Zack Riddle won the 2015 track championship in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Models. The title was his first at Madison and he became the first third generation champion with his grandfather Johnny Ziegler winning Super Late Model titles in 1970 and 1981 and his uncle, Jared Ziegler, winning a Late Model crown in 2002.
Consistency and avoiding major on-track incidents were the keys to Riddle’s title which earned him a trip to the NASCAR banquet in Charlotte. He picked up two feature wins but more importantly finished in the top five in all nine races. HIs 965 point season total included one heat win and two fast times, but it was clearly his ability to finish in the top five in all of his starts that made the difference. His pair of feature wins give him a total of eight at Madison.
Multi-time track champion Dale Nottestad finished second with 879 points. He led the division with three feature wins, four fast times, and three heat wins plus finishing in the top five on seven occasions. He now has thirteen career wins in the Late Model division at Madison which places him fourth on the all-time list. Nottestad has two Late Model titles at Madison in 2012 and 2014.
Past champion Jeremy Miller finished in third place with 790 points. Miller notched two feature wins, one heat win, and set fast time on one night. He had six top five finishes and was in the top ten for eight of nine races. Miller, who has four Late Model championships to his credit, now has eleven Late Model feature wins in his career at Madison.
John Beale finished in fourth overall just five points behind Miller with a total of 785. Highlighting the year for Beale was his first Late Model win at Madison. Additionally, he had one heat win plus one fast time along with five top five finishes and seven in the top ten.
Rounding out the top five was Kevin Knuese who totaled 728 points. Knuese had three top five and eight top ten finishes in his nine starts. He also added one heat race win.
Completing the top ten were Bobby Wilberg (722 points), John Baumeister Jr. (672 points), Ryan Goldade (616 points), Scott Broughton (615 points), and Shawn Gunsolus (529 points). Although not finishing in the top ten, Rusty Hansen took home a feature win in 2015.
Riddle also won the First Supply Dash Series with 42 points fueled by two wins. Nottestad finished in second with 29 points and two wins while Beale was third with 24 points and two checkered flags. Miller and Wilberg were fourth and fifth respectively with Knuese also garnering a dash victory.
It was an exciting season of Late Model racing at Madison International Speedway and much more is expected in 2015.