The “Macho Man” goes wire-to-wire at Eldora Speedway for Arctic Cat All Star 4-Crown Nationals victory
ROSSBURG, OH (September 23, 2017) – Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon conquered the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions segment of the 36th Annual 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.TV on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway, leading all 25 circuits around the World’s Greatest Dirt Track for a first-ever victory against “America’s Series.” The “Macho Man” started on the pole for the 25-lapper, surviving two cautions and periods of traffic to claim the $5,000 payday.
“This is a big win for my team. We’ve been struggling with this car all year. It has definitely been hit and miss,” Bacon explained, pilot of the Priority Aviation/Fatheadz Eyewear/Tel-Star Communications/No. 99. “To get my first All Star win at Eldora Speedway with all my friends and family here; it’s really special for me.”
Brady Bacon and the “Brownsburg Bullet” Joey Saldana led the 25 starters to green on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway. Bacon earned the early advantage, chased to the line by a three-wide battle for second between Max Stambaugh, Joey Saldana, and Bryan Nuckles.
Despite finding the back of the field by lap eight, Bacon held on to the top spot uninterrupted for the first ten circuits, all until the main event’s first caution appeared for a slowing Brandon Wimmer on lap 11. Nuckles, who fell in behind Bacon on lap two, was solidly in second at the time of the caution, followed closely by the Ray Marshall Motorsports entry of Stambaugh.
Bacon led the field back to green and returned to the top edge of the speedway. By lap 13, Stambaugh, the leading Arctic Cat All Star rookie contender, was beginning to apply pressure on Nuckles for second, soon overtaking the runner-up position at the exit of turn four on lap 16. Just as Bacon’s lead started to grow, caution lights reappeared, this time for D.J. Foos who ended up upside-down between turns one and two on lap 19. Foos was unharmed.
Green flag conditions resumed once again allowing Bacon to return to his familiar running lane at the top of the speedway. The lap 19 restart proved to be Bacon’s last obstacle, cruising ahead to earn himself a parking spot on Eldora Speedway’s victory lane platform. Nuckles was able to sneak back by Stambaugh on the restart to reclaim the runner-up position. The Columbus, Ohio, native held on to finish second, followed by “Mad Max” Stambaugh, Dalton, Ohio’s Lee Jacobs and “Hunter Percent” Hunter Schuerenberg.
“If you would have told me that this was the feature I was going to win tonight, I wouldn’t have believe you,” Bacon said, who competed in all four classes during the 36th Annual 4-Crown Nationals. “We’ve been 3,2,1 so far here tonight. Hopefully, we can get another one.”
Moving into the month of October, only three events remain on the 2017 Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions campaign trail, one of which a visit to the Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, on Saturday evening, October 7. “America’s Series” visited “Orrville’s Historic Oval” on four prior occasions in 2017, crowning four different winners including Sheldon Haudenschild, Kyle Larson, Joey Saldana, and Caleb Helms. The fifth and final appearance will award a $5,000 top prize, as well as full points toward the 2017 Arctic Cat All Star championship which will be crowned on October 14 at Eldora Speedway.
