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| by Kari Shear-Carlson “Obviously this streak is going to end eventually. We all know that.” But it wasn’t going to be today. Travis Sauter took home his tenth consecutive super late model victory at Madison International Speedway in the ARCA Midwest Tour presented Scag Power Equipment and Lester Buildings Border Wars Part 2 150 lap event. Dennis Prunty and Ross Kenseth led the field to green and ran side-by-side on lap one. Kenseth got the edge coming out of turn two. The nine-time consecutive winner at Madison International Speedway started in the fifth spot. Prunty looked to the outside of Kenseth on lap five and took the lead back. Sauter was being patient sitting in fifth. i-gogs Touring Star Jeff Storm and DOC 360 Touring Star Chris Wimmer got together a little bit on the back stretch but gathered it back up. Sauter moved up to fourth past DOC 360 Touring Star Nathan Haseleu. Storm and Wimmer continued to battle for the sixth spot. Wimmer disposed of Storm and left it open for i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Andrew Morrissey as he slid under Storm as well. Storm was locked on the outside as i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Dan Fredrickson and i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Jonathan Eilen made their way past. Meanwhile Travis Sauter got a run on Bobby Wilberg for third on lap 14 and set his sights on Kenseth. Fredrickson spun on his own coming out of turn two bringing out the first caution. As the field lined up double-file with 136 to go, Prunty chose the outside with Kenseth going to the inside followed by Sauter. Wimmer also went to the outside. Prunty got the jump as Wimmer took second over Kenseth on the outside and settled into third. Sauter fell back from third to fifth, but was already setting up Morrissey to take back the fourth spot. The top five got some breathing room up front. Sauter got under Morrissey for fourth, but Storm spun in turn three causing the field to revert back to the previous lap. Dan Fredrickson pulled into the pits under the caution but returned without going a lap down. He recovered to finish third in the end. “I just have to make it so hard on myself,” said Fredrickson after racing his way all the way from the back after that early spin. This time at the restart Prunty chose the inside. Wimmer went outside. Wimmer was able to get the jump over Prunty taking the lead away. Morrissey was able to grab the second spot. Prunty cleared Kenseth and had to deal with Sauter. Sauter tucked it under Kenseth on the backstretch and got past for fourth on lap 25. Wimmer continued to show the way with about a four car length lead. Sauter quickly closed the gap on Prunty for third and took the position away on the next lap. Sauter started reeling in Morrissey for second. Sauter looked to the outside of Morrissey. He continued to hold on and got by Morrissey on the backstretch but Morrissey was off the pace the next lap. Dennis Prunty and i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Rich Bickle got together on the front stretch causing Bickle to spin and he shared his displeasure under caution pinching Prunty towards the wall as he drove by. Bickle pulled into the pits but returned under caution and did not lose a lap. With 84 to go Wimmer continued to lead followed by Sauter, Kenseth, Vita Ice Touring Star, Skylar Holzhausen and Haseleu. At the restart Wimmer went to the outside as Sauter chose the inside followed by Kenseth on the inside. Holzhausen went to the outside of Wimmer. Wimmer was sideways on the restart but the ARCA Midwest Tour officials didn’t like the start so they tried it again. The second time was a charm. Wimmer made it stick as Sauter tucked into second. Holzhausen got by Kenseth for third. Fredrickson moved up to sixth. Sauter closed in on Wimmer with three laps to the break but not within striking distance to close the deal before the 12-minute break. At the break the top five were Wimmer, Sauter, Holzhausen, Kenseth, and Haseleu. After making some adjustments the field line-up for the second half of the 150-lap event. Wimmer chose the outside with Kenseth right behind him. Sauter went to the inside followed by Holzhausen. Sauter once again settled for second. Wimmer and Sauter were pulling away as Kenseth was trying to hold the inside line to hold off Holzhausen. Skylar took him on the outside for third. Sauter closed in on Wimmer and started taking a peek to the inside. They were side by side on the backstretch, Wimmer tried to take the lead back but Sauter held him off with 65 to go. Fredrickson was now up to fourth trying to close in on Holzhausen for third. Another caution flag flew for a spin with Prunty and Blake Brown in turn two. This time at the restart Sauter chose the outside and let Wimmer go to the inside. Fredrickson also chose the outside of Holzhausen in the row two. Sauter tried to pull Wimmer on the outside but Wimmer touched Sauter a little bit on the backstretch. The two held on to it heading into turn three but as they came across the line Griffin McGrath spun bringing out the caution. Sauter once again chose the outside line. With 60 to go they went green again. Sauter got a good restart and was able to pull away a little bit from Wimmer. Fredrickson was trying to make a move on Holzhausen for the third spot but settled into fourth. Sauter continued to pull away a little bit as Wimmer had to deal with the pressure of Holzhausen and Fredrickson in waiting. The field started to stretch out but the lapped traffic was fighting for position in front of Sauter allowing Wimmer to close in, but Holzhausen was doing the same behind Wimmer with only 30 laps to go. Once he got through traffic Sauter started to stretch it out once again. Holzhausen dove to the inside of Wimmer and made the pass for second on the backstretch. With 15 to go, Fredrickson was closing in on Wimmer for the third spot diving under him for the spot going into turn three. At the line it was Sauter, Holzhausen and Fredrickson. Holzhausen definitely raced his way into second and had a great run overall. “It was a good run to run with him (Sauter). Having him fall back, I don’t know if he was just babying it or what,” said the second place finisher. Sauter will continue to try to keep his streak going, but he knows that it isn’t going to be easy as today proved. “These guys are good man. You gotta get after it and that’s what we did,” said Sauter. Rick Turner was the highest finishing ARCA/CRA Super Series driver finishing in 17th. Brandon Oakely was next in 25th followed by Ali Kern in 28th and Kenny Tweedy in 29th. The next event for the ARCA Midwest Tour is Friday, August 16th at Norway Speedway in Norway, MI. For event information log on to arcamidwesttour.com |
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Learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, by logging on to arcamidwesttour.com. For questions call the ARCA Midwest Tour office at (630) 212-6022 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or Steve Einhaus at (262) 729-4111 or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@arcamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@arcamidwesttour.com.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned 30 ARCA national champions in 60 seasons since 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season.
Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in four professional touring series and local weekly events.
Feature Finish
VDL, B&B Racing Engines Fast Qualifier: 5M Jeremy Miller (1st Career ARCAMT Qualifying Award) Hedman Husler Hedders Husler Zone (Winners Circle): 1) 5 Travis Sauter; 2) 78 Skylar Holzhausen; 3) 36 Dan Fredrickson
Hedman Husler and Tesar Engineering Hard Charger: 97 James Swan (+15 Total Event // +4 Dash +11 Feature)
Provisional Starters: None
Next Race: DOC 3560 100L at Norway Speedway in Norway, Michigan on Friday, August 16th, 2013
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