9/8/2018
IRA Interstate Racing Association
The Mad Man Victorious at Northern Nationals
Kerry Madson used lapped traffic to maneuver past Skyler Gee in the closing laps of the feature to claim his 2nd career Northern Nationals Victory.
26 teams signed in to compete with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association (IRA) at the Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wisconsin for the annual Northern Nationals. Qualifying was claimed by Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller. Sammy Swindell timed the Thone Motorsport car in 2nd followed by Kerry Madsen, Terry McCarl, and Skyler Gee.
Heat race number 1 saw Bill Balog take the lead on the start and never look back. Parker Price-Miller quickly moved from 4th to 2nd behind Balog but could not catch him. Alan Gilbertson would bring his 97 machine home 3rd with Terry McCarl 4th and Ben Schmidt 5th.
Heat race 2 saw trouble on the initial green flag as Jeremy Schultz and Sammy Swindell would make contact both cars getting upside down. Once the race restarted Jake Blackhust jumped out in front of the field and claimed the victory. Steve Meyer crossed the line in 2nd followed by Skyler Gee and Jon Agan. Russel Borland would round out the top 5 with his Wiese Trucking 23.
The 3rd heat race was won by 4th place starting Kerry Madsen over Lynton Jeffrey. Scotty Thiel brought his Scott Thiel Builders 64 across in 3rd trailed by RJ Johnson and Travis Whitney.
The A main kept fans on the edge of their seat as Skyler Gee grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag. Jake Blackhust settled into 2nd with Bill Balog in 3rd. The caution flag would fly bunching the field up. On the restart Gee once again gapped the field into 1 while Balog threw a slider on Blackhurst for 2nd. The caution would once again fly, erasing Balog’s pass. This time on the restart Blackhurst knew what to expect and was able to break Balog’s momentum before he would complete the pass. As the trio settled back into line, Kerry Madsen went to work on Bill Balog for 3rd. Madsen and Balog battled hard, exchanging slide jobs and nearly touching multiple times. The Mad Man eventually came out on top and set his sights on 2nd place Jake Blackhurst. A caution flag would once again bunch the field up and give Madsen the chance he needed to pass the Hanna City, Illinois native and grab 2nd place. Madsen now set to work tracking down Gee’s 99 machine. As the laps began to wind down, Gee entered heavy lapped traffic, and that would give Kerry Madsen the break he needed. Madsen used a lapped car to sneak past the Pat Buck Motorsports car piloted by Gee and take the lead. The Australian never looked back, leading the final laps and claiming victory. Gee settled for 2nd after leading much of the feature and 7th starting Terry McCarl rounded out the podium. Bill Balog who had a right rear go flat in the final laps, limped his 17b across in 4th and Jake Blackhurst was 5th.
A Feature 1 30 laps | 00:32:03.616 Presented by Bumper to Bumber Auto
- 2M-Kerry Madsen, 32:03.616[5]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, 32:05.702[1]; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, 32:06.443[7]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 32:11.572[3]; 5. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 32:13.158[2]; 6. 19L-R.J. Johnson, 32:11.825[10]; 7. 73-Ben Schmidt, 32:13.660[13]; 8. 64-Scotty Thiel, 32:14.916[11]; 9. 85M-Steve Meyer, 32:16.147[8]; 10. 1-Sammy Swindell, 32:14.250[24]; 11. 16-Travis Whitney, 32:17.799[14]; 12. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 32:19.681[18]; 13. 97X-Alan Gilbertson, 32:26.927[4]; 14. 12L-Lynton Jeffrey, 31:55.836[6]; 15. 12-Michael Decker, 32:21.933[17]; 16. 23-Russel Borland, 32:28.178[15]; 17. 03-Jamey Ogston, 32:30.032[23]; 18. 44-Jason Johnson, 32:29.576[16]; 19. 7-Scott Uttech, 32:31.385[19]; 20. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 32:35.768[21]; 21. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 26:56.568[25]; 22. (DNF) 4K-Kris Spitz, 26:12.745[20]; 23. (DNF) 4-Jon Agan, 24:27.455[12]; 24. (DNF) 71-Parker Price-Miller, 18:03.839[9]; 25. (DNF) 29-Hunter Custer, 08:32.643[22]
