Photos courtesy of JR Photography
Riedner, Moyer, Linnerud, and Berg Also Pick Up Wins
Karter Stark (Midwest Dash Series), Brandon Riedner (Hobby Stocks), Aaron Moyer (Legends.Direct Legends), Avery Linnerud (Taylored Construction Bandoleros), and Mitchell Berg (HSRA) were all winners tonight in the first-ever Cheese Curd Cup at Madison International Speedway. All racing events were held on the “Ring of Fire” quarter mile.
Madison International Speedway would like to thank Decatur Dairy for cheese gifts for the fans and a $50 bonus to the Hard Charger in the Bandoleros and to Best of Wisconsin Shop for $50 gift certificates for all of the feature winners. Thanks also to Legends.Direct and Taylored Construction for their divisional sponsorships.
Karter Stark Masters the Midwest Dash Series
Thirteen year old Karter Stark flew through the field on his way to victory lane in the 30 lap feature for the Midwest Dash Series.
Carson Strese and Kevin Beyer brought the field to the green flag. Strese jumped out to a four car length lead over Jeremy Bredeson and Phil Malouf. Malouf pulled into second on lap 3 before the caution came out on lap 3.
Strese and Mark Dewey lined up in the front row for the restart and raced side by side with Malouf on the outside looking in. On lap 7, Malouf looked to take the lead but wound up losing his position to Karter Stark. On lap 10 Stark moved to the inside of Strese to take the lead. Two laps later Strese took his machine to the pits which meant Stark’s lead was now a dozen lengths over Malouf and Dewey.
With ten laps to go Stark’s lead was nearly a half lap over Dewey. While the rest of the field could only hope for a caution it never happened as Stark breezed to victory lane. Malouf finished second with Hillary in third and John Handeland and Jeremy Bredeson rounding out the top five.
“This feels so good. When I got to the front I tried to stay calm,” said Stark.
Stark set fast time with a lap of 14.099 (63.834 mph) which was a new track record for the Dash cars on the Ring of Fire. Winners in the heat races were James Junget and Stephen Hillary.
Brandon Riedner Cruises to Victory Lane
Brandon Riedner picked up the win in the 25 lap feature for the Hobby Stocks.
Jordy Egli and Jamie Tate led the field to the green flag. On lap 2 Brandon Riedner powered his way to the lead followed by Egli and Shane Radtke Jr. On lap 4 Radtke Jr. took second with Nick Bruley up to third ahead of Egli.
Riedner had built up a huge advantage and by the half-way point had caught up to back of the pack. Would lapped traffic slow him down and allow Radtke Jr. and Bruley to catch him? But there was no slowing down Riedner who with five laps to go had cleared almost all of the lapped traffic.
The race stayed green the rest of the way as Riedner made it look easy cruising to victory lane. Radtke Jr. finished second with Bruley in third with Jordy Egli and Jon Benninger completing the top five.
“I learned from my dad a long time ago that you never take a break,” said Riedner.
Brandon Riedner set fast time with a lap of 14.252 (63.149 mph). Heat races were won by Jon Benninger and Nick Bruley.
Aaron Moyer Edges James Lynch in Legends Thriller
Aaron Moyer won the 25 lap feature for the Legends by holding off James Lynch and making it his 24th career win at Madison.
Michael Guderski and Tony Moyer led the way to the green flag. James Lynch was quickly up the lead with Aaron Moyer directly behind him. The caution flag came out on lap 4 for a spin on the front shoot. Lynch led the field back to the green and once again he and Moyer pulled away from the field. On lap 9 Moyer worked his way to the inside of Lynch to take the lead. But Lynch wasn’t ready to wave the surrender flag.
At the half-way mark Moyer had increased his lead to eight car lengths over Lynch with Guderski a distant third. Lynch was able to cut the lead in half with eight laps to go. With four laps to go the lead was down to two car lengths with lapped traffic just ahead. Both cars were able to safely clear the slower traffic with Lynch just a car length behind.
On the final lap Lynch gave Moyer a tap coming out of turn four, but Moyer was able to hang on and pick up the win followed by Lynch, Guderski, Kenny Storkson, and Tony Moyer.
“I got my first Legends win here so this track means a lot to me,” said Moyer.
Fast time was set by Aaron Moyer with a lap of 13.942 (64.553 mph). Kenny Storkson took the win in the heat race.
Avery Linnerud Best of the Bandoleros
Avery Linnerud won the 15 lap feature for the Taylored Construction Bandoleros.
Anna Price and Cooper Bodendorfer brought the field to the green flag. Price jumped out to the early lead followed by Kaeden Wangsness and Easton Riedner. On lap 4 Riedner was able to slide by Price for the lead just before the caution flag came out for a spin.
When the race went green, Riedner was able to maintain his lead for a lap before Avery Linnerud powered his way past him on lap 6 to take the point. The second caution flag of the race would come out on lap 8 for a spin.
Linnerud and Riedner brought the field back to the green flag with Cohen Henze quickly up to second with Linnerud still showing the way out front. On lap 11 Kaeden Wangsness passed Riedner for the third spot. Linnerud’s lead was two car lengths with two laps to go but that’s all that was needed as he picked up the checkered flag followed by Henze, Wangsness, Riedner, and Price.
