BY Alex Nieten
OGILVIE, MN (August 13, 2025) – Late Monday night, Kerry Madsen got a call that he said left him in a bit of a shock.
He was asked to pilot the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 car for the remainder of the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season.
After 234 World of Outlaws victories, eight Series titles, nine Knoxville Nationals titles, and nearly 18 years together, TSR and 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz had parted ways.
While the call came as a surprise, it was also an opportunity for Madsen to work with one of his favorite teams again.
“For me, it’s just getting the opportunity to help them out,” Madsen said. “I have really great memories. I’m getting over the shock and getting pretty excited.
“I’m looking forward to it because Todd Devnich is the crew chief. He worked on my car when I was there before. I consider him a bit of a mate. Just looking forward to getting out, get the relationship going, and get the car as good as we can.”
The 29-time World of Outlaws winner from St. Marys, NSW, AUS, teamed with TSR in 2021, piloting the No. 14 car for 37 races. In that span, he won six times – three of them being with the World of Outlaws, which are currently his last three wins with the Series.
Two of those victories came at Jackson Motorplex, where the Series will return on Saturday, Aug. 16, after a stop at Ogilvie Raceway on Friday, Aug. 15. “The Madman” put on a show for both of those wins, coming from 14th to first to win the opening night of the Jackson Nationals and then charged from sixth to the win the second night.
That kind of success may lead you to think Madsen has Jackson circled already. But not necessarily.
“I never feel super confident about going anywhere,” he said. “Especially right now. It’s so tight. Just a split second, a small amount of time, you’re in a position to win or you’re not. I’m not underestimating the challenge. We’ve got to get together and get the car as best we can. I’m not expecting to go win the first night out by any means. Obviously, they have everything we need, so hopefully we can get it pointed in the right direction.”
Madsen’s main goal for his TSR return is to “just try and be quick.” The situation he’s stepping into isn’t lost on him, but that’s not going to stop him from trying to make the most of the surprise opportunity.
“I just have to go out and have fun with it,” Madsen said. “They have such a storied history. There’s nothing that can’t be said about what they accomplished as a group. To that, I take my hat off.
“Sprint Car racing, however, in recent history, has become pretty f**king crazy. You know? It’s just amazing. But I’ve been on that side of the fence too, and it’s not fun. I definitely feel for the whole group, Donny, and the team, because that’s a tough process of what they’re going through, but the story is the show must go on. I’ll man up and try to do the best job that I can.”
Madsen will miss the North Dakota swing, Aug. 22-23, due to his current duties of competing for the track title at Knoxville Raceway with VerMeer Madsen Racing. TSR will announce an interim driver for the two World of Outlaws races at a later date.
Tickets are already sold out for the race at Ogilvie Raceway on Aug. 15, but you can still get tickets to watch Madsen compete at Jackson Motorplex on Aug. 16, by clicking here.
If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.