Andy Jones and Gary Mitidiero Winners at MIS on Salute to America Night
It was an exciting night at Madison International Speedway as a great crowd enjoyed “Racing and Booms” as part of Salute to America Night. Dale Nottestad won the 48 lap feature for the Big 8 Late Models, Andy Jones was best in the Midwest Trucks, and Gary Mitidiero took the checkered flag in the Vintage Series. To cap off the night the fans were treated to a spectacular fireworks show presented by ThunderCat.
Andy Jones Wins Midwest Truck Feature at MIS
Andy Jones won the 30 lap feature for the Club La Mark Midwest Trucks.
Natalie Decker and Mike Corvo brought the field of nine trucks to the green flag with Corvo taking the lead for the first lap before Jones powered by to take the point on the second lap just before the caution flag came out when the trucks of Decker and Justin Oertel got together on lap 3.
Jones continued to lead following the restart with Corvo, Jerry Wood, and Joshua James in pursuit. On lap 5 Wood moved to the inside of Corvo to take second but had a long ways to go to catch the leader. Back in the pack the racing was intense with trucks jostling for position before the caution flag came out when Chester Ace spun on the front stretch on lap 14 and took away the large lead for Jones.
Jones maintained the lead after the yellow waved again with Oertel up to second and Jerry Wood in third. Jones built up a five truck length lead before the caution came out on lap 22 when Oertel spun coming out of turn two. This meant that point leader Jerry Wood and his brother and fast qualifier John Wood moved up to second and third.
For the restart Jerry Wood elected to start inside of row two while John Wood took the outside of the front row. For Jones it was another great restart as he retained his lead and jumped out to a four length lead while the Wood brothers fought it out for second. But nobody was going to catch the leader who cruised to victory lane. John Wood edged his brother Jerry for second with Ace finishing in fourth and Oertel in fifth.
“This was just awesome. The truck was set up great and we were flying through the corners,” said Jones. “I set my expectations really high and was happy we got it done tonight. I knew I could win on the big track.” The win was Jones’ first on the half-mile at MIS after back to back championships in the Legends division.
Jerry Wood won the first eight lap heat for the Midwest Trucks. Mike Corvo took the lead from the outside of row one from the start and led for the first four laps before relinquishing the lead to Wood who powered by to the inside coming out of turn two. Chester Ace was up to challenge Wood, but his efforts came up just short.
Camden Murphy took home the victory in the second heat race. Andy Jones and Murphy raced side by side for the first two laps before Murphy gained the advantage on lap 3. Jones was able to regain the advantage for a short time before getting lose exiting turn two on lap 5 giving the lead back to Murphy.
John Wood set fast time with a lap of 18.880 followed by Justin Oertel (18.884), Camden Murphy (18.982), Andy Jones (19.010), and Chester Ace (19.236).
Midwest Trucks 8/2/2013
30 Lap Feature:1. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 2. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 4. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 5. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 6. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 7. Mike Corvo (Park Ridge, IL), 8. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI), 9. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL),
Heat 1:1. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 2. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 3. Mike Corvo (Park Ridge, IL), 4. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI), 5. Joshua James (Saukville, WI),
Heat 2:1. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 2. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 3. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 4. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI),
Qualifying:1. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 2. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 3. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 4. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 5. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 6. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 7. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 8. Mike Corvo (Park Ridge, IL), 9. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI),
Jerry Wood leads the points race in the Club La Mark Midwest Trucks with 550 points followed by John Wood (528), Natalie Decker (424), Andy Jones (388), and Chad Knaus (381).
Gary Mitidiero Tops the Vintage Field
Gary Mitidiero powered his way to victory lane in the 15 lap feature for the Vintage cars.
Royce Rossier took the lead on lap 2 and quickly built a sizeable lead over Dave Gawronski. Tony Mitidiero moved up to second on lap 3, but lost the position when he was forced back to the pits with a flat tire. This moved Dick Kath up to second followed by Gary Mitidiero and Jerry Schneider. The caution flag came out on lap 8 when Alan Kautz slowed on the backstretch forcing several cars to take elusive actions with Schneider ‘s night coming to an end when he made contact with the wall.
With Rossier continuing to lead after the restart, Gary Mitidiero was up to second and quickly closing on the leader. On lap 14 the two were side by side with Mitidiero getting by on the outside coming out of turn four and leading the rest of the way. Rossier finished second followed by Butch Mierendorf, Gawronski, Rod Schuette, Schneider, Kautz, and Tony Mitidiero.
Dave Schreiner won the first heat race for the Vintage cars. Dave Gawronski took the early lead before giving it up to Schreiner on lap 2 who led the rest of the way to get the win. Gawronski finished second followed by Butch Mierendorf, Bill Kettle, Alan Kautz, and Rod Schuette.
Gary Mitidiero won the second Vintage heat race. Dick Kath grabbed the early lead and led for two laps before Royce Rossier took the top spot. Rossier held the lead until the final lap before Mitidiero powered by for the lead and held off Rossier in a drag race down the front stretch. Jerry Schneider finished third followed by Kath and Dave Moore.
15 Lap Feature: 1) Gary Mitidiero- Homer Glen, IL, 2) Royce Rossier- Plover, WI, 3) Dick Kath- Janesville, WI, 4) Butch Mierendorf- Waterloo, WI, 5) Dave Gawronski- Reedsburg, WI, 6) Rod Schuette- Jefferson, WI, 7) Jerry Schneider- Menasha, WI, 8) Alan Kautz- Burlington, WI, 9) Tony Mitidiero- Homer Glen, IL, DNS- Dave Moore- Beloit, WI, Charlie Schwoch-Poynette, WI
Racing continues at Madison International Speedway with one of the biggest events of the season on Sunday, August 11th when Border Wars II comes to town with the ARCA Midwest Tour and ARCA / CRA battling it out for supremacy in exciting super late model action. The Midwest Trucks and Legends will also be in action. Qualifying is scheduled to start at 2:15 PM with racing at 4:00 PM. For more information checkout the track website at madisoninternationalspeedway.com.