap 9, but Meharg came back in turn 2 three laps later, looking to the inside. Contact sent Cuff spinning first inside, then to the outside and into the backstretch wall. She was uninjured but did not return.
Jacob Hintze of Wausau won the semi-feature over Dylan Henry of Gleason. Henry, Meharg and Strachota all picked up heat wins.
Weinkauf became the latest in his family to win a feature at State Park Speedway. The 10-year old joined his dad Jason Weinkauf and uncle Chris Weinkauf as winners at the track, winning for the first time in his third year of racing.
Weinkauf took advantage of contact between the leaders to get to the lead on lap 8 of the 12-lap Bandoleros feature. Paxton Benz of Wausau had just gotten inside last week’s feature winner Bentley Thompson of West Salem on lap 7, but Benz slipped high in turns 3 and 4, resulting in slight contact between the top two. Weinkauf drove underneath both, and from there he led the rest of the way, backing up his second straight fast time effort with his first win.
Thompson held on for second with Benz third, Wesley Baumeister of Beloit fourth and Emily Billings of Waterloo fifth. Baumeister and Thompson both added heat wins.
Cabelka won his third pure stock feature of the season, needing just five laps to go from sixth to first in the 25-lap race. The defending class champion got past Jeff Spatz of Wausau on a lap 5 restart and held off Spatz the rest of the way, slowly putting distance between them over the final 10 laps.
Cabelka and most of the field dodged a bullet on the front stretch after four laps of the feature. Kyle Kluetz of Schofield and Dustin Ochodnicky of Ogema made contact coming off the fourth turn racing for the lead, and Kluetz’s tire went down, causing his car to spin in front of the field. A chain reaction ensued and fast timer Nick Erickson Jr. got the worst of it, hitting the frontstretch wall just before the start-finish line.
Spatz finished second in the feature with Brett Breitenfeldt of Wausau third, Carson Sillars of Wausau fourth and Ringle’s Steve Schilling fifth. Kluetz and Cabelka both won heat races.
Anderson won for the second time this year in the mini mods, continuing a strong follow-up after winning the class’s points championship last year.
Anderson started 10th in a field of 14 cars but got through a mess on the race’s second lap without incident and then patiently worked his way forward to eventually take the top spot after career-best SPS runs by Keagen Benz of Wausau and Weston’s Brian Marquardt.
Marquardt led the first 12 laps from the inside pole before Benz got by him on the outside for the lead on lap 13. Anderson had made his way to third by then, and he overtook Marquardt for second on lap 14 and passed Benz on the outside two laps later on the backstretch for the lead.
Anderson cruised from there to the win, while Joe Kuehn of Wausau ran down Benz in the final laps and got by him for second on the final lap. Benz finished with an SPS career-best third-place feature finish, with fast qualifier Josh Willhite of Wausau fourth and Marquardt also adding his best State Park feature finish coming in fifth.
Kamren Hill and Anderson both won heat races, but Hill’s night ended on the second lap of the feature with a blown motor that sent cars scurrying in turns 1 and 2. Several cars received damage but only Tyler Muller of Sun Prairie was unable to continue.
Ayrton Brockhouse ran away from the field for another win in the legends class. The Minnesota native has been a consistent winner nearly everywhere he has gone the last two years, and continued to dominate in the class in his visits at State Park with his sixth feature win since the start of last season.
Brockhouse drove inside Rose Borntreger of Elroy for first on lap 10 after three laps working to get by. From there he pulled away to a lead of half a straightaway and won the caution-free 25-lap race.
Elliott Weiler of Marshfield also got by Borntreger on lap 11 and went on to finish second. Borntreger finished third, leading three laps after taking the top spot on lap 7 from early leader Andy Karl of Mosinee. Fast timer Lincoln Cain of Slinger and Ayden Brockhouse of Shakopee, Minn., rounded out the top five.
The legends also ran a 12-lap semi-feature and Hayden Dieringer of Marshfield picked up the win. Devon Lee of New Lisbon, Andrew Borntreger of Elroy and Weiler all added heat wins.
State Park Speedway returns to racing Thursday, July 11 with Wausau Noon Optimists Kids’ Night and WCAR Gifts From Heaven night. Super late models, pure stocks, mini mods and mini stocks all will be in action. Menke Auto Group Qualifying begins at 6 p.m. with racing to follow at 7 p.m.
Advance Auto Parts Pure Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Nick Erickson Jr., Mosinee, 15.539 sec.
First Heat: 1. Kyle Kluetz, Schofield; 2. Dustin Ochodnicky, Ogema; 3. Carson Sillars, Wausau; 4. Joey Blaschka, Wausau; 5. Kyle Check, Shantytown
Second Heat: 1. Dave Cabelka, Wausau; 2. Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 3. Erickson; 4. Jeff Spatz, Wausau; 5. Steve Schilling, Ringle
Feature: 1. Cabelka; 2. Spatz; 3. B. Breitenfeldt; 4. Sillars; 5. Schilling; 6. Blaschka; 7. Ochodnicky; 8. Check; 9. Kluetz; 10. Erickson
Snap-on Mini Mods
Fast Qualifier: Josh Willhite, Wausau, 15.836 sec.
