Sheldon Haudenschild Goes Wire-to-Wire Against All Stars to Claim Bubba Army Winter Nationals Finale at Bubba Raceway Park
OCALA, Fla. (February 3, 2018) – For the first time in his career, Wooster, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild is a winner in the state of Florida, this time earning $5,000 against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 during the third and final night of Bubba Army Winter Nationals competition at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala. The victory raises Haudenschild’s win total to 17 with “America’s Series,” crossing under the final checkers with the “Madman” Kerry Madsen and defending All Star Circuit of Champions champion, Chad Kemenah, in tow.
“That was a blast tonight,” Sheldon Haudenschild said, pilot of the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing entry. “To get through the first week with this NOS Energy, Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing team feels good. They’ve been killing it and we’re having a lot of fun. That is what matters in the end.”
Haudenschild survived a pair of cautions and multiple waves of heavy traffic during his campaign at the front of the running order. Despite traffic, Haudenschild never faltered, extending his advantage to nearly three seconds by the midpoint of the 30-lap program. By the time caution flags flew for the first time on lap 17, Haudenschild’s advantage was over five seconds.
“I knew to get to lapped traffic in a hurry,” Haudenschild explained. “You just have to be careful and get through them really fast. It is definitely tough especially with how narrow turn four gets. I had to take a chance there a couple of times with lapped cars. Luckily it all worked out.”
Caution flags appeared for the second and final time on lap 22 once again erasing a commanding two second lead for the 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year. The final nine circuits proved to be no distraction for Haudenschild, eventually crossing under the final checkers with a near-two second lead over Kerry Madsen and Chad Kemenah.
“I knew [Kerry Madsen] and [Tim Shaffer] were going to be fast because they’ve been fast all week,” Haudenschild continued. “To beat guys like that feels really good. I wanted to be fast this week and I knew we would be. This team has really good equipment and it is filled with great crew guys. We were able to put it all together.”
Earning a second consecutive runner-up finish aboard the Jackson Nationals, No. 2, the “Madman” Kerry Madsen climbed ahead from sixth on the main event grid, charging to fourth by lap ten before utilizing each of the main event restarts to advance into third and eventually second.
“I’m a little disappointed for us,” Kerry Madsen said. “I think we could have been up there and challenging a little bit harder. We got close at the end, but the laps burned out pretty quick and we ran out of time. Regardless, it was a good run for the team. I want to send out a special thanks to the team and everyone back at the shop.”
For his second MSD Performance Hard Charger Award in three days, Hunter Racing’s Chad Kemenah picked up 13 positions during the All Star Circuit of Champions finale at Bubba Raceway Park, driving forward from 16th on the feature grid to finish third.
“I had a little driver error there during qualifying that put us behind,” Chad Kemenah explained. “I hated to see that last caution there toward the end. I needed the lapped cars and lapped traffic if I was going to get to the guys ahead of us. We’re not going to complain. This is a really good car and a really good team. We’ll head over to Volusia [Speedway Park] and see how we go.”
With three nights of Bubba Army Winter Nationals competition in the books, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will turn their attention due east and travel across Route 40 for a two-race stint at Volusia Speedway Park. Located approximately 45 minutes west of Daytona Beach, Volusia Speedway Park will host the All Star Circuit of Champions on Wednesday and Thursday, February 7-8, officially kicking-off the five-day sprint car portion of the 47th Annual DIRTcar Nationals.
Volusia Speedway Park will open pit gates at 10 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday. A mandatory drivers meeting will be conducted at 5 p.m. followed by engine heat at 5:30 p.m., sharp. Those seeking more news and notes should visit the DIRTcar Nationals live on the Web at www.dirtcarnationals.com. An open practice for all sprint car competitors will be conducted on Tuesday evening, February 6.
