Photos courtesy of TJ Harron Photography / TJHarron.com
Byrne Sets New Track Record
Bobby Wilberg, Ryan Goldade, and Brandon DeLacy picked up feature wins as part of the 2016 Season Opener at Madison International Speedway.
But the biggest news of the night was the Mad Town Meltdown and a new track record by David Byrne of Shullsburg, Wisconsin, who wheeled his Winged Sprint Car around Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile in 14.624 seconds for an average speed of 123.09 mph. Byrne will be back at Madison on Friday, June 3rd as part of the Must See Racing Sprint Series.
Bobby Wilberg Back in Victory Lane at Madison
Bobby Wilberg won the 30 lap feature for the NASCAR Whelen All American Late Models.
Brady Liddle and Kevin Knuese brought the field to the green flag. Liddle jumped out to the early advantage with John Beale up to second on lap 2 followed by Jon Reynolds Jr., Bobby Wilberg, and Zack Riddle. Liddle and Beale put some distance between themselves and the field. On lap 7 Beale powered his way to the inside of Liddle coming out of turn four to take the lead. Wilberg was quickly up to join the leaders as the three broke out to a ten car length advantage over the fourth and fifth place cars of Reynolds Jr. and Riddle.
Wilberg worked his way down low coming out of turn three to take second from Liddle on lap 13. Beale continued his leading ways, but Wilberg was chipping away little by little closing the gap with each lap. With ten laps to go the lead was one car length and on lap 21 Beale drifted up the track coming out of turn two giving the lead to Wilberg.
From there it was all Wilberg who quickly built up a six length advantage over Beale. Behind the top two a great battle was taking place for third between Liddle and Riddle.
But there was no denying Wilberg who cruised to victory lane for the win. Beale, Liddle, Riddle, and Knuese rounded out the top five.
“This is just amazing. This is our first new motor in fifteen years,” said Wilberg from victory lane.
Bobby Wilberg won the six lap RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Ten lap heat races were won by Brady Liddle and Kevin Knuese. Zack Riddle set fast time with a lap of 18.617.
Ryan Goldade Edges Jason Thoma for Sportsman Win
Defending track champion Ryan Goldade saved his best for the last few laps as he won the 20 lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock Sportsman.
Starting on the outside of the front row, Jason Thoma took the lead from the start and had a sizeable advantage over the field until the caution flag came out on lap 15.
Thoma was able to maintain his lead following the restart, but Goldade was not going to let him out of his sights as both he and Robert Hansberry Jr. were up for the challenge. With three laps to go Goldade pulled to the inside of Thoma and the two ran door to door until Goldade found the room he needed coming out of turn three to take the lead and pick up the win. Thoma held off Hansberry Jr. for the runner-up spot with Scott Luck and Steve Anderson rounding out the top five.
“We’ve had a long three weeks. We had to get a lot of things fixed in this car. We’ve got a great engine builder who got our engine back to us in four days. We came out fighting tonight,” said Goldade.
Hansberry Jr. won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Heat winners were Trevor Robinson and Steve Anderson. Hansberry Jr. set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 19.617.
Brandon DeLacy Wins a Bandit Thriller
Brandon DeLacy picked up the checkered flag in the 20 lap Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandit feature on the “Ring of Fire.”
McKayla Adams and Steve Dickson brought the fifteen car Bandit field to the green flag. Adams took the early lead from the inside with Dickson working the outside and Joe DiMaggio following Dickson. On lap 4 Dickson moved around Adams to take the lead with James Junget and Nick Schmidt up to second and third.
On lap 6 Dave Schmidt moved up to third followed by Ronnie Coppernoll. At the half-way mark Dickson adeptly worked his way through lapped traffic as the top five raced alone out front. But it was quick qualifier DeLacy who was making the most noise behind the leaders.
With lapped traffic always in play on the Ring of Fire, Dickson and Schmidt were closing fast on the tail end of the field again with two laps to go. While DeLacy was coming up on the outside, Dickson was caught behind a lapped car which allowed DeLacy to make the pass on the outside to take the lead and power his way to the checkered flag. Nick Schmidt finished in second place followed by Dave Schmidt, James Junget, and Lyle Phillips.
“It was a nice win. There are some great cars in this division and it’s good to see many of them out here tonight,” said DeLacy from victory lane.
