Jerry Wood and Aaron Moyer Take Home Opening Day Wins at MIS
by John Wells
Jerry Wood and Aaron Moyer came away with wins in their respective divisions on opening day at Madison International Speedway as part of the Joe Shear Classic. Wood won the 30 lap feature for the SCAG Power Equipment Midwest Trucks while Moyer was victorious in the 20 lap INEX Legends feature.
Jerry Wood Captures the Midwest Truck Checkered Flag
Jerry Wood won the 30 lap feature for the Scag Power Equipment Midwest Trucks.
Rookie Joshua James led the field of ten Midwest Trucks to the green flag in their 30 lap feature. Dann Barber took the lead before one lap was completed before the caution flag came out on lap 2 for a spin in turn four. Barber continued to lead after the restart with Jerry Wood just a truck length behind. On lap 4 Wood pulled to the inside of Barber coming down the front shoot and the two raced side by side. Meanwhile as the two leaders raced side by side Chad Knaus and Natalie Decker were running side by side for third.
On lap 12 Jerry Wood finally gained an advantage over Barber to take the lead. Wood picked up a couple of lengths on Barber before a spin brought out the caution on lap 16.
Wood and Barber lined up in the front row for the restart with Wood getting the lead back. Decker moved to the inside of Barber to take second on lap 19 while Wood built up a comfortable seven truck length lead. Knaus took third from Barber on lap 20 while John Wood got to the inside of Barber for fourth on lap 21.
The field began to stretch out with Wood taking a ten car length lead over Decker. There wasn’t going to be enough time for Decker as Wood picked up the easy win. Knaus finished third followed by John Wood and Barber.
Even though it may have looked easy from the stands, the winner had a little different take of things. “This gets harder every year,” said the veteran Wood from victory lane.
In the first eight lap heat for the Midwest Trucks Chad Knaus took the lead after one lap while John and Jerry Wood battled it out for second. Natalie Decker took the third spot from Jerry Wood on lap 3 while Knaus was building a three truck length lead over John Wood. Knaus maintained his lead the rest of the way to pick up the win.
Scott Kingswan and Jacob Van Wazer brought the field of five trucks to the green flag for the second heat. Kingswan grabbed the lead from the start and did everything he could to hold off Dann Barber who desperately tried to get by on the inside. The inside didn’t do the trick so Barber tried the outside and took the lead with two laps to go when he got by Kingswan coming out of lap 4 with two laps to go. It was all Barber from that point as he easily picked up the checkered flag.
Jason Schuler was fast qualifier with a lap of 18.530 followed by John Wood at 18.664, Natalie Decker 18.719, Chad Knaus 18.761, and Jerry Wood 18.927.
30 Lap Feature:1. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 2. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI), 3. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 4. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 5. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 6. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 7. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 8. Andy Jirik (Lonsdale, MN), 9. Scott Kingswan (Madison, WI), 10. Jason Schuler (Cambridge, WI),
First Heat:1. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 2. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI), 4. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 5. Jason Schuler (Cambridge, WI),
Second Heat: 1. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 2. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 3. Andy Jirik (Lonsdale, MN), 4. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 5. Scott Kingswan (Madison, WI),
Qualifying:1. Jason Schuler (Cambridge, WI), 2. John Wood (Sun Prairie, WI), 3. Natalie Decker (Eagle River, WI), 4. Chad Knaus (Sun Prairie, WI), 5. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 6. Andy Jirik (Lonsdale, MN), 7. Dann Barber (Oregon, WI), 8. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 9. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 10. Scott Kingswan (Madison, WI),
Moyer Picks Up Where He Left Off Last Season
Aaron Moyer won the 20 lap feature for the INEX Legends and made it two in a row after winning last season’s Fall Classic.
Brian Griffin and Matt O’Leary brought the field to the green flag. Griffin got loose coming out of turn four giving a sizeable lead to O’Leary. Chris Lishamer moved up to second followed by Kevin Griffin. Vince Bartolotta and Aaron Moyer put heavy pressure on Kevin Griffin for third with Bartolotta taking the spot on lap 7.
Defending champion Andy Jones moved up to fifth on lap 8. On lap 9 Bartolotta moved to the inside of Lishamer for second with Moyer quickly up third. Bartolotta took the lead on lap 11 before relinquishing the lead to Moyer on lap 12.
One lap later Jones powered by Bartolotta for second. He began to hunt down the leader, but Moyer was too fast and the second generation driver from Malone, Wisconsin, picked up the checkered flag. Bartolotta finished in third place followed by Cory Talaska and Kevin Griffin.
“This was fun. I love racing here,” said Moyer from victory lane.
Despite having trouble in practice, Aaron Moyer had it figured out by the time he ran the first eight lap heat race as he easily outdistanced the field. Moyer took the lead from the second row on the first lap and built up a huge lead before a caution came out on lap 6 for a spin. It was no problem for Moyer who picked up where he left off on the restart to pick up the win. Tim Narr finished second followed by Brian Griffin.
Kevin Griffin jumped out to the early lead in the second eight lap Legends heat with Matt O’Leary in hot pursuit. Vince Bartolotta took second place from O’Leary on lap 5 and began to chase down the leader. But Griffin was too strong for the field as he was able to hold off his fellow competitors to win the race.
Andy Jones was the fastest of the Legends in qualifying with a lap of 13.922 followed by Vince Bartolotta 14.046, Cory Talaska 14.121, Chris Lishamer 14.137, and Kevin Griffin 14.175.
20 Lap Feature:1. Aaron Moyer (Malone, WI), 2. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 3. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 4. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 5. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL), 6. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 7. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 8. Tim Narr (Raymond, WI), 9. Austin Kunert (Batavia, IL), 10. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI), 11. Matt OLeary (Dyer, IN), 12. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI),
First Heat:1. Aaron Moyer (Malone, WI), 2. Tim Narr (Raymond, WI), 3. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 4. Austin Kunert (Batavia, IL), 5. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI), 6. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI),
Second Heat:1. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL), 2. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 3. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 4. Matt OLeary (Dyer, IN), 5. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 6. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL),
Qualifying:1. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 2. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 3. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 4. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 5. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL), 6. Matt OLeary (Dyer, IN), 7. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 8. Tim Narr (Raymond, WI), 9. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI), 10. Aaron Moyer (Malone, WI), 11. Austin Kunert (Batavia, IL), 12. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI),
During pre-race ceremonies Nathan Haseleu received his trophy for winning the overall championship in the 2012 Super Late Model Triple Crown Challenge Series.
The next event at Madison International Speedway will be Saturday, June 1st when the Badger State Tractor Pullers and Tri County Mini-Rods compete on the infield pulling surface. Racing continues at Madison on Sunday, June 16th with Round One of the Super Late Model Triple Crown Challenge Series, Midwest Trucks, and INEX Legends.
Keep up to date on all of the action at MIS this season by checking out our website at madisoninternationalspeedway.com. You can also follow the track on Facebook and Twitter.