It was the 2026 Friday night season opener at Madison with eight different drivers picking up wins. Michael Bilderback / Bobby Wilberg (Late Models), Kenny Storkson / Nick Schneider (Dave’s White Rock MISfitz), Joshua Zacharias / Dan Bishop (Roto Rooter 6Shooters), RJ Nicholson (Hobby Stocks), and Jeff Steenbergen (Crown Vics) all went home with checkered flags.
Michael Bilderback and Bobby Wilberg Win Late Model Main Events
Bilderback held off a hard charging Ryan Goldade to win the first 30 lap Late Model feature.
2025 Rookie of the Year Blake Nottestad and Brady Liddle brought the eighteen car field to the green flag. Nottestad took the lead on lap three and quickly opened up a four car length over Liddle shortly before the cars of Shaun Scheel and Landry Potter got together coming out of turn four bringing out the first caution flag of the race.
Nottestad continued to lead while Bobby Wilberg powered past Liddle for second on lap five. Up to join the top two was Carter Nilson followed by Liddle and Michael Bilderback. On lap 10 Wilberg moved to the inside of Nottestad coming out of turn four to take the lead. Three laps later Nilson was challenging Wilberg for the lead with Bilderback up to third at the half way mark.
Wilberg opened up a six car length lead over Nilson and Bilderback. With eight laps to go Bilderback began cutting into Wilberg’s lead which was now down to three car lengths. With five laps to go Bilderback was within a single car length before the caution flag came out when Landry Potter’s car slowed on the front stretch.
This set up a double file restart with Wilberg choosing the inside and Bilderback the outside followed by Nilson and Jake Gille. Bilderback quickly jumped out to the lead before several cars got together coming out of turn two bringing out the caution flag and taking both Wilberg and Gille out of contention for the win.
For the restart, Nilson lined up in the inside of the front row with Bilderback going to the outside. The two along with Ryan Goldade broke away from the pack. With three laps to go Goldade passed Nilson for second and began chasing down Bilderback. But there was no stopping Bilderback who was able to keep Goldade at bay to pick up the win. Nilson finished third followed by Nottestad and Jerry Mueller.
“We were able to persevere through that last restart,” said Bilderback from victory lane. “We’ve got some things to do before the next feature.”
Bobby Wilberg is back in victory lane after holding off Shaun Scheel to win the second 30 lap Late Model feature. It was his 30th Late Model win at Madison.
Scheel and Wilberg were the first to come to the green flag with Wilberg immediately going to the front. While side by side racing was taking place mid-pack it allowed the top five of Wilberg, Shaun and Stephen Scheel, Jake Gille, and Carter Nilson to put some real estate between themselves and the rest of the field.
At the half way mark Wilberg’s lead was six car lengths over Shaun Scheel who also had a six length lead over his brother, Stephen. With ten laps to go Wilberg’s lead remained at a little more than one second as the race continued under green.
With five laps to go Shaun Scheel closed the gap to less than two lengths. Although Scheel gave it his best shot, Wilberg was not about to be denied and drove his way to victory lane. Stephen Scheel, Gille, and Brent Edmunds completed the top five.
“When we get this car really hooked up we’re going to be good,” said Wilberg who thanked the many sponsors and his crew who make all of this possible for him.
Since the track became Madison International Speedway in 1992 no driver has accomplished more than Wilberg who now has 76 wins.
Fast time was set by Jake Gille with a lap of 18.856 (95.460 mph)
The Battle of the Brothers-In-Law: Storkson and Schneider Each Win
He’s been close. So close. But tonight Kenny Storkson worked his way to victory lane for the first time ever in the division by outdueling his brother in law Nick Schneider in the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz.
Storkson and Schneider paced the field to the green flag. The pair ran side by side for the first five laps before the caution flag waved for a spin behind the leaders. Storkson led the field back to green with Dave Edwards challenging Schneider on the outside for second.
Waylon Robinson pulled to the inside of Edwards on lap 11 to try to get the third spot while Schneider and Storkson were still side by side out front. With five laps to go Robinson was up to join the leaders. With one lap to go Storkson was able to get out front by two lengths and hold off Robinson for the win. Schneider finished third followed by Mike Beyer and Edwards.
An excited Storkson was joined by his family and crew in victory lane. He now joins an elite group who have won races on both tracks at Madison.
Nick Schneider came back to win the second 20 lap feature.
