Zack Riddle and John Wood Big Winners at MIS
Oregon, WI- Friday, June 29, 2012- Zack Riddle won the Big 8 Late Model race while John Wood was victorious in the ASA Truck event at Madison International Speedway as part of Salute to America.
Riddle Big Winner in Big 8
Zack Riddle edged Ryan Carlson to win the 48 lap Big 8 Late Model feature as part of Salute to America Night at MIS.
John Ovadal Jr. and Bill Baumeister brought the huge field of twenty-nine Big 8 Late Models to the green flag. Baumeister had the early advantage before the caution flag came out on lap 2 when Rob Myers spun in turn four.
Baumeister got a good jump on the restart to maintain his lead with Ovadal Jr. and Wilberg running side by side by second closely followed by John Baumeister Jr.
On lap 6 Baumeister Jr. moved past Wilberg for third while Riddle would overtake him for fourth one lap later. Ryan Carlson raced his way by Wilberg to break into the top five on lap 9.
A spin in turn one on lap 10 brought out the second caution flag of the night, but fortunately everyone was able to avoid the car of Nathan Oppliger that had spun.
Riddle chose to line up outside of Ovadal Jr. in the second row behind Baumeister for the restart. The green flag didn’t stay out long because of a spin in turn four that nearly collected half of the field but the good news is most cars were able to avoid contact.
Baumeister brought the field back to the green on the restart and continued his lead. Ovadal Jr. and Riddle made contact coming down the front stretch with both drivers able to hang on with Ovadal Jr. taking second place. Wilberg raced past Carlson for fourth on lap 13 with Carlson needing to do everything he could to hold off Baumeister Jr.
The race out front was tightening up as Ovadal Jr. looked high and low to get around Baumeister but was unable to find the room to get the job done. This allowed Riddle to join the mix as Wilberg suffered mechanical issues and was forced to pull into the infield moving Jeremy Miller into the top five.
On lap 28 Riddle dropped to the inside of Ovadal Jr. on the backstretch to take second place while Carlson would take third from Ovadal Jr. on lap 30. On lap 31 Riddle would nudge Baumeister up the track coming out of turn four to take the lead.
Riddle built up a multi-car length lead while Baumeister and Carlson were fighting it out for second behind him. Carlson would win the battle with Miller right behind him in third.
Riddle maintained his six car length lead over Carlson and Miller with lapped traffic ahead. On lap 44 Riddle caught the end of the field and worked his way inside and out through the slower cars, but Carlson was not about to let him out of his sight.
The hard charging Carlson was going to give it one more shot on the final lap but would come up just short as Riddle picked up the win by 0.248 seconds to become the fourth different winner in four races for the Big 8 Late Models. Miller finished in third place followed by Bill Baumeister and John Baumeister Jr. Rounding out the top ten were Casey Johnson, Ovadal Jr., Rich Hinerichsen, Jon Reynolds Jr., and Jesse Bernhagen.
The ten lap qualifying races were won by Jesse Bernhagen and Rich Hinerichsen while the six lap dash events went to Ovadal Jr. and Baumeister.
Fast qualifier was Jeremy Miller with a lap of 18.850 followed by Zack Riddle (18.851), Bobby Wilberg (18.909), Ryan Carlson (18.985) and Brady Liddle (19.013).
Feature Results
Big 8 Late Models
48 Lap Feature: 1-10 Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), Ryan Carlson (Loves Park, IL), Jeremy Miller (Rockton, IL), Bill Baumeister (Janesville, WI), John Baumeister Jr. (Lake Geneva, WI), Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), John Ovadal Jr. (Watertown, WI), Rich Hinerichsen (Rockford, IL), Jesse Bernhagen (Markesan, WI)
John Wood Trucks His Way to Victory Lane
John Wood took the lead on lap 15 and never looked back as he held off a field of eighteen ASA Trucks to win the 40 lap feature on Salute to America Night at Madison International Speedway.
Bill Collins and Camden Murphy brought the eighteen truck field to the green flag for their 40 lap feature event. Murphy pulled ahead for the lead at the start followed by Collins and Vince Wilkinson, but the caution came out on lap 2 when the truck of Jacob Van Wazer hit the wall coming out of turn four.
Murphy retained his lead after the green waved again with Collins and Wilkinson still chasing him. John Wood and Chad Wood were up to fourth and fifth on lap 4 with John Wood getting by Wilkinson for third on lap 5 while Murphy coasting out front.
On lap 7 John Wood moved past Collins for second with the hard charging Chad Knaus going by Collins one lap later. Murphy, Wood, and Knaus built up a large lead over the field with Wood working his way to the inside of Murphy on lap 14 to take the lead one lap later.
