Ty Majeski (ARCA Midwest Tour), Levon Van Der Geest (Midwest Truck Series), and Brandon DeLacy (Midwest Dash Series) were the big winners tonight at Madison International Speedway.
Prior to the start of the ARCA Midwest Tour event, Rich Bickle Jr. and Matt Kenseth became the newest inductees in the Madison International Speedway Hall of Fame. Their names now appear on the “Wall of Fame” along with Dick Trickle, Sam Bartus, Tom Reffner, Fritz Bishofberger, Bob Schmelzer, Conrad Morgan, Dave Watson, Joe Shear and John Ziegler.
Ty Majeski Wins Howie Lettow Classic 100 at Madison
Ty Majeski of Seymour, Wisconsin, started eighth, took the lead on lap 31 and led the rest of the way to pick up the win tonight in the Howie Lettow Classic 100 presented by Zimbrick Chevrolet. He became the first repeat winner in the Classic after winning in 2015. It was also Majeski’s sixth career win at Madison.
Austin Nason and Matt Kenseth had the honors of bringing the stellar twenty-four car field to the green flag. Kenseth led the first lap by a couple of feet over Nason and the side by side battle continued while Gabe Sommers, Paul Shafer Jr., and Blake Brown were third through fifth.
On lap 4 Ty Majeski broke into the top five. One lap later Kenseth cleared Nason for the lead and opened up a four car length lead. On lap 7 Majeski raced his way past Sommers for third and took the second position from Nason one lap later and began to hunt down Kenseth.
Kenseth and Majeski broke away from the pack with Majeski staying within two car lengths with Sommers a distant third. With twenty laps in the book, Kenseth and Majeski had opened up a two second lead over the rest of the field. On the move in the pack was Andrew Morrissey who moved past Ryan Farrell to take sixth place on lap 22 just before Farrell and Blake Brown got together bringing out the race’s first caution flag.
Kenseth elected to line up on the outside for the restart giving Majeski the inside line with Sommers and Nason comprising the second row. Kenseth was able to retain his lead over Majeski, but the race didn’t stay green for long as the car of Billy Mohn stopped on the front stretch on lap 25 ending his night. Jacob Goede, who was in sixth, also was forced to the pits during the caution because his car was leaking fluids.
It would be the same scenario on the restart with the leaders out front. Kenseth won the drag race for the lead with Nason, Andrew Morrissey, and Shafer Jr. completing the top five with Carson Kvapil on the outside looking in. On lap 30 Majeski pulled to the inside of Kenseth and took the lead and cleared Kenseth for the top spot one lap later. Majeski opened up a six car length lead over Kenseth on lap 35. Morrissey worked his way past Nason for third on lap 36 with Jonathan Eilen moving into the top five on lap 38.
Eilen, who started fifteenth, continued his march forward as he moved past Nason for fourth on lap 40. Out front Majeski was increasing his lead over the field while Kenseth was having his hands full with the hard charging Morrissey. On lap 47 Morrissey made his move and passed Kenseth for second coming out of turn four with Eilen now up to challenge Kenseth for third.
At the half-way mark Majeski’s lead over Morrissey was 1.6 seconds. Five laps later the lead had been cut to 1.1 seconds while Eilen was working his way to the inside of Kenseth for third followed by Shafer Jr. and Kvapil. On lap 58 Eilen was able to wrestle the third spot from Kenseth as the race continued to stay green.
Majeski had increased his lead to nearly two seconds over Morrissey after 65 laps and it looked like only a caution flag would be able to slow down the speedy Majeski.
The caution flag did come out on lap 70, but it may have helped Majeski more than any of his fellow competitors. Majeski was forced to check up as Blake Brown was trying to get into the pits just before Dalton Zehr spun due to fluids on the track that would change the caution flag to a red flag and cause all of the cars to stop on the backstretch.
