Kevin Knuese (Midwest Trucks) and Bill Prietzel (Mid American Stock Car Series) took home the checkered flags in today’s season opener at Madison International Speedway as part of the Joe Shear Classic.
Knuese Tops A Great Field of Midwest Trucks
Kevin Knuese held off a strong field of trucks to pick up the win in the season opener for the Midwest Truck Series at Madison International Speedway.
Mike Corvo and Knuese paced the nineteen truck field to the green flag. The pair ran side by side until Knuese took the top spot on lap 2. Knuese put four truck lengths between himself and Corvo while Dan Jung and James Swan battled it out for third. On lap 4 Jung drifted up the hill in turn three to give the third position to Swan.
Knuese continued to lead but by lap 10 both Corvo and Swan were closing the gap knowing there was a lot of racing yet to go. On lap 13 a spinning truck on the backstretch brought out the race’s first yellow flag just after Swan had taken the second position.
On the two by two restart Knuese lined up on the outside of Corvo and was able to maintain his lead. Following the top two were Swan, Nick Egan and Mike Bachaus. Swan would eventually work his way past Corvo for second with Kelly Bires quickly moving up through the field and breaking into the top five.
With four laps to go Bires moved past Corvo to take the third position and started to chase the top two. Time was running out for both Bires and Swan as they attempted to chase down the leader. But the day belonged to Knuese who cruised to victory lane.
Finishing behind Knuese in the top five were Swan, Bires, Corvo, and Egan.
“The truck was set up great. It was a good race,” said Knuese in a post race interview.
Tommy Pecaro was fastest in qualifying with a lap of 18.890 (95.289 mph). Heat wins went to Gabe Sommers and Mike Corvo.
30 Lap Feature: (1-10) Kevin Knuese, James Swan, Kelly Bires, Mike Corvo, Nick Egan, Dan Jung, Michael Bachaus, Dave Edwards, Reagan May, Danielle Behn
(11-19) Gabe Sommers, Derek Doerr, Rock Christiansen, Ross Christiansen, Rick Corso, Jerry Wood, Tommy Pecaro, John Baumeister Jr., Ken Calhoun
Heat One: Gabe Sommers, Dave Edwards, Rick Corso, Danielle Behn, Ross Christiansen, Rock Christiansen, John Baumeister Jr., Ken Calhoun, Kelly Bires
Heat Two: Mike Corvo, Kevin Knuese, Jerry Wood, Dan Jung, James Swan, Nick Egan, Reagan May, Tommy Pecaro, Derek Doerr, Michael Bachaus
Qualifying (1-10) Tommy Pecaro, James Swan, Nick Egan, Michael Bachaus, Kevin Knuese, Reagan May, Dan Jung, Derek Doerr, Jerry Wood, Mike Corvo III
(11-19) Dave Edwards, Gabe Sommers, Rick Corso, Danielle Behn, Rock Christiansen, Ross Christiansen, Ken Calhoun, John Baumeister Jr.
Bill Prietzel Wins Top Prize at Madison
Long-time Mid American Stock Car Series driver Bill “The Franklin Flyer” Prietzel took home the win in the 30 lap feature for the Quest Industrial Mid American Stock Car Series.
Dusty Mann and Ethan Ross raced side by side for the first with Rick Tackman Jr. doing everything he could to get by the leaders. On lap 4 he was able to get the job done with Landry Potter and Ron Vandermier Jr. moving up to second and third. On lap 8 Vandermier Jr. moved to the inside of Potter for second with Bill Prietzel moving to the inside of Potter for third.
Vandermier Jr. took the lead on lap 10 with Prietzel and Kenny Joosten following right behind. On lap 14 Prietzel nudged his way to the inside of Vandermier Jr coming out of turn three but was unable to clear him for the lead.
Two laps later Prietzel found the room he needed to take the lead as Dan Gilster was moving up to third. Gilster moved into second on lap 21 but had his hands full with Joosten. As the two fought it out for second, Prietzel was opening up a sizeable lead out front. Joosten would eventually win the race for second, but Prietzel would take home the top prize by 1.2 seconds.
“It was a good win for us today,” said Prietzel.
Dan Gilster was fast qualifier with a lap of 19.472 with Landry Potter winning the heat race.
30 Lap Feature: (1-9) Bill Prietzel, Kenny Joosten, Landry Potter, Dan Gilster, Ron Vandermier Jr., Taylor Dawson, Rick Tackman Jr., Ethan Ross, Dusty Mann
Heat One: Landry Potter, Kenny Joosten, Ron Vandermier Jr, Taylor Dawson, Dan Gilster, Bill Prietzel, Rick Tackman Jr., Dusty Mann, Ethan Ross
Qualifying (1-9) Dan Gilster, Bill Prietzel, Kenny Joosten, Ron Vandermeir Jr., Landry Potter, Taylor Dawson, Rick Tackman Jr., Ethan Ross, Dusty Mann
Racing continues at Madison on Friday, May 19th with the NASCAR Whelen All American Season Opener featuring the Club LaMark Late Models, Dave’s White Rock Sportsman, Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits, Roto Rooter 6Shooters, and Vintage Series. Pit gates open at 3:30, practice at 5:00, qualifying at 6:25 with racing at 7:30.