Photos courtesy of JR Photography
Coppernoll, Schmidt, and Dahlberg Winners Too
It was Buck Night at Madison tonight with a great crowd on hand to see Bobby Wilberg (Late Models), Rick Coppernoll (MISfitz), Nick Schmidt (Bandits), and Jayden Dahlberg (HSRA) all take home checkered flags.
Wilberg Captures the Late Model Checkered Flag
Multi-time track champion Bobby Wilberg returned to victory lane, a place he is very familiar with at Madison, after taking home the checkered flag in the NASCAR Late Models. Wilberg won after holding off Jacob Goede and Zack Riddle in the 30 lap main event. It was his eighteenth career Late Model win at Madison where he has totaled more than sixty wins in his career.
Will Rece and Jeff Holmgren Jr. brought the field to the green flag. Rece grabbed the early advantage with Stephen Scheel, Jacob Goede, and Bobby Wilberg all passing Holmgren Jr. It took only a couple of laps before the caution flag waved for an incident in turn four.
Rece led the field back to the green followed closely by Stephen Scheel and Goede. On lap 4 Goede slid by Scheel for the second spot with Wilberg and Dale Nottestad up to third and fourth on lap 6 and Zack Riddle breaking in to the top five one lap later.
Out front Rece had his hands full with Goede who was on his rear bumper on lap 10. On lap 14 Goede found room on the inside of Rece to take the lead with Wilberg up to second one lap later. A spin on lap 17 brought out the caution flag and the cone. Goede chose to start low with Wilberg on the outside followed by Rece on the inside and Riddle on the outside.
Goede was able to keep the momentum and maintain a slight lead over Wilberg as the two raced side by side. With ten laps to go Wilberg was able to pull ahead of Goede with Riddle taking second on the next lap. Now it was Riddle’s turn to go after the lead as he looked to the inside of Wilberg and the two ran side by side with Goede in third with five laps to go.
Wilberg was able to gain a half car length lead over Riddle with four laps to go. He increased his lead to four car lengths with three laps to go as Riddle and Goede were fighting it out for second which allowed Wilberg to build an advantage and race his way to victory lane. Goede would finish second followed by Riddle, Nottestad, and Rece.
“It was pure determination. You gotta go where they’re not,” said Wilberg when asked about his strong run on the outside.
Fast qualifier was Dale Nottestad with a lap of 18.698 (96.627 mph). Zack Riddle won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Heat winners were Pat Richgels and Bobby Wilberg.
Rick Coppernoll Wins a Wild One
Rick Coppernoll picked up his second win of the season in the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz 20 lap feature.
Tyler Hansen and Mike Taylor paced the field to the green flag, but before a lap could be completed the caution waved when two cars got together on the backstretch. When the green flag waved again, Hansen vaulted to the lead followed by Ray Hellenbrand and Rick Coppernoll.
On lap 9 both Hansen and Hellenbrand got together in turn two bringing out the caution resulting in both being sent to the rear of the field and Coppernoll taking over the lead. For the next two laps, Coppernoll held the lead with Colton Morgan running second until they got together in turn four bringing out the caution flag.
Now it was Mike Taylor’s turn to bring the field back to green. Hellenbrand was able to take the lead with seven laps to go while Taylor and Coppernoll were fighting it out for second. Coppernoll won the race for second and started to close the gap on Hellenbrand.
Hellenbrand “broke out” for the second time with three laps to go giving the lead to Coppernoll who led the rest of the way to pick up the checkered flag. Morgan finished second with Taylor taking third.
“I just try to stay focused,” said Coppernoll when asked about having an early “mulligan” for going under twenty seconds.
Chris Wangrow was fastest in qualifying with a lap of 20.125 (89.441 mph). For the third time this season, Ray Hellenbrand won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Heat winners were Tyler Hansen and Hellenbrand.
Nick Schmidt Wins the Battle of the Bandits
Nick Schmidt won for the second time this season in the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits and for the fifteenth time in his career at Madison. Tonight also marked the first time the Bandits were broken into “A” and “B” divisions.
The field was brought to the green flag by Tyler DePorter and James Bell who were making their first starts of the year at Madison. DePorter took the early lead running to the inside of Bell. On lap 2 Nick Newton slid to the inside to take the lead before Nick Schmidt passed both Newton and Bell for the top spot on lap 4. On lap 7 Kevin Beyer powered his way past Bell to take third with Dave Schmidt up to third on lap 9.
Nick Schmidt quickly built up a large lead by lapped traffic was just ahead. Dave Schmidt moved his way up to second with Jeremy Bredeson and Ronnie Osborne moving ahead of Beyer to take third and fourth.
The only thing the rest of the field could hope for was a caution flag to take away the sizeable lead, but the race stayed green and Nick Schmidt came home the winner. Dave Schmidt finished second followed by Bredeson, Osborne, and Beyer.
“It was a struggle figuring out what was wrong with our car last week, but I think we figured it out,” said Schmidt from victory lane.
Nick Newton was the highest finishing “B” Bandit and said, “This was a lot of fun tonight.”
