TJ Harron Photography / tjharron.com
Many of the best late model drivers in the region will be battling it out this Friday night at Madison when the Big 8 Late Models come to town for the Salute to America 48. Not only will fans love the on-track action, but the area’s biggest and best fireworks display will also light up the sky directly overhead.
This will be the eighteenth visit by the series to Madison dating back to 2005 with the previous list of winners looking like a “Who’s Who” in short track racing. Jeremy Miller, who won last year’s race, leads the way with three wins while Zack Riddle, Dale Nottestad, and Ross Kenseth each have a pair of victories. Other winners include Austin Nason, Jon Reynolds Jr., John Baumeister Jr., Brady Liddle, Steve Rubeck, Ryan Carlson, Brian Hoppe, and Tim Sauter. Sauter won the inaugural event in 2005. This is definitely quite an impressive list of drivers.
A number of the past winners will be here on Friday night as competitors from as many as five states are expected to take on Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile. Madison is the third stop for the Big 8 in 2017 as Michael Bilderback picked up the win at Rockford Speedway and Minnesota driver Joe Neisius topped the field at Hawkeye Downs.
So who’s going to take home the checkered flag on Friday night? Will it be a past winner or will someone new put their name in the Big 8 record book at Madison? One thing that is certain is that it’s going to be 48 laps of exciting racing and whomever takes home the checkered flag is going to have to earn it by topping a very talented and competitive field of late model stars.
See it live and in person this Friday night as part of Salute to America Night. Joining the racing program will be the Great Northern Sportsman Series and Midwest Dash Series who will both be racing on the half-mile. Dave Trute (GNSS) and Kyle Stark (Dash) swept both events in 2016.
Practice on Friday begins at 5:00 with qualifying at 6:15 and racing at 7:30. Adult admission is $18.00, Whelen Heroes and Seniors are $16.00, Students 12-17 are $10.00, Children 6-11 are $5.00 and Kids 5 and under are free. Families are encouraged to take advantage of the “Family” pricing with two adults and up to four students and / or children admitted for just $40.00.