By Bill W
May 16, 2012 – Last week meant a trip through PA Posse territory for Kerry Madsen and the Keneric Racing #29 team. After missing the show at Lincoln Speedway, the St. Mary’s, New South Wales driver came home twelfth in a stout 45-car field at Williams Grove on Friday. This week, it is Rolling Wheels, New York tonight before moving on to Middletown, New York and Hagerstown, Maryland to complete the weekend.
Kerry had looked forward to the “Gettysburg Clash” at Lincoln Speedway near Abbottstown on Thursday, but struggles in qualifying and the heat had him in the B. “We didn’t qualify great (20th) and we missed the transfer in the heat, because the driver was an idiot,” he says honestly. “We were running fifth in the B, and I think we would have been o.k. On a single-file restart, I’m not sure what happened, but somehow before things got going, Paul McMahan got spun totally sideways and I hit him. That knocked the front wing off and we went to the work area.”
He climbed back up to tenth, but it would not be enough. “We went to the back of the B and missed the transfer,” says Kerry. “What really stunk, was Kraig Kinser and Cody Darrah were eligible for provisionals before us. Missing the show sucked.”
It was on to Williams Grove Speedway near Mechanicsburg on Friday and Saturday. “We qualified well on Friday (9th),” says Kerry. “We dropped a spot in the heat (third) and missed the dash. We did have a really good car in the feature. I was really happy with the racecar. I think we were the fourth or fifth Outlaw car home, so I was happy.”
The result had been a twelfth place finish after starting fourteenth. Kerry knows well that it is just as easy to miss the show as make it at the Grove. “Fred Rahmer won going away on Friday night,” he says. “He ran second to last in his heat on Saturday. It is really insane out there.”
Kerry lost nineteen positions in qualifying for Saturday’s finale. “We drew a 72 for qualifying both nights,” he says. “The first night we got away with it. Saturday we didn’t (28th quick). We only missed by one spot for a transfer in the heat. We were able to drive fourth from eighth in the B.”
Starting 24th on a rubber-down track, there wasn’t much that could be done to move forward. “The track took rubber in the A pretty much from the first lap,” says Kerry. “We were basically playing Dodge ‘em cars out there. There were a few ‘dingles’ in front of me that I got involved in. I ended up having to come to the work area and replace a front wing and I think we ended up 23rd.”
Still, the racecar was fast each time out, and the team looks forward to their races in New York and Maryland this week. “We had great racecars the whole trip,” says Kerry. “I think the progress is good. In PA, you come out a hero or a zero. I think we learned a lot. Starting deep on a rubber-down racetrack is tough. You are just disappointed for the fans, and PA has some badass fans.”
Follow Kerry Madsen on his Website and on MySpace, Facebook and Twitter!
Follow Kerry Madsen at his website located at www.KenericRacing.com! Also keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter (which also can be accessed at the website) at the following links…
Facebook link = http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Official-Fan-Page-for-Kerry-Madsen/101145169933686
Twitter link = http://twitter.com/#!/kmr29