First Heat: 1. Kamren Hill, Marshfield; 2. Keagen Benz, Wausau; 3. Shawn Kemnetz, Hancock; 4. Dale Louze, Mosinee; 5. Pat Dickman, Marshfield; 6. Brian Marquardt, Weston; 7. Travis Hill, Arpin
Second Heat: 1. Tim Anderson, Pittsville; 2. Jim Lietz, Mosinee; 3. Willhite; 4. John Lietz, Mosinee; 5. Joe Kuehn, Wausau; 6. Gary Garand, Weston; 7. Tyler Muller, Sun Prairie
Feature: 1. Anderson; 2. Kuehn; 3. K. Benz; 4. Willhite; 5. Marquardt; 6. John Lietz; 7. Louze; 8. Jim Lietz; 9. Garand; 10. Dickman; 11. Kemnetz; 12. T. Hill; 13. K. Hill; 14. Muller
Rockstar Energy Drink Mini Stocks
Fast Qualifier: Nick Kurth, Wausau, 16.501 sec.
First Heat: 1. Dylan Henry, Gleason; 2. Shawn Carpenter, Marshfield; 3. Jenny Wegner, Wausau; 4. Austin Bohman, Wausau; 5. Kendra Baumann, Wausau; 6. Joe Schoener, Wausau
Second Heat: 1. Mike Meharg, Auburndale; 2. Jacob Hintze, Wausau; 3. Amanda Rowe, Mosinee; 4. Heidi Cuff, Endeavor; 5. Ashley Schoone, Gleason; 6.Kooper Guralski, Wausau
Third Heat: 1. Garret Strachota, Wausau; 2. Eric Breitenfeldt, Wausau; 3. N. Kurth; 4. Luke Mikula, Wausau; 5. Clayton Phillips, Marathon; 6. Zach Budleski, Wausau; 7. Tom Lecher, Wausau
Semi-Feature: 1. Hintze; 2. Henry; 3. Wegner; 4. S. Carpenter; 5. Bohman; 6. Baumann; 7. Schoener
Feature: 1. N. Kurth; 2. Strachota; 3. E. Breitenfeldt; 4. Phillips; 5. K. Guralski; 6. Budleski; 7. Lecher; 8. Mikula; 9. Meharg; 10. Henry; 11. Cuff; 12. Rowe; 13. Schoone; 14. Hintze
Legends
Fast Qualifier: Lincoln Cain, Slinger, 15.477 sec.
First Heat: 1. Devon Lee, New Lisbon; 2. Ernie Duerr, Hewitt; 3. Dalton Lee, New Lisbon; 4. Matt Schecklman, Marshfield; 5. Kaleb Baumgart, New Lisbon; 6. Kevin Voelz, Merrill
Second Heat: 1. Andrew Borntreger, Elroy; 2. Hayden Dieringer, Marshfield; 3. Cael Slater, Kendall; 4. Andy Karl, Mosinee; 5. Rose Borntreger, Elroy; 6. Devin Dieringer, Marshfield
Third Heat: 1. Elliott Weiler, Marshfield; 2. Ayrton Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn.; 3. Russ Weiler, Marshfield; 4. Ethan Ross, Rosendale; 5. Eric Niemi, Belleville; 6. Ayden Brockhouse, Shakopee, Minn.; 7. Cain
Semi-Feature: 1. H. Dieringer; 2. Devon Lee; 3. Dalton Lee; 4. Baumgart; 5. Duerr; 6. Voelz; 7. Schecklman
Feature: 1. Ayrton Brockhouse; 2. E. Weiler; 3. R. Borntreger; 4. Cain; 5. Ayden Brockhoues; 6. A. Borntreger; 7. R. Weiler; 8. Slater; 9. Ross; 10. Niemi; 11. Devon Lee; 12. H. Dieringer; 13. D. Dieringer; 14. Karl
Bandoleros
Fast Qualifier: Oliver Weinkauf, Merrill, 16.149 sec.
First Heat: 1. Wesley Baumeister, Beloit; 2. Emily Billings, Waterloo; 3. Blake Michael, Evansville; 4. Mackenzie Maule, Hebron, Ill.; 5. William Carpenter, Marshfield
Second Heat: 1. Bentley Thompson, West Salem; 2. Paxton Benz, Wausau; 3. Cole Kurth, Wisconsin Rapids; 4. O. Weinkauf; 5. Carter Stein, Germantown
Feature: 1. O. Weinkauf; 2. Thompson; 3. Baumeister; 4. P. Benz; 5. Billings; 6. Michael; 7. Maule; 8. C. Kurth; 9. W. Carpenter; 10. Stein
