(Oregon, WI) Chester Ace (Midwest Truck Series) and Tom Carlson (602 Outlaw Late Models) were the big winners at Madison as part of the Howie Lettow Classic presented by First Business Bank.
Ace Sets the Pace in Sassy Cow Creamery 30
Chester Ace is no stranger to victory lane at Madison as he won the Sassy Cow Creamery 30 for the Midwest Truck Series. It was his tenth career truck win at Madison to go along with his twenty-four Bandit checkered flags giving him thirty-four wins at Madison.
Kevin Zielezinski and Chris Blawat paced the field of twenty-one of the finest trucks in the Midwest to the green flag. Zielezinski took the lead for the first two laps with Blawat taking the top spot on lap 3. Chester Ace worked his way up to second on lap 4 with Eugene Gregorich III taking the third spot. On lap 6 Ace pulled to the inside of Blawat to take the lead coming out of turn four.
After ten laps the top three were checking away from the field with Ace holding a two length lead over Blawat. On lap 15 fast qualifier James Swan broke into the top five as the leaders were looking at lapped traffic just ahead. Not only was Ace able to get around the slower trucks, he was able to increase his lead over Blawat to six lengths. However, a spin on lap 18 on the backstretch brought out the first caution flag of the race, negating Ace’s lead over the field.
Ace elected to restart on the inside with Blawat choosing the outside . The second row found Blawat lining up inside and Swan on the outside. When the green flag waved, Ace jumped back to the lead with Gregorich III In second with Danielle Behn up to third before the caution flag waved on lap 20 for a spin.
For the restart, Ace again lined up on the inside of the first row with Gregorich III outside of him with Behn and Blawat in the second row. Ace got a great start with Behn up to second followed by Gregorich III and Swan who were battling side by side. With five laps to go, Ace held a six truck length lead over Behn with Swan edging ahead of Gregorich III. Behn was able to cut the lead to three lengths, but wouldn’t have enough to catch Ace who picked up the win. Behn finished in second followed by Swan, Gregorich III, and Kevin Knuese.
“We were good from the minute we unloaded tonight despite our qualifying effort,” said Ace.
“I wasn’t expecting this. After the first caution things got going for us,” said Behn.
“It was tougher than I thought. We started eleventh and got to third so we picked up some points,” said Swan.
Fast qualifier was Swan with a lap of 19.170 (93.897 mph). Winners in the heat races were Cody Vander Loop, Jeff Holtz, and Kevin Berg.
Carlson Best of the Outlaws
Tom Carlson won the 25 lap main event for the 602 Outlaw Late Models. It was his first series win of the season.
Ray Hellenbrand and Bryce Miller led the twenty-one car field to the green flag. Hellenbrand wasted no time vaulting out to the lead with Charlie Bates up to second ahead of Miller after one lap. Hellenbrand and Bates had a solid lead over Miller and the rest of the field after five laps. On lap 6 Tom Carlson passed Greg Bowers for fourth with Alex Hartwig moving past Bowers for fifth on lap 8.
On lap 11 Carlson got to the inside of Miller for third and started to hunt down the leaders. Carlson moved into second on lap 14 and was quickly closing in on Hellenbrand. Coming out of turn two on lap 15, Carlson powered his way past Hellenbrand to take the lead.
Now it was time to work through lapped traffic. Things went well for the leaders before a spin just ahead of them brought out the caution flag on lap 18.
For the restart, Carlson chose to line up on the inside with Miller to the outside followed in the second row by Hellenbrand and Hartwig. Carlson was able to regain his lead and after a lap had a two length lead over Miller while Hellenbrand and Hartwig were fighting it out for third. A multi-car incident in turn two brought out the caution with five laps to go.
Another restart with Carlson and Miller pacing the field back to green. Carlson vaulted back into the lead and opened up a six car length lead while a pack was battling for second behind him. That only allowed Carlson to build up a bigger lead with Hellenbrand getting past Miller for second. But nobody would catch Carlson who picked up his first win of the season followed by Hellenbrand, Miller, Bobby Wilberg and Hartwig.
“What a day. Fast time and now a feature win,” said Carlson from victory lane.
