Photos Courtesy Jess Riedner / Website
Hansberry Jr., Schmidt, Moyer and Hartwig also Victorious
Michael Bilderback Powers His Way to Victory Lane
Michael Bilderback took the lead on lap 11 and led the rest of the way to pick up the checkered flag in the caution-free 30 lap feature for the Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models.
The twenty-one car field was brought to the green flag by Brent Edmunds and Michael Bilderback. Edmunds took the lead followed by Bilderback, Tom Gille, Austin Nason and Brady Liddle. On lap 3 Nason moved past Gille for third with Liddle moving up to fourth one lap later. On lap 5 Bobby Wilberg joined the top five when he passed Gille.
On lap 10 Bilderback worked his way to the inside of Edmunds to try to take the lead. But Edmunds held on for a lap before surrendering the top spot to Bilderback who took the lead on lap 11. Nason moved past Edmunds into second on lap 12.
At the half-way point Bilderback’s lead over Nason was just under one second. On lap 18 Wilberg raced his way past Edmunds to take over the third spot. With ten laps to go Bilderback was increasing his lead over Nason to eight car lengths. Wilberg trailed Nason by eight lengths while Dale Nottestad was closing on Edmunds for fourth place.
With five laps to go, Bilderback had caught the tail end of the field and began to work his way through the soon to be lapped traffic. While doing so he was able to increase his lead to more than ten lengths over Nason. But tonight there would be no denying Bilderback who cruised to victory lane. Nason finished in second followed by Wilberg, Nottestad, and Edmunds. Rounding out the top ten were Liddle, Jon Reynolds Jr., Jeremy Miler, Zack Riddle, and Brian Beale.
“We had some problems with the car earlier tonight. The crew worked hard to get this car ready to go for the feature,” said Bilderback.
Fast qualifier was Kevin Knuese with a circuit of 18.759 (95.954 mph). Knuese elected to start at the rear of the feature field to try to win the $400 “Ultimate Challenge” money for starting from the rear and winning the feature compliments of United Fans of Wisconsin.
Jeremy Miller won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Ten lap heat races were won by Steve Anderson, Will Rece, and Dale Nottestad. The wins for Anderson and Rece were their first ever in a Late Model as both are rookies this season.
Two in a Row for Robert Hansberry Jr.
Defending track champion Robert Hansberry Jr. won the 20 lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock Sportsman.
Tim Wondrash and Bryan Hellenbrand led the field to the green flag racing side by side for the first two laps before Hellenbrand was able to take the lead. Unfortunately, Hellenbrand spun coming out of turn two on lap 3 and found himself facing the field who were somehow able to avoid making contact.
On the restart, Gary Hellenbrand took the lead from Wondrash with Mike Taylor and Robert Hansberry Jr. up to second and third one lap later. On lap 10 the caution came out for a spin in turn two just as Hansberry Jr. was about to pass Taylor.
Hellenbrand and Taylor lined up side by side on the restart with Hellenbrand taking the advantage. One lap later Hansberry Jr. was up to second before giving the spot back to Taylor before the caution flag waved for debris on the track.
Taylor took the lead on the restart only to see Hellenbrand get the top spot on lap 13. On lap 14 Hansberry Jr. powered by on the inside of Hellenbrand coming out of turn two to take the lead.
From there it was all Hansberry Jr. who checked away from the field while Taylor and Hellenbrand fought it out for second. Taylor would win the battle for second with Hellenbrand, Ray Hellenbrand, and Tim Wondrash rounding out the top five.
“This has always been a good car. I have a lot of pride in this car since it was the first one we built. I wasn’t sure I was going to get by those guys racing side by side,” said Hansberry Jr.
Robert Hansberry Jr. set quick time with a lap of 20.421 (88.145 mph). Hansberry also picked up the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Eight lap heat races were won by Gary Hellenbrand and Ray Hellenbrand.
Dave Schmidt Captures the Bandit Checkered Flag
Schmidt took the lead on lap 6 and took home the victory in the 20 lap feature for the Pellitteri Waste Systems
Cade Watters and Bill Kohn ushered the field of ten Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits to the green flag. Watters took the early lead before McKayla Adams worked her way to the inside to take the lead on lap 2 before the caution came out on lap 3 for debris on the track.
Adams and Dan Snyder brought the field back to the green with Dave Schmidt up to third. Schmidt made it three wide coming out of turn four on lap 5 with Adams able to hold onto the lead.
On lap 6 Schmidt found the room he needed to take the lead away from Adams with Snyder, Lyle Phillips, and Jeremy Bredeson rounding out the top five. Schmidt built a sizeable lead of fifteen car lengths out front as Adams and Snyder were racing side by side for second.
As the battle for second continued, Schmidt’s lead was growing out front. Schmidt easily rolled his way to victory lane with Adams holding off Snyder for second with Bredeson and Phillips completing the top five.
“I knew I had to make my move coming out of turn four,” said Schmidt from victory lane who donated his trophy to a lucky fan.
