Madsen sweeps weekend with the World of Outlaws at Eldora

Kerry Madsen in victory lane at Eldora Speedway. (Bill Miller Photo)

Kerry Madsen in victory lane at Eldora Speedway. (Bill Miller Photo)
Kerry Madsen in victory lane at Eldora Speedway. (Bill Miller Photo)
By T.J. Buffenbarger

Rossburg, OH — (May 7, 2016) — Kerry Madsen completed a weekend sweep of the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series features with his victory Saturday night at Eldora Speedway during the “Let’s Race Two” weekend.

Much like his victory on Friday Madsen took the lead from the front row and had to hold off a late race surge by Chad Kemenah. The win was Madsen’s seventh of the year in the Keneric Racing owned car. For Madsen the win served a momentum change for a team that had been fast but without luck recently.

“We’ve been quick all year, but we just haven’t showcased it,” said Madsen. “The guys have stepped up; this thing was a rocket ship all weekend. It was a little dicey the last 10-15 laps. I pulled the back too far and then I couldn’t run the cushion like I wanted to and I was too dumb to pull it back forward. All and all a great result, to get two wins regardless is fantastic. I have to thank my crew and car owners Bob and Pete Gavranich that make it all happen.”

Daryn Pittman and Madsen started on the front row for the 30-lap main event. Pittman took the lead at the start, but it was short lived as Madsen got a run off turn two to retake the lead at the end of the backstretch to lead the opening lap.

Behind the leaders David Gravel and Joey Saldana were racing for fourth position back and forth exchanging slide jobs when Gravel caught the back of Saldana’s car trying to turn under him off of turn four sending Saldana’s car into the wall and a wild series of flips to bring out the red flag. Saldana emerged from his car under his own power.

Madsen chose the inside line for the restart and used it to his advantage to rocket away from Pittman and Jason Johnson during the restart. Gravel was embroiled in another torrid race for position with defending World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz for fourth. Schatz threw a slide job at Gravel through turns one and two that Gravel returned on the other end of the race track. Schatz and Gravel continued to swap the position and allowed Kemenah to close in quickly. Kemenah got a run under Schatz to take fifth on lap nine and passed Gravel on lap 12 and set sail after the lead trio.

While Kemenah was on the move Madsen began to encounter slower traffic. For several laps Madsen found himself blocked in behind Sammy Swindell and Sheldon Haudenschild as they raced for position ahead of him. With the leader blocked in Kemenah disposed of Johnson for third and then promptly did the same to Pittman for second on lap 16.

With 10 laps to go Kemenah quickly ran down Madsen in traffic. By lap 22 Kemenah started to apply pressure to Madsen for the lead using the middle of the track while Madsen ran the top of the speedway. On lap 23 Kemenah had a good look under Madsen for the lead coming off turn four, but Madsen was able to use his momentum to hold the position.

After seeing Kemenah’s nose Madsen began to pick up the pace. This almost bit Madsen with four laps to go as he nearly got into the wall coming off turn two, but managed to keep going. Madsen though was able to meet the challenge.

“I didn’t know who it was, but I knew someone was there,” said Madsen. “So I stepped it up and I nearly junked the thing in two. I thought I shouldn’t do that again, but I did up the tempo when I saw him. I knew it there was one hiccup with the line he was driving he would drive right by me, so it was intense.”

Kemenah searched the track a bit trying to gain ground on Madsen for one last run at the leader. For Kemenah though it was too late as the laps ran out and Madsen claimed his second victory of the weekend. Kemenah finished second with Pittman moving back up after dropping back during the restart to claim the final podium position.