Nick Schmidt won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Fast time in qualifying was set by Brandon DeLacy with a lap of 14.970. Eight lap heat races were won by McKayla Adams and Brandon DeLacy.
Woody Pool Wins Vintage Feature
Woody Pool took the lead with four laps to go to pick up the win in the Vintage Racing of Illinois feature.
It appeared that Randy Lucas was going to check away from the field as he took the lead from the start. But Pool was moving up through the field and was able to catch Lucas to take the lead and roll to victory lane. Kenny Osborne overtook Lucas for second with Gene Pennington and Ken Lewis rounding out the top five.
The heat races were won by Kenny Osborne and Justin Rutledge.
Racing continues next Friday night (May 27th) for Kids’ Night with all children eleven and under admitted free. Free water bottles for the first 500 kids plus a kids’ candy scramble at intermission. Racing action will take place in the NASCAR Late Models, Dave’s White Rock Sportsman, 6Shooters, and Midwest Compact Touring Series. Practice begins at 5:00 with qualifying at 6:15 and racing at 7:30.
Results
Late Models 5/20/2016
30 Lap Feature:1. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 2. John Beale (Madison, WI), 3. Brady Liddle (Oregon, WI), 4. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 5. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 6. John Baumeister (Beloit, WI), 7. Jon Reynolds Jr. (Rockford, IL), 8. Tom Gille (Winnebago, IL), 9. Matt Lundberg (Rockton, IL), 10. Grant Griesbach (Waukesha, WI), 11. Hunter Drefahl (Evansville, WI), 12. Pat Richgels (Lake Mills, WI), 13. Shawn Gunsolus (Stoughton, WI), 14. Rusty Hansen (Sun Prairie, WI)- DNS
Heat 1:1. Brady Liddle (Oregon, WI), 2. John Baumeister (Beloit, WI), 3. Pat Richgels (Lake Mills, WI), 4. Grant Griesbach (Waukesha, WI), 5. Shawn Gunsolus (Stoughton, WI), 6. Hunter Drefahl (Evansville, WI), 7. Tom Gille (Winnebago, IL),
Heat 2:1. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 2. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 3. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 4. John Beale (Madison, WI), 5. Rusty Hansen (Sun Prairie, WI), 6. Matt Lundberg (Rockton, IL), 7. Jon Reynolds Jr. (Rockford, IL),
Qualifying:1. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 2. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 3. Jon Reynolds Jr. (Rockford, IL), 4. Matt Lundberg (Rockton, IL), 5. John Beale (Madison, WI), 6. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 7. Rusty Hansen (Sun Prairie, WI), 8. Brady Liddle (Oregon, WI), 9. John Baumeister (Beloit, WI), 10. Tom Gille (Winnebago, IL), 11. Grant Griesbach (Waukesha, WI), 12. Pat Richgels (Lake Mills, WI), 13. Shawn Gunsolus (Stoughton, WI), 14. Hunter Drefahl (Evansville, WI),
RA Heating / AC Dash:1. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 2. Matt Lundberg (Rockton, IL), 3. John Beale (Madison, WI), 4. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 5. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 6. Jon Reynolds Jr. (Rockford, IL),
Sportsman 5/20/2016
20 Lap Feature:1. Ryan Goldade (Edgerton, WI), 2. Robert Hansberry (Beloit, WI), 3. Jason Thoma (Jefferson, WI), 4. Scott Luck (North Freedom, WI), 5. Steve Anderson (Evansville, WI), 6. Trevor Robinson (Beloit, WI), 7. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 8. Mark DePorter (Fort Atkinson, WI), 9. Chad Smith (Davis Junction, IL), 10. Gary Hellenbrand (Verona, WI), 11. Tim Wondrash (Brooklyn, WI), 12. Johnny Robinson II (South Beloit, IL),