Majeski elected to line up on the outside with Morrissey on the inside. Kenseth lined up on the inside of the second row with Eilen on the outside. It was a great restart for Majeski who was able to get back out front ahead of Morrissey. The top seven broke away from the pack with Majeski taking a one second advantage over Morrissey who suddenly had his hands full with Eilen who was on his rear bumper. The battle for second allowed Majeski to increase his lead to 1.8 seconds with 17 laps to go.
On lap 86, the fifth place car of Shafer Jr. made heavy contact with the outside wall in turn three bringing out the caution flag and ending the night for Shafer Jr.
Once again the leader chose to line up on the outside giving Morrissey the inside with Eilen going outside in row two with Kenseth on the inside. It was another great restart for Majeski who led for two laps before the caution flag came out for a spin in turn two.
Majeski jumped back out to the lead over Morrissey while Eilen and Kenseth were fighting for the third position with Luke Fenhaus up to fifth. But there was no slowing down Majeski who quickly extended his lead as time was running out for the rest of the field. But the yellow flag came out on lap 94 when point leader Casey Johnson experienced big time trouble coming out of turn four and pulled to the inside of the track.
With fewer than ten laps to go the restart would be single file. Majeski proved to be the master of the restarts as continued to show the way out front followed by Morrissey, Eilen, Kenseth, and John DeAngelis Jr. Three laps later a spin by Gabe Sommers, who had fought his way back to eighth place, would lead to another caution flag.
Another restart with similar results as Majeski was not about to be denied as he picked up the checkered flag followed by Morrissey, Eilen, Kenseth, and DeAngelis Jr.
“Our car sure was fast tonight. Really proud of everyone…this is cool,” said Majeski. “I just had to be prepared for all of those restarts and those guys raced me clean all night.”
Runner-up Morrissey added, “I had a really good car, but the cautions made it tight.”
“I’m liking this track,” said Eilen who started fifteenth and finished third after picking up a win earlier this season at Madison.
Dalton Zehr won the ten lap qualifying race. Winners in the eight lap Dash races were Jonathan Eilen and Jacob Goede.
Majeski also set fast time with a lap of 17.426 (103.294 mph). “A lot of great cars tonight. It’s so cool seeing all of these great fans in the stands tonight,” said Majeski during pre-race ceremonies. Ryan Farrell, Paul Shafer Jr., Luke Fenhaus, and Gabe Sommers completed the top five.
There’s No Stopping Levon Van Der Geest
Levon Van Der Geest of Merrill, Wisconsin, won the 30 lap feature for the Midwest Truck Series picking up his first ever win at Madison.
Dave Edwards and Chester Ace brought the field to the green flag. Edwards and Ace ran side by side for the lead with Ace taking a slight advantage on the outside with Dale Nottestad grabbing the third spot ahead of Joe Valento.
On lap 5 Ace drifted up the track coming out of turn four allowing Edwards to try to get under the leader, but he was unable to make the pass. One lap later it was three wide for the lead coming out of turn four which led to several trucks getting together coming out of turn one, bringing out the caution and sending Valento and Edwards to the back of the field.
Ace chose the outside for the restart with Nottestad taking the inside position with Jeff Holtz and Kevin Knuese in the second row. The leaders ran side by side until lap 10 when Ace took the lead, but Knuese powered his way up to second and then took the lead on lap 11. But speedy Levon Van Der Geest was on the move as he pulled to the inside of Ace to take second on lap 12. Two laps later as Knuese was opening up a five truck length lead, Ace made contact with the front stretch wall ending his night, but the race stayed green.
A spin on lap 16 brought out the caution flag and took away Knuese’s advantage. On the restart Knuese led the field back to the green from the outside with Van Der Geest running strong on the inside and Nottestad and Holtz racing side by side for third. On lap 18 VanDerGeest made his move coming out of turn four to take the lead and open up a two length lead. But a multi-truck incident in turn one would bring out the caution flag on lap 20 and end the night for James Swan and Holtz.
