By Tyler Altmeyer
Vince Vellella photo
LINCOLN, IL (June 9, 2017) – Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo officially etched his name into the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions’ history books on Friday night at Lincoln (IL) Speedway, conquering the non-stop, 35-lap main event by nearly five seconds over Paul Nienhiser and Chad Kemenah, earning $5,000 in the process.
Macedo, who started second on the main event grid aboard the Lucas Oil/Weld Wheels/XYZ Machining/No. 3G, made it look effortless at the Lincoln, Illinois, quarter-mile; driving by pole sitter and current Arctic Cat All Star point leader Chad Kemenah on lap seven, ultimately cruising ahead to put 13 cars at least one lap behind, even maintaining his command during periods of heavy traffic. The Arctic Cat All Star victory was a first-ever for Carson Macedo, becoming just the second winner in Series history at Lincoln Speedway.
“A monkey could have driven this car tonight,” Carson Macedo said in victory lane. “This thing was incredible all night long; absolutely phenomenal to drive. I can’t thank everyone enough who makes this possible for me. To come out here and race with these guys and come out on top says so much. This is awesome.”
Alvada, Ohio’s Chad Kemenah set the early pace, leading the first six circuits ahead of local favorite Bret Tripplett and former King of the West champion Carson Macedo. Macedo moved into the runner-up position permanently on lap four, transferring his sights to the Hunter Racing/Seneca Energy/No. 10H. A two-lap battle with Kemenah soon turned into a takeover attempt for Macedo, eventually driving around the defending Arctic Cat All Star champion on the topside of the speedway.
While Macedo pulled away at the top of the running order, a battle for second would soon commence with Chad Kemenah, Ryan Smith and fourth row starter Paul Nienhiser all involved. By lap 27, Nienhiser solidified himself in the second position, surviving a two-lap, side-by-side battle with Kemenah. By the time the Chapin, Illinois, native started to close the gap on Macedo, time was already out.
“Our goal is to repeat tomorrow night at Macon Speedway,” Macedo explained. “This is a great team; Joe (Gaerte), Tim and Cindy Norman. I can’t thank them all enough for this opportunity.”
With race-to-race travel time a mere 45 minutes, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their weekend road trip through the Midwest with a Saturday night visit to the Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois; the self-proclaimed “World’s Fastest 1/5-Mile Clay Oval.” Despite its Central Illinois locale, the smallest oval on the 2017 Arctic Cat All Star schedule has hosted “America’s Series” on seven separate occasions since 1981, the most recent in 2004. Greg Wilson, a former Arctic Cat All Star Series champion, is the last to visit Macon Speedway victory lane during Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions competition.
Macon Speedway will open pit gates at 3:00pm on Saturday, June 10. General admission gates are scheduled to open to the public at 4:00pm, with racing to hit center stage at 7:00pm, sharp. Those seeking additional information, such as reserved seat information and ticket prices, should visit Macon Speedway live on the Web at www.maconracing.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Lincoln (IL) Speedway – Friday, June 9, 2017:
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 36 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Caleb Armstrong – 12.145 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Brandon Spithaler – 11.447 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Tony Stewart
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Hunter Schuerenberg
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: T.J. Michael
JE Pistons Dash #1: Chad Kemenah
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Carson Macedo
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Parker Price-Miller
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Paul Nienhiser (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Parker Price-Miller (+11)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Ryan Smith
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Parker Price-Miller
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Daniel Harding (16th)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 22x-Bret Tripplett, 11.797; 2. 35-Tyler Esh, 11.805; 3. 14-Tony Stewart, 11.832; 4. 4K-Kody Kinser, 11.856; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison, 12.058; 6. 84-Brandon Hanks, 12.102; 7. 51-John Garvin, 12.349; 8. 47-Jimmy Hurley, 12.386; 9. 10s-Jeremy Standridge, 12.874