Heat 1:1. Trevor Robinson (Beloit, WI), 2. Mark DePorter (Fort Atkinson, WI), 3. Chad Smith (Davis Junction, IL), 4. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 5. Johnny Robinson II (South Beloit, IL), 6. Gary Hellenbrand (Verona, WI), 7. Tim Wondrash (Brooklyn, WI),
Heat 2:1. Steve Anderson (Evansville, WI), 2. Scott Luck (North Freedom, WI), 3. Jason Thoma (Jefferson, WI), 4. Ryan Goldade (Edgerton, WI), 5. Robert Hansberry (Beloit, WI),
Qualifying:1. Robert Hansberry (Beloit, WI), 2. Ryan Goldade (Edgerton, WI), 3. Steve Anderson (Evansville, WI), 4. Jason Thoma (Jefferson, WI), 5. Scott Luck (North Freedom, WI), 6. Mark DePorter (Fort Atkinson, WI), 7. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 8. Chad Smith (Davis Junction, IL), 9. Trevor Robinson (Beloit, WI), 10. Gary Hellenbrand (Verona, WI), 11. Tim Wondrash (Brooklyn, WI), 12. Johnny Robinson II (South Beloit, IL),
RA Heating / AC Dash:1. Robert Hansberry (Beloit, WI), 2. Jason Thoma (Jefferson, WI), 3. Steve Anderson (Evansville, WI), 4. Scott Luck (North Freedom, WI), 5. Mark DePorter (Fort Atkinson, WI), 6. Ryan Goldade (Edgerton, WI),
Bandits 5/20/2016
20 Lap Feature:1. Brandon DeLacy (Stoughton, WI), 2. Nick Schmidt (Watertown, WI), 3. David Schmidt (Cudahy, WI), 4. James Junget (Rio, WI), 5. Lyle Phillips (Edgerton, WI), 6. Ronnie Coppernoll (Sun Prairie, WI), 7. Chris Tolliver (Watertown, WI), 8. McKayla Adams (Sun Prairie, WI), 9. John Preston (Pardeeville, WI), 10. Cade Watters (Sun Prairie, WI), 11. Dan Lerdahl (Evansville, WI), 12. Steve Dickson (Rockton, IL), 13. Brandon Schirmer (Monroe, WI), 14. Sam Messel (Monroe, WI), 15. Joe DiMaggio (Oregon, WI),
Heat 1:1. McKayla Adams (Sun Prairie, WI), 2. Ronnie Coppernoll (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Chris Tolliver (Watertown, WI), 4. Cade Watters (Sun Prairie, WI), 5. Dan Lerdahl (Evansville, WI), 6. Sam Messel (Monroe, WI), 7. Brandon Schirmer (Monroe, WI),
Heat 2:1. Brandon DeLacy (Stoughton, WI), 2. David Schmidt (Cudahy, WI), 3. James Junget (Rio, WI), 4. Lyle Phillips (Edgerton, WI), 5. John Preston (Pardeeville, WI), 6. Joe DiMaggio (Oregon, WI), 7. Nick Schmidt (Watertown, WI), 8. Steve Dickson (Rockton, IL),
Qualifying:1. Brandon DeLacy (Stoughton, WI), 2. Nick Schmidt (Watertown, WI), 3. Lyle Phillips (Edgerton, WI), 4. David Schmidt (Cudahy, WI), 5. John Preston (Pardeeville, WI), 6. James Junget (Rio, WI), 7. Joe DiMaggio (Oregon, WI), 8. Steve Dickson (Rockton, IL), 9. McKayla Adams (Sun Prairie, WI), 10. Ronnie Coppernoll (Sun Prairie, WI), 11. Chris Tolliver (Watertown, WI), 12. Dan Lerdahl (Evansville, WI), 13. Cade Watters (Sun Prairie, WI), 14. Sam Messel (Monroe, WI), 15. Brandon Schirmer (Monroe, WI),
RA Heating / AC Dash:1. Nick Schmidt (Watertown, WI), 2. David Schmidt (Cudahy, WI), 3. Brandon DeLacy (Stoughton, WI), 4. Lyle Phillips (Edgerton, WI), 5. John Preston (Pardeeville, WI), 6. James Junget (Rio, WI),
Vintage Feature: 1-10 Woody Pool, Kenny Osborne, Randy Lucas, Gene Pennington, Ken Lewis, Justin Rutledge, Butch Mierendorf, Tom Collins, Chris Matz, Ryan Grentschman
11-12 Matt Ramer, Tim Everson
Vintage Heat 1: Kenny Osborne, Woody Pool, Ken Lewis, Dick Kath, Matt Ramer, Gene Pennington
Vintage Heat 2: Justin Rutledge, Randy Lucas, Chris Matz, Tom Collins, Butch Mierendorf, Ryan Grentchsman