Van Der Geest and Knuese brought the field back to green. VanDerGeest quickly jumped out to a two truck length lead over Knuese with Rusty Hansen a distant third. With five laps to go the advantage for the leader was five truck lengths and growing as the top three pulled away from the field while Kenny Joosten and Jeff Watters were fighting it out for fourth.
But there was no stopping LeVon Van Der Geest who cruised to victory lane followed by Knuese, Hansen, Watters, and Joosten.
“This feels amazing because we barely made it out here for the feature after problems earlier in the night,” said Van Der Geest. He also recalled the roller coaster ride at Madison for him in 2019 that began back in May when his truck suffered heavy damage in the season opener.
Fast qualifier was Van Der Geest with a trip of 18.750 (96.000 mph). AJ Kreager, Alex Ertmann, and Joe Valento won the 8 lap heat races.
Brandon DeLacy Captures Midwest Dash Checkered Flag
Brandon DeLacy of Stoughton, Wisconsin, won the 5thannual Badger Cup for the Midwest Dash Series.
John Handeland took the lead after the first lap before Gary Stark powered his way to the inside coming out of turn four on lap 2 to take the lead. Lyle Phillips moved up to second on lap 3 with Kyle Stark up to third. On lap 5 Gary Stark had increased his lead to seven car lengths with Kyle Stark moving past Phillips for third. Fast qualifier Brandon DeLacy worked his way up to third on lap 8 as the top three were quickly catching the tail of the field.
On lap 10, Kyle Stark was right on Gary Stark’s rear bumper as the two worked their way inside and outside lapped traffic. On lap 12 the caution flag came out for a stalled vehicle.
The Starks brought the field back to the green flag with Gary on the inside and Kyle on the outside and DeLacy now directly behind the leaders. Kyle Stark took a slight lead from the outside as the two stayed side by side with DeLacy thinking about making it three wide. With ten laps to go Kyle was able to get out in front of Gary and build his lead to a couple of car lengths. On lap 17 DeLacy pulled to the inside of Gary Stark for second and one lap later took the second spot.
Kyle Stark continued to lead by a car length, but DeLacy was closing fast. With five laps to go he passed Stark on the backstretch to take the lead. With three laps to go the lead was two car lengths with lapped traffic still playing a factor in this race.
But DeLacy was smooth as silk as he worked his way around lapped traffic and picked up the Badger Cup. Kyle Stark finished second followed by Gary Stark, Tim Finstad, and Greg Blount.
“I was praying for a caution at some point and it happened,” said DeLacy.
Winners in the 8 lap heat races were Tyler Edmundson, Greg Blount, and Gary Stark. Brandon DeLacy set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 20.996 (85.731 mph).
The NASCAR Weekly Racing program returns to Madison next Friday (August 23rd) with the NASCAR Late Models, Dave’s White Rock MISfitz, Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits, and Central States Region Super Cups all in action. Plus it’s our second Buck Night of the season with all concessions just $1.00 and beer for $2.00.
