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Madison International Speedway | |||||||||
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KENSETH TOPS FIRST SUPPLY ALL-STAR CHALLENGE AT MIS!!! By Dan Margetta Oregon, Wis, (June 26) Continuing to add to his stellar list of accomplishments, Matt Kenseth drove to victory Tuesday night at the Madison International Speedway in dominating fashion in the First Supply All-Star Challenge presented by Capitol City Harley-Davidson to notch his first win in the annual late model special. “Im just glad I didn't have to race against any other Pathfinder Chassis,” Kenseth commented alluding to his potent ride that led 78 laps of the 100-lap event. “From the first lap on the race track, I knew we had a great car,” Kenseth continued, “It turned so great in the middle it was just fun to drive.” Starting from the inside of the second row, Kenseth followed early leader Steve Carlson for the opening 21 laps before seizing an opportunity to take command of the race with an outside move exiting turn two on lap 22. ”He's (Carlson) so smooth, I knew he wasn't going to miss the bottom,”Kenseth stated, describing his early battle for the top spot. “So I just went to the outside and gassed it.” Once out front, Kenseth was never seriously challenged, easing out to a substantial lead following restarts through six caution periods before driving to a twelve car-length victory over Mark Eswein and Nathan Haseleu. Eswein and Haseleu provided the best drama on the speedway in the closing laps as they raced door to door for the runner-up spot with Eswein edging Haseleu at the finish. “I'm real proud of our team and the effort,”Eswein stated. “My two favorite NASCAR drivers are Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart (who finished 7th) and Nate (Haseleu) is my good friend, so it was a fun night.” “We just missed it in the second half,” Haseleu said after following Kenseth for most of the night before being nipped for second by Eswein. “We were pretty loose there at the end and the halfway break hurt us because we made the wrong adjustments.” Eddie Hoffman used a late race charge to capture the fourth spot at the checkered flag while Jacob Humphrey ran what may be considered his best race to date, coming home with a solid and respectable fifth place finish. Jeremy Lepak crossed the stripe in sixth place and NASCAR Nextel Cup star Tony Stewart raced among the top-runners all night to notch a seventh place result. “This is only my fifth pavement late model race,” Stewart told an enthusiastic crowd estimated at 8,000. “I got a chance to follow Matt (Kenseth) earlier and picked up three tenths. There's a lot of good guys out here so in 100 laps, I was bound to learn something.” Dave Feiler, Chad Wood, and Bobby Wilberg rounded out the top ten finishers in the large 36-car field. Steve Carlson launched into the lead at the start from his outside front row starting position while Kenseth and Jeremy Lepak battled for second with Kenseth taking the position on lap three. A spin by Trent Snyder in turn four drew the first caution flag on lap nine with Carlson leading Kenseth, Lepak, Wilberg, and Dave Feiler. As racing resumed, Carlson and Kenseth once again marched ahead of the pack while Haseleu moved up to challenge Feiler and Wilberg for positions in the top five. Andy Monday found the wall in turn four on lap 15 and the event was slowed under the yellow flag again. This time as the green flag appeared, Kenseth was able to stay with Carlson and after dogging him on the inside for a few laps, moved up to the outside groove to pull alongside on lap 21. As the two leaders exited turn two on lap 22, Kenseth was able to build momentum on the high side and he raced by Carlson and into the lead. A minor tangle between Gregg Ruffalo and Kyle Kinder in turn two on lap 44 brought out another caution flag on lap 44, just before the field took a mandatory break at the halfway mark on lap 50 with Kenseth leading Carlson, Haseleu, Eswein, and Humphrey. The race's second half was conducted relatively incident-free as Kenseth maintained his lead while Haseleu worked on Carlson for second. Haseleu eventually made his bid work on lap 62, moving to the inside to take the spot while Eswein closed in fourth. Carlson found himself slipping up the speedway and by the time he could regroup, both Eswein and Humphrey had made their way by. A spin by Tommy Pecaro off turn two on lap 80 set up a twenty-lap dash to the finish. The field barely received the green flag when mechanical problems on Kelly Bires' car created a logjam that sent Dennis Prunty nosing along the frontstretch wall as the yellow reappeared. This time as racing