Kerry Madsen Scores Second Consecutive All Star Victory With Knoxville Raceway Triumph
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 31, 2021) – For the second time in as many nights, the “Madman” Kerry Madsen is a FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, this time finding victory lane at the world-famous Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, on Saturday, July 31. Lining up third on the 25-lap grid, Madsen’s path to victory lane was hard-fought and determined, forced to outduel Sam McGhee Motorsports’ Spencer Bayston, as well as KCP Racing’s Gio Scelzi. The driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 14 sprint car took command for the first time on lap 16, driving on from third to secure a $7,000 payday, as well as an 11th-career Series victory.
“We didn’t really know where the predominant lines were going to be,” said Madsen in Knoxville Raceway victory lane, pilot of the Rush Truck Centers, Advance Auto Parts, Sage Fruit, Curb Records, Ford Performance, No. 14 sprint car. “It was pretty tricky, and you could gain a spot, and lose a spot. I decided to calm down and just hit the bottom, and we were able to get back by a couple cars. From there we just stayed down there. We probably weren’t the best we’ve been tonight, but it doesn’t matter when you get the victory.”
Bayston, who started from the pole position, led the first 12 circuits of the 25-lap contest, smooth sailing ahead of the field until lap traffic entered the picture on lap eight. It was Bayston’s run in with slower cars that allowed Madsen to close in on the leader. The duo battled side-by-side at the line for two consecutive circuits, each scoring in Bayston’s favor. Meanwhile, Scelzi gradually entered the picture, powering by Madsen for second on lap 12, all before taking command from Bayston the following circuit. Trying to mimic Scelzi’s move, Madsen also scooted by Bayston on lap 13.
Switching his primary focus to the bottom of the speedway, Madsen gained momentum and caught the tailtank of Scelzi on lap 16, eventually driving by the KCP Racing entry at the exit of turn two. The main event’s first and only caution appeared on lap 18 ultimately ridding the track of traffic; just what Madsen needed.
From that point forward, it was the “Madman Show” at the front of the field, withstanding some late-race pressure by Bayston, who snuck back by Scelzi on lap 21.
Bayston held on to finish second, followed by Gio Scelzi, Brian Brown, and Rico Abreu.
“I felt I was setting a pretty good pace,” said Bayston of the early stages of the race. “I kept hearing them behind me, and when you get to traffic, you never know what’s going to happen. If you make one slipup, these guys pounce. You have to be on your ‘A game,’ but I felt we did everything we needed to do…I just needed to race a little better in the traffic. When the track started going away, I had to get the wing back and that hurt me a little on the bottom. I still felt we were a really good car overall.”
The All Star Circuit of Champions will not return to competition until Friday and Saturday, August 20-21, with a pair of stops at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan, and Plymouth Speedway in Plymouth, Indiana. The events will award $5,000 and $6,000, respectively.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.
Contingency Awards/Results: Knoxville Raceway | Saturday, July 31, 2021:
Entries: 46
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Don Droud Jr. | 15.553
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Rico Abreu | 15.390
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Gio Scelzi
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Lynton Jeffrey
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Ayrton Gennetten
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Kerry Madsen
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Brian Brown
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Spencer Bayston
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Paul McMahan
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Bill Balog
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Cap Henry
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Kerry Madsen
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Kerry Madsen (+9)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.390; 2. 27-Carson McCarl, 15.503; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi, 15.507; 4. 5-Paul McMahan, 15.536; 5. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 15.689; 6. 20-AJ Moeller, 15.722; 7. 13-Justin Peck, 15.785; 8. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 15.932; 9. 22-Riley Goodno, 16.010; 10. 7w-Dustin Selvage, 16.221
Group (B)
1. 17A-Austin McCarl, 15.578; 2. 1M-Don Droud Jr, 15.611; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.648; 4. 83-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.681; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 15.683; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.712; 7. 55m-McKenna Haase, 15.880; 8. 47N-Marcus Dumesny, 16.028; 9. 20G-Noah Gass, 16.078
Group (C)
1. 3p-Sawyer Phillips, 15.665; 2. 42-Sye Lynch, 15.688; 3. 7-Justin Henderson, 15.699; 4. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 15.740; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic, 15.879; 6. 9T-Kasey Kahne, 15.942; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 15.963; 8. 2KS-Chad Kemenah, 16.115; 9. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 16.146
Group (D)
1. 11-Spencer Bayston, 15.452; 2. 14-Kerry Madsen, 15.640; 3. 24x-Terry McCarl, 15.769; 4. 56N-Davey Heskin, 15.815; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 15.949; 6. 10-Zeb Wise, 16.029; 7. 4-Cap Henry, 16.125; 8. 44-Chris Martin, 16.146; 9. 7c-John Carney, 16.330
Group (E)
1. 21-Brian Brown, 15.456; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.738; 3. 5P-Parker Price Miller, 15.938; 4. O9-Matt Juhl, 16.073; 5. 1X-Jake Bubak, 16.247; 6. 5T-Presley Truedson, 16.359; 7. O7-Skylar Gee, 16.383; 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 16.497; 9. 56-Joe Simbro, 16.741
