JACKSON, Minn. (July 29, 2016) — Kerry Madsen is $20,000 richer following a late-race pass on Friday during Abdo, Eick & Meyers, LLP Night at Jackson Motorplex, where a season-high 77 winged sprint cars competed among three classes during the Barb Wieskus Classic.
Madsen led the final six laps of the Spirit Lake Silver & Gold NSL 410 Sprint Cars featuring the National Sprint League main event to garner the biggest single-day payout in the track’s storied history.
Additionally, Gregg Bakker captured the $2,000-to-win Last-Deck® 360 Sprint Cars main event and Colin Smith was the Liquid Nitro IMCA 305 Sprint Cars winner.
The action was spectacular throughout the night at the half-mile oval, where the competition concluded with Madsen capitalizing on a miscue by Aaron Reutzel in the closing laps. Reutzel led the first 19 laps of the feature and he held off numerous challenges from Brian Brown and Madsen before a gaffe on Lap 20 allowed Madsen to sneak by.
“I just made one mistake and that’s all it takes with these caliber of cars,” a dejected Reutzel said after the race. “My guys gave me a perfect race car. I just failed to make 25 perfect laps.”
Madsen, who threw a massive slide job on Brown for the runner-up position on Lap 17, took advantage of Reutzel missing his marks to take the lead three laps later. Madsen then pulled away for his third National Sprint League victory of the season, which is tied for the series lead.
“It was exciting,” he said. “I got quicker on the long runs. We had a great race car. It was a little tricky early for a couple of laps and then it’d come right in. I had fun. The race track was great all night.”
Sammy Swindell rounded out the podium with Ian Madsen advancing from 11th to fourth place and Dusty Zomer scoring a fifth-place result.
It was a rough night for the top two in the championship standings as Danny Lasoski finished 12th and points leader Craig Dollansky 15 th, which was his first result outside the top 10 during NSL competition this season. Dollansky currently leads Lasoski by five points in the standings.
Lasoski set quick time during qualifying for a series-leading seventh time this season before Bryan Clauson, Brown and Austin McCarl each won a heat race. Terry McCarl was victorious in the B Main.
Friday was the first night of a National Sprint League tripleheader this weekend. The series also has events on Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and Sunday at Hancock County Speedway in Britt, Iowa.
Tickets for the race at Knoxville Raceway are $15 for adults, $10 for ages 13 to 19 and free for ages 12 and younger. Pit passes are $25. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. with qualifying at 7:15 p.m. The Cushion will provide live Pay-Per-View video from the race at http://www.TheCushion.com.
Adult tickets at Hancock County Speedway are $20 and $10 for children ages 5 to 12. Children 4 and younger are free. The front gate is scheduled to open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6 p.m. Speed Shift TV will have live Pay-Per-View video at http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com.
Last-Deck ® 360 Sprint Cars
Bakker led the final 14 laps to claim his track-leading third triumph of the season and extend his lead in the championship standings.
“I wanted to win it last year when they had that nice trophy,” he said of the Barb Wieskus Classic. “Barb meant a lot to all of us racers. It means a lot to me and my wife.”
Blake Hahn held the top spot for the first two laps of the 20-lap feature before he spun in turn two. Hahn did a 360-degree spin and kept going, but he dropped to fifth place. Bryan Clauson took over the lead and he clicked off four laps in first place before he dramatically slowed to bring out a caution.
That handed the lead to Bakker, who had to hold off multiple attempts at passes for the lead in the closing laps. Scott Winters executed a slide job in turn two to take the top spot with three laps remaining, but Bakker regained the position entering turn three as a caution came out. Winters stuck to Bakker in the final laps, but a last-ditch effort in turns three and four on the last lap came up short and allowed Hahn to earn a runner-up finish.
Winters ended third with Ryan Bickett placing fourth and Lee Grosz fifth.
Clauson, who restarted 23rd after his caution, rebounded to finish seventh.
Liquid Nitro IMCA 305 Sprint Cars
Smith survived a myriad of cautions to earn his second feature victory of the season.
“I was getting pretty worried with all the cautions,” he said in Victory Lane. “I was waiting for someone to poke their head in there. I guess I did a good job.”
Bill Johnson held off eighth-starting Bruce Anderson for the runner-up position. Clint Benson maneuvered from 10th to fourth place with points leader Michael Stien rounding out the top five.
