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LUBACH AMONG GRAVITY PARK USA WINNERS JUNE 19
Posted on: Monday June 22, 2026
Kiel’s Brad Lubach scored the stock car division feature win at Gravity Park USA June 19. (Kiana Kay)
Schmuhl, Schepp, Schmidt among winners as Gravity Park battles through rain to get show in by Adam Glatczak
CHILTON, Wis. (June 19) – Eight drivers won feature races at Gravity Park Speedway Friday night, but perhaps the evening’s biggest stars were the speedway’s track preparation crew.
Rain twice delayed the proceedings very early in Friday night’s race program, but twice the one-third mile dirt track was worked back into shape for racing. The third attempt to race finally was the charm and a somewhat abbreviated show heavy on feature racing was completed on a damp, chilly night.
Hayden Schmuhl of Beaver Dam was victorious in besting a big field of cars to win the feature in the second Midwest Legends Dirt Series visit to the track this season. Other feature winners included Noah Schepp (A Mods), Travis Schmidt (Sport Mods), Jeff Muehlbauer (Grand Nationals), Brad Lubach (Stock Cars), Mark Hoeppner (LS Late Models) Brian Gundrum (Street Stocks) and James Reese (Sport 4’s).
Racing had barely gotten underway with the night’s first heat race in the Street Stocks class when rain started to fall. Wuesthoff took the win in the 8-lap race on a then-dry track that turned into a dust bowl soon after the green flag, but racing was halted due to rain soon after.
A 45-minute delay followed with preparation and packing of the track and skies appearing to clear overhead, but no sooner did the second Street Stocks heat begin than did rain start falling again. With drivers cautiously testing a damp and slimy track, James Riske of Newton won the second heat, but the heaviest rain of the evening followed soon after.
A meeting was called with drivers at that point, and after discussion the decision was made to race only feature races in classes the rest of the evening, with the exception of the visiting Legends class where heats and a B Feature would remain on the docket. The evening also was made a non-points night in Gravity Park’s regular divisions, allowing drivers to opt out of the evening if they chose. Racing resumed on a well-prepared surface with the Legends heat races after an hour delay and continued without precipitation the rest of the night.
Schmuhl got to the front quickly in the 20-lap Legends feature, taking the lead from Lily Fassbender of Burnett on the outside on lap 3. The 18-year old would hold the top spot the rest of the way, though not without a challenge from Slinger’s Lincoln Cain.
Cain won the feature in the MLDS’s first appearance at Gravity Park three weeks earlier, and he moved into second on lap 9 after a three-lap battle with Adam Zellmer of Horicon. Cain then went to work on Schmuhl, first trying the outside on lap 10 before Schmuhl shut the door, then making a move to the inside on lap 11. The leaders came up on lapped traffic less than a lap later, though, and Cain dropped back just behind Schmuhl.
The race’s lone caution came out on lap 12 after a spin in turn three by Russell Loof of Eden. Another showdown for the lead never materialized after the restart, as Schmuhl pulled away to a comfortable lead, with Cain finishing second, Zellmer third, Rosendale’s Ethan Ross fourth and Austin Winkel of Sheboygan Falls fifth.
Asphalt Bandolero standout Emily Billings of Waterloo made her first career Legends and dirt start and was the biggest mover in the feature, picking up eight spots to finish 16th. Faith Zellmer-Schultz of Horicon won the B feature, while Ross, Winkel, Schmuhl and Ayden Erickson of Cumberland won heat races.
Schepp won the night’s first feature event and was a first-time feature winner at Gravity Park, taking the 20-lap A Mods main.
The Beaver Dam native started on the pole and ascended to the lead on the opening lap. He led the whole way in the caution-free race, though he received a challenge from the fellow No. 89 car of Adam Reed of Rubicon late. Reed drew closer in the race’s final laps but ran out of time and finished five car lengths back in second, with Chilton’s Jesse Cullen third, Eric Scribner of Kiel fourth and Jeff Schepp of Beaver Dam fifth.
Schmidt won his second Sport Mods feature at Gravity Park this season with an overpowering performance in the 20-lap race. The driver from Cascade took the lead from Jacob Rens of Brandon on the fifth lap and sailed away from the field, opening up a straightaway lead by lap 10. He would finish half a lap ahead of his nearest competition by the end, with Rens holding off James Dahlstrom of De Pere for second. Dahlstrom spent the second half of the race working on Rens but finished just behind, while Devon Robbins of Rosendale caught both by the end and finished just behind in fourth.
