Photos Courtesy Jess Riedner / Website
Ace, DeLacy, and Sauter Also Victorious
Bobby Santos made the most of his trip from Massachusetts by picking up the win in the 30 lap main event for the Must See Sprint Cars. Other winners as part of America’s Winged Tailgate Party included Chester Ace (Midwest Trucks), Brandon DeLacy (Midwest Dash), and Tyler Sauter (Great Northern Sportsman).
Santos Best at Madison
Bobby Santos took the lead on lap 13 and never looked back as he cruised to victory lane for the Must See Sprint Cars.
The field was ushered to the green flag by Anthony McCune and Johnny Petrozelle. But Petrozelle spun his tires coming to the green flag forcing Jacob Wilson into the wall and waving off the start. Unfortunately, Wilson’s night was done before it even got started.
Anthony McCune quickly jumped out to the lead when the green flag finally waved with his uncle Jimmy McCune up to second and Bobby Santos to third. On lap 5 Jimmy McCune looked to take the lead going into turn three but was unable to make the pass.
The top three wasted no time in checking away from the field. On lap 11 Santos worked his way up to and past Jimmy McCune for second. Santos took the lead on lap 13 when he moved to the inside of Anthony McCune coming out of turn two and opened quickly opened up a one second lead. On lap 17 Jimmy McCune moved past Anthony McCune to take over the second position.
With ten laps to go Santos’ lead was approaching four seconds over the McCunes. The only thing that could slow down Santos would be a caution flag, but at this point it seemed unlikely. But with two laps to go Petrozelle spun coming out of turn two bringing out the caution flag and negating the 6.3 second lead for Santos.
“It feels good to be here in victory lane,” said Santos who won his first-ever Must See Sprint car feature.
A perfect restart for Santos kept him out front as he easily picked up the checkered flag followed by Jimmy McCune, Anthony McCune, Petrozelle, and Jerry Caryer.
Santos was fast qualifier with a trip of 15.037 (119.705 mph). Adam Biltz and Jacob Wilson won the heat races.
Chester Ace Sets the Pace at Madison
Chester Ace held off Luke Fenhaus and James Swan to win the Seminary Springs 30 for the Midwest Truck Series. It’s was Ace’s eighth career truck win at Madison.
James Swan and Rock Christiansen brought the twenty-one truck field to the green flag. Swan jumped out to the early lead. Dave Edwards moved past Christiansen for second on lap 2 with Mike Corvo and Chester Ace doing the same one lap later. On lap 5 Jerry Wood cracked the top five when he passed Christiansen.
On lap 7 fast timer Chester Ace powered his way past Corvo to move into third. Luke Fenhaus took the fifth position from Wood on lap 8.
Out front Swan was holding off Edwards by a truck length with Ace closing fast. Ace worked his way past Edwards coming out of turn three on lap 15 to take second behind Swan. On lap 17 Ace was right on Swan’s tailgate but unable to make the pass.
The two leaders were breaking away from the field as Ace continued to try everything he could to take the lead. With six laps to go Ace decided to try his luck on the outside with Corvo and Fenhaus joining the mix.
With three laps to go Ace worked to the inside of Swan and took the lead coming out of turn three with Fenhaus working his way to the inside of Swan for second. With one lap to go Fenhaus took the second spot from Swan, but wouldn’t be able to catch Ace who picked up the win.
“It was a tough one out there. We tried to get the lead and finally found the room,” said Ace from victory lane.
Chester Ace set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 18.899 (95.243 mph). Heat race wins went to Danny Darnell, Jeff Holtz, and Dave Edwards.
Brandon DeLacy Gets the Clean Sweep in Midwest Dash
Brandon DeLacy cruised to victory lane in the 20 lap feature for the Midwest Dash Series and picked up the clean sweep along the way.
Chad Olds and Joe Cross led the field to the green flag with Merek Pankow moving up from the second row to take the lead after one. Devon Dixon took the second spot on lap two before losing power causing the field to mix up behind him and bringing out the caution flag.
Pankow continued to lead before he got off the pace on lap 5 allowing Brandon DeLacy to motor his way past with John Handeland and Tim Finstad following him. DeLacy wasted no time in opening a sizeable lead over the rest of the field. Behind the leader, Handeland and Finstad were fighting it out for second.
Out front DeLacy was adeptly working his way around lapped traffic and easily picked up the win. Handeland was able to hold off Finstad for second with George Seliger and Pankow rounding out the top five.
DeLacy was quick qualifier with a lap of 21.508 (83.690 mph). Heat winners were Chris Jackson and DeLacy.
Tyler Sauter Wins Sportsman Feature
Tyler Sauter won the 25 lap feature for the Great Northern Sportsman Series.
Michael Gilomen and David Borntreger paced the field to the green flag. The two raced side by side for the first lap before Gilomen got loose on the second lap allowing Borntreger to take the lead. On lap 7 Tyler Sauter worked his way to the inside of Borntreger and the two raced side by side. While they were battling it out for the lead, Jason Thoma was gaining ground on the pair.