Heat 1 10 laps | 00:05:13 Presented by Real Wheels - 17B-Bill Balog, 05:13.624[2]; 2. 71-Parker Price-Miller, 05:14.292[4]; 3. 97X-Alan Gilbertson, 05:19.219[1]; 4. 24-Terry McCarl, 05:19.676[3]; 5. 73-Ben Schmidt, 05:20.091[5]; 6. 44-Jason Johnson, 05:22.646[6]; 7. 7-Scott Uttech, 05:27.958[7]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer, 05:25.320[8]
Heat 2 10 laps | 00:13:36 Presented by DMI - 25-Jake Blackhurst, 13:36.808[1]; 2. 85M-Steve Meyer, 13:38.630[2]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, 13:39.373[3]; 4. 4-Jon Agan, 13:45.875[8]; 5. 23-Russel Borland, 13:46.766[6]; 6. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 11:24.954[9]; 7. (DNF) 1-Sammy Swindell, [4]; 8. (DNF) 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [5]; 9. (DNF) 03-Jamey Ogston, [7]
Heat 3 10 laps | 00:07:21 Presented by All Star Performance / R&H Enterprises - 2M-Kerry Madsen, 07:21.373[4]; 2. 12L-Lynton Jeffrey, 07:24.385[2]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, 07:24.493[1]; 4. 19L-R.J. Johnson, 07:26.717[3]; 5. 16-Travis Whitney, 07:29.254[5]; 6. 12-Michael Decker, 07:32.203[6]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz, 07:35.547[9]; 8. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 07:35.757[7]; 9. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, 07:24.787[8]
Qualifying 1 2 laps | 00:00:29 Presented by Osborne and Sons Trucking - 71-Parker Price-Miller, 00:13.969[16]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell, 00:13.984[18]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 00:14.100[6]; 4. 24-Terry McCarl, 00:14.132[14]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.150[9]; 6. 19L-R.J. Johnson, 00:14.164[19]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:14.165[15]; 8. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:14.201[11]; 9. 12L-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:14.222[26]; 10. 97X-Alan Gilbertson, 00:14.285[2]; 11. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 00:14.309[21]; 12. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:14.352[3]; 13. 73-Ben Schmidt, 00:14.353[25]; 14. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:14.369[17]; 15. 16-Travis Whitney, 00:14.469[23]; 16. 44-Jason Johnson, 00:14.473[12]; 17. 23-Russel Borland, 00:14.535[24]; 18. 12-Michael Decker, 00:14.739[1]; 19. 7-Scott Uttech, 00:14.905[13]; 20. 03-Jamey Ogston, 00:14.974[7]; 21. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 00:14.993[10]; 22. 29-Hunter Custer, 00:15.024[8]; 23. 4-Jon Agan, 00:15.038[20]; 24. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, 00:16.162[5]; 25. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:19.246[22]; 26. (DNF) 4K-Kris Spitz, [4]
Hotlaps 1 00:10:32 - 2M-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.926[6]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell, 00:14.141[18]; 3. 71-Parker Price-Miller, 00:14.223[16]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:14.238[15]; 5. 19L-R.J. Johnson, 00:14.286[19]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:14.317[9]; 7. 12L-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:14.324[26]; 8. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 00:14.336[21]; 9. 73-Ben Schmidt, 00:14.412[25]; 10. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:14.428[17]; 11. 24-Terry McCarl, 00:14.506[14]; 12. 16-Travis Whitney, 00:14.623[23]; 13. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:14.657[11]; 14. 44-Jason Johnson, 00:14.668[12]; 15. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:14.747[3]; 16. 23-Russel Borland, 00:14.809[24]; 17. 4-Jon Agan, 00:14.813[20]; 18. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 00:15.012[10]; 19. 97X-Alan Gilbertson, 00:15.264[2]; 20. 12-Michael Decker, 00:15.375[1]; 21. 7-Scott Uttech, 00:15.391[13]; 22. 03-Jamey Ogston, 00:15.397[7]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:15.400[4]; 24. 29-Hunter Custer, 00:15.697[8]; 25. 14AJX-Heikkinen Patrick, 00:16.798[5]; 26. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:19.223[22]
Article Credit: Gared Tennyson
Submitted By: Kim Tennyson