resumed, Kenseth was able to leap out ahead of Haseleu who had his hands full with Eswein while farther back Eddie Hoffman began to come to life, racing around Stewart and charging through the field. With Kenseth comfortably in the lead, Eswein moved alongside Haseleu to challenge for second, finally making the move stick with four laps to go while Hoffman continued his charge, maneuvering around Humphrey to grab fourth. At the finish, Kenseth took the checkered flag first to score the win followed by Eswein and Haseleu while Hoffman and Humphrey finished fourth and fifth respectively. Haseleu topped the speed charts in qualifying after touring the speedway in 17.683 seconds. Trent Snyder was the winner of the first qualifying race over Chad Wood and Todd Kluever. Matt Kocourek and Nick Hammer rounded out the top five. Dexter Bean took the win in the second qualifying heat race over Jonathan Eilen and Steve Rubeck. Dennis Prunty and Gregg Ruffalo were fourth and fifth respectively. First Supply All Star Challenge 100 Laps Matt Kenseth, Mark Eswein, Nathan Haseleu, Eddie Hoffman, Jacob Humphrey, Jeremy LePak, Tony Stewart, Dave Feiler, Chad Wood, Bobby Wilberg Steve Carlson, Frank Kreyer, Todd Kluever, Dexter Bean, Trent Snyder, Brian Johnson Jr., Andrew Morrissey, Steve Rubeck, Dale Prunty, Matt Kocourek Gregg Ruffalo, Steve Schulz, Derek Thorn, Kelly Bires, Dennis Prunty, Tommy Pecaro, Justin Phillpot, Matt Raudabaugh, John Baumeister, Scott Ollerman Kyle Kinder, Jonathan Eilen, John Wood, Andy Monday, Bryant Goldsmith, Nick Hammer Fast Time: Nathan Haseleu 17.683 Qualifying Race #1: Trent Snyder Qualifying Race #2: Dexter Bean Michael Bilderback Tops Legends Field By John Wells Fiftteen year old Michael Bilderback grabbed the lead early and cruised to victory in the 25 lap Legends feature. Bilderback, who races weekly at MIS in the limited late model division, took the early lead followed by Joel Wyttenbach and Kyle LaPier. On lap 5 LaPier had pulled alongside Bilderback for the lead until the caution flag came out for a spin. LaPier and Wyttenbach battled for second behind Bilderback, but the fastest car in the twenty car field belonged to Blake Brown. Running the high line, Brown weaved his way through traffic and was up to second on lap 11. One lap later Brown and LaPier would make contact sending both to the rear of the field. Bilderback continued his advantage over the field with Wyttenbach and Matt Booker fighting it out for second place. By lap 20, Bilderback had built a solid advantage over Booker only to have it taken away when the race's sixth caution flag waved for another spin. The restart was once again favorable for Bilderback who was able to hold off the field to pick up the win. Finishing off an incredible run from the back of the field, Brown would edge Booker for second followed by Wyttenbach, and Eric Barth. Matt Kenseth's son, Ross, would finish sixth just ahead of Tony Stewart's father, Nelson, who was seventh. Heat races were won by LaPier and Alex Arelano. The Legends return to Madison International Speedway on Friday, July 13th. Nine is Enough for Moyer By John Wells Aaron Moyer picked up his first ever feature win at Madison International Speedway by winning the rain-shortened feature for the Bandoleros. Anthony Matello took the lead on the first lap before the caution flag came out for a spin. Matello would maintain a slight advantage on the restart before relinquishing the top spot to Moyer on lap 3. Moyer's lead was short-lived as Vern Fagerberg made an inside pass on lap 4 to take over the point. Moyer was not about to give up as he was able to get by Fagerberg on the inside on lap 6 and take back the lead. It appeared that the two, along with Blake Brown, were going to treat the fans to a great show out front. However, the skies opened up and a heavy downpour forced the cars to the pits on lap nine and the race was called complete. Following Moyer, Fagerberg, and Brown were Caylie Duncanson and Matello. Brown won the heat race. The Bandoleros will return to Madison International Speedway on Friday, July 13th. Results Legends Feature 25 Laps Michael Bilderback, Blake Brown, Matt Booker, Joel Wyttenbach, Eric Barth, Ross Kenseth, Nelson Stewart, Alex Arelano, Dave Townsend, Tim Narr Warren Ropp, Max McNamara, Cody Townsend, Bethany Wyttenbach, Mike Mueller, 61, Steve Boelter, Rich Miller, Cullen Camasta, Kyle LaPier, 42 Heat One: Kyle LaPier Heat Two: Alex Arelano Bandoleros Feature 9 Laps Aaron Moyer, Vern Fagerberg, Blake Brown, Caylie Duncanson, Anthony Matello, Brandon Heisler, Cory Cootware, Blaz Daul, Cody Daul, Jesse Bernhagen Hope Bidlack Heat One: Brown
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