The Scoop
JORDAN THIEL – MEET THIS ‘SUITCASE RACER’
Posted on: Tuesday June 4, 2024
Darboy’s Jordan Thiel poses next to his No. 2 Pathfinder Chassis at WIR in Kaukauna.
Jordan Thiel is happy to be racing closer to home again.
The 34-year-old super late model racer from Darboy is back in his second year of racing full time during the Fox River Racing Club’s ‘Thursday Night Thunder’ program at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.
In recent years Thiel’s racing has included chasing the TUNDRA super late model series and also competing at Golden Sands Speedway in Plover. Thiel did wheel a race car on a semi-regular basis at WIR back around 2007-2008. With life getting busy and in the way the Thursday night action closer to home is just what the doctor ordered for family life.
“We’re blessed we were able to make it happen a year ago to get back to racing at WIR again this year on a weekly basis,” Thiel admitted. “We had so much fun here every week last year we decided to keep doing it. We love it as we can do other stuff like go camping on the weekends and still chase the TUNDRA series, too.”
Jordan Thiel after one of his 2023 super late model feature wins at WIR. (seeking photo credit)
When the curtain closed on the 2023 season at WIR, Thiel wound up 4th in the final point standings. “We were just two points out of first at one point,” said Thiel, who captured a pair of feature flags along the way at WIR a year ago. “Thursday nights are sort of a ‘niche’ night but it’s good and I don’t mind it at all,” Thiel said. “Getting to work sometimes on Friday mornings can be a little tough but it is what it is.”
At WIR Thiel is essentially a ‘suitcase racer’ as his racing operation is maintained by Joe Wood and his team at Pathfinder chassis in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. That means Thiel simply shows up on race day with his helmet and racing suit ready to go. The Pathfinder chassis Thiel uses was brand new one season ago. “Prior to this I was buying used stuff or simply working with what I had at the time,” Thiel said. “With running my business and the fact I don’t even have a shop this arrangement works out best. Joe (Wood) and the entire team at Pathfinder do a great job keeping my car in great shape. We decided a couple of years ago the money we’d save by not traveling quite as much we went this route instead. Economically at this point in our lives it makes sense. I’m very appreciative of the job they do.”
When it comes to racing weekly at WIR versus the TUNDRA travelers, there are both similarities and differences with both. “Obviously on Thursday night you’ve got a whole bunch of very tough local drivers who’ve been racing here for many years,” Thiel pointed out. “On the other hand with the TUNDRA series you’ve got a good bunch of guys who are real adept at getting up to speed pretty quickly at a new track. Both fields of competitors are tough enough as both are just a different kind of tough. When you are racing at the same track weekly though I do think it’s easier to develop more consistency throughout the year. When you travel it just seems like that learning curve is that much quicker.”
Jordan Thiel goes wheel-to-wheel with current FRRC SLM point leader Maxwell Schultz at WIR. (danlewisphoto.net)
Every track has it’s own twists and characteristics with WIR being no exception to that ‘rule.’ “WIR is a track where you really have to get through the corners well and they are both different,” Thiel explained. “It’s a lot like a paper clip. And those corners are a lot tighter I think than most people realize. You have to always remain at the top of your game at WIR.”
When it comes to other tracks, Thiel has always enjoyed and had success at Plover. “Golden Sands is definitely a driver’s track,” Thiel said. “It’s small with high banking. You really have to have a lot of throttle control there because at Plover there is a lot of grip. Horsepower doesn’t really do you a lot of good.”
As this story is posted Thiel sits 15th in the WIR point standings after a rough outing May 30. Thiel also sits ninth in the TUNDRA points heading into the Bev Aschenbrenner Memorial at Marshfield Motor Speedway June 8. However he’s got a lot of Thursday night racing ahead of him yet in ’24. “We did overshoot our expectations last year no question,” Thiel said. “But what that did for our team was to set the bar even higher for this year. We get pretty decent car counts up here on Thursday nights but I’d love even more cars here weekly.”
The trend in recent years on the local racing scene has been that racers have had a more difficult time finding committed pit crew members who don’t only show up on race day but to commit time to the grind in the shop during the week. “A decade ago you had a core group of three or four guys you could always count on for pit crew help,” Thiel said. “That’s no longer the case. These days you’re lucky if you can get one or two guys to commit to helping. That part of its tough but it’s everywhere.”
With the bar set ‘high’ at WIR according to Thiel, a FRRC title is always the main goal to start the year off. “We’re hoping to at least have a chance to compete and maybe wind up top three in points. At the end of the day it’s really all about being competitive.”
Thiel’s team of marketing partners includes Thiel Distribution Center, The Hill Tavern, Mirror Finish, Dairyland Trading, EB Auto, Pathfinder Chassis, The Bank of Kaukauna and Breadsmith.