Muehlbauer also became a two-time feature winner at the track this year, claiming the Grand Nationals event. He overtook fellow Elkhart Lake native Mavrick Ruh on lap 2 and never looked back in joining Ruh and Jake Richards of Neshkoro as winners of multiple features in the class in 2026.
The fight for the runner-up spot was a hot one, with Ruh, Richards and Chilton’s Marshall Plate battling for the final 15 laps. Ruh ran second with Richards first mounting a challenge on lap 6, then again on lap 12. Richards was unable to complete the pass and Plate took to the outside of Richards on lap 13, nearly completing the pass two laps later. Ruh held his ground in front of both, making it hard for either to clear the other until Richards finally cleared Plate on the frontstretch at the end of lap 18 and finished third, with Plate fourth and Steve Wirtz fifth.
Lubach added to his total of feature wins at Gravity Park this season with his fourth, leading start to finish in the Stock Cars main. The Kiel native started on the pole and along with Marcus Hoeppner of Rubicon the two ran away from the rest of the field in the 20-lap race.
Hoeppner stayed with Lubach hanging 5-6 car lengths back most of the way, including after the race’s lone restart on lap 11 following a spin by Mike Klenz of West Bend. Lubach was never seriously threatened, though, and took the win with Matt Klenz of West Bend third, Dave Bouche of Algoma coming in fourth and Beaver Dam’s Roger Frank fifth.
Mark Hoeppner won his third straight feature in the Midwest LS Late Models, outlasting Hartford’s Andy Gross and Jake Binash of Forest Junction. All three held the lead in the 20-lap feature, including Gross for the first five laps until going to the pits with a fuel leak. Binash then took over first and was in front until slowing on lap 14, with Hoeppner taking the lead and pulling away for the win.
Reese won his third straight feature in the Sport 4’s 4-cylinder class, with the Chilton driver displaying a patient effort to finally overtake Plymouth’s Chase Ertel for the lead late in the 20-lap race.
Ertel got the holeshot on the race’s start to get to the lead, but Reese drove outside Cody McLain of Beaver Dam for second on lap 4, and then spent then next 10 laps chasing the leader. Ertel protected the high side coming out of the turns until Reese finally got to the outside on lap 14 and cleared Ertel a lap later on his way to the win.
After being the only class to run their heat races around the rain delays, the Street Stocks ran the final feature of the night among Gravity Park’s regular classes. Gundrum made his first appearance at the track this season pay off with the win, his first feature win at the track since 2023.
Gundrum started on the pole and initially took the lead, but then spun in turn two on lap 2 to bring out a caution. Since the entire field had not completed the lap, Gundrum received his starting spot back and took full advantage, taking the lead on the restart and leading all 20 laps.
Logan Wilde of Kimberly finished second in also his first appearance at Gravity Park this year. Wilde got past Chuck Gilbertson Jr. of Kaukauna with a good jump on a lap 14 restart to get to the runner-up spot and stayed there. Wuesthoff also got by Gilbertson on the final lap to finish third, with Alex Haese of Manitowoc rounding out the top five.
Racing at Gravity Park continues next Friday with a full program of regular divisions including Grand Nationals, A-Mods, Sport Mods, Midwest LS Late Models, Stock Cars, Street Stocks and Sport 4’s. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m.