Last year’s Rookie of the Year Kyle Wahlgren and Kevin Anderson led the field to green. Anderson took the early lead with Nick Schneider and Kenny Storkson wasting no time challenging for the lead. On lap 6 Schneider took the lead with Storkson right behind in second. Three laps later the caution flag came out on lap nine for a spin.
Schneider led them back to green running the low side forcing Storkson to the outside. On lap 13 the caution flag came out again for debris on the track. With five laps to go Schneider had a two car length lead over Storkson with Dave Edwards and Mike Beyer up to third and fourth. The lead was still one length on the final lap, but this time Schneider would have the upper hand as well as the checkered flag. Rounding out the top five was Edwards, Rick Coppernoll, and Wahlgren.
“It’s all about consistency,” said Schneider from victory lane.
Rick Coppernoll set fast time with a lap of 20.077 (89.655 mph)
Joshua Zacharias and Dan Bishop Winners in the 6Shooters
Joshua Zacharias won the 18 lap feature for the Roto Rooter 6Shooters on the final lap. It was second feature win in his Madison career.
Nate Patton took the early lead for the first two laps before Jacob Mathison took the lead followed by Joshua Zacharias, Noah Karr, and Christopher Webb. The caution flag waved on lap five for fluid on the track.
At the half way point Mathison and Zacharias were side by side while defending champion Dylan Klinger was breaking into the top five. A spin in turn one brought out the second yellow flag of the race on lap nine.
Mathison and Zacharias continued to pace the field. With two laps to go Zacharias was able to pull to the outside of Mathison and shoot by on the outside coming out of turn four on the final lap to get the win.
Dan Bishop led wire to wire to pick up the win in the second 18 lap feature for the 6Shooters.
The caution came out on lap 3 for debris on the track. Bishop continued to lead while Dylan Klinger passed Jason Morgan for second before another yellow flag waved on lap 4 when two cars got together on lap four.
After a lengthy delay, Bishop continued to lead followed by Klinger, Randy Grancorvitz, Noah Karr, and Dylan Klinger. Another caution would follow on lap 11.
Bishop opened up a four length lead followed by Kliinger, Grancorvitz with Karr and Joshua Zacharias fighting it out for fourth. With two laps to go lapped traffic forced Bishop to slow down, but he was able to maneuver his way to victory lane.
RJ Nicholson Gets the Clean Sweep in the Hobby Stocks
RJ Nicholson had never won at Madison before tonight and when he left the track at the end of the night he now has two wins to his credit.
In the opening feature, Elliott Hawkins took the early lead over Braeden Yelland and led for the first four laps before Jacob Mathison took the lead only to give up the top spot to RJ Nicholson on lap five. Nicholson quickly broke out to an eight car length lead and never looked back on his way to the checkered flag. Mathison finished second followed by Yelland and Hawkins.
Nicholson completed the clean sweep winning the 15 lap second feature.
Jacob Mathison jumped out the early advantage until lap 5 when he drifted up the track coming out of turn four allowing Nicholson to take the lead. From that point on it was all Nicholson who was never challenged the rest of the way to pick up the win followed by Mathison and Elliott Hawkins.
“I was trying to not to overdrive, but I was able to get around him,” said the winner from victory lane.
RJ Nicholson was fast qualifier with a lap of 14.665 (61.371 mph)
Steenbergen Wins Crown Vic Debut on Ring of Fire
Jeff Steenbergen has raced and won in just about every division on both asphalt and dirt and tonight picked up the inaugural win in the Crown Vic 20 lap main event at Madison.
Steenbergen and Ethan Degner had the honors of bringing the first ever Crown Vic race at Madison to the green flag. The duo broke away from the field while the Riedner family was fighting it out for third behind them. A spin on lap 9 brought out the caution flag.
Steenbergen continued to show the way out front while Easton Riedner was challenging Degner for second. Easton Riedner would win the battle for second with Scott Riedner in third, but nobody would have enough to catch the speedy Steenbergen.
“These cars are great. We hope to be back here again,” said the winner from victory lane.
The Big 8 Late Models are back in Madison next Friday night for the 28th time dating back to 2005. Also joining them on the racing program will be the 602 Late Models, Legends, and Bandoleros. Gates open at 6:00 with qualifying at 6:15 and racing at 7:30.
