The Scoop
MITCH MEIER – FROM A MEXICO VACATION TO VICTORY LANE IN TEXAS
Posted on: Thursday March 3, 2022
Chilton, Wisconsin’s Mitch Meier got his 2022 racing season off to a flying start with this victory at Heart O’ Texas Speedway in February during a Lonestar Stock Car Tour event. (photo courtesy of Lonestar Stock Car Tour)
There aren’t many people who can incorporate a vacation in warm, sunny Mexico with stock car racing.
However, Chilton, Wisconsin’s Mitch Meier recently did just that. Back in February the 33-year-old flew from Mexico where he was on vacation to Texas where he competed in IMCA’s Lonestar Stock Car Tour.
Meier took a brand-new Ultimate Race Car built and designed by Jeff Steenbergen and wound up winning the IMCA stock car feature at Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Mott, Texas. “I wanted to run that Lonestar deal a year ago but just couldn’t swing it,” Meier admitted. “I mean it looked like a pretty good week of racing with a point fund, too. I know the series promoter well (Jon Courchaine) as I still have a Sniper Speed chassis. And let’s face it – in February in Wisconsin there isn’t a whole lot to do this time of year anyways.”
Getting off for the vacation and weeklong series of racing wasn’t a problem as Meier is self-employed as he works on harvester silos. But as for towing his racer 2,500 miles round trip to Texas he had to rely upon some help from his friends. That’s where fellow racer and buddy Tim Warner of Malone comes into the picture.
“To start off with Jeff (Steenbergen) wasn’t really sure if that new car would be ready or not but he got it done,” Meier confessed. “I was going down there with either the new car or the Sniper car I’ve got. Tim is a good buddy of mine and he and his wife Jenny towed the car down there for me.”
All the IMCA sanctioned tracks in the Lonestar series are within roughly one and half hours from each in the greater Dallas area according to Meier. “The IMCA stock car class isn’t quite as big in Texas as it is say in Iowa or Wisconsin,” Meier pointed out. “With the brand new car we went out for hot laps and it felt good. Everything with that car was brand new except the carburetor. We made a few changes after the heat and started on the pole. And trust me, that’s not as easy as you might think.”
Reason being the field Meier was battling against had some true heavy hitters in it. “I mean Abe Huls (Carthage, Illinois) was there along with Dallon and Damon Murty (Chelsea, Iowa) and Elijah Zevenbergen (Allendorf, Iowa),” Meier said. “In total there were 58 cars there. It was a tough field.”
What helped Meier a bit was the bullring at HOT was a lot like his home track back in the 920 zipcode. “It was a quarter-mile similar to my home track (Gravity Park USA) in Chilton,” Meier explained. “It was banked quite a bit more though. I would almost equate it to Slinger Super Speedway (Slinger, Wisconsin) in terms of banking but only as a dirt track. But when you start up front, you’re sort of like a sitting duck. When you start deeper in the field you can watch the lines everyone else is taking. You don’t have that advantage when you start on the pole.”
The race Meier won had six caution flags in the 25-lap contest. “I won $1,000 and four of the series shows unfortunately got rained out,” Meier said. “We got $500 for ninth place in points in the two shows we ran. So that wasn’t too bad.”
Meier gets interviewed by IMCA.TV following his victory. (photo courtesy of Lonestar Stock Car Tour)
Meier’s home track Gravity Park USA is located 10 minutes from his house. Meier got his start racing sport compacts on the quarter-mile bullring, 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Outagamie Speedway in Seymour in 2016. Meier had success in the four-cylinder class winning IMCA’s state compact title along with other track championships. “I’ve been in the stock car class full time now since 2019 and I love it,” Meier said. “It’s a great group of guys to race against and it’s usually a pretty tough field, especially at 141.”
Meier has intentions on defending his stock car title at his home track at Gravity Park USA and plans on spreading his wings to battle for the 141 track title. Chilton does not sanction the stock cars IMCA but 141 does. “141’s field is close to 40 cars a lot of night and it’s often got some heavy hitters,” Meier said. “Guys like Luke Lemmens, Rod and Devin Snellenberger. I mean most of the guys who qualify for the feature at 141 are always capable of winning.”
As for Gravity Park? “I like it there and it’s hard not to race there since it’s so close,” Meier said. “Sometimes it gets a bad rap. But there were two lanes of racing many nights last year. That’s a track you must be patient at, no doubt. I think racing at Gravity Park and winning the title there the last two years helped me because you’re always driving in traffic. I guess I’m thankful I’ve got a track to race at so close to home. It could be gone like nothing. To me Gravity Park is a tough little bullring that has made me a better racer. At Gravity you can’t win the race on the first lap – that’s for certain.”
While Meier is one of the top dogs in the stock car class at Gravity Park, He acknowledges it will be tougher sledding on Saturday nights at 141. “You’re in good shape at 141 if you’re a top ten car,” said Meier, who made the show at IMCA’s Supernationals at Boone (IA) Speedway the last two years. “141 is a tough track to master. Your car can’t be too tight and coming off turn four to me is the toughest part of that place. The fastest way around 141 is if you can run the wall all the way around, but that’s not always easy. If I don’t get too busy with work this summer, we’d also like to make some trips up to Luxemburg on Sunday nights too. That all depends upon how busy we get.”
Other crew members who will help Meier out with his racing operation in 2022 are Josh Hintz, Matthew Roehl and his girlfriend Camilla Schneider. “She’s always in the shop with me during the week and at all the races,” Meier said. “I plan on staying in the IMCA stock car class. I’m staying put in it. It’s a good group of guys and always good competition too.”
Meier’s team of marketing partners includes Ecker Custom Service, Golden Sun Dairy, Curve Inn, Beef’s Tap, Gobbler’s Knob, Ultimate Race Cars, Kazzmo’s Kitchen and Spirits, J and E Construction, Snap On Tools, Tim’s Tool Sales and Seipel Carpentry.