Those seeking additional news and notes pertaining to the upcoming Wayne County Speedway visit should check out the facility live on the Web at www.waynecountyspeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Eldora Speedway- Saturday, September 23, 2017:
Event: 36th Annual Four Crown Nationals
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 43 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Joey Saldana – 14.765 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Rico Abreu – 14.669 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Joey Saldana
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Brady Bacon
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Travis Philo
JE Pistons Dash #1: Brady Bacon
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Cap Henry
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Bryan Nuckles (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Caleb Armstrong (+13)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Hunter Schuerenberg
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: John Garvin
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.669; 2. 71-Joey Saldana, 14.759; 3. 12N-Cole Duncan, 15.13; 4. 23-DJ Foos, 15.268; 5. 1st-Gary Taylor, 15.279; 6. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.442; 7. 7J-Joe Swanson, 15.629; 8. 78-Todd Kane, 15.791; 9. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 15.911; 10. 71m-Paul May, 15.935; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell, 16.764
Group (B)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 15.131; 2. 17-Caleb Helms, 15.234; 3. 11n-Cap Henry, 15.2786; 4. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 15.514; 5. 49-Shawn Dancer, 15.717; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 15.999; 7. 51-John Garvin, 16.08; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison, 16.198; 9. 21-Carson Short, 16.285
Group ( C )
1. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.329; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 15.495; 3. A67-Brandon Wimmer, 15.528; 4. 99-Brady Bacon, 15.587; 5. 35s-Stuart Brubaker, 15.64; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.686; 7. 8M-TJ Michael, 15.738; 8. 59-Steve Buckwalter, 16.163; 9. 27-Brad Lamberson, 16.602; 10. 45-Trevor Baker, 16.724; 11. 91-Anthony Fiore, 16.911
Group (D)
1. 83-Rob Chaney, 15.688; 2. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 15.835; 3. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.941; 4. 5T-Travis Philo, 16.096; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 16.243; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron, 16.518; 7. 33-Brent Matus, 16.591; 8. M1-Mark Smith, 16.792; 9. 5QB-Quentin Blonde, 17.156
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 71-Joey Saldana [3]; 2. 23-DJ Foos [1]; 3. 12N-Cole Duncan [2]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [6]; 5. 1ST-Gary Taylor [5]; 6. 78-Todd Kane [8]; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair [9]; 8. 9C-Roger Campbell [11]; 9. 7J-Joe Swanson [7]; 10. 71M-Paul May [10]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 2. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [1]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 4. 51-John Garvin [7]; 5. 49-Shawn Dancer [5]; 6. 11N-Cap Henry [2]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison [6]; 9. 21-Carson Short [9]
Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 99-Brady Bacon [1]; 2. A67-Brandon Wimmer [2]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]; 4. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 5. 59-Steve Buckwalter [8]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 7. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [5]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [7]; 9. 27-Brad Lamberson [9]; 10. 45-Trevor Baker [10]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 2. 33M-Max Stambaugh [3]; 3. 22M-Dan McCarron [6]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus [2]; 5. 83-Rob Chaney [4]; 6. 33-Brent Matus [7]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 8. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [9]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 99-Brady Bacon [1]; 2. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 3. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [2]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh [5]; 5. 12N-Cole Duncan [7]; 6. 23-DJ Foos [3]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah [9]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [6]; 9. A67-Brandon Wimmer [8]; 10. 17-Caleb Helms [10]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 11N-Cap Henry [1]; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [2]; 3. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [4]; 4. 78-Todd Kane [6]; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison [10]; 6. 35R-Ronnie Blair [7]; 7. 71M-Paul May [8]; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson [3]; 9. 27-Brad Lamberson [14]; 10. 45-Trevor Baker [15]; 11. 21-Carson Short [12]; 12. 91-Anthony Fiore [17]; 13. 9C-Roger Campbell [16]; 14. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [18]; 15. 22-Brandon Spithaler [11]; 16. 1080-Jordan Mackison [9]; 17. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 18. 33-Brent Matus [13]
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 99-Brady Bacon [1]; 2. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [3]; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh [4]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [11]; 5. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [13]; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron [12]; 7. 18-Ian Madsen [14]; 8. 71-Joey Saldana [2]; 9. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [22]; 10. 51-John Garvin [16]; 11. 11N-Cap Henry [21]; 12. 1ST-Gary Taylor [17]; 13. 12N-Cole Duncan [5]; 14. 78-Todd Kane [24]; 15. 17-Caleb Helms [10]; 16. 10H-Chad Kemenah [7]; 17. 83-Rob Chaney [18]; 18. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [23]; 19. 59-Steve Buckwalter [20]; 20. 33-Brent Matus [25]; 21. 23-DJ Foos [6]; 22. A67-Brandon Wimmer [9]; 23. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 24. 13-Brandon Matus [15]; 25. 49-Shawn Dancer [19] Lap Leaders: Brady Bacon [1-30]
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full-text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/ schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.
Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions PR
Vince Vellella Photo