PETERSEN MEDIA
– Heading into the biggest race of the year, The 41st Annual Grand Classic, Ian Madsen has been one of the hottest drivers in the country, and was looking to show his stuff against some of the world’s best, and he ended up scoring a ninth place finish.
“We have a great team, had a ton of help from other teams this weekend after crashing Saturday, and I am pleased with a ninth place finish,” Madsen said.
With 100 cars entered into the event, Madsen flexed his muscle early as he was seventh fastest aboard his Watson’s Express Transport/Australia Wide Towing/Lucas Oil No. 11 machine.
Madsen struggled a bit in his first heat as he slipped back to third, but made a nice comeback in his second heat as he charged from 12th to fifth, putting his EJF Engineering/Mike Hughes & Partners/City Access Scaffolding machine on the front row of the B.
Winning the B, Madsen tagged the back of the feature, but an early wreck forced him out, and forced his team to work with serious damage, and their Sunday night in question as they had a destroyed racecar.
“We had a pretty good hit in the feature, and fortunately my guys went to work, and we had some people step up to assist us, and we were able to compete on Sunday. I have to thank Jamie Matherson, and his team for actually loaning us a car to run with our wings on it.”
Coming into the finale, Madsen sat 15th in points, right on the cusp of making the feature, but had two heat races to make or break his weekend.
Picking up a heat win, and a sixth place finish, Madsen made the 40-lap feature as he sat 14th in points, thus he gridded the field in 14th.
Though he wasn’t able to put on a monster charge toward the front, the Sydney native had his elbows up, as he worked forward and grabbed a ninth place finish on a very slick race track.
“With how our Saturday night went, I am happy we were able to get back out here and race, and to end up with a top-10 is just a bonus.”
Madsen was also in action on Friday night for the King Challenge at Mt. Gambier. Qualifying fifth quick, Madsen scored a second and a sixth place finish in heats, putting him in the second row of the feature event.
While running up front in the feature, Madsen had some issues arise, and he was forced pit side, ending his night with a DNF.
“It was a rough week overall, but I want to thank everyone who pitched in an helped, and hopefully we can get back in the winner’s circle soon.”
Madsen would like to thank Watson’s Express Transport, Australia Wide Towing, Lucas Oil, EJF Engineering, Mike Hughes & Partners, City Access Scaffolding, Blackshaw’s Motor Body Repairs, ButlerBuilt, and Factory Kahne Shocks for their continued support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts- 11, Wins-2, Top-5’s- 4, Top 10’s-5
ON TAP: Ian will take a week off before returning to action at the Sydney Speedway on Sunday, February 9th.
STAY CONNECTED: To keep up with Ian make sure you follow him on twitter by clicking over to www.twitter.com/IanMadsen.