World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Saturday April 7, 2016

Qualifications:

Qualifying Flight 1:
1. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.271
2. 5 – David Gravel, 13.282
3. 7S – Jason Sides, 13.292
4. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 13.338
5. 19M – Brent Marks, 13.355
6. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 13.362
7. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.370
8. 23 – Trey Starks, 13.373
9. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 13.396
10. 7 – Paul McMahan, 13.455
11. 19 – Paige Polyak, 13.462
12. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13.544
13. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 13.576
14. 99 – Brady Bacon, 13.578
15. 2X – Parker Price-Miller, 13.660
16. 21 – Cap Henry, 13.667
17. 6M – Jac Haudenschild, 13.883
18. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 13.965
19. O7 – Jacob Wilson, 14.270

Qualifying Flight 2:
1. 83 – Joey Saldana, 13.160
2. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 13.183
3. 41 – Jason Johnson, 13.278
4. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 13.335
5. 71 – Jamie Veal, 13.349
6. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.365
7. 1ST – Logan Schuchart, 13.373
8. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.376
9. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 13.394
10. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 13.407
11. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 13.428
12. 70 – Danny Holtgraver, 13.496
13. W20 – Greg Wilson, 13.509
14. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.519
15. 5T – Travis Philo, 13.656
16. 40 – Caleb Helms, 13.667
17. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.731
18. 35 – Stuart Brubaker, 13.760
19. 71M – Paul May, 13.853
20. 35X – Wes McGlumphy, 13.937

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 19M – Brent Marks, 5. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 6. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 7. 19 – Paige Polyak, 8. 6M – Jac Haudenschild, 9. 2X – Parker Price-Miller, 10. 07 – Jacob Wilson. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 5 – David Gravel, 2. 23 – Trey Starks, 3. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 4. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 5. 7 – Paul McMahan, 6. 99 – Brady Bacon, 7. 1A – Jacob Allen, 8. 21 – Cap Henry, 9. 49D – Shawn Dancer. DNS: 33M – Caleb Griffith (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 41 – Jason Johnson, 3. 83 – Joey Saldana, 3. 71 – Jamie Veal, 4. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 5. W20 Greg Wilson, 6. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 7. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 8. 71M – Paul May, 9. 5T – Travis Philo, 10. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg. (First five finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 2. 15 – Donny Schatz, 3. 49 – Brad Sweet, 4. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 5. 70 – Danny Holtgraver, 6. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 7. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 8. 40 – Caleb Helms, 9. 35 – Wes McGlumphy, 10. 35 – Stuart Brubaker.

C-Main (8 Laps): 1. 6M – Jac Haudenschild, 2. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 3. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 4. 35 – Wes McGlumphy, 5. 07 – JacobWilson, 6. 71M – Paul May. DNS: 35 – Stuart Brubaker. (First two finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Dash (6 Laps): 1. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 2. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 3. 41 – Jason Johnson, 4. 5 – David Gravel, 5. 83 – Joey Saldana, 6. 2 – Shane Stewart, 7. 15 – Donny Schatz, 8. 23 – Trey Starks. (Finish determined the first eight starting positions for the A-Main)

B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 19 – Paige Polyak, 2. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 3. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 4. 69 – Brady Bacon, 5. 5T – Travis Philo, 6. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 7. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. 40 – Caleb Helms, 9. 1A – Jacob Allen, 10. 21 – Cap Henry, 11. 2X – Parker Price-Miller, 12. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 13. 6M – Jac Haudenschild, 14. 11N – Randy Hannagan. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 2. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 3. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 4. 5 – David Gravel, 5. 2 – Shane Stewart, 6. 41 – Jason Johnson, 7. 15 – Donny Schatz, 8. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 9. 49 – Brad Sweet, 10. W20 – Greg Wilson, 11. 71 – Jamie Veal, 12. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 13. 17W – Bryan Clauson, 14, 19M – Brent Marks, 15. 99 – Brady Bacon, 16. 7S – Jason Sides, 17. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 18. 23 – Trey Starks, 19. 7 – Paul McMahan, 20. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 21. 70 – Danny Holtgraver, 22. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 23. 19 – Paige Polyak, 24. 83 – Joey Saldana.

Lap Leaders: Madsen: 1-30