For the second time in two trips to Madison this season, Carlson was fastest in qualifying with a lap of 19.040 (94.538). Dennis Prunty won the Dash with Rick Coppernoll and Jason Stark winning the heat races.
One final event remains on the 2022 schedule at Madison with the Thursday Night Street Drags on September 8th. Pit gates and grandstands open at 6:00 PM with practice / grudge matches at 6:30 and the first bracket at 7:30.
Results
Midwest Truck Series Qualifying
1. 97JS-James Swan, 19.1700; 2. 37KK-Kevin Knuese, 19.1960; 3. 38JH-Jeff Holtz, 19.1980; 4. 1WEG-Eugene Gregorich, 19.2070; 5. 11BM-Bryce Miller, 19.2980; 6. 93CA-Chester Ace, 19.3090; 7. 28DB-Danielle Behn, 19.3110; 8. 20KH-Kody Hubred, 19.3160; 9. 3BR-Brandon Reichenberger, 19.4370; 10. 26CB-Chris Blawat, 19.4740; 11. 38KZ-Kevin Zielezinski, 19.5130; 12. 51KB-Kevin Berg, 19.5190; 13. 140AM-Aaron Moyer, 19.5430; 14. 27DS-Dillon Schwanbeck, 19.5470; 15. 4CV-Cody Vander Loop, 19.6060; 16. 73JW-Jerry Wood, 19.7070; 17. 57SA-Steve Henke, 19.7400; 18. 55SK-Scott Kingswan, 20.1810; 19. 5NQ-Nick Quinnell, 20.2450; 20. 97SE-Sean Eurick, 20.2530; 21. 52NR-Nick Roehl, 23.1350; 22. 7TN-Tyler Noble, 50.0000
Midwest Truck Series – Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 4CV-Cody Vander Loop , Kaukauna, WI[6], 2. 73JW-Jerry Wood , Sun Prairie, WI[5], 3. 57SA-Steve Henke , Amherst, WI[4], 4. 97SE-Sean Eurick , New Berlin, WI[1], 5. 5NQ-Nick Quinnell , Arkdale, WI[2], 6. 55SK-Scott Kingswan , Madison, WI[3]
Midwest Truck Series – Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 38JH-Jeff Holtz , Franksville, WI[6], 2. 97JS-James Swan , Genoa City, WI[7], 3. 28DB-Danielle Behn , Waupaca, WI[4], 4. 3BR-Brandon Reichenberger , Appleton, WI[3], 5. 38KZ-Kevin Zielezinski , Joliet, IL[2], 6. 140AM-Aaron Moyer , Hartford, WI[1], 7. 11BM-Bryce Miller , Columbus, WI[5]
Midwest Truck Series – Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 51KB-Kevin Berg , Stevens Point, WI[2], 2. 27DS-Dillon Schwanbeck , Poynette, WI[1], 3. 20KH-Kody Hubred , Stoughton, WI[4], 4. 26CB-Chris Blawat , Palmyra, WI[3], 5. 37KK-Kevin Knuese , Waunakee, WI[7], 6. 1WEG-Eugene Gregorich III, Amherst, WI[6], 7. 93CA-Chester Ace , Oregon, WI[5]
Midwest Truck Series – Feature 30 Laps
1. 93CA-Chester Ace , Oregon, WI[6], 2. 28DB-Danielle Behn , Waupaca, WI[5], 3. 97JS-James Swan , Genoa City, WI[11], 4. 1WEG-Eugene Gregorich III, Amherst, WI[8], 5. 37KK-Kevin Knuese , Waunakee, WI[10], 6. 3BR-Brandon Reichenberger , Appleton, WI[3], 7. 20KH-Kody Hubred , Stoughton, WI[4], 8. 38JH-Jeff Holtz , Franksville, WI[9], 9. 26CB-Chris Blawat , Palmyra, WI[2], 10. 38KZ-Kevin Zielezinski , Joliet, IL[1], 11. 11BM-Bryce Miller , Columbus, WI[7], 12. 51KB-Kevin Berg , Stevens Point, WI[12], 13. 27DS-Dillon Schwanbeck , Poynette, WI[14], 14. 57SA-Steve Henke , Amherst, WI[20], 15. 140AM-Aaron Moyer , Hartford, WI[13], 16. 73JW-Jerry Wood , Sun Prairie, WI[16], 17. 4CV-Cody Vander Loop , Kaukauna, WI[15], 18. 5NQ-Nick Quinnell , Arkdale, WI[18], 19. 97SE-Sean Eurick , New Berlin, WI[19], 20. 55SK-Scott Kingswan , Madison, WI[17], 21. 52NR-Nick Roehl , Fond Du Lac, WI[21]