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [2]; 2. 5-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 4. 27-Carson McCarl [3]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [7]; 6. 49-Josh Schneiderman [5]; 7. 20-AJ Moeller [6]; 8. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [8]; 9. 22-Riley Goodno [9]; 10. 7W-Dustin Selvage [10]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl [4]; 4. 1M-Don Droud Jr [3]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 7. 55M-McKenna Haase [7]; 8. 47N-Marcus Dumesny [8]; 9. 20G-Noah Gass [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [1]; 2. 7-Justin Henderson [2]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic [5]; 4. 2KS-Chad Kemenah [8]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [7]; 6. 18T-Tanner Holmes [9]; 7. 42-Sye Lynch [3]; 8. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [4]; 9. 9T-Kasey Kahne [6]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 14-Kerry Madsen [3]; 2. 56N-Davey Heskin [1]; 3. 11-Spencer Bayston [4]; 4. 24X-Terry McCarl [2]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 7. 10-Zeb Wise [6]; 8. 7C-John Carney [9]; 9. 44-Chris Martin [8]
Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 2. O9-Matt Juhl [1]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 4. 5P-Parker Price Miller [2]; 5. 1X-Jake Bubak [5]; 6. O7-Skylar Gee [7]; 7. 9JR-Derek Hagar [8]; 8. 5T-Presley Truedson [6]; 9. 56-Joe Simbro [9]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 11-Spencer Bayston [2]; 2. 14-Kerry Madsen [1]; 3. 7-Justin Henderson [4]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 5. 17A-Austin McCarl [3]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 5-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [2]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 5. 27-Carson McCarl [4]; 6. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [5]
C-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [1]; 2. 7C-John Carney [3]; 3. 22-Riley Goodno [5]; 4. 47N-Marcus Dumesny [2]; 5. 44-Chris Martin [7]; 6. 20G-Noah Gass [6]; 7. 5T-Presley Truedson [4]; 8. 56-Joe Simbro [8]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman [2]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 5. 4-Cap Henry [8]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 7. 18T-Tanner Holmes [9]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak [7]; 9. O7-Skylar Gee [10]; 10. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 11. 55M-McKenna Haase [12]; 12. 9JR-Derek Hagar [14]; 13. 7C-John Carney [16]; 14. 10-Zeb Wise [13]; 15. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [15]
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 14-Kerry Madsen [3]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston [1]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [7]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu [8]; 6. 56N-Davey Heskin [14]; 7. 17A-Austin McCarl [9]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [13]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [11]; 10. 5P-Parker Price Miller [19]; 11. 5-Paul McMahan [2]; 12. 27-Carson McCarl [10]; 13. O9-Matt Juhl [15]; 14. 1M-Don Droud Jr [17]; 15. 24X-Terry McCarl [18]; 16. 17W-Shane Golobic [16]; 17. 13-Justin Peck [23]; 18. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [6]; 19. 26-Cory Eliason [25]; 20. 4-Cap Henry [26]; 21. 2KS-Chad Kemenah [20]; 22. 17B-Bill Balog [21]; 23. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [12]; 24. 7-Justin Henderson [5]; 25. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [24]; 26. 49-Josh Schneiderman [22] Lap Leaders: Spencer Bayston (1-12), Gio Scelzi (13-15), Kerry Madsen (16-25)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
9. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 17, 2021): Logan Wagner
10. Bedford Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 18, 2021): Anthony Macri
11. Sharon Speedway, Ohio (May 1, 2021): Justin Peck (2)
12. Tri-City Raceway Park, Pennsylvania (May 2, 2021): Sam Hafertepe Jr.
13. I-96 Speedway, Michigan (May 14, 2021): Tyler Courtney
14. Dirt Oval at Route 66, Illinois (May 15, 2021): Kyle Reinhardt
15. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 20, 2021): Tyler Courtney (2)
16. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 21, 2021): Tyler Courtney (3)
17. Gas City I-69 Speedway, Indiana (May 22, 2021): Cap Henry
18. Kokomo Speedway, Indiana (May 23, 2021): Zeb Wise
19. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (May 31, 2021): Lance Dewease
20. Fairbury Speedway, Illinois (June 3, 2021): Tyler Courtney (4)
21. Wilmot Raceway, Wisconsin (June 4, 2021): Tyler Courtney (5)
22. Plymouth Dirt Track, Wisconsin (June 5, 2021): Bill Balog
23. Angell Park Speedway, Wisconsin (June 6, 2021): Bill Balog (2)
24. SW Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (June 11, 2021): Ian Madsen
25. SW Fremont Speedway, Ohio (June 12, 2021): Cole Duncan
26. SW Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (June 14, 2021): Kyle Larson (2)
27. SW Sharon Speedway, Ohio (June 15, 2021): Danny Dietrich
28. SW Waynesfield Raceway Park, Ohio (June 16, 2021): Kyle Larson (3)
29. SW Muskingum County Speedway, Ohio (June 17, 2021): Justin Peck (3)
30. SW Portsmouth Raceway Park, Ohio (June 19, 2021): Paul McMahan
31. Stateline Speedway, New York (July 9, 2021): Hunter Schuerenberg
32. Sharon Speedway, Ohio (July 10, 2021): Spencer Bayston
33. Lake Ozark Speedway, Missouri (July 23, 2021): Cap Henry (2)
34. Lake Ozark Speedway, Missouri (July 24, 2021): Christopher Bell
35. Humboldt Speedway, Kansas (July 25, 2021): Tyler Courtney (6)
36. I-70 Motorsports Park, Missouri (July 27, 2021): Brian Brown
37. Mo. State Fair Speedway, Missouri (July 29, 2021): Tyler Courtney (7)
38. 34 Raceway, Iowa (July 30, 2021): Kerry Madsen
39. Knoxville Raceway, Iowa (July 31, 2021): Kerry Madsen (2)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 7/31/21):
1. Tyler Courtney – 4772
2. Cory Eliason – 4464
3. Hunter Schuerenberg – 4408
4. Cap Henry – 4348
5. Zeb Wise – 4316
6. Bill Balog – 4312
7. Paul McMahan – 4308
8. Justin Peck – 3974
9. Kyle Reinhardt – 3878
10. Rico Abreu – 3302
About the 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. 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 FloSports:
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ mission is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. Finally, your sport has a home. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.
About Mobil 1:
The world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life. For more information, visit mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1. Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo: Chad Warner