Results
Legends
First Heat: 1. Ayden Erickson, Cumberland; 2. Lincoln Cain, Slinger; 3. Dallas Ross, Sussex; 4. Connor Carey, Brownsville; 5. Keith Carey, Brownsville; 6. Clayton Ottman, Sheboygan Falls
Second Heat: 1. Ethan Ross, Rosendale; 2. Lilly Fassbender, Burnett; 3. Daniel Mech, Greenfield; 4. Ryan Mech, Greenfield; 5. Carson Grob, Marshall; 6. Faith Zellmer-Schultz, Horicon
Third Heat: 1. Austin Winkel, Sheboygan Falls; 2. Oliver O’Brion, Beaver Dam; 3. Cody Apfelbeck, Burnett; 4. Hunter Cardinal, Richfield; 5. Nate Werner, Marshall; 6. Emily Billings, Waterloo
Fourth Heat: 1. Hayden Schmuhl, Beaver Dam; 2. Adam Zellmer, Horicon; 3. Mackenzie Maule, Hebron, Ill.; 4. Cadon Schmitz, Fond du Lac; 5. Kaden Kreger, Beaver Dam; 6. Russell Loof, Eden; 7. Brandon Grob, Deerfield
B Feature: 1. Zellmer-Schultz; 2. B. Grob; 3. Loof; 4. Billings; 5. Ottman
A Feature: 1. Schmuhl; 2. Cain; 3. Zellmer; 4. E. Ross; 5. Winkel; 6. D. Ross; 7. Fassbender; 8. Erickson; 9. Apfelbeck; 10. C. Carey; 11. R. Mech; 12. Cardinal; 13. K. Carey; 14. D. Mech; 15. Zellmer-Schultz; 16. Billings; 17. C. Grob; 18. O’Brion; 19. Maule; 20. Schmitz; 21. Kreger; 22. Loof; 23. B. Grob; 24. Werner
Grand Nationals
Feature: 1. Jeff Muehlbauer, Elkhart Lake; 2. Mavrick Ruh, Elkhart Lake; 3. Jake Richards, Neshkoro; 4. Marshall Plate, Chilton; 5. Steve Wirtz, Fond du Lac; 6. Nate Ruh, Chilton; 7. Dave Holm, Quinney; 8. Marc Miller, Juneau
Sport Mods
Feature: 1. Travis Schmidt, Cascade; 2. Jacob Rens, Brandon; 3. James Dahlstrom, De Pere; 4. Devon Robbins, Rosendale; 5. Trevor Maurer, De Pere; 6. Justin Muehlbauer, Kiel; 7. Peter Hall, Neshkoro; 8. Emmett Kiley, De Pere
Stock Cars
Feature: 1. Brad Lubach, Kiel; 2. Marcus Hoeppner, Rubicon; 3. Matt Klenz, West Bend; 4. Dave Bouche, Algoma; 5. Roger Frank, Beaver Dam; 6. Chris Loewenhagen, Kimberly; 7. Katelyn Sohrweide, Chilton; 8. Logan Theys, Luxemburg; 9. Mavrick Ruh, Elkhart Lake; 10. Jonathon Van Deraa, Stockbridge; 11. Mike Klenz, West Bend
Midwest LS Late Models
Feature: 1. Mark Hoeppner, Rubicon; 2. Jake Binash, Forest Junction; 3. Andy Gross, Hartford
A-Modifieds
Feature: 1. Noah Schepp, Beaver Dam; 2. Adam Reed, Rubicon; 3. Jesse Cullen, Chilton; 4. Eric Scribner, Kiel; 5. Jeffrey Schepp, Beaver Dam; 6. Tony Wilz, Appleton; 7. Joel Seegert Jr., Sheboygan; 8. Joel Seegert Sr., Sheboygan
Street Stocks
First Heat: 1. Phillip Wuesthoff, Beaver Dam; 2. Austin Steinke, St. Nazianz; 3. Ethan Lepple, Beaver Dam; 4. Logan Wilde, Kimberly; 5. Jake Binash, Forest Junction; 6. Chuck Gilbertson Jr., Kaukauna; 7. Luke Kilgore, Sheboygan; 8. Jeffrey Meyer, Chilton
Second Heat: 1. James Riske, Newton; 2. Andy Gross, Hartford; 3. Alex Haese, Manitowoc; 4. Parker Derks, Chilton; 5. Keslie Richards, Montello; 6. Brian Gundrum, Slinger; 7. Ericka Vogel, New Holstein; 8. Mark Hoeppner, Rubicon
Feature: 1 Gundrum; 2. Wilde; 3. Wuesthoff; 4. Gilbertson; 5. Haese; 6. Binash; 7. Lepple; 8. Steinke; 9. Mark Hoeppner; 10. Kilgore; 11. Vogel; 12. K. Richards; 13. Perks
4-Cylinders
Feature: 1. James Reese, Chilton; 2. Chase Ertel, Plymouth; 3. Cody McLain, Beaver Dam; 4. John Ropella, Appleton; 5. Kali Bork, Appleton