Setting fast time in qualifying was Schmidt with a lap of 14.928. The winner in the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash was Dan Snyder. Eight lap heat races were won by Jeremy Bredeson and Schmidt.
Aaron Moyer Wins Legends Shootout
Aaron Moyer picked up the win in the 20 lap feature for the Legends and became the all-time winningest Legends driver at Madison with twenty-two feature wins. He and teammate Max McNamara came into the night tied for feature wins.
Derek Mueller and Dillon Schwanbeck brought the field of Legends to the green flag, but it was McNamara wasting no time in splitting the top two and taking the lead on the first lap. Up to second and third on lap 2 were Riley Stenjem and Aaron Moyer who had an eight car length lead. On lap 9 Moyer pulled to the inside of Stenjem and the two raced side by side before Moyer got the advantage on lap 10.
Moyer began to close the gap with McNamara to two car lengths by lap 12. With five to go Moyer was right on McNamara’s back bumper with Stenjem keeping the top two in his sights. With two laps to go McNamara drifted up the track on the back shoot giving the lead to Moyer for good and allowing Stenjem to grab the second spot.
Moyer was fastest in qualifying with a mark of 13.778 while McNamara won the eight lap heat race.
Alex Hartwig Runs Away from the Pack of Bandoleros
Alex Hartwig cruised to victory in the 12 lap feature for the Bandoleros in a race that featured the largest field for the division in Madison history.
Keagen Benz and Emma Huntsiger brought the field to the green flag. Huntsiger jumped out to the lead followed by Anna Price, but moving up through the field was the very speedy Alex Hartwig.
On lap 3 Hartwig moved to second ahead of Price and started closing the gap on Huntsiger. On the next lap Hartwig powered by Huntsiger coming out of turn four to take the lead and by the half-way point had a huge lead as he worked his way in and out of lapped traffic.
The best race was for second between Huntsiger and Karter Stark who were also doing a great job working through lapped traffic. Stark finished in second place followed by Kole Guralski, Huntsiger, and Price.
The Bandoleros did not qualify. Six lap heat races were won by Chase Wangsness and Cole Guralski.
Racing continues on Friday June 16th with action in the Late Models, Sportsman, Bandits and the visiting Illini Midgets plus the second annual “Beer Mile” on the Ring of Fire. Grandstands open at 6:00 with qualifying at 6:20 and racing at 7:30.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is here on Friday, June 23rd for the Montgomery Ward 200 featuring the top drivers from across the country plus live pit stops.. Advance tickets are on sale now at participating Menards stores for just $15.00.
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Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models
Feature 30 laps
1. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [2]; 2. 14N-Austin Nason, [5]; 3. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [4]; 4. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [8]; 5. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [1]; 6. 18L-Brady Liddle, [6]; 7. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [9]; 8. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [11]; 9. 14R-Zack Riddle, [10]; 10. 18B-Brian Beale, [7]; 11. 40G-Tom Gille, [3]; 12. 15WR-Will Rece, [12]; 13. 00W-Brody Willett, [13]; 14. 19B-John Baumeister, [18]; 15. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [21]; 16. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [15]; 17. 1A-Steve Anderson, [14]; 18. 12B-Billy Baumeister, [17]; 19. 15C-Michael Clapper, [16]; 20. 37R-Seth Reamer, [19]; 21. 32D-Paul Dygon, [20]; (DNS) 15R-Pat Richgels,
Dash 6 laps
1. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [4]; 2. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [3]; 3. 14R-Zack Riddle, [2]; 4. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [5]; 5. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [1]; 6. 18B-Brian Beale, [6]
Heat 1 10 laps
1. 1A-Steve Anderson, [2]; 2. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [4]; 3. 15C-Michael Clapper, [6]; 4. 12B-Billy Baumeister, [3]; 5. 19B-John Baumeister, [5]; 6. 37R-Seth Reamer, [1]; 7. 32D-Paul Dygon, [7]
Heat 2 10 laps
1. 15WR-Will Rece, [2]; 2. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [4]; 3. 00W-Brody Willett, [1]; 4. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [3]; 5. 14N-Austin Nason, [7]; 6. 40G-Tom Gille, [5]; 7. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [6]
Heat 3 10 laps
1. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [3]; 2. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [5]; 3. 18B-Brian Beale, [2]; 4. 18L-Brady Liddle, [1]; 5. 14R-Zack Riddle, [6]; 6. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [7]; 7. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [4]
Qualifying 2 laps | 00:00:00