Knaus was able to take the second spot on lap 18 after moving his way to the inside of Murphy. On lap 21 Knaus was up to challenge Wood for the lead and the duo were set to do battle.
Wood gradually increased his lead to five truck lengths as he and Knaus worked their way through lapped traffic. Murphy remained a distant third followed by James Swan and Jeff Watters.
By lap 33 Wood’s lead had increased to ten lengths and it appeared that the only thing that would stop the local favorite would be a caution flag which never happened as Wood cruised to victory lane and beating Knaus by 1.055 seconds. The best race on the track was for third between Murphy and Swan who raced the final two laps side by side with Murphy getting the nod at the stripe
In the first heat, Steve Schulz took the early lead but charging through the field was Dann Barber who pulled to the outside Schulz on lap four and the two raced side by side. On lap 5 Barber cleared Schulz to take the lead while Jerry Wood was up to battle Schulz for second. Barber led the rest of the way to pick up the win with Wood edging Schulz for the runner-up position.
Camden Murphy took the lead from the start in the second heat race and put some major real estate between himself and the second place truck of Bill Collins. On lap 5 Chad Wood and John Wood both passed up Collins for second and third place. But eight laps would not be enough to catch the leader as Murphy easily picked up the win.
Watters set fast time with a lap of 18.791 followed by Chad Wood (18.862), Swan (18.868), John Wood (18.990) and Knaus (19.000). Rounding out the top ten in qualifying were Wilkinson, Becker, Murphy, Collins, and Corso.
Bob Heine won the 10 lap feature for the Midwest Vintage cars. Jim Heiland started on the pole with Heine on the outside. Heine grabbed the lead on the first lap with Gary Mitidiero quickly up to second place. Mitidiero tried everything he could to cut the gap between himself and the leader but Heine proved to be too strong and led all the way to victory lane. Jerry Schneider finished in third place with Heiland in fourth.
In the second ten lap feature Jerry Schneider and Gary Mitidiero put on a classic battle out front with Schneider taking home the checkered flag when it was all over.
Racing at MIS continues next Friday night with Round Two of the Super Late Model Triple Crown Challenge and the Johnny Ziegler Tribute. See the super late models in 93 laps of feature racing (50 + 43) plus the Ho Chunk Gaming Madison Sportsman and Pellitteri Waste Systems Legends. Pit gates open at 3:30, practice at 4:45, qualifying at 6:15 with racing to follow. For more information about racing at MIS please checkout our website at madisoninternationalspeedway.com.
ASA Trucks 6/29/2012
40 Lap Feature:1. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 2. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 4. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI), 5. Jeff Watters (Mineral Point, WI), 6. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 7. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 8. Vince Wilkinson (Sandwich, IL), 9. Rick Corso (McHenry, IL), 10. Steve Schulz (Sussex, WI), 11. Bill Collins (South St Paul, MN), 12. Ralph Cottone (Onalaska, WI), 13. Darrell Peterson (Elk River, MN), 14. Jerry Suderland (Wisconsin Dells, WI), 15. Brad Becker (Elkhorn, WI), 16. Chad Wood (Madison, WI), 17. Andy Buhrow (Reedsburg, WI), 18. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL),
8 Lap Heat 1:1. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 2. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 3. Steve Schulz (Sussex, WI), 4. Rick Corso (McHenry, IL), 5. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 6. Ralph Cottone (Onalaska, WI), 7. Darrell Peterson (Elk River, MN), 8. Jerry Suderland (Wisconsin Dells, WI), 9. Andy Buhrow (Reedsburg, WI),
8 Lap Heat 2:1. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 2. Chad Wood (Madison, WI), 3. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 4. Bill Collins (South St Paul, MN), 5. Jeff Watters (Mineral Point, WI), 6. Vince Wilkinson (Sandwich, IL), 7. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 8. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI), 9. Brad Becker (Elkhorn, WI),
Qualifying:1. Jeff Watters (Mineral Point, WI), 2. Chad Wood (Madison, WI), 3. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI), 4. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 5. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 6. Vince Wilkinson (Sandwich, IL), 7. Brad Becker (Elkhorn, WI), 8. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 9. Bill Collins (South St Paul, MN), 10. Rick Corso (McHenry, IL), 11. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 12. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 13. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 14. Steve Schulz (Sussex, WI), 15. Ralph Cottone (Onalaska, WI), 16. Darrell Peterson (Elk River, MN), 17. Jerry Suderland (Wisconsin Dells, WI), 18. Andy Buhrow (Reedsburg, WI), 19. David Hatcher (Burlington, WI),