Contingency Awards/Results: Bubba Raceway Park – Saturday, February 3:
7th Annual Winter Nationals
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 34 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Kerry Madsen – 13.484
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Parker Price-Miller – 11.773 (2nd Quick)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Paul McMahan
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Tyler Clem
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Cale Conley
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Tim Shaffer
JE Pistons Dash #1: Sheldon Haudenschild
Wix Filters Dash #2: Parker Price-Miller
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Coleman Gulick
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Chad Kemenah [+13]
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. M1-Mark Smith, 12.596; 2. 70-Dave Blaney, 13.065; 3. 45-Trevor Baker, 13.162; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.237; 5. 7J-Joe Swanson, 13.308; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.375; 7. 40H-George Hobaugh, 13.662; 8. 40-Mark Imler, 13.822; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.926
Group (B)
1. 21-Carson Short, 12.276; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.36; 3. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.648; 4. 14T-Tyler Clem, 12.649; 5. 5M-Max Stambaugh, 12.748; 6. 51-John Garvin, 12.813; 7. 17-Caleb Helms, 12.982; 8. 1P-Curtis Evans, 13.084; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore, 13.596
Group ( C )
1. 14-Tony Stewart, 12.32; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 12.37; 3. 7K-Cale Conley, 12.435; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich, 12.528; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison, 12.707; 6. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 12.925; 7. 44-Trey Starks, 13.233; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 14.18
Group (D)
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 11.581; 2. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 11.773; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett, 11.872; 4. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 11.891; 5. 14G-Coleman Gulick, 12.195; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 12.305; 7. 4X-Danny Smith, 12.324; 8. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 12.328
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 45-Trevor Baker [2]; 3. M1-Mark Smith [4]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 5. 70-Dave Blaney [3]; 6. 7J-Joe Swanson [5]; 7. 40H-George Hobaugh [7]; 8. 40-Mark Imler [8]; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14T-Tyler Clem [1]; 2. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 4. 21-Carson Short [4]; 5. 5M-Max Stambaugh [5]; 6. 17-Caleb Helms [7]; 7. 51-John Garvin [6]; 8. 1P-Curtis Evans [8]; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore [9]
Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 7K-Cale Conley [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 3. 14-Tony Stewart [4]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson [6]; 6. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]; 7. 44-Trey Starks [7]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [8]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett [2]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 4. 4-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 4X-Danny Smith [7]; 6. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [8]; 7. 14G-Coleman Gulick [5]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison [6]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 14T-Tyler Clem [2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [3]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 45-Trevor Baker [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 4-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [5]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 5. 7K-Cale Conley [4]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 14G-Coleman Gulick [1]; 2. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [3]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [5]; 4. 51-John Garvin [7]; 5. 40H-George Hobaugh [9]; 6. 44-Trey Starks [8]; 7. 40-Mark Imler [11]; 8. 1P-Curtis Evans [10]; 9. 95-Hunter Mackison [4]; 10. 1080-Jordan Mackison [2]; 11. 7J-Joe Swanson [6]; 12. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 13. 91-Anthony Fiore [13]; 14. 49H-Bradley Howard [14]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [16]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 5. 4-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [7]; 7. 14T-Tyler Clem [3]; 8. 27-Greg Hodnett [5]; 9. M1-Mark Smith [13]; 10. 48-Danny Dietrich [8]; 11. 14-Tony Stewart [11]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu [12]; 13. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [15]; 14. 5M-Max Stambaugh [18]; 15. 17-Caleb Helms [23]; 16. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [22]; 17. 21-Carson Short [14]; 18. 7K-Cale Conley [10]; 19. 4X-Danny Smith [17]; 20. 14G-Coleman Gulick [21]; 21. 45-Trevor Baker [9]; 22. 51-John Garvin [24]; 23. 2C-Wayne Johnson [19]; 24. 70-Dave Blaney [20] Lap Leaders: Sheldon Haudenschild [1-30]
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1:
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 Arctic Cat:
For more than 50 years, the Arctic Cat snowmobile brand has stood as one of the most widely recognized and respected in the industry. Today Arctic Cat’s snowmobile product lines span more than 50 different models, with offerings for every style of riding, from trail-riding with the family, to long-distance touring with friends, to mountain sleds to handle the most severe backcountry conditions. For more information, visit: www.arcticcat.com.
About Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc:
Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of golf cars, utility and personal transportation vehicles, snowmobiles, side-by-sides, all-terrain vehicles, professional turf-care equipment, and ground support equipment. Textron Specialized Vehicles markets products under the E-Z-GO®, Cushman®, Arctic Cat®, Textron Off Road™, Jacobsen®, Dixie Chopper®, Ransomes®, TUG™, Douglas™, Premier™ and Safeaero™ brands. Its vehicles are found in environments ranging from golf courses to factories, airports to planned communities, and theme parks to hunting preserves.
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/Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Vince Vellella Photo