1. 33K-Kevin Knuese, [10]; 2. 14R-Zack Riddle, [20]; 3. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [18]; 4. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [13]; 5. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [15]; 6. 18B-Brian Beale, [4]; 7. 18L-Brady Liddle, [11]; 8. 14N-Austin Nason, [14]; 9. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [21]; 10. 40G-Tom Gille, [9]; 11. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [5]; 12. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [8]; 13. 15WR-Will Rece, [17]; 14. 00W-Brody Willett, [22]; 15. 15C-Michael Clapper, [6]; 16. 19B-John Baumeister, [3]; 17. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [12]; 18. 12B-Billy Baumeister, [2]; 19. 1A-Steve Anderson, [1]; 20. 37R-Seth Reamer, [16]; 21. 32D-Paul Dygon, [7]; 22. 15R-Pat Richgels, [19]
Dave’s White Rock Sportsman
Feature 20 laps
1. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [7]; 2. 4T-Mike Taylor, [6]; 3. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [4]; 4. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [3]; 5. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [1]; 6. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [9]; 7. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [2]; 8. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [5]; (DNS) 7M-Sam Messell,
Dash 6 laps | 00:00:00
1. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [1]; 2. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [4]; 3. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [3]; 4. 4T-Mike Taylor, [2]; 5. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [5]
Heat 1 8 laps
1. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [1]; 2. 4T-Mike Taylor, [3]; 3. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [2]; 4. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [4]
Heat 2 8 laps
1. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [3]; 2. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [2]; 3. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [5]; 4. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [1]; 5. 7M-Sam Messell, [4]
Qualifying 2 laps | 00:00:00
1. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [2]; 2. 4T-Mike Taylor, [8]; 3. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [7]; 4. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [4]; 5. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [5]; 6. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [3]; 7. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [9]; 8. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [1]; 9. 7M-Sam Messell, [6]
Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits
Feature 20 laps
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [5]; 2. 49A-McKayla Adams, [3]; 3. 695S-Dan Snyder, [4]; 4. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [6]; 5. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [7]; 6. 77W-Cade Watters, [1]; 7. 83K-Bill Kohn, [2]; 8. 0P-Steve Putman, [8]; 9. 95L-Dan Lerdahl, [9]; 10. 13S-Travis Schneeberg, [10]
Dash 6 laps
1. 695S-Dan Snyder, [2]; 2. 49A-McKayla Adams, [3]; 3. 83K-Bill Kohn, [4]; 4. 77W-Cade Watters, [5]; 5. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [6]
Heat 1 8 laps
1. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [4]; 2. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [3]; 3. 0P-Steve Putman, [2]; 4. 95L-Dan Lerdahl, [1]; 5. 13S-Travis Schneeberg, [5]
Heat 2 8 laps
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [5]; 2. 49A-McKayla Adams, [3]; 3. 695S-Dan Snyder, [4]; 4. 83K-Bill Kohn, [2]
Qualifying 2 laps | 00:00:00
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [1]; 2. 695S-Dan Snyder, [2]; 3. 49A-McKayla Adams, [3]; 4. 83K-Bill Kohn, [4]; 5. 77W-Cade Watters, [5]; 6. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [6]; 7. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [7]; 8. 0P-Steve Putman, [8]; 9. 95L-Dan Lerdahl, [9]; 10. 13S-Travis Schneeberg, [10]
Bandoleros
Feature 12 laps
1. 901H-Alex Hartwig, [8]; 2. 92S-Karter Stark, [6]; 3. 56G-Kole Guralski, [12]; 4. 16H-Emma Huntsiger, [2]; 5. 64PM-Anna Price, [4]; 6. 20G-Jevin Guralski, [10]; 7. 5R-Robbie Rucks, [11]; 8. 17B-Keagen Benz, [1]; 9. 109W-Mason Wilcott, [5]; 10. 90G-Michael Guderski, [3]; 11. 8W-Chase Wangsness, [13]; 12. 70K-Keegan Kehoe, [7]; 13. 11W-Kaeden Wangsness, [9]
Heat 1 6 laps
1. 8W-Chase Wangsness, [1]; 2. 5R-Robbie Rucks, [3]; 3. 11W-Kaeden Wangsness, [4]; 4. 70K-Keegan Kehoe, [5]; 5. 109W-Mason Wilcott, [2]; 6. 90G-Michael Guderski, [6]; 7. 17B-Keagen Benz, [7]
Heat 2 6 laps
1. 56G-Kole Guralski, [3]; 2. 20G-Jevin Guralski, [4]; 3. 901H-Alex Hartwig, [2]; 4. 92S-Karter Stark, [5]; 5. 64PM-Anna Price, [1]; 6. 16H-Emma Huntsiger, [6]
Legends
Feature 20 laps
1. 140M-Aaron Moyer, [5]; 2. 77S-Riley Stenjem, [3]; 3. 41M-Max McNamara, [4]; 4. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck, [2]; 5. 34M-Derek Mueller, [1]
Heat 8 laps
1. 41M-Max McNamara, [4]; 2. 140M-Aaron Moyer, [5]; 3. 77S-Riley Stenjem, [3]; 4. 34M-Derek Mueller, [1]; 5. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck, [2]
Qualifying 2 laps | 00:00:00
1. 41M-Max McNamara, [2]; 2. 140M-Aaron Moyer, [1]; 3. 77S-Riley Stenjem, [3]; 4. 27S-Dillon Schwanbeck, [4]; 5. 34M-Derek Mueller, [5]