It’s Season Championship Night and double features for all four divisions this Friday at Madison International Speedway as track champions will be determined in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. Champions will be crowned in the NASCAR Late Models, Dave’s White Rock MISfitz, and Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits. The Roto Rooter 6Shooters will also be in action. Add in a bounty placed on one of the drivers, and Friday night is shaping up to be one of the biggest nights of the season.
It’s Bounty Time for “Show Time” in the NASCAR Late Models. Zack Riddle leads the way in the race for the championship powered by seven feature wins. So Dave’s White Rock and Club LaMark are offering a $500 bounty for each feature race for the driver who can win the feature other than Riddle. That means that the winner of each 30 lap feature presented by Powersource Racing Engines can potentially win $1500. Riddle, the defending champion, leads multi-time track champion Bobby Wilberg (1150-1010) in the championship race with Shaun Scheel, Stephen Scheel, and Rusty Hansen rounding out the top five. Powered by his seven feature wins, Riddle now has 27 feature wins at Madison which places him third on the all-time list for the division behind Rick Nelson and Dave Phillips. Wilberg has 21 career feature wins and five championships in the Late Models. This year’s champion will be the 32nd crowned at Madison dating back to 1981. The division was known as Sportsman in the 1980’s and into the 1990’s before becoming the Limited Late Models and eventually Late Models.
The race for the championship in the MISfitz comes down to the final night as defending champion Ray Hellenbrand leads Rick Coppernoll (909-855). Rookie Mason Hellenbrand is third with 850 points followed by Mike Taylor and Tim Wondrash. This year’s track champion will be the third crowned since the division began in 2019. Coppernoll is the all-time feature winner in the MISfitz with 9 wins.
Nick Schmidt could accomplish something no other driver has done in the history of racing at Madison. As the current point leader in the Bandits, Schmidt could be the first-ever driver to win four straight championships in any division. He currently has a 975-891 lead over Bart Brockmann with Nick Newton, Trent Rueth, and Dave Schmidt completing the top five. The 2022 track champion will be the 14th winner in the division dating back to 2006.
As a true entry level division, point standings are not maintained for the Roto Rooter 6Shooters to keep the emphasis on affordability and fun.
Overall winners will also be determined in the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash Series. Zack Riddle leads Bobby Wilberg (27-24) in the Late Models with Rick Coppernoll ahead of Ray Hellenbrand by just two points (23-21) in the MISfitz and Nick Schmidt holding a one point lead over Bart Brockmann (31-30) in the Bandits. Dash points are maintained separately and are for the six fastest qualifiers nightly in each division.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with Turn One Chapel at 4:15, practice at 5:00, qualifying at 6:15, and racing at 7:30.
Adult admission $15.00, Seniors / Whelen Heroes $12.00, Students (12-17) $8.00, Kids (6-11) $5.00, and 5 and under free. A “Family” ticket is just $30.00 and includes up to two adults and four students or kids for a potential savings of more than $30.00.