Results
ARCA Midwest Tour
Howie Lettow Classic 100
1. 91M-Ty Majeski, [8]; 2. 39M-Andrew Morrissey, [9]; 3. 77E-Jonathan Eilen, [15]; 4. 8MK-Matt Kenseth, [2]; 5. 7D-John DeAngelis, [10]; 6. 4F-Luke Fenhaus, [5]; 7. 14N-Austin Nason, [1]; 8. 35K-Carson Kvapil, [11]; 9. 119Z-Dalton Zehr, [17]; 10. 45B-Rich Bickle Jr., [18]; 11. 15S-Gabe Sommers, [4]; 12. 75H-Dillon Hammond, [20]; 13. 44M-Justin Mondeik, [21]; 14. 88C-Rick Corso, [23]; 15. 13AB-Andrew Brocker, [24]; 16. 47J-Casey Johnson, [13]; 17. 11K-Bobby Kendall, [19]; 18. 52B-Ricky Baker, [22]; 19. 7S-Paul Shafer Jr, [6]; 20. 71BB-Blake Brown, [3]; 21. 80F-Ryan Farrell, [7]; 22. 9L-Tim Lampman, [16]; 23. 72G-Jacob Goede, [14]; 24. 8M-Billy Mohn, [12]
Odd Dash
1. 77E-Jonathan Eilen, [1]; 2. 39M-Andrew Morrissey, [4]; 3. 91M-Ty Majeski, [8]; 4. 47J-Casey Johnson, [2]; 5. 15S-Gabe Sommers, [6]; 6. 7S-Paul Shafer Jr, [7]; 7. 8MK-Matt Kenseth, [5]; 8. 35K-Carson Kvapil, [3]
Even Dash
1. 72G-Jacob Goede, [2]; 2. 7D-John DeAngelis, [4]; 3. 9L-Tim Lampman, [1]; 4. 71BB-Blake Brown, [6]; 5. 14N-Austin Nason, [5]; 6. 80F-Ryan Farrell, [8]; 7. 4F-Luke Fenhaus, [7]; 8. 8M-Billy Mohn, [3]
Qualifying Race
1. 119Z-Dalton Zehr, [1]; 2. 45B-Rich Bickle Jr., [3]; 3. 11K-Bobby Kendall, [2]; 4. 75H-Dillon Hammond, [4]; 5. 44M-Justin Mondeik, [5]; 6. 52B-Ricky Baker, [6]; 7. 88C-Rick Corso, [7]; 8. 13AB-Andrew Brocker, [8]
Qualifying
1. 91M-Ty Majeski, [22]; 2. 80F-Ryan Farrell, [20]; 3. 7S-Paul Shafer Jr, [26]; 4. 4F-Luke Fenhaus, [24]; 5. 15S-Gabe Sommers, [7]; 6. 71BB-Blake Brown, [15]; 7. 8MK-Matt Kenseth, [1]; 8. 14N-Austin Nason, [6]; 9. 39M-Andrew Morrissey, [10]; 10. 7D-John DeAngelis, [25]; 11. 35K-Carson Kvapil, [9]; 12. 8M-Billy Mohn, [2]; 13. 47J-Casey Johnson, [13]; 14. 72G-Jacob Goede, [16]; 15. 77E-Jonathan Eilen, [19]; 16. 9L-Tim Lampman, [3]; 17. 119Z-Dalton Zehr, [23]; 18. 11K-Bobby Kendall, [4]; 19. 45B-Rich Bickle Jr., [12]; 20. 75H-Dillon Hammond, [17]; 21. 44M-Justin Mondeik, [11]; 22. 34H-Brandon Hill, [8]; 23. 52B-Ricky Baker, [14]; 24. 88C-Rick Corso, [21]; 25. 13AB-Andrew Brocker, [5]; 26. 76W-Jason Weinkauf, [18]
Midwest Trucks
A Feature
1. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, [10]; 2. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [7]; 3. 3H-Rusty Hansen, [5]; 4. 11W-Jeff Watters, [13]; 5. 47J-Kenny Joosten, [16]; 6. 30V-Joe Valento, [6]; 7. 27E-Alex Ertmann, [14]; 8. 39G-Ryan Goldade, [19]; 9. 113C-Rock Christiansen, [3]; 10. 4R-Brandon Riedner, [18]; 11. 188N-Dale Nottestad, [4]; 12. 86K-AJ Kreager, [20]; 13. 22G-Brad Gajewski, [21]; 14. 73W-Jerry Wood, [15]; 15. 9B-Jerry Brickner, [17]; 16. 3RC-Rick Corso, [22]; 17. 38H-Jeff Holtz, [8]; 18. 97S-James Swan, [11]; 19. 14R-Michael Raskovic, [12]; 20. 5E-Dave Edwards, [1]; 21. 55S-Vincent Synowicz, [23]; 22. 26C-MIke Corvo, [9]; 23. 93A-Chester Ace, [2]