National Sprint League Race Report
Jackson Motorplex
Jackson, MN
Friday July 29, 2016
Deberg Concrete/Slade Shock Technology Time Trials: 1. 2-Danny Lasoski 16.021; 2. 29-Kerry Madsen 16.191; 3. 55l-Aaron Reutzel 16.227; 4. 56n-Davey Heskin 16.228; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell 16.290; 6. 82-Dusty Zomer 16.297; 7. 99-Brady Bacon 16.304; 8. 21-Brian Brown 16.312; 9. 17b-Bill Balog 16.321; 10. 17w-Bryan Clauson 16.322; 11. 12-Lynton Jeffrey 16.337; 12. 18-Ian Madsen 16.349; 13. 3-Tim Kaeding 16.373; 14. 2ks-Craig Dollansky 16.413; 15. 7-Kaley Gharst 16.433; 16. 15-Joe Riedel 16.444; 17. 09-Matt Juhl 16.462; 18. 17a-Austin McCarl 16.464; 19. 7w-Tasker Phillips 16.473; 20. 55-Brooke Tatnell 16.505; 21. 24-Terry McCarl 16.544; 22. 23w-Scott Winters 16.666; 23. 2c-Wayne Johnson 16.680; 24. 17e-Ryan Bickett 16.726; 25. 4w-Matt Wasmund 16.739; 26. 5h-Cory Eliason 16.752; 27. 16-Travis Whitney 16.806; 28. 10-Dakota Hendrickson 16.896; 29. 25-Dylan Peterson 16.990; 30. 35-Skylar Prochaska 16.999.
Walker Performance Filtration Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 17w-Bryan Clauson (3); 2. 2-Danny Lasoski (6); 3. 3-Tim Kaeding (2); 4. 99-Brady Bacon (4); 5. 56n-Davey Heskin (5); 6. 23w-Scott Winters (8); 7. 15-Joe Riedel (1); 8. 10-Dakota Hendrickson (10); 9. 4w-Matt Wasmund (9); 10. 7w-Tasker Phillips (7).
Kaeding Performance Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown (4); 2. 2ks-Craig Dollansky (2); 3. 29-Kerry Madsen (6); 4. 2c-Wayne Johnson (8); 5. 09-Matt Juhl (1); 6. 1-Sammy Swindell (5); 7. 5h-Cory Eliason (9); 8. 12-Lynton Jeffrey (3); 9. 55-Brooke Tatnell (7); 10. 25-Dylan Peterson (10).
Keizer Aluminum Wheels Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 17a-Austin McCarl (1); 2. 82-Dusty Zomer (5); 3. 18-Ian Madsen (3); 4. 7-Kaley Gharst (2); 5. 17b-Bill Balog (4); 6. 55l-Aaron Reutzel (6); 7. 24-Terry McCarl (7); 8. 17e-Ryan Bickett (8); 9. 35-Skylar Prochaska (10); 10. 16-Travis Whitney (9).
B Main (8 Laps/Top 5 Transfer): 1. 24-Terry McCarl (1); 2. 7w-Tasker Phillips (5); 3. 16-Travis Whitney (9); 4. 17e-Ryan Bickett (4); 5. 55-Brooke Tatnell (3); 6. 10-Dakota Hendrickson (6); 7. 25-Dylan Peterson (10); 8. 4w-Matt Wasmund (7); 9. 5h-Cory Eliason (2); 10. 35-Skylar Prochaska (8).
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 29-Kerry Madsen (6); 2. 55l-Aaron Reutzel (2); 3. 1-Sammy Swindell (8); 4. 18-Ian Madsen (11); 5. 82-Dusty Zomer (5); 6. 21-Brian Brown (4); 7. 3-Tim Kaeding (13); 8. 99-Brady Bacon (1); 9. 17a-Austin McCarl (10); 10. 17b-Bill Balog (12); 11. 2c-Wayne Johnson (16); 12. 2-Danny Lasoski (7); 13. 24-Terry McCarl (20); 14. 7-Kaley Gharst (14); 15. 2ks-Craig Dollansky (9); 16. 55-Brooke Tatnell (24); 17. 16-Travis Whitney (22); 18. 12-Lynton Jeffrey (17); 19. 23w-Scott Winters (19); 20. 17e-Ryan Bickett (23); 21. 15-Joe Riedel (18); 22. 09-Matt Juhl (15); 23. 7w-Tasker Phillips (21); 24. 17w-Bryan Clauson (3).
Laps led: Aaron Reutzel 1-19; Kerry Madsen 20-25.
UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL SPRINT LEAGUE TOP 10 IN POINTS AFTER ROUND 15 –
.1 2ks-Craig Dollansky 5212; 2. 2-Danny Lasoski 5207; 3. 21-Brian Brown 4740; 4. 18-Ian Madsen 4650; 5. 55-Brooke Tatnell 4069; 6. 1s-Sammy Swindell 3744; 7. 56n-Davey Heskin 3472; 8. 7w-Tasker Phillips 3467; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen 3174; 10. 10-Dakota Hendrickson 2870.