By lap 10 Sauter was able to gain the advantage with Thoma moving up to second but still six car lengths behind the leader. Thoma continued to close the gap which was down to two car lengths before the caution flag flew on lap 15 for the stalled car of Borntreger.
On the restart Sauter was able to jump back out to the lead followed by Thoma, Andy Casavant, and Phil Lehl. Sauter built up a four car length lead before Thoma was able to cut it to one length with three laps to go. But Sauter would get the job done in his first appearance at Madison and pick up the win.
“We had a lot of problems with the car earlier tonight,” said Sauter. “It’s great to get the win.”
Jason Thoma was fast qualifier with a mark of 19.734 (91.213 mph). Tyler Sauter won the eight lap heat race.
Next Friday night (August 3rd) it’s Round 3 of the Badgerland Challenge for the Late Models and Sportsman as they take on the best from the Jefferson Speedway. Plus there will be action in the Bandits and 6Shooters. Grandstands open at 6:00 PM, qualifying at 6:15 PM, and racing at 7:30 PM.
Results
Midwest Trucks
Feature: (1-10) Chester Ace, Luke Fenhaus, James Swan, Mike Corvo, Dave Edwards, Jerry Wood, Kevin Knuese, Todd Kluever, Reagan May, Parker Retzlaff
(11-21) LeVon Van Der Geest, Kyle Chwala, Rick Corso, Rock Christiansen, Danielle Behn, Ross Christiansen, Kyle Melton, Dan Calhoun, Jeff Holtz, Kyle Lockington, Danny Darnell
Heat One: (1-7) Danny Darnell, Parker Retzlaff, Rick Corso, Danielle Behn, Kyle Melton, Daniel Calhoun, Kyle Lockington
Heat Two: (1-7) Jeff Holtz, Luke Fenhaus, Kyle Chwala, James Swan, Jerry Wood, Ross Christiansen, Rock Christiansen
Heat Three: (1-7) Dave Edwards, Mike Corvo, Todd Kluever, Kevin Knuese, Reagan May, LeVon VanDerGeest, Chester Ace
Qualifying: (1-10) Chester Ace, Todd Kluever, Kevin Knuese, Mike Corvo III, LeVon VanDerGeest, Dave Edwards, Reagan May, James Swan, Rock Christiansen, Jerry Wood
(11-21) Kyle Chwala, Luke Fenhaus, Ross Christiansen, Jeff Holtz, Rick Corso, Parker Retzlaff, Danielle Behn, Danny Darnell, Kyle Lockington, Dan Calhoun, Kyle Melton (DNS)
Must See Sprint Cars
Feature: (1-12) Bobby Santos, Jimmy McCune, Anthony McCune, Johnny Petrozelle, Jerry Caryer, Charlie Schultz, Tom Jewell, Adam Biltz, Joe Speakman, Jeff Bloom, Anthony Linkenhoker, Jacob Wilson
Heat One: (1-5) Adam Biltz, Jerry Caryer, Joe Speakman, Tom Jewell, Anthony Linkenhoker
Heat Two: (1-6) Jacob Wilson, Anthony McCune, Bobby Santos, Jimmy McCune, Charlie Schultz, Johnny Petrozelle
Qualifying: (1-12) Bobby Santos, Jimmy McCune, Jacob Wilson, Anthony McCune, Johnny Petrozelle, Charlie Schultz, Tom Jewell, Jerry Caryer, Adam Biltz, Joe Speakman, Jeff Bloom, Anthony Linkenhoker
Midwest Dash
Feature: (1-12) Brandon DeLacy, John Handeland, Tim Finstad, George Seliger, Merek Pankow, Josh Mazur, Joe Cross, James Junget, Chad Olds, Travis Schneeberg, Devon Dixon, Chris Jackson
Heat One: (1-6) Chris Jackson, Joe Cross, Chad Olds, Josh Mazur, James Junget, Travis Schneeberg
Heat Two: (1-6) Brandon DeLacy, George Seliger, John Handeland, Devon Dixon, Merek Pankow, Tim Finstad
Qualifying: (1-12) Brandon DeLacy, John Handeland, George Seliger, Devon Dixon, Merek Pankow, Tim Finstad, Joe Cross, Chad Olds, Chris Jackson, James Junget, Travis Schneeberg, Josh Mazur
Great Northern Sportsman
Feature: (1-6) Tyler Sauter, Jason Thoma, Andy Casavant, Phil Lehl, David Borntreger, Michael Gilomen
Heat One: (1-6) Tyler Sauter, Michael Gilomen, Jason Thoma, Andy Casavant, Phil Lehl, David Borntreger
Qualifying: (1-6) Jason Thoma, Andy Casavant, Tyler Sauter, David Borntreger, Michael Gilomen, Phil Lehl