Group (B)
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 11.531; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 11.626; 3. 59-Ryan Smith, 11.655; 4. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 11.885; 5. 6R-Ryan Bunton, 12.107; 6. 77U-Chris Urish, 12.15; 7. 1M-Jim Moughan, 12.194; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 12.893; 9. 42-Cory Bruns, 13.653
Group ( C )
1. 3G-Carson Macedo, 11.725; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 11.741; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 11.772; 4. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.849; 5. 12-Daniel Harding, 12.101; 6. 9-Ryan Linder, 12.243; 7. 44-AJ Bruns, 12.4; 8. 1T-Tyler Shoemaker, 12.853; 9. 9T-Dylan Tuxhorn, 14.026
Group (D)
1. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 11.447; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 11.802; 3. 17-Caleb Helms, 11.93; 4. 8M-TJ Michael, 11.945; 5. 29-Joey Moughan, 12.131; 6. 13-Brandon Matus, 12.146; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 12.278; 8. 9C-Roger Campbell, 12.425; 9. 23D-Trey Datweiler, 12.872
Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 22X-Bret Tripplett [4]; 3. 84-Brandon Hanks [6]; 4. 4K-Kody Kinser [1]; 5. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 6. 47-Jimmy Hurley [8]; 7. 51-John Garvin [7]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]; 9. 10S-Jeremy Standridge [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 2. 25-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith [2]; 4. 1M-Jim Moughan [7]; 5. 6R-Ryan Bunton [5]; 6. 42-Cory Bruns [9]; 7. 2-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [8]
Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [3]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh [2]; 5. 12-Daniel Harding [5]; 6. 44-AJ Bruns [7]; 7. 9-Ryan Linder [6]; 8. 1T-Tyler Shoemaker [8]; 9. 9T-Dylan Tuxhorn [9]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 8M-TJ Michael [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 3. 29-Joey Moughan [5]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus [6]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 6. 23D-Trey Datweiler [9]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [4]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [2]; 2. 22X-Bret Tripplett [1]; 3. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 4. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [4]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith [3]; 4. 25-Jake Blackhurst [4]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [5]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 2. 95-Hunter Mackison [3]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 4. 44-AJ Bruns [8]; 5. 1080-Jordan Mackison [5]; 6. 47-Jimmy Hurley [7]; 7. 51-John Garvin [6]; 8. 42-Cory Bruns [14]; 9. 23D-Trey Datweiler [11]; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell [9]; 11. 10S-Jeremy Standridge [12]; 12. 9T-Dylan Tuxhorn [15]; 13. 1T-Tyler Shoemaker [10]; 14. 33-Brent Matus [13]; 15. 9-Ryan Linder [4]; 16. 77U-Chris Urish [16]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [7]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 4. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 5. 59-Ryan Smith [6]; 6. 22X-Bret Tripplett [3]; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks [11]; 8. 25-Jake Blackhurst [8]; 9. 29-Joey Moughan [12]; 10. 2-Parker Price-Miller [21]; 11. 14-Tony Stewart [4]; 12. 17-Caleb Helms [9]; 13. 33M-Max Stambaugh [13]; 14. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [17]; 15. 1M-Jim Moughan [16]; 16. 12-Daniel Harding [19]; 17. 4K-Kody Kinser [14]; 18. 8M-TJ Michael [10]; 19. 13-Brandon Matus [15]; 20. 6R-Ryan Bunton [20]; 21. 95-Hunter Mackison [22]; 22. 44-AJ Bruns [24]; 23. 22-Brandon Spithaler [23]; 24. 35-Tyler Esh [18]; 25. 1080-Jordan Mackison [25] Lap Leaders: Chad Kemenah [1-6]; Carson Macedo [7-35]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (June 9, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah – 2008
2. Caleb Armstrong – 1860
3. Caleb Helms – 1842
4. Ryan Smith – 1830
5. Max Stambaugh – 1648
6. T.J. Michael – 1564
7. Tim Shaffer – 1538
8. Brandon Matus – 1468
9. Brandon Spithaler – 1435
10. Brent Matus – 1394
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.