Linnerud was quick qualifier with a lap of 15.325 (58.728 mph). Teegan Wangsness and Cohen Henze won the heat races. Based on his ninth place starting position and second place finishing position, Henze won the Hard Charger bonus money.
Mitchell Berg Wins HSRA
Mitchell Berg made the most of his first-ever appearance at Madison by winning the 15 lap feature for the High School Racing Association. His victory snapped a four race win streak for Jayden Dahlberg.
Jason Smith and Elliot Hawkins brought the field to the green flag. Smith jumped out to the early lead with Hawkins and Mitchell Berg running side by side for second. On lap 3 Berg cleared Hawkins for second and began hunting down Smith. On lap 7 Berg took the lead from Smith coming out of turn four. On lap 9 Jayden Dahlberg moved to the inside of Hawkins to take the third spot while Berg was cruising out front. With two laps to go Berg’s lead was six car lengths over Jason Smith and that’s the way it would stay until the waving of the checkered flag. Following Berg and Smith were Dahlberg, Hawkins, and Mathew Fairburn Jr.
“I like this track a lot. Good competition out there tonight,” said Berg who also won the heat race earlier in the evening.
Next Friday (August 20th) at Madison will be one of the biggest Friday night events of the season with NASCAR Season Championship Night presented by Saveourracecars.com highlighted by triple features for the NASCAR Late Models and Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits and double features for the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz and Roto Rooter 6Shooters. Ten feature races in one night! Please note that racing will begin at 7:00 instead of 7:30.
Official Results
Midwest Dash
Feature: (1-10) Karter Stark, Phil Malouf, Stephen Hillary, John Handeland, Jeremy Bredeson, Ronnie Osborne, Kevin Beyer, Mark Dewey, Tyler Muller, Rylie Mullin
(11-14) James Junget, Lyle Phillips, Carson Strese, Brandon Junget
Heat One: (1-7) James Junget, John Handeland, Ronnie Osborne, Brandon Junget, Kevin Beyer, Tyler Muller, Rylie Mullin
Heat Two: (1-7) Stephen Hillary, Karter Stark, Mark Dewey, Phil Malouf, Jeremy Bredeson, Carson Strese, Lyle Phillips
Qualifying: (1-10) Karter Stark, Carson Strese, Mark Dewey, Stephen Hillary, Jeremy Bredeson, Phil Malouf, John Handeland, Ronnie Osborne, Brandon Junget, James Junget
(11-14) Kevin Beyer, Tyler Muller, Rylie Mullin, Lyle Phillips-NT
Hobby Stocks
Feature: (1-10) Brandon Riedner, Shane Radtke Jr., Nick Bruley, Jordy Egli, Jon Benninger, Anthony Raley, Tucker Bodendorfer, Chase Wangsness, Jamie Tate, Chuck Egli
(11) Jim Wolf
Heat One: (1-6) Jon Benninger, Chuck Egli, Jim Wolf, Jamie Dunn, Chase Wangsness, Anthony Raley
Heat Two: (1-5) Nick Bruley, Shane Radtke Jr., Brandon Riedner, Jordy Egli, Tucker Bodendorfer
Qualifying: (1-10) Brandon Riedner, Shane Radtke Jr., Nick Bruley, Tucker Bodendorfer, Jordy Egli, Jon Benninger, Chase Wangsness, Anthony Raley, Chuck Egli, Jim Wolf
(11) Jamie Tate
Legends
Feature: (1-7) Aaron Moyer, James Lynch, Michael Guderski, Kenny Storkson, Tony Moyer, Ben Massman, Mike Storkson
Heat One: (1-7) Kenny Storkson, Aaron Moyer, James Lynch, Tony Moyer, Michael Guderski, Ben Massman, Mike Storkson
Qualifying: (1-7) Aaron Moyer, James Lynch, Michael Guderski, Kenny Storkson, Tony Moyer, Ben Massman, Mike Storkson
Bandoleros
Feature: (1-10) Avery Linnerud, Cohen Henze, Kaeden Wangsness, Easton Riedner, Anna Price, Paxton Benz, Bentley Thompson, Collin Murphy, Teegan Wangsness, Cooper Bodendorfer
(11-13) Brennan Lensing, Paegen Ellingston, Parker Bodendorfer
Heat One: (1-7) Teegan Wangsness, Bentley Thompson, Collin Murphy, Brennan Lensing, Cooper Bodendorfer, Paegen Ellingston, Parker Bodendorfer
Heat Two: (1-6) Cohen Henze, Avery Linnerud, Easton Riedner, Kaeden Wangsness, Anna Price, Paxton Benz
Qualifying: (1-10) Avery Linnerud, Easton Riedner, Paxton Benz, Kaeden Wangsness, Anna Price, Cohen Henze, Teegan Wangsness, Collin Murphy, Bentley Thompson, Cooper Bodendorfer
(11-13) Paegen Ellingston, Brennan Lensing, Parker Bodendorfer
HSRA
Feature: (1-7) Mitchell Berg, Jason Smith, Jayden Dahlberg, Elliot Hawkins, Mathew Fairburn Jr., Jake Mathison, Brandon Liddle
Heat One: (1-7) Mitchell Berg, Brandon Liddle, Jake Mathison, Elliot Hawkins, Jason Smith, Mathew Fairburn Jr., Jayden Dahlberg