Madison International Speedway
Official Press Release
Contact John Wells 608.225.1913
Photo Contact: TJ Harron 608.301.5258
Matt Kenseth Takes Home the Colony Brands 100 Checkered Flag
Matt Kenseth worked his way past Travis Sauter with nine laps to go to pick up the checkered flag in the Colony Brands 100 at Madison International Speedway.
Jeff Storm and Dalton Zehr paced the field to the green flag with Matt Kenseth, Kyle Shear, and Bobby Wilberg rounding out the top five. Storm found room for the lead on lap three with Kenseth getting by Zehr for second one lap later. On lap 5 both Shear and Wilberg passed Zehr to move up to third and fourth.
On lap 12 Kenseth worked to the inside of Storm to take the lead coming out of turn four to take the lead. Wilberg moved into second on lap 13 and took the lead from Kenseth on lap 15. On lap 18 Shear passed Storm to take the third position. Travis Sauter overtook Storm for fourth on lap 20 and then moved to third place when Shear’s car got off the pace.
Out front Wilberg was building a ten car length lead over Kenseth who was getting heavy pressure from Sauter. Sauter appeared to make his move inside of Kenseth for second just before the caution flag came out on lap 32 when Jeremy Miller spun on the backstretch.
The double file restart found Wilberg inside and Kenseth choosing outside. Wilberg was able to maintain his lead with Kenseth in second followed by Storm, Sauter, and Bobby Kendall. On lap 34 Sauter eased his way to the inside of Storm for third. On lap 40 Sauter powered his way past Kenseth to take second.
Wilberg continued a 0.9 second lead over Sauter for the lead with Kenseth a distant third followed by Zehr, and Storm. A caution on lap 58 when Chuck Garetson spun in turn two would bring the field back to a double file restart.
Wilberg continued his lead with Sauter in second followed by Zehr, Kenseth, and Storm. The top five stayed the same until the caution flag came out when Russ Blakely spun in turn two on lap 64. The caution flag also signaled the ten minute break setting up a thirty-six lap shoot out.
During the break while teams worked on their cars, Kenseth commented, “There are a lot of great drivers and cars out here who do this here every week. We’ll see what we can do.”
Sauter added, “We made a couple of small changes, but the 28 (Wilberg) is pretty fast tonight.”
“We’re tightening the car up at the break and tried to save our stuff for the end. Hopefully, we can hang on here at the end.”
Wilberg lined up on the inside with Sauter choosing the outside. The second row was Kenseth and Zehr followed by Storm and Nathan Haseleu. The top four raced side by side for first and third for two laps before Wilberg got the top spot followed by Sauter, Kenseth, Zehr, and Storm. While Wilberg had a car length lead over Sauter, the two were quickly ten lengths ahead of the rest of the pack.
On lap 75 the two were side by side for the lead with Wilberg able to fight Sauter off for the time being. On lap 79 Sauter worked his way to the inside coming out of turn two to take the lead. Behind the leaders, Chris Wimmer was working his way up through the field after starting twentieth and cracked the top five..
Sauter’s lead over Wilberg was eight car lengths with twelve laps to go while the battle between Kenseth and Zehr for third was heating up. A spin on lap 91 involving several cars just ahead of the leaders brought out the caution flag setting up an exciting finish.
Sauter and Wilberg raced side by side on the restart with little space between them. Coming into turn four Wilberg spun bringing out the caution and sending him to the back of the field and ending his chances to win after a strong run.
Sauter and Kenseth brought the field back to green with Kenseth getting the advantage from the outside and clearing Sauter on lap 92. Sauter was not about to give up as he worked his way back to the inside of Kenseth on lap 98, but wasn’t able to make the pass. Kenseth was able to hold him off to pick up his 27th career win at Madison. Sauter finished in second followed by Zehr, Casey Johnson, and Wimmer.
“We got in the right place at the right time and things kind of went our way at the end. This place is really special to me so this is great,” said Kenseth.
Despite having a tire go down after the last caution, Sauter was pleased with his effort. “It was a tough break. This is great competition and I hope all of the fans come back and see this on Friday nights,” said Sauter.
Kyle Shear won the eight lap B and B Lawn Care Dash. Rounding out the six car field were Bobby Wilberg, Dave Feiler, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Kendall, and Travis Sauter.
Travis Sauter was quickest in qualifying with a lap of 17.575 (102.418 mph).