Heat 1
1. 86K-AJ Kreager, [2]; 2. 4R-Brandon Riedner, [4]; 3. 39G-Ryan Goldade, [3]; 4. 9B-Jerry Brickner, [5]; 5. 3RC-Rick Corso, [1]; 6. 22G-Brad Gajewski, [6]; (DNS) 13C-Ross Christiansen, ; (DNS) 55S-Vincent Synowicz,
Heat 2
1. 27E-Alex Ertmann, [3]; 2. 47J-Kenny Joosten, [1]; 3. 73W-Jerry Wood, [2]; 4. 11W-Jeff Watters, [4]; 5. 97S-James Swan, [7]; 6. 5E-Dave Edwards, [6]; 7. 93A-Chester Ace, [8]; 8. 14R-Michael Raskovic, [5]
Heat 3
1. 30V-Joe Valento, [4]; 2. 188N-Dale Nottestad, [2]; 3. 113C-Rock Christiansen, [1]; 4. 38H-Jeff Holtz, [6]; 5. 3H-Rusty Hansen, [3]; 6. 26C-MIke Corvo, [7]; 7. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [5]; 8. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, [8]
Qualifying
1. 23V-Levon Van Der Geest, [6]; 2. 26C-MIke Corvo, [7]; 3. 38H-Jeff Holtz, [11]; 4. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [10]; 5. 30V-Joe Valento, [9]; 6. 3H-Rusty Hansen, [22]; 7. 188N-Dale Nottestad, [20]; 8. 113C-Rock Christiansen, [19]; 9. 93A-Chester Ace, [17]; 10. 97S-James Swan, [18]; 11. 5E-Dave Edwards, [24]; 12. 14R-Michael Raskovic, [4]; 13. 11W-Jeff Watters, [2]; 14. 27E-Alex Ertmann, [8]; 15. 73W-Jerry Wood, [15]; 16. 47J-Kenny Joosten, [13]; 17. 9B-Jerry Brickner, [1]; 18. 4R-Brandon Riedner, [23]; 19. 39G-Ryan Goldade, [12]; 20. 86K-AJ Kreager, [16]; 21. 22G-Brad Gajewski, [5]; 22. 3RC-Rick Corso, [21]; 23. 55S-Vincent Synowicz, [14]; (DNS) 13C-Ross Christiansen,
Midwest Dash Series
Feature: (1-10) Brandon DeLacy, Kyle Stark, Gary Stark, Tim Finstad, Greg Blount, Phil Malouf, John Preston, Justin Pearson, James Junget, Steve Dickson
(11-20) Tyler Edmundson, Josh Tanguay, Chris Jackson, Merek Pankow, Bob Peterson, Dave Lembke, Ronnie Osborne, Mark Dewey, Lyle Phillips, George Seliger
(21-22) John Handeland, Mark English
Heat One: (1-7) Tyler Edmundson, Steve Dickson, Josh Tanguay, Dave Lembke, Ronnie Osborne, Bob Peterson, Mark Dewey
Heat Two: (1-7) Greg Blount, Josh Rusch, Merek Pankow, John Preston, James Junget, Justin Pearson, Chris Jackson, Phil Malouf-DNS
Heat Three: (1-8) Gary Stark, Brandon DeLacy, Kyle Stark, John Handeland, George Seliger, Lyle Phillips, Mark English, Tim Finstad
Qualifying: (1-10) Brandon DeLacy, Kyle Stark, George Seliger, Tim Finstad, Lyle Phillips, Mark English, Gary Stark, John Handeland, Phil Malouf, Josh Rusch
(11-20) Greg Blount, James Junget, John Preston, Justin Pearson, Merek Pankow, Chris Jackson, Steve Dickson, Dave Lembke, Mark Dewey, Bob Peterson
(21-23) Josh Tanquay, Tyler Edmundson, Ronnie Osborne