By T.J. Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 24, 2016) – Ian Madsen picked up his first career victory at Eldora Speedway during the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions portion of the 4-Crown Nationals. Madsen was in second when race leader Rico Abreu spun with three laps to go and drove away for the victory.
“It’s awesome to get a win at this place. I’ve always dreamed of winning a race here. Its really cool to be standing here in victory lane,” said Madsen. “We’ve been going really good lately and been really knocking on the door on getting a big win. This is awesome.”
Madsen was in the right place at the right time to capitalized on Abreu’s misfortune.
“I don’t think so, there were only three laps left. Just caught a lucky break there and had to make the most of it.”
Abreu and Randy Hannagan started on the front row for the 30-lap main event. Hannagan got a great start and held off an early challenge by Abreu for the lead. Abreu then found himself under pressure from Chad Kemenah for the second spot, swapping the position back and forth for several laps before Abreu secured the spot on lap five.
After a pair of cautions on lap six for a spin by D.J. Foos and a second caution following the restart when Dane Lorenc hit the wall between turns thee and four Abreu dove to bottom of Hanngan to take the lead on lap seven.
Abreu pulled away while All Star championship contender Dale Blaney and Kemenah raced for third position. Kemenah was able to hold of Blaney’s challenges
The first close call for Abreu came on lap 10 when he got into the fence, riding the wall for a moment through turns three and four with the right side wheels of his car, but managed to keep going without losing the lead.
As Abreu blasted through slower cars Kemenah closed in on second spot when Hannagan’s motor started developing a miss.
The caution flag appeared again on lap 13 when Sheldon Haudenschild hit the crossover gate on the backstretch with his right rear tire, which went flat shortly afterwards. Haudenschild was able to get the tire changed and joint he tail of the field for the restart.
Abreu pulled away during the restart while Blaney drove under Kemenah for the third spot. Blaney then ran down Hannagan for the second position on lap 19.
The completion of the feature and the 2016 All Star championship changed on lap 20 when Blaney hit the wall hard in turn four, ending his night.
Abrreu pulled away again during the restart while Ian Madsen drove by Hannagan for the second spot on lap 23.
Slower traffic came into play again with five laps to go. Two laps later Abreu’s race came to an end when he spun in turn four up to the wall, coming to a stop with Lee Jacobs having nowhere to go and slamming into the front of Abreu’s car. Both Jacobs and Abreu were unable to restart.
This gave the lead to Madsen. Following a red flag for fuel Madsen got a great start and pulled away from Kemenah for the victory. Hanngan held on for third with Kraig Kinser, and Brady Bacon rounding out the top five.
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
4-Crown Nationals
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
Saturday September 24, 2016
Qualifying: 1. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 14.158; 2. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 14.243; 3. 24 – Rico Abreu, 14.258; 4. 70 – Dean Jacobs, 14.259; 5. 2 – Dale Blaney, 14.281; 6. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 14.339; 7. 99 – Brady Bacon, 14.387; 8. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.396; 9. 18 – Ian Madsen, 14.500; 10. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 14.540; 11. 21 – Cap Henry, 14.549; 12. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 14.565; 13. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 14.572; 14. 8M – T.J. Michael, 14.602; 15. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.649; 16. 23 – D.J. Foos, 14.691; 17. 40 – Claeb Helms, 14.739; 18. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 14.740; 19. 49D – Shawn Dancer, 14.755; 20. 9X – Cole Duncan, 14.782; 21. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 14.817; 22. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 14.835; 23. 57X – Andrew Palker, 14.885; 24. 19P – Paige Polyak, 14.890; 25. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 14.932; 26. 09X – Carson Macedo, 14.976; 27. 83 – Adam Cruea, 15.022; 28. 71M – Paul May, 15.109; 29. 07 – Jacob Wilson, 15.127; 30. 7J – Joe Swanson, 15.140; 31. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 15.167; 32. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 15.288; 33. 10S – Jay Steinebach, 15.314; 34. 49H – Bradley Howard, 15.321; 35. 60 – Kory Crabtree, 15.611; 36. 6 – Bill Rose, 15.649; 37. 5B – Chad Blonde, 15.693;
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 2. 99 – Brady Bacon, 3. 1 – Dale Blaney, 4. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. 23 – D.J. Foos, 6. 09X – Carson Macedo, 7. 07 – Jacob Wilson, 8. 7J – Joe Swanson, 9. 6 – Bill Rose, 10. 60 – Kory Crabtree. (First five finishers transfer to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 2. 18 – Ian Madsen, 3. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 4. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 5. 19P – Paige Polyak, 6. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 7. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 8. 11R – Chase Ridenour. (First five finishers transfer to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 2. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 3. 24 – Rico Abreu, 4. 21 – Cap Henry, 5. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 6. 71M – Paul May, 7. 49H – Bradley Howard, 8. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 9. 49D – Shawn Dancer. (First five finishers transfer to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 40 – Caleb Helms, 2. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 3. 70 – Dean Jacobs, 4. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 5. 8M – T.J. Michael, 6. 9X – Cole Duncan, 7. 57X – Andrew Palker, 8. 83 – Adam Cruea, 9. 10S – Jay Steinebach. (First five finishers transfer to the A-Main)
Dash (4 Laps): 1. 24 – Rico Abreu, 2. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 3. 18 – Ian Madsen, 4. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 5. 99 – Brady Bacon, 6. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 7. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 8. 11K – Kraig Kinser. (Finish determined the first eight starting spots in the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 2. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 3. 9X – Cole Duncan, 4. 09X – Carson Macedo, 5. 71M – Paul May, 6. 59 – Ben Schmidt, 7. 83 – Adam Cruea, 8. 7J – Joe Swanson, 9. 07 – Jacob Wilson, 10. 60 – Kory Crabtree, 11. 49H – Bradley Howard, 12. 6 – Bill Rose, 13. 57X – Andrew Palker, 14. 10S – Jay Steinebach. DNS: 5 – Chad Blonde, 60 – Kory Crabtree. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18 – Ian Madsen, 2. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 3. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 4. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 5. 99 – Brady Bacon, 6. 35 – Jac Haudenschild, 7. 21 – Cap Henry, 8. 7C – Caleb Armstrong, 9. 33M – Max Stambaugh, 10. 17W – Kerry Madsen, 11. 70 – Dean Jacobs, 12. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 13. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 14. 09X – Carson Macedo, 15. 9X – Cole Duncan, 16. 23 – D.J. Foos, 17. 57X – Andrew Palker, 18. 40 – Caleb Helms, 19. 24 – Rico Abreu, 20. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 21. 8M – T.J. Michael, 22. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 23. 1 – Dale Blaney, 24. 19P – Paige Polyak, 25. 00 – Dane Lorenc.