GREENWOOD, Neb. (July 30, 2015) For the first time in his career, 2014 Knoxville Raceway Champion, Ian Madsen, stood in Victory Lane with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network as the 11th different winner in 2015; topping the opening night of the Road to Knoxville at the I-80 Speedway.
Coming from fifth, the St. Marys, NSW, Aust. shoe worked a cross over move on Jeff Swindell in slower traffic, taking the lead on the exit of turn four on Lap 21 to become the 129th winner in Lucas Oil ASCS competition.
“We had a pretty good car; Jeff just got away from me on the restart and I thought we were probably just going to run second, but when he got to traffic, he got messed up by a couple lapped cars and I just made the most of it,” said Madsen in Victory Lane. “I’m very happy to get the win, just wish we’d performed a little better in the 410, but overall it was a good night.”
Having to settle for the runner-up spot in his return to the National Tour, Tennessee’s Jeff Swindell was still smiling on the front straight-a-way.
“This track has really been an Achilles’ Heel for me for a long time. I know back in the 1990’s, we were the opening for the TNN broadcasts; flipping down the back straight-a-way every night, so this place has been pretty rough on me,” chuckled Swindell.
Commenting on the pass, Swindell said, “He didn’t know where he was going, and I didn’t know where he was going. I figured he’d slip up and slide out, instead he went to the top, came down the bottom, then did it again and that got me unwound, and just killed my momentum and as soon as Madsen got by, he did it again and it just took my shot away.”
Working Don Droud, Jr. for most of the back half of the feature, Missouri’s Brian Brown made the last lap pass for the final podium step.
“We’ve kind of felt like we had something for them early, but the driver put the car on the wrong part of the track about five laps in a row so that let those guys get a run. Congrats to Ian and his team,” said Brown. “I felt like with me and Ian starting in the second and third row, who ever got clear first was going to be tough, and when you’re off a little bit with the ASCS National Tour guys, you’re going to run third, and for the last month and a half, this is our best finish so we probably should be a little bit happier but this running two cars is not easy.”
Nebraska’s Don Droud, Jr. put his No. 2 machine into Friday’s A-Feature; taking the final transfer with his fourth place finish. Advancing 13 positions in 25 laps, Odessa’s Josh Baughman completed the top-five as the night’s KSE Hard Charger.
Billy Alley was sixth with Aaron Reutzel seventh after advancing as high as fifth. Matt Covington was eight from 14th with Johnny Herrera charging from 19th to ninth. Brandon Hanks held on to finish tenth.
With 30 drivers making the call at the I-80 Speedway, four Heat Races went to Lee Grosz, Ryan Roberts, Seth Brahmer, and Jack Dover. The night’s B-Feature was won by Jordan Weaver. Provisionals were utilized by Blake Hahn and Kris Miller.
Joined by the FVP National Sprint League, Danny Lasoski pulled off the win with a late race pass on Jamie Veal. Terry McCarl, Bill Balog, and Willie Croft made the top-five.
The Road to Knoxville at the I-80 Speedway continues on Friday, July 31 with racing action scheduled to begin at 8:00 P.M. (CT). For continued updates and information, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
The Road to Knoxville – Night 1
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Neb.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Car Count: 30
Heat Races: 8 Laps, Heat winners plus the next 12 highest in passing points transfer to to the A-Feature.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[1]; 2. 41P-Lynton Jeffrey[2]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 5. 3A-Billy Alley[8]; 6. 35L-Cody Ledger[6]; 7. 24BH-Bill Balog[5]; 8. 33-Kris Miller[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 18R-Ryan Roberts[1]; 2. 84-Brandon Hanks[2]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen[7]; 5. 12-Tyler Drueke[4]; 6. 77-John Klabunde[6]; 7. 99-Tony Rost[5]; 8. 17W-Cole Wood[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 13V-Seth Brahmer[2]; 2. 14K-Kyle Bellm[1]; 3. 2-Don Droud Jr[6]; 4. 77X-Wayne Johnson[7]; 5. 4X-Jason Danley[4]; 6. 81-Stuart (Stu) Snyder[3]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover[1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[6]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell[7]; 4. 92-Jordan Weaver[2]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman[5]; 6. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; DNS 31C-Justyn Cox
B-Feature: 12 Laps, taking top 6 to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 92-Jordan Weaver[1]; 2. 17-Josh Baughman[2]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera[8]; 4. 12-Tyler Drueke[3]; 5. 35L-Cody Ledger[5]; 6. 4X-Jason Danley[4]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn[11]; 8. 77-John Klabunde[6]; 9. 81-Stuart (Stu) Snyder[7]; 10. 99-Tony Rost[10]; 11. 33-Kris Miller[13]; 12. (DNF) 24BH-Bill Balog[9]; DNS 17W-Cole Wood; DNS 31C-Justyn Cox
A-Feature: 25 Laps – Top 4 lock into Friday night’s A-Feature.
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen[5]; 2. 94-Jeff Swindell[2]; 3. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 4. 2-Don Droud Jr[1]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman[18]; 6. 3A-Billy Alley[13]; 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel[15]; 8. 95-Matt Covington[14]; 9. 45X-Johnny Herrera[19]; 10. 84-Brandon Hanks[11]; 11. 4J-Lee Grosz[8]; 12. 52-Blake Hahn[23]; 13. 77X-Wayne Johnson[9]; 14. 53-Jack Dover[7]; 15. 41P-Lynton Jeffrey[10]; 16. 92-Jordan Weaver[17]; 17. 35L-Cody Ledger[21]; 18. 33-Kris Miller[24]; 19. (DNF) 14K-Kyle Bellm[12]; 20. (DNF) 23-Seth Bergman[16]; 21. (DNF) 18R-Ryan Roberts[4]; 22. (DNF) 13V-Seth Brahmer[6]; 23. (DNF) 12-Tyler Drueke[20]; 24. (DNF) 4X-Jason Danley[22]
Lap Leader(s): Jeff Swindell 1-20; Ian Madsen 21-25;
KSE Hard Charger: Josh Baughman +13
FSR High Point: Seth Brahmer
Provisional(s): Blake Hahn (BP1), Kris Miller (BP1)
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2015 Lucas Oil ASCS Winners: Aaron Reutzel 5; Seth Bergman 3; Jason Solwold 3; Johnny Herrera 3; Jason Sides 1; Mark Smith 1; Brian Brown 1; Blake Hahn 1; Wayne Johnson 1; Tony Bruce, Jr. 1; Ian Madsen 1;
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Aaron Reutzel 2,750; 2. Johnny Herrera 2,694; 3. Wayne Johnson 2,628; 4. Seth Bergman 2,433; 5. Matt Covington 2,342; 6. Blake Hahn 2,262; 7. Kyle Bellm 2,200; 8. Jordan Weaver 1,952; 9. Kris Miller 1,962; 10. Jeff Swindell 1,405;
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The 2015 season will mark the 24th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation in both National and Regional competition.
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ASCS National Drivers Online:
Kyle Bellm – http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman – http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Tony Bruce, Jr. – http://www.tonybrucejr.com
Matt Covington – http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
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Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – http://www.sam15.com
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Wayne Johnson – https://www.facebook.com/WayneJohnsonRacing?fref=ts
Aaron Reutzel – http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Jeff Swindell – http://www.jeffswindell.com
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