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Ian Madsen Wins Knoxville Tilt!

Ian Madsen scored his sixth career win at the Knoxville Raceway in front of another big crowd on Earth Day Night Saturday. The first 300 fans in attendance received a tree from the Arbor Day Foundation. The St. Mary’s, New South Wales driver hopes using a restart to shoot by Tim Kaeding for the $3,000 score in the KCP Racing #18 plants his own seeds towards a championship. Dusty Zomer led wire to wire to record his sixth career win in the 360 class, while Christian Bowman was a first-time winner at Knoxville in the 305 class.

In the 20-lap 410 main event, Davey Heskin jumped out to an early lead from his starting spot outside of row one ahead of Tim Kaeding, Madsen, Brian Brown and Justin Henderson. The top five remained the same the first half of the race until becoming mired in heavy traffic.

While Heskin was slowing a bit in traffic, Kaeding was gaining. He shot under the leader to take the point on lap eleven. One circuit later, Austin McCarl spun in turns three and four with a shredded left rear tire. Madsen, who had just taken over second from Heskin shot to the low side of turn one on the restart and slid in front of Kaeding to take the lead.

Brown followed Madsen by Heskin to take third on the restart, and then gained second from Kaeding on lap 14. He reeled in Madsen as the two approached traffic, but he was never close enough to make a serious attempt at the win. Kaeding held onto third, ahead of Bryan Clauson and Danny Lasoski, who grabbed fifth in the final corner. Heskin, Henderson, Craig Dollansky, Dusty Zomer and Mark Dobmeier rounded out the top ten. Henderson set quick time, while Zomer, Bronson Maeschen and Dobmeier won heat races. An incident in the first heat saw Josh Schneiderman get upside down. He was uninjured, and returned later in the night.

“(Heskin) was leading and the lapped traffic was pretty heavy,” said Madsen in Victory Lane. “It’s difficult to know where to go. I can of had a plan (on the restart) and I was going for it 100%. I didn’t know if it was going to work, but we were really hungry for a win and it worked. We kind of struggled last week for the opening night and we were banging our heads against the wall all week. It’s awesome to come back, it doesn’t get any better than getting a win.”

The 360 feature went non-stop after an incident marred the first try at green. Ryan Roberts spun into the turn one wall and collected Randy Martin, who flipped towards turn two. Both drivers were o.k.

Once green, Dusty Zomer took off to lead all 18 laps, but there was plenty of action behind him. While John Agan rode second, Ian Madsen and Justin Henderson exchanged the third spot twice. Madsen would win that battle and take second on lap eight, but Clint Garner had plans of his own. The six-time track champ battled with Henderson before shooting from fifth to third on the tenth lap. His next victim was Madsen on lap 13. Though he was running hard, Zomer had checked out to win by a straightaway in the Buffalo Wild Wings #82.

Following Zomer and Garner were Madsen, Henderson and Matt Moro. Nate Van Haaften, Tony Shilling, Agan, Jamie Ball and Joe Beaver rounded out the top ten. Henderson set quick time for the 360’s (tying with Garner), while Beaver, Martin and Lee Grosz won heats. Ricky Montgomery claimed the B main.

“With this 360 deal, our motor and car work really nice,” said Zomer. “The team is really working hard. We’ve been traveling quite a bit and that helps. We had a fast hot rod. It’s hard to judge how fast you really are when you get out front like that. I was just trying to get through traffic as best I could.”

The best battle in the 15-lap 305 feature was up front. Christian Bowman and Mitchell Alexander raced side by side for much of an event that was slowed by two cautions and a red flag incident. Trevor Smith and rookie AJ Johnson brought out the caution periods, while Brad Comegys turned over in turn one. No one was injured.

The 20-year-old Bowman used the low side to his advantage throughout the race in the Christian Bowman Racing #15, while Mitchell Alexander rode the cushion. In the closing stages, Bowman pulled away to win over Alexander, Mike Mayberry, Devin Kline and Chris Walraven. McKenna Haase, Stacey Alexander, Matthew Stelzer, Joe Simbro and Corey Kautz rounded out the top ten. Walraven set quick time for the 305’s, while Haase and Bowman won the heat races. Rookie Tyler Dollison lost a wheel and flipped hard into turn one in his heat race. He was uninjured.

“This is amazing!” said an excited Bowman in Victory Lane. “I have to thank my sponsors, my team and my Dad. What a night! It was fun. I hope the fans like it too!”

Join us next week for more Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series action on Town Crier Night! For more information on Knoxville Raceway, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

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