100 Lap Feature:1. Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI), 2. Travis Sauter (Prairie du Sac, WI), 3. Dalton Zehr (Port Orange, FL), 4. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 5. Chris Wimmer (Wausau, WI), 6. Ross Kenseth (Spring Valley, IL), 7. Jeff Storm (Waterford, WI), 8. Michael Bilderback (South Beloit, IL), 9. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 10. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI), 11. Austin Nason (Rockford, IL), 12. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie, WI), 13. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI), 14. Nathan Haseleu (Pardeeville, WI), 15. Russ Blakely (Delavan, WI), 16. Jeremy Miller (Rockton, IL), 17. Kyle Shear (Roscoe, IL), 18. Brian Johnson Jr (Machesney Park, IL), 19. Andrew Morrissey (DeForest, WI), 20. Gary Lamonte (West Allis, WI), 21. Bobby Kendall (Montello, WI), 22. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI),
B and B Lawn Care Dash: 1) Kyle Shear, 2) Bobby Wilberg, 3) Dave Feiler, 4) Matt Kenseth, 5) Bobby Kendall, 6) Travis Sauter
Qualifying:1. Travis Sauter (Prairie du Sac, WI), 2. Dave Feiler (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Bobby Kendall (Montello, WI), 4. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 5. Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI), 6. Kyle Shear (Roscoe, IL), 7. Dalton Zehr (Port Orange, FL), 8. Jeff Storm (Waterford, WI), 9. Nathan Haseleu (Pardeeville, WI), 10. Ross Kenseth (Spring Valley, IL), 11. Michael Bilderback (South Beloit, IL), 12. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 13. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI), 14. Andrew Morrissey (DeForest, WI), 15. Austin Nason (Rockford, IL), 16. Brian Johnson Jr (Machesney Park, IL), 17. Gary Lamonte (West Allis, WI), 18. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI), 19. Jeremy Miller (Rockton, IL), 20. Chris Wimmer (Wausau, WI), 21. Russ Blakely (Delavan, WI), 22. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI),
Ace Sets the Pace in the Super Trucks
Chester Ace won the 25 lap feature for the American Ethanol Super Trucks in his second time out at Madison this season.
John Beale and Camden Murphy paced the field of ten trucks to the green flag and raced side by side for the first two laps before Murphy took the lead. One lap later Blake Brown was up to second followed by Chester Ace. Ace made his way past Brown for second and started to hunt down Murphy. On lap 6 he worked his way to the inside of Murphy and the two raced side by side for the lead with Brown right behind.
On lap 9 Murphy drifted up the track coming out of turn two giving the lead to Ace with Brown now inside Murphy fighting for second. By the half way mark of the race Ace had increased his lead to ten truck lengths. Ace was running wide open out front while the rest of the field was thinking yellow in the form of a caution flag.
A great three truck battle between Brown, Murphy, and Kevin Knuese was taking place behind Ace, but none would be able to catch the speedy Ace who picked up the checkered flag. Brown finished in second followed by Knuese, Murphy, and Kurt Kleven.
“We were feeling pretty good. I knew this truck was great tonight,” said Ace. “I figured this was a good truck when we bought it a few weeks ago.”
Fast qualifier was Ace with a lap of 18.641 (96.561 mph).
American Ethanol Super Trucks 6/17/2014
25 Lap Feature:1. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 2. Blake Brown (Franksville, WI), 3. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 4. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 5. Kurt Kleven (Utica, WI), 6. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 7. Tory Bagley (Stoughton, WI), 8. Mike Corvo III (Park Ridge, IL), 9. John Beale (Verona, WI), 10. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI),
Qualifying:1. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 2. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 3. Blake Brown (Franksville, WI), 4. Kurt Kleven (Utica, WI), 5. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 6. John Beale (Verona, WI), 7. Mike Corvo III (Park Ridge, IL), 8. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI), 9. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI)- DNS 10. Tory Bagley (Stoughton, WI)- DNS
Racing continues this Friday night (June 20th) with four divisions in action: Super Trucks, Sportsman, Legends, and Bandits. Pit gates open at 3:30, practice at 4:45, qualifying at 6:15 and racing at 7:30.
Then on June 27th it will be Salute to America Night with the Big 8 Late Models, Great Northern Sportsman Series, and Bandits along with the area’s biggest and best fireworks display.