OCALA, Fla. - Kerry Madsen put an end to the weekend dominance of Donny Schatz at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida Saturday night, as he made the pass for the lead with six laps to go and went on to score the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory.
The win was worth a cool $5,000 to the St. Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia, native.
“This thing has been a rocket ship right from the drop of the gate,” said. “My guys, Guy and Nate, did a great job all winter prepping these race cars and getting everything set for Florida. It feels awesome to be this fast right from the start. We were so close on Thursday, so this definitely makes up for that. I can’t thank Todd and Luke enough for this opportunity. Hopefully they were tuned-in back in Minnesota and got to see this.”
Madsen never raced outside of the top-three the entire 30-lap distance, starting third initially and racing in that same position until just beyond the halfway point. Madson worked around David Gravel for second on lap 16, then set his sights on leader Schatz.
By lap 20, lap traffic allowed Madsen to cut away at Schatz’s lead. The pair raced nearly nose-to-tail until Madsen made the winning move at the entrance of turn one on lap 24. Madsen would drive away for the win, with Schatz and Tim Shaffer in tow.
“We ended up cutting a tire somewhere around four or five laps to go in that race,” Schatz said. “My late model experience actually helped me get through those last five laps. I was able to keep the car straight and hang on to that position. It is a tough deal, but we’ll move on and try again at Volusia.”
Gravel finished in fourth, followed by Greg Hodnett in fifth.
Aaron Reutzel, Caleb Armstrong, Mark Smith, Ian Madsen and Ryan Smith rounded out the top ten.
The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will return to action Wednesday night at Volusia Speedway Park near Barberville, Florida for two consecutive nights of racing.
For more information, visit AllStarSprint.com.
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, FL
Winter Nationals Night 3 – Feb. 11, 2017
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen
2. 15-Donny Schatz
3. 49x-Tim Shaffer
4. 5-David Gravel
5. 27-Greg Hodnett
6. 87-Aaron Reutzel
7. 7C-Caleb Armstrong
8. M1-Mark Smith
9. 18-Ian Madsen
10. 59-Ryan Smith
11. 4p-Paul McMahan
12. 10H-Chad Kemenah
13. 21-Carson Short
14. 14T-Tyler Clem
15. 11K-Kraig Kinser
16. 13D-Danny Dietrich
17. 4-Danny Smith
18. 2-Parker Price-Miller
19. 17-Caleb Helms
20. 8M-T.J. Michael
21. 7J-Joe Swanson
22. 22-Cole Duncan
23. 17B-Steve Buckwalter
24. 24-Rico Abreu
