Ultimate Lap Photo
Morris, IL- He has positioned himself as one of the top ARCA Midwest Touring Stars by racing throughout the region, but Paul Shafer, Jr continues to find success at Grundy County Speedway. The second generation driver is the weekly point leader at the Morris track where he has also won the last two Tony Bettenhausen Memorial events. This Saturday (July 11), Shafer and a strong contingent of Touring Stars will go head to head with Chicagoland’s best as well as former Tour Champions alike during the 34th Wayne Carter Classic presented by Rod Baker Ford and Illinois Truck and Equipment. The 100-lap feature event will see drivers from five states and Canada racing their Super Late Models under the new LED lights.
After collecting the 2013 Track Championship at Illiana (IN) Motor Speedway, the Super Late Model world learned that Shafer would be a force for years to come. With two finishes in the second place points position and another finish of third in the season end Tour point tally, Shafer has been on the verge of breaking through in Tour competition. With his lone tour win coming at Jefferson Speedway (WI), he has collected non-Tour wins at Madison (WI) International as well as Grundy.
Another driver who has come up just short of a Tour Championship is Austin Nason, the Tour’s point runner-up the past two seasons. With Tour wins at Madison (WI), Rockford (IL) and most recently at the Milwaukee Mile (WI) last season. The 2015 Tour Rookie of the Year has posted wins during the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna (FL) Speedway. 2019 Tour Rookie of the Year Gabe Sommers captured his first Tour feature win in the Larry Detjens Memorial at State Park Speedway (WI) last July. Having finished second in the overall World Series of Asphalt Standings in 2019, the young Central Wisconsin standout was also able to test an ARCA Menards Series car at Daytona (FL) International Speedway over the off-season.
With four feature wins during the opening month of the 2020 race season, Justin Mondiek has stepped his game up a notch heading into Saturday night’s Wayne Carter Classic. With a pair of wins at State Park Speedway and an additional win at Golden Sands (WI) Speedway in Central Wisconsin, Mondiek outdueled former Tour Champ Dalton Zehr to win Norway (MI) Speedway’s Stateline Challenge last Friday night. On the strength of the ‘Best Non-Paid Crew in Racing’, Ryan Farrell added another win to his Super Late Model accomplishments by besting a strong Alive for 5 field at Dells (WI) Raceway Park.
Rich Bickle, Jr has multiple wins in some of the biggest short track events throughout the country, including the Snowball Derby, National Short Track Championships, Oktoberfest, Slinger Nationals and the Dixieland 250. With a little over a year left in his racing career, he has teamed up with T1 Racing in an effort to add more wins, including the Wayne Carter Classic. While Bickle has been competing at the one-third mile since the 1980’s, drivers like 12th place Tour points man Andrew Brocker will be making his first career start at Grundy.
Two other former Touring Stars that have indicated they are going to try their hand at claiming the $5,000 top prize are Skylar Holzhausen and Jeff Storm. Holzhausen, whose father Steve celebrated an ARTGO Wayne Carter Classic win in 1992 was the 2011 ARCA Midwest Tour Rookie of the Year and has two career Tour victories, Elko (MN) and Marshfield (WI) and is also a past winner of the prestigious Dick Trickle 99 during the Oktoberfest Race Weekend at LaCrosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway. Jeff Storm, one of the original Midwest Touring Stars has a new car built for 2020 and hopes to be fast out of the box. A two-time Mid-American Stock Car Series Champion, Storm has had his share of solid races at Grundy.