Dave Schmidt was quick qualifier with a lap of 14.680 (61.308 mph). Brandon Johnson was the fastest of the “B” Bandits with a lap of 15.377. The RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash winner was Steve Dickson. won the heat races. Heat race winners were Nick Newton and Dickson.
Three in a Row for Dahlberg
Jayden Dahlberg picked up his third straight win in the High School Racing Association.
Jake Mathison took the early lead followed by Elliot Hawkins. Both drivers were making their first appearances on the Ring of Fire. After five laps were complete, Mathison’s lead was down to two car lengths over Hawkins with Dahlberg right on Hawkins’ rear bumper eventually taking second on lap 8. On lap 11 the speedy Dahlberg pulled inside of Mathison to take the lead with Hawkins taking second from Mathison one lap later. Dahlberg cruised the rest of the way to the checkered flag followed by Hawkins, Mathison, and Ashton Kinsey.
“I needed to get on the bottom of the track in order to work my way to the front,” said Dahlberg.
Dahlberg won the heat race.
It’s going to be a big night of racing next Friday (July 23) when the NASCAR Late Models, Dave’s White Rock MISfitz, Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits, and the Roto Rooter 6Shooters all battle it out in double features. Pit gates open at 3:30 with practice at 5:00, grandstands open at 6:00, qualifying at 6:15 and racing at 7:30.
Official Results
Late Models
Feature: (1-10) Bobby Wilberg, Jacob Goede, Zack Riddle, Dale Nottestad, Will Rece, Shaun Scheel, Brent Edmunds, Pat Richgels, Jeff Holmgren Jr., Stephen Scheel
(11-15) Rusty Hansen, Don Wickstrum, Gary Krueger, Paul Dygon, Kyle Smith-DNS
Dash: (1-6) Zack Riddle, Dale Nottestad, Bobby Wilberg, Shaun Scheel, Jacob Goede, Rusty Hansen
Heat One: (1-8) Pat Richgels, Jeff Holmgren Jr., Will Rece, Don Wickstrum, Gary Krueger, Paul Dygon, Kyle Smith-DNS
Heat Two: (1-7) Bobby Wilberg, Zack Riddle, Dale Nottestad, Jacob Goede, Shaun Scheel, Stephen Scheel, Rusty Hansen, Brent Edmunds
Qualifying: (1-10) Dale Nottestad, Zack Riddle, Bobby Wilberg, Rusty Hansen, Shaun Scheel, Jacob Goede, Brent Edmunds, Stephen Scheel, Jeff Holmgren Jr, Will Rece
(11-15) Pat Richgels, Don Wickstrum, Gary Krueger, Paul Dygon, Kyle Smith-NT
MISfitz
Feature: (1-9) Rick Coppernoll, Colton Morgan, Mike Taylor, Eric Adrian, Dan Lerdahl, Ray Hellenbrand, Tyler Hansen, Tim Wondrash-DNS, Chris Wangrow-DNS
Dash: (1-6) Ray Hellenbrand, Colton Morgan, Mike Taylor, Tim Wondrash, Chris Wangrow, Rick Coppernoll
Heat One: (1-4) Tyler Hansen, Mike Taylor, Dan Lerdahl, Eric Adrian
Heat Two: (1-5) Ray Hellenbrand, Colton Morgan, Rick Coppernoll, Tim Wondrash-DNS, Chris Wangrow-DNS
Qualifying: (1-9) Chris Wangrow, Ray Hellenbrand, Rick Coppernoll, Tim Wondrash, Colton Morgan, Mike Taylor, Tyler Hansen, Eric Adrian, Dan Lerdahl
Bandits
Feature: (1-10) Nick Schmidt, Dave Schmidt, Jeremy Bredeson, Ronnie Osborne, Kevin Beyer, Steve Dickson, Nick Newton, James Bell, Tyler DePorter, Bart Brockmann
(11-13) Brandon Johnson, Adam Dickert, Terry Ciano-DNS
Dash: (1-6) Steve Dickson, Dave Schmidt, Nick Schmidt, Ronnie Osborne, Jeremy Bredeson, Kevin Beyer
Heat One: (1-7) Nick Newton, Brandon Johnson, James Bell, Bart Brockmann, Tyler DePorter, Adam Dickert, Terry Ciano-DNS
Heat Two: (1-6) Steve Dickson, Nick Schmidt, Dave Schmidt, Kevin Beyer, Jeremy Bredeson, Ronnie Osborne
Qualifying: (1-10) Dave Schmidt, Nick Schmidt, Steve Dickson, Kevin Beyer, Jeremy Bredeson, Ronnie Osborne, Brandon Johnson, Bart Brockmann, Nick Newton, James Bell
(11-13) Tyler DePorter, Terry Ciano, Adam Dickert
HSRA
Feature: (1-5) Jayden Dahlberg, Elliot Hawkins, Jake Mathison, Ashton Kinsey, Brandon Liddle-DNS
Heat One: (1-5) Jayden Dahlberg, Ashton Kinsey, Elliot Hawkins, Brandon Liddle, Jake Mathison