PETERSEN MEDIA
Ian Madsen had to come through the Saturday night B-Main, but he was able to transfer to the Saturday night feature event where he scored a 21st place finish at the biggest race in the world.
“We had some issues on our preliminary night that put us in the B, but our team kept working, and it was good to land in the feature on Saturday night,” Madsen said.
Hitting the track on Wednesday night, Madsen timed his Nehring Construction/Team Kline Electric/Logan Contractors Supply entry in 13th quickest, putting him in the third heat.
Coming from the third row, Madsen grabbed the fourth and final transfer spot, ahead of Donny Schatz, but after the checkered waived, Madsen had engine woes, and his team was busy in the pits.
Changing engines prior to the feature, Madsen and his team would be ready for the preliminary night feature event where they started in the second row.
On the start, Madsen slipped back to the fourth spot, as David Gravel made a bold move to shoot ahead into the lead.
Chasing after third running, Josh Schneiderman, Madsen continued to hold his own in the top five, when trouble broke on the ninth lap, as he came to a stop with nose wing issues.
Making repairs in the work area, Madsen finished in the 18th spot, and after the Thursday night’s action sat 24th in points, putting them eighth in the Saturday night B, with the top-four transferring to the big show.
When the green flag dropped on the Saturday night ‘B’, Madsen was on a mission, as he worked the bottom of the Knoxville Raceway to near perfection, as he clawed towards the front of the field.
On the 12th lap, Madsen made his moved as he put his Greenland Homes of Iowa/Stepping Stone Genetics/Quality Traffic Control entry in the fourth and final transfer spot, as he fended off Scott Winters, and Brandon Wimmer.
When the checkered dropped on the B, Madsen had sucsessfully earned the 24th starting spot in the 53rd Annual Knoxville Nationals.
Starting in the 12th row of the feature, Madsen slowly worked his way into the top 15 by the 18th lap, when again he had nose wing issues, and came to a stop bringing out the caution.
Getting the nose wing taken off, the crew shoved Madsen back on to the track missing it, hoping to stay out of trouble until the scheduled stop happened.
Madsen was able to do just that, as the caution waived just before he was about to be put a lap down.
Making the changes to his car under the break, Madsen would restart the race, but only last a few laps, as he hopted to pull in with a 21st place finish at the Nationals.
“We made the show which is a tough feat in itself, but we had some issues over the week, that really hurt us,” Madsen said. “My guys worked their tails off, and I would have liked to have a little better showing in the feature, but we made it, and we will move on.”
Ian and his KCP Racing team would like to thank Nehring Construction, Team Kline Electric, Logan Contractors Supply, Royal Flooring, Greenland Homes of Iowa, Stepping Stone Genetics, Quality Traffic Control, Factory Kahne, Rider Racing Engines, JRS Excavating, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Kent Performance, Smith Precision Products, Moose Blocks, Speedway Motors, Aspen Air Inc. Heating and Cooling, and Kustom Concrete Pumping for their support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-49, Wins-8, Top-5’s- 18, Top 10’s-27
ON TAP: Ian and his KCP Racing team will be in action next Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway.
STAY CONNECTED: To keep up with Ian make sure you follow him on twitter by clicking over to www.twitter.com/IanMadsen. You can also visit the teams website at www.kcpracing.com.