Adult General Admission Tickets are $20, Seniors (62 and over) are $18, Students (ages 12-17) are $10 with kids ages 11 and under admitted Free. Tickets will be available for purchase at the gate or can be purchased in advance through Friday night on the tour website. For additional information or to buy tickets for this event, please visit www.midwesttour.racing
Expected Entries
34th Wayne Carter Classic presented by Rod Baker Ford and Illinois Truck & Equipment
ARCA Midwest Tour
Saturday July 11, 2020
Grundy County Speedway, Morris, IL
26 as of 7/8/20
| Car # | Name | Hometown | State | Sponsor | Make |
| 0 | Josh Nelms | Lockport | IL | McMahon Transport/Vandoorn Racing Development | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Alex Clubb | Morris | IL | A. Clubb Lawn Care & Landscaping | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Eric White | St. John | IN | Reliable Recovery Services | Toyota |
| 7 | Paul Shafer, Jr | Portage | IN | Paul’s Auto Yards | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Eddie Hoffman | Wheaton | IL | Feece Oil/Advanced Generator | Chevrolet |
| 13 | Andrew Brocker | Jefferson | WI | American State Equipment | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Austin Nason | Roscoe | IL | Montgomery Ward/Haase Builders/JRS Shocks/Kar Korner | Ford |
| 15 | Gabe Sommers | Plover | WI | DeKalb/Kwik Trip/Tasteful Selections Potatoes/Allied Co-op | Toyota |
| 16 | DJ Weltmeyer | Dyer | IN | Engine Masters/DeNovi Heating & Cooling | Chevrolet |
| 16 | Cayden Lapcevich | Grimsby | ONT | A Services/AP Race Engines/All-Star Perf | Ford |
| 25 | Jeff Storm | East Troy | WI | Great Lakes Components/Duramax Trucking/All Pro Mechanical | Chevrolet |
| 28 | Nathan Kelly | Wilmington | IL | Elite Tradeshow/Greg and Sons Const/Whip FX Graphic Wraps | Chevrolet |
| 36 | Dan Fredrickson | Lakeville | MN | Herman’s Landscape Supply/Justman Freight | Toyota |
| 39 | Andrew Morrissey | DeForest | WI | B&B Racing Engines/MRI, Inc Chassis & Fabrication | Ford |
| 44 | Justin Mondeik | Gleason | WI | AGRA Industries/Aqua Finance/Industrial Accessories Company | Chevrolet |
| 45 | Rich Bickle, Jr | Edgerton | WI | T1 Racing/Wegner Automotive/Barnyard to Brickyard | Chevrolet |
| 47 | Casey Johnson | Edgerton | WI | Montgomery Ward/Hougan Farms/UAW Region 4 | Chevrolet |
| 52 | Andy Jones | Waukegan | IL | KBR Performance/Evolve Concepts/Pomp’s Tire Service | Ford |
| 52 | Ricky Baker | Plainfield | IL | Rod Baker Ford/Illinois Truck and Equipment | Ford |
| 55 | Scott Koerner | Joliet | IL | Advanced Powder Coating/Brandolino’s Encore Music/Sontag | Toyota |
| 72 | Jacob Goede | Carver | MN | Baby Gowdy/Goetz Trucking/Northern Racing Products | Chevrolet |
| 73 | Joe Vinachi | Morris | IL | Midwest Industrial Sales/Indicom Electric/Oval Engineering | Chevrolet |
| 77 | Jonathan Eilen | Hampton | MN | Eilen & Sons Trucking & Landscape/Graber Auto Body | Ford |
| 78 | Skylar Holzhausen | Bangor | WI | Kempf Logging/Wehrs Machine/Fechner Motors | Ford |
| 80 | Ryan Farrell | Big Bend | WI | Lingford Construction & Transport/Able Plumbing | Chevrolet |
| 119 | Dalton Zehr | Daytona Beach | FL | Gildan/American Apparel/Comfort Colors/Prim + Preux/AMS | Chevrolet |
Wayne Carter Classic Winners
1975 Tom Reffner
1976 Dave Watson
1977 Larry Phillips
1978 Mike Miller
1979 Mike Miller
1980 Mark Malcuit
1981 Larry Schuler
1982 Jim Sauter
1983 Tom Reffner
1984 Dick Trickle
1985 Butch Miller
1986 Joe Shear
1987 Dick Trickle
1988 Joe Shear
1989 Ted Musgrave
1990 Steve Carlson
1991 Kevin Cywinski
1992 Steve Holzhausen
1993 Joe Shear
1994 Joe Shear
1995 Joe Shear
1996 Dave Weltmeyer
1997 Joe Shear
1998 Eddie Hoffman
1999 Steve Carlson
2011 Ross Kenseth
2012 Eddie Hoffman
2013 Jonathan Eilen
2014 Chris Weinkauf
2015 Eddie Hoffman
2016 Ty Majeski
2017 Ricky Baker
2018 Dalton Zehr
