The Scoop
NATHAN BRANTMEIER – REBOUNDING FROM WIR HALF-MILE WRECK AS A TEEN
Posted on: Wednesday May 31, 2023
After a major crash at WIR’s half-mile at age 15, Neenah’s Nathan Brantmeier is back in the saddle on Thursday nights at what he calls his “2nd home.”
June 20, 2019 remains a day that Nathan Brantmeier will never forget.
Just 15 at the time, Brantmeier was a rookie on the half-mile in the late model division at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. Still wet behind the ears and without a whole lot of laps under his belt, Brantmeier was involved in a wreck so brutal it would have scared most teens away from ever racing again.
Yet, in 2023 Brantmeier has gotten back on that “proverbial horse” so to speak and has shaken those turn four demons at WIR and continues to press on – battling weekly during “Thursday Night Thunder” Fox River Racing Club action.
Brantmeier, who turns 20 in August, recalled the incident that sidelined him from racing WIR for nearly two years: “I came out of turn four on Brett Wenzel’s rear bumper. The car shot to the left and my spotter on the radio said, ‘LOCK IT DOWN – LOCK IT DOWN.’ I had the wheel cranked all the way to the right. I let go of the steering wheel so I wouldn’t break my arms. The car swung around and the next thing I knew the roof was caved in by my door and the window net. I remember seeing the safety crew grab the fuel pump that was cut in half.”
The remains of Nathan Brantmeier’s late model following a 2019 crash at WIR.
When the dust settled Brantmeier’s chassis caved up and snapped in half. “They had to cut the roof off with a Sawzall,” said Brantmeier, who suffered a dislocated kneecap and a concussion in the violent wreck. “They only things we were able to salvage on the car was the motor and the transmission.”
What was left of the battered race car was purchased and eventually rebuilt by fellow late model competitor Brian Randerson. The chassis needed both a new front stub and rear clip.
After seeing her 15-year-old son escape from a crash that could have been much worse, Nathan’s mother Rhonda forbade him from racing WIR again – mainly because of the high speeds the half-mile generated. “Mom said I could go back to racing at WIR after I turned 18,” Brantmeier said. “So, we went dirt racing with a sportmod at Gravity Park USA in Chilton in the meantime.”
According to Brantmeier the dirt racing experience provided some positives when he returned to racing on the pavement last year. “I don’t panic when the car gets loose now,” Brantmeier explained. “What was good about the dirt was you can rub doors alongside of people without too many worries. It has made me a better pavement driver for sure. But I’m not gonna lie. I like the speed of the pavement at WIR. We’re average between 90 to 100 miles an hour which is a lot faster than the dirt.”
While mom may have been content with Nathan playing on Chilton’s tiny quarter-mile, dirt bullring Nathan had other ideas and had been covertly planning his eventual return to WIR. When Brantmeier turned 18 on August 14, 2021, he had sold his sportmod to a racer from Minnesota. His parents had no clue what Nathan was up to.
It just so happened that Rachel Evans had her WIR pavement late model for sale. Problem was the asking price was roughly $2,000 short of what he received for the sale of his sportmod. “I drained my savings account and woke up my parents,” Brantmeier recalled. “I said ‘Dad, we’re going to buy Rachel Evans’ car.’ He thought it was a dream or something.”
They picked up the car and it wasn’t long before Brantmeier strapped back into the cockpit and set out to tame the WIR demons that plagued him a couple of years earlier. “That practice session I had when I rolled into turn four it was on my mind a little bit, I’m not gonna lie,” Brantmeier confessed. “The more laps I took the more comfortable I felt. We ran literally hundreds of laps just to get comfortable again. And just like that we’re back in the game at WIR. I had to block (the crash) out and that’s just what I did.”
Brantmeier logged hundreds of practice laps before returning to racing at WIR. (Nathan Brantmeier Racing photo)
Returning to race at WIR was big on Brantmeier’s list for many reasons. “WIR is truly like a second home to me,” Brantmeier said. “I even had my high school graduation party here. People in the pits on Thursday nights don’t play any games. Everyone is very helpful. It’s only 15 minutes from my house. Dad always brought me here when I was little. I mean look at the drivers who’ve come through here. Dick Trickle. Matt Kenseth. Kyle Busch has won here and so has Ty Majeski. This track has a lot of character. It’s iconic.”
Since his return to WIR in 2022 the response has been nothing short of supportive in the pit area. “Everyone has been great and really not surprised at all,” Brantmeier pointed out. “Fellow racers like Matt Wittman, Brian Henry and Nathan Van Wychen have been really great with pointers and setup tips.”
After a brutal wreck two years ago, scoring “W’s” isn’t as much the goal as is steady improvement from week-to-week and loading the car into the enclosed trailer in one piece every Thursday night. “At the end of ’22 we won three straight heat races and we’re trying to springboard off of that a little bit,” Brantmeier said. “We’ve been gradually getting faster a little bit each week. We would eventually someday be in contention for a championship down the road but an unscathed car and a top five in points at year’s end would be considered a big win for us.”
The car Brantmeier wheels on Thursday nights is an old Alex Stumpf Lefthander that wound up with Rachel Meyerhofer (now Rachel Evans) before Brantmeier’s wound up with it. This is the team’s second year with the car, and they are powered by a spec engine built by Tiry’s Race Engines out of Ripon.
Racing is buried deep into the Brantmeier family’s fiber. Nathan’s grandfather and father Ray Brantmeier both raced. Nathan has been racing karts since he was three years old. After graduating to the Wisconsin sport trucks the big move to full-sized cars took place.
When he’s not racing Nathan is attending Fox Valley Technical College where the Fox Valley Lutheran graduate is studying law enforcement. He even took a ‘split option’ schedule, with an anticipated graduation date in Spring of 2025.
Nathan poses with his Dad Ray Brantmeier.
The pit crew consists of many family members and loyal friends who remain eager to chip in on Brantmeier’s No. 7 car both at the track and at the shop during the week. Those crew members include Natalie Brantmeier, William Brandt, Todd Keil, Madison and Carter Krull, Austin Raymaker and Justin Shea. “Mom and Dad are also always there although since Dad flipped his semi back in 2019, he’s sort of limited to supervising everything in his recliner,” Brantmeier said.
Brantmeier’s team of marketing partners includes Adam Griesbach Plumbing & Water Conditioning, DMP Engraving, Horicon Marsh Calls, Leo and Tina Mueller, A. Kalmerton Welding Supplies LLC, Basically Digital LLC, Oink’s Restaurant, Mill Town Still & Grill, T & C Landscape Construction, Dexter Road, Davidson Logistics, McGovern’s Auto Repair, Total Insurance, Joe Davidson Memorial, 920 Wraps & Shirts, Marty Nussbaum Racing & Lefthander Chassis.