Late Models Qualifying
- 1. 50G-Jacob Gille, 18.8560; 2. 39G-Ryan Goldade, 18.9030; 3. 4S-Stephen Scheel, 18.9410; 4. 87E-Brent Edmunds, 18.9930; 5. 4N-Carter Nilson, 19.0210; 6. 2B-Michael Bilderback, 19.0360; 7. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, 19.0870; 8. 8S-Shaun Scheel, 19.0920; 9. 17P-Landry Potter, 19.1020; 10. 18L-Brady Liddle, 19.1360; 11. 23N-Blake Nottestad, 19.2050; 12. 15R-Pat Richgels, 19.2190; 13. 49M-Jerry Mueller, 19.2650; 14. 9H-Tyler Harding, 19.6200; 15. 31W-Chris Wangrow, 19.8150; 16. 17S-Mark Simonsen, 19.9410; 17. 32D-Paul Dygon, 20.3030; 18. 10P-Merek Pankow, 20.4470
Late Models – Feature 1 30 Laps
- 1. 2B-Michael Bilderback, South Beloit, IL [6], 2. 39G-Ryan Goldade, Edgerton, WI [10], 3. 4N-Carter Nilson, Rockford, IL [7], 4. 23N-Blake Nottestad, Cambridge, WI [1], 5. 49M-Jerry Mueller, Richfield, WI [13], 6. 50G-Jacob Gille, Winnebago, IL [11], 7. 15R-Pat Richgels, Watertown, WI [12], 8. 9H-Tyler Harding, Stoughton, WI [14], 9. 4S-Stephen Scheel, Lake Mills, WI [9], 10. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, Beloit, WI [5], 11. 18L-Brady Liddle, Oregon, WI [2], 12. 8S-Shaun Scheel, Lake Mills, WI [4], 13. 17P-Landry Potter, Twin Lakes, WI [3], 14. 31W-Chris Wangrow, Avalon, WI [15], 15. 17S-Mark Simonsen, Crystal Lake, IL [16], 16. 10P-Merek Pankow, Milton, WI [18], 17. 87E-Brent Edmunds, Janesville, WI [8], 18. 32D-Paul Dygon, Wind Lake, WI [17]
Late Models – Feature 2 30 Laps
- 1. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, Beloit, WI [2], 2. 8S-Shaun Scheel, Lake Mills, WI [1], 3. 4S-Stephen Scheel, Lake Mills, WI [3], 4. 50G-Jacob Gille, Winnebago, IL [6], 5. 87E-Brent Edmunds, Janesville, WI [14], 6. 2B-Michael Bilderback, South Beloit, IL [11], 7. 4N-Carter Nilson, Rockford, IL [9], 8. 15R-Pat Richgels, Watertown, WI [5], 9. 17P-Landry Potter, Twin Lakes, WI [16], 10. 39G-Ryan Goldade, Edgerton, WI [10], 11. 49M-Jerry Mueller, Richfield, WI [7], 12. 23N-Blake Nottestad, Cambridge, WI [8], 13. 9H-Tyler Harding, Stoughton, WI [4], 14. 31W-Chris Wangrow, Avalon, WI [12], 15. 10P-Merek Pankow, Milton, WI [13], 16. 32D-Paul Dygon, Wind Lake, WI [15]
Dave’s White Rock Qualifying
- 1. 6C-Rick Coppernoll, 20.0770; 2. 42A-Kevin Anderson, 20.1160; 3. 5R-Waylon Robinson, 20.1200; 4. 2K-Wyatt Kraiss, 20.2150; 5. 5E-David Edwards, 20.2390; 6. 26S-Nick Schneider, 20.3620; 7. 57S-Kenny Storkson, 20.4480; 8. 36W-Kyle Wahlgren, 20.4490; 9. 49A-Mckayla Adams, 20.6450; 10. 23U-Brian Ulrich, 49.9990; 11. 37B-Mike Beyer, 49.9990; 12. 19L-Brandon Liddle, 49.9990
MISfitz – Feature 1 20 Laps
- 1. 57S-Kenny Storkson, South Beloit, IL [1], 2. 5R-Waylon Robinson, Oregon, WI [5], 3. 26S-Nick Schneider, Rockton, IL [2], 4. 37B-Mike Beyer, Machesney Park, IL [10], 5. 5E-David Edwards, Salem, WI [3], 6. 2K-Wyatt Kraiss, Randolph, WI [4], 7. 42A-Kevin Anderson, Cottage Grove, WI [6], 8. 36W-Kyle Wahlgren, McFarland, WI [8], 9. 19L-Brandon Liddle, Oregon, WI [11], 10. 49A-Mckayla Adams, Sun Prairie, WI [9], 11. 6C-Rick Coppernoll, Stoughton, WI [7]
