PETERSEN MEDIA
With a brand new sponsor, fresh paint scheme, and new crew-members, Kerry Madsen and his Keneric Racing team spent last week in the state of Florida kicking off their 2014 season, where they picked up a win, and five top-10 finishes in six nights of action.
“We started off our season in a great way,” Madsen said. “Our American Racing/Keneric Racing team has given me a great car in every race so far, and it’s really been a blast to drive.”
Kicking the season off in soggy Ocala, FL, Madsen and his team took to the extremely wet Bubba Raceway Park last Sunday night with the All Star Circuit of Champions.
With 23-cars taking to the track to kickoff Florida Speedweeks, Madsen timed his entry in fifth fastest.
Lining up in the third row of his heat, Madsen was unable to move forward on the sloppy track, though he finished in the sixth spot, and was eligible for the Dash draw, where the six-pill put him in the third row.
The Dash saw Madsen make up ground, where he finished in the fourth spot, putting him in the second row for the feature event.
In the feature, ‘The Mad Man’ lived up to his name, as he searched around the greasy track as he chased after Steve Buckwalter much of the race. When the mud stopped flying, and Madsen found himself with a fourth place finish.
In action again on Monday night, Madsen and his team were greeted with a much better surface, and Madsen opened the night up with the fifth fastest lap in qualifications.
During his heat race, the Australian native made some swift moves en route to advancing from the third spot to pick up the win, and transfer to the Dash for the second night in a row.
Luck –of-the-draw put Madsen and his American Racing backed machine on the pole of the Dash, and he went on to dominate the event, and put his machine on the pole for the 30-lap feature event.
In the feature, Madsen and fellow front row starter, Jac Haudenschild, made contact, and both narrowly avoided catastrophe, but Madsen was able to regroup, and begin setting a torrid pace on the lighting fast track.
Working into traffic, the battle between Haudenschild and Madsen intensified, but Madsen was able to fend him off, and go on to win the feature event with no serious challengers for the last half of the race.
Heading to the Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL, on Thursday night, Madsen and his Keneric Racing team were back in action with the All Star Circuit of Champions for one final night of competition before kicking off the 2014 World of Outlaw season.
With 43 of the nation’s best cars in the pit area for the opening night of the DIRTcar Nationals, Madsen was a tick off in time-trials, as he timed in 20th fastest.
The invert-six heat-race format put Madsen on the front row of his heat, which he won, but did not put him in the Dash, and he lined up in the 18th position for the main.
On a track that had quite a bit of moisture leftover from a huge rainstorm the night before, Madsen was able to race all over the high-speed ½ mile track as his car was able to move around the racetrack, and find tremendous speed.
When the checkered waived, Madsen had worked his way up to a 12th place finish.
Friday night the stakes were raised a little with the World of Outlaw sanction taking over, and Madsen continued to have a strong start to the season.
Flexing his muscles in qualifications, Madsen laid down the second fast lap of the night, putting him on the outside of the second row of the second heat race.
‘The Mad Man’ continued to show speed as he charged from the second row and won the heat race going way, putting his machine safely in the Dash.
The eight-car inversion for the Dash put the Australian turned Knoxville, IA resident in the fourth row, and he went on to finish seventh, putting him in the same spot for the feature event.
On the loud pedal when the feature went green, Madsen found the top-side of the speedway to his liking and he began picking of cars.
As the laps wound down, Madsen’s machine seemed to get better, as he shot around Tim Shaffer, and Dale Blaney to land on the podium.
The next two nights of action at the Volusia Speedway Park saw Madsen continually move forward.
After missing the qualifying inversion on Saturday night, Madsen won the B main, before charging from the 18th spot to finish 10th on Saturday, while Sunday night saw him work from his 11th starting spot, to score a sixth place finish.
“I am thrilled with the start of the season we had in Florida,” Madsen said. “To come out like we did was awesome, and with American Racing on board with us this year, it was really a great thing for us. I was hoping to just find some consistency in Florida, and we were consistent, and good, so it was really a great trip.”
2014 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-6, Wins-1, Top-5’s- 3, Top 10’s-5
ON TAP: Madsen and his team will now make the long journey across the country, as they head to Sin City, Las Vegas, NV for a mid-week double header on March 5-6.
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AMERICAN RACING: American Racing is an iconic brand and a wheel industry leader in craftsmanship, engineering, innovation and performance. Founded in 1956 as a manufacturer of bespoke magnesium and aluminum racing wheels, its roots date back to the golden era of hot rodding. American Racing is a Wheel Pros brand. Wheel Pros products are sold worldwide in more than 20 countries on four continents and through a U.S. network of more than 25,000 authorized dealers. It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of branded custom wheels, performance tires and related accessories for cars, SUVs and light trucks.
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