The Australian wins his third feature in the last 11 World of Outlaws events
LIMA, Ohio - July 11, 2012 - Initially, Kerry Madsen was just hoping to survive Wednesday night.
In the end, the Australian stood atop the podium at Limaland Motorsports Park after claiming the 40-lap feature, which was filled with slide jobs and close calls at the Ohio Logistics 24th annual Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics.
It is Madsen's third World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature victory in the last 11 events and he became the seventh different driver to win in the last seven Outlaws races at the tight, quarter-mile track.
"It was pretty intense in the seat," he said. "Ironically, I thought if we could get out of here with a top 10 I'd be excited. To get a victory is awesome."
Stevie Smith, who started on the pole by virtue of a dominating dash victory, rocketed to the early feature lead with Sam Hafertepe Jr. in tow. Madsen, who started on the outside of Smith, passed Hafertepe Jr. for the runner-up position around lap five and began to chase down Smith once the duo entered traffic.
Smith's advantage of nearly half a straightaway was quickly erased and Madsen tried a slide job in turns three and four on lap 18. However, he didn't have enough speed and Smith maintained the lead. Two laps later, Hafertepe Jr. stopped on the frontstretch with a flat right rear tire while running fourth to bring out a caution a lap before the halfway point.
That's when things became a little hectic.
"They were really important and they were awfully hard to figure out tonight," Smith said of the restarts. "It was a tough deal on the restarts. The bottom was still real good. The top was kinda further around and there were guys coming in the middle, so it got really interesting.
"The double-file restarts made it an interesting race. Unfortunately, it gave Kerry an advantage."
While Smith got through turns one and two with the lead, Madsen through a big slider on Smith in turns three and four. Smith tried to turn underneath Madsen, who had just enough to hold onto the top spot as they raced down the frontstretch.
Smith had a shot at redemption 10 laps later when Jac Haudenschild caused a caution by dramatically slowing in front of the Madsen-Smith battle on the backstretch. Madsen chose the inside lane on the double-file restart and narrowly edged Smith for the lead exiting turn two.
While drivers throughout the field were sliding each other every lap, the battle up front continued to be replayed with restarts after Chad Kemenah flipped in turn four on lap 34. Once again, Madsen choose the inside lane and once again, he held off a side-by-side clash with Smith.
"He was pretty nice," Madsen said. "If it was two or three feet difference, I would have had to lift and couldn't clear him. It was as close at it got."
The final caution was waved on that restart after David Gravel was called for leaving the outside lane too early. However, Madsen was able to avoid being slid and drove to the narrow win.
"I wasn't really being nice to him," Smith said after finishing second. "I don't really have a good excuse; he just did a heck of a job. He won the race. It's his race. It's his night and we're just going to be glad with second and move on to the next one."
Gravel, who piloted from 13th to third in the first half of the race, rebounded from his late penalty to round out the podium - his sixth top five of the season.
"It was definitely good racing," he said. "It's the best in sprint car racing. A lot of the guys you run with up front you can trust. That was a good showing tonight how clean everybody raced, especially up front."
Greg Wilson picked up the KSE Hard Charger Award after driving from 17th to fourth and Donny Schatz finished fifth. Fast qualifier Craig Dollansky was sixth and Daryn Pittman seventh. Last Chance Showdown winner Sammy Swindell finished eighth, Steve Kinser placed ninth and Tim Shaffer powered from 22nd to 10th.
Smith, Kinser, Hafertepe Jr. and Pittman each won a heat race, and Lucas Wolfe claimed the C Main.
Ohio Logistics 24th annual Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics Notebook
NOTES - Craig Dollansky established quick time in qualifying for the fifth race this season. … Stevie Smith claimed his second heat race, Sam Hafertepe Jr. his first, Steve Kinser his series-best 10th and Daryn Pittman his third of the season. … Lucas Wolfe picked up the C Main win to transfer to the Last Chance Showdown. … Smith won his first World of Outlaws dash of the year. … Sammy Swindell claimed his second Last Chance Showdown of the season. ... Kerry Madsen is the fourth different winner in five World of Outlaws races on a quarter mile this year. … There is a tie atop the championship points standings and the top six drivers are separated by only 77 points.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Kerry Madsen; Armor All (case of product): David Gravel; STP ($50 cash): David Gravel; UNOH ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Steve Kinser; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; JE Pistons (set of rings): Chad Kemenah; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Superflow ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Chad Kemenah; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Paul McMahan; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Tim Kaeding.
WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 6 (Lakeside Speedway on June 30, Red River Valley Speedway on June 16, Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Craig Dollansky - 4 (I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Kraig Kinser - 4 (Beaver Dam Raceway on July 7, Dodge City Raceway Park on June 23, River Cities Speedway on June 15 and Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Tim Kaeding - 3 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 6, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Steve Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 22, Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Kerry Madsen - 3 (Limaland Motorsports Park on July 11, Belleville High Banks on June 29 and Knoxville Raceway on June 9); Joey Saldana - 3 (The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Donny Schatz - 3 (Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Chad Kemenah - 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 3); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18); Paul McMahan - 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8).
TIME TRIALS - Craig Dollansky was the fastest qualifier around the quarter-mile oval with a time of 10.998 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Kerry Madsen (4 points), Sammy Swindell (3), Brad Sweet (2) and David Gravel (1).
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- Admin Account on Jul 12, 2012
- Article Date: 7/11/2012 by Shawn Miller - World of Outlaws