PETERSEN MEDIA- Taking part in Saturday’s All Star Circuit of Champions event at Knoxville Raceway for one final tune up before the impending Knoxville Nationals, Kerry Madsen had one of his best runs of the season to date as he led a majority of the feature event before settling for a second place finish.
“The last few weeks we have been a little off, but Saturday night we are on point all night long and had a very good car,” Madsen said. “I made a mistake in traffic that cost us the lead late, and I hate shot on the last lap but thought better of forcing the issue. I really want to thank Dennis and Teresa Roth for continuing to stick with us.”
With a robust 55 cars on hand for the Knoxville tune up, Madsen flexed his muscle early as he timed the Roth Enterprises/HR Livestock Transportation/Toyota TRD backed No. 83jr in fastest overall in qualifying time trials.
Lining up in the second row of his heat race, Madsen would simply need to finish inside the Top-Four to transfer into the feature as well as the all-important Dash based on his qualifying efforts.
On a very slick Knoxville Raceway surface, ‘The Mad Man’ would work to third when the race came to life. Hanging on to third at the line, Madsen would indeed advance into the Dash where he drew the ‘one’ to set the starting lineup.
Wiring the field from start to finish, Madsen would pocket the win and earn the right to lead the field to green for the 25-lap feature event.
As the green light flashed, Madsen was hard on the throttle as the Toyota powered Roth Motorsports entry jumped out to the early lead and quickly opened a comfortable advantage over the field.
Continuing to set a torrid pace, Madsen would reach the back end of the field just before the halfway point of the feature and he would see his lead shrink as he began the lapping process.
With Tyler Courtney closing in on him, Courtney would battle for the lead just to see the caution fly and take the leaders out of traffic. Once back underway, Madsen would again pull out to a comfortable lead with just 10-laps left in the feature.
As the laps clicked off, Madsen would encounter traffic again with just a handful of laps left in the ‘A’. As it again forced him to change his line, Rico Abreu was able to close in on Madsen and take advantage as he ripped by for the race lead.
With Abreu out front, Madsen would keep him in striking distance and as he bobble in front of the field it allowed Madsen to close in and pressure for the win over the final two laps.
Having a couple of opportunities late, Madsen opted to not force any issues as he capped his night off with a second-place finish.
“I felt really good, the guys felt really good, and I excited to get back to the Nationals in a couple of weeks,” Madsen said. “We have been solid at Knoxville all year, but we were really strong on Saturday. Thank you again to everyone who makes this all possible.”
The Roth Motorsports team would like to thank Roth Enterprises, HR Livestock Transportation, Toyota, TRD, Jason, Tara, And Cole Roth Cattle Co., Roth Investments, Speedway Engines, Mobil1, FK Rod Ends, Vahlco Wheels, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Kent Performance, Kaeding Performance, and Smith Titanium for their support.
BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-31, Wins-0, Top 5’s-8, Top-10’s-16
ON TAP: Roth Motorsports and Kerry Madsen will head to Pevely, MO this Friday and Saturday for the Ironman 55.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay connected with Roth Motorsports by checking out their website, www.rothmotorsports83.com, following them on Twitter @RothMotorsports.
PETERSEN MEDIA: Petersen Media is a media company that can handle your public relations, marketing, and any other promotional needs. Petersen Media utilizes multiple tactics to help you reach your intended audience, to boost awareness.
For more information contact sales@petersenmediainc.com, by phone at 916-342-3424, visit www.petersenmediainc.com, www.facebook.com/PetersenMedia, or follow www.twitter.com/petersen_media.