MISfitz – Feature 2 20 Laps
- 1. 26S-Nick Schneider, Rockton, IL [6], 2. 57S-Kenny Storkson, South Beloit, IL [8], 3. 5E-David Edwards, Salem, WI [4], 4. 6C-Rick Coppernoll, Stoughton, WI [11], 5. 36W-Kyle Wahlgren, McFarland, WI [1], 6. 2K-Wyatt Kraiss, Randolph, WI [3], 7. 49A-Mckayla Adams, Sun Prairie, WI [10], 8. 19L-Brandon Liddle, Oregon, WI [9], 9. 5R-Waylon Robinson, Oregon, WI [7], 10. 42A-Kevin Anderson, Cottage Grove, WI [2], 11. 37B-Mike Beyer, Machesney Park, IL [5]
Roto Rooter 6Shooters – Feature 1 18 Laps
- 1. 16Z-Joshua Zacharias, Madison, WI [6], 2. 9M-Jake Mathison, Machesney Park, IL [5], 3. 13W-Christopher Webb, Portage, WI [13], 4. 67K-Noah Karr, Belleville, WI [3], 5. 7K-David Killerlain, Columbus, WI [14], 6. EF-5L-Nick Lorenz, Oregon, WI [2], 7. 33G-Randy Grancorvitz, Fort Atkinson, WI [10], 8. 10K-Dylan Klinger, Albany, WI [19], 9. 4R-Gene Robbins, Evansville, WI [4], 10. 5M-Kenny Morris, Windsor, WI [17], 11. 3M-Jason Morgan, Evansville, WI [9], 12. 9B-Dan Bishop, Lodi, WI [18], 13. 4H-Zachary Hawkings, Oregon, WI [12], 14. 50M-Logan Marshall, Jefferson, WI [15], 15. 01P-Nate Patton, Verona, WI [1], 16. 5K-Todd Klinger, Madison, WI [8], 17. 21T-Justin Tyler, Oregon, WI [16], 18. 09M-Colin McKeown, McFarland, WI [11], 19. 101M-Nolan Mcnallie, Verona, WI [7]
6Shooters – Feature 2 18 Laps
- 1. 9B-Dan Bishop, Lodi, WI [1], 2. 10K-Dylan Klinger, Albany, WI [5], 3. 33G-Randy Grancorvitz, Fort Atkinson, WI [6], 4. 16Z-Joshua Zacharias, Madison, WI [12], 5. 9M-Jake Mathison, Machesney Park, IL [11], 6. 13W-Christopher Webb, Portage, WI [10], 7. 09M-Colin McKeown, McFarland, WI [18], 8. 67K-Noah Karr, Belleville, WI [9], 9. EF-5L-Nick Lorenz, Oregon, WI [7], 10. 4H-Zachary Hawkings, Oregon, WI [13], 11. 50M-Logan Marshall, Jefferson, WI [14], 12. 01P-Nate Patton, Verona, WI [15], 13. 4R-Gene Robbins, Evansville, WI [4], 14. 5K-Todd Klinger, Madison, WI [16], 15. 7K-David Killerlain, Columbus, WI [8], 16. 5M-Kenny Morris, Windsor, WI [3], 17. 3M-Captain JasonMorgan, Evansville, WI [2]
Qualifying
- 1. 67N-Rj Nicholson, 14.6650; 2. 23Y-Braeden Yelland, 15.0610; 3. 4H-Elliott Hawkins, 15.2530; 4. 9M-Jake Mathison, 19.9540
Hobby Stocks – Feature 1 15 Laps
- 1. 67N-Rj Nicholson, Stoughton, WI [4], 2. 9M-Jake Mathison, Machesney Park, IL [3], 3. 23Y-Braeden Yelland, Roscoe, IL [2], 4. 4H-Elliott Hawkins, Machesney Park, IL [1]
Hobby Stocks – Feature 2 15 Laps
- 1. 67N-Rj Nicholson, Stoughton, WI [4], 2. 9M-Jake Mathison, Machesney Park, IL [3], 3. 4H-Elliott Hawkins, Machesney Park, IL [1]
Crown Vics – Feature 20 Laps
- 1. 62S-Jeff Steenbergen, Watertown, WI [1], 2. 7R-Easton Riedner, Waunakee, WI [5], 3. 26R-Scott Riedner, Waunakee, WI [3], 4. 62D-Ethan Degner, Watertown, WI [2], 5. 4DR-Brandon Riedner, Waunakee, WI [4], 6. 94R-Elliott Rehm, Westfield, WI [6]