602 Outlaw Late Models Qualifying
1. 51TC-Tom Carlson, 19.0400; 2. 901AH-Alex Hartwig, 19.0890; 3. 7BL-Brady Liddle, 19.2000; 4. 12GB-Greg Bowers, 19.2200; 5. 42DP-Dennis Prunty, 19.2350; 6. 1BW-Bobby Wilberg, 19.3010; 7. 34CB-Charlie Bates, 19.3030; 8. 76PM-Peter Moore, 19.3050; 9. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand, 19.3560; 10. 17BJ-Brian Johnson, 19.3660; 11. 81JS-Jason Stark, 19.4200; 12. 41BM-Bryce Miller, 19.4370; 13. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand, 19.4680; 14. 48ER-Ethan Rose, 19.5250; 15. 23BU-Brian Ulrich, 19.6520; 16. 6DS-Dan Snyder, 19.7980; 17. 67CS-Clayton Storey, 19.8550; 18. 75RC-Rick Coppernoll, 19.8840; 19. 21SH-Sean Herzog, 20.0940; 20. 21TD-Travis Dassow, 20.0940; 21. 16ML-Madison Larson, 50.0000
602LM – Fast Dash 6 Laps
1. 42DP-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[1], 2. 7BL-Brady Liddle , Oregon, WI[3], 3. 51TC-Tom Carlson , West Salem, WI[6], 4. 21TD-Travis Dassow , West Bend, WI[5], 5. 12GB-Greg Bowers , Waterloo, WI[2], 6. 901AH-Alex Hartwig , Portage, WI[4]
602LM – Heat 1 8 Laps
1. 75RC-Rick Coppernoll , Stoughton, WI[2], 2. 6DS-Dan Snyder , Stoughton, WI[4], 3. 48ER-Ethan Rose , LaValle, WI[6], 4. 23BU-Brian Ulrich , Racine, WI[5], 5. 67CS-Clayton Storey , Burlington, WI[3], 6. 21SH-Sean Herzog , Oregon, WI[1]
602LM – Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 81JS-Jason Stark , Wisconsin Dells, WI[2], 2. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[4], 3. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[1], 4. 1BW-Bobby Wilberg , Beloit, WI[8], 5. 76PM-Peter Moore , McFarland, WI[6], 6. 41BM-Bryce Miller , Columbus, WI[5], 7. 34CB-Charlie Bates , Wisconsin Dells, WI[7], 8. 17BJ-Brian Johnson Sr, Machesney Park, IL[3]
602LM – Feature 25 Laps
1. 51TC-Tom Carlson , West Salem, WI[10], 2. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[1], 3. 41BM-Bryce Miller , Columbus, WI[2], 4. 1BW-Bobby Wilberg , Beloit, WI[5], 5. 901AH-Alex Hartwig , Portage, WI[8], 6. 21TD-Travis Dassow , West Bend, WI[9], 7. 34CB-Charlie Bates , Wisconsin Dells, WI[4], 8. 42DP-Dennis Prunty , Allenton, WI[11], 9. 12GB-Greg Bowers , Waterloo, WI[6], 10. 76PM-Peter Moore , McFarland, WI[3], 11. 48ER-Ethan Rose , LaValle, WI[15], 12. 17BJ-Brian Johnson Sr, Machesney Park, IL[12], 13. 6DS-Dan Snyder , Stoughton, WI[17], 14. 67CS-Clayton Storey , Burlington, WI[18], 15. 75RC-Rick Coppernoll , Stoughton, WI[19], 16. 21SH-Sean Herzog , Oregon, WI[20], 17. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[14], 18. 7BL-Brady Liddle , Oregon, WI[7], 19. 81JS-Jason Stark , Wisconsin Dells, WI[13], 20. 23BU-Brian Ulrich , Racine, WI[16], 21. 16ML-Madison Larson , Lyndon Station, WI[21]