DANE COUNTY, Wis. — A great crowd was on hand for Buck Night at Madison International Speedway with exciting racing action taking place in four divisions.
Zack Riddle won his sixth race of the season in the NASCAR Late Models while Mason Hellenbrand held off his dad to win in the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz. Nick Newton was the winner in the Pellitteri Systems Bandits while Trevor Chilson won the Roto Rooter 6Shooters main event.
Riddle found his way to victory lane after holding off Jeremy Miller in the caution free 30-lap feature for the NASCAR Late Models. Riddle now has twenty-six career late model feature wins at Madison.
Tonight’s late model field included drivers who totaled over 70 career feature wins in the division.
Shaun Scheel and Bobby Wilberg brought the field to the green flag. The pair ran side by side with Miller, Michael Bilderback and Riddle in pursuit. On lap three, Scheel broke away to take the lead with Miller up to second and Riddle to third one lap later.
On lap six, Bilderback found room inside of Wilberg to take the fourth spot.
After 10 laps, Scheel, Miller and Riddle were breaking away from the pack. On lap 11, Riddle moved to the inside of Miller to battle for second and would take the position away one lap later.
Riddle, who started fifth, took the lead on lap 13 when he got to the inside of Scheel going into turn one.
The top three then made it past lapped traffic while Miller was able to get past Scheel for second. Riddle wasted no time building up a three car length advantage over Miller with Scheel now a distant third and Bilderback in fourth.
With eight laps to go, Miller was cutting into Riddle’s lead, but time was starting to run out. Would there be a caution?
With five laps to go, Riddle had increased his lead to six car lengths. As the race continued to run under green, it was apparent that Miller wasn’t going to have enough to catch Riddle who was already on his way to victory lane.
Rounding out the top five were Scheel, Bilderback and Rusty Hansen.
“That was a lot of fun. I’m pumped about this one,” Riddle said. With three races remaining on the late model schedule, Riddle continues to lead the points with Wilberg in second and Scheel in third.
Mason Hellenbrand Picks Up Second Win of the Season
Mason held off his dad, Ray, to pick up the checkered flag in the 20-lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz.
It was the second win of his rookie season at Madison.
The MISfitz field was brought to the green flag by Mike Taylor and Mason. The two raced side-by-side, trading the lead every other lap. On lap four, Mason cleared Taylor to take the lead, while Ray came up to second, closely followed by Chris Wangrow and Rick Coppernoll.
On lap seven, the caution flag came out when two cars got together coming out of turn one.
Mason continued to lead the way following the restart. Coppernoll moved past Wangrow to take third on lap eight. On lap 10, Dan Snyder passed Wangrow to move into the top four. Coppernoll moved to the outside of Ray to battle it out for second which allowed Mason to increase his lead to three car lengths.
With three laps to go, the second caution flag of the race waved due to a spin in turn two.
On the restart, Mason elected to line up on the inside while Ray chose the outside. Mason continued to lead following the restart and was able to hold off Ray for the final three laps to pick up the checkered flag.
“I was somewhat worried about those guys behind me,” said Mason from victory lane.
Newton Takes Home Checkered Flag in Bandits
Nick Newton picked up his first win of the season in the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits and broke the six-race win streak of Nick Schmidt.
Kevin Beyer and Newton led the field to green flag, with Newton clearing Beyer for the lead after the first two laps.
After five laps, Newton had built up a ten-car length lead while the others raced side-by-side for second. Fast qualifier Schmidt was trying everything he could, but it took until the halfway point for him to move up to second.
With each lap, Schmidt was closing the gap between himself and Newton. However, Newton was just too strong out front and was able to pick up the checkered flag with a five-car length advantage.
“I could see him coming,” Newton said from victory lane. He added that he had two tires going down.
Chilson Back in Victory Lane
Chilson won the 18-lap feature for the Roto Rooter 6Shooters topping the 20-car field.
Chris Braun and Chad Koenecke paced the field to the green flag. Braun jumped to the early lead.
Ken Morris was up to join the pair after three laps with Chilson and Richard Nelson looking to join the top three. On lap six, Morris moved into second with Dylan Klinger to third and Chilson to fourth. Just before the halfway mark, Klinger was challenging for the lead as the caution flag waved for a spin just ahead of the leaders.
Shortly following the restart, Chilson took the lead with a low pass in turn one with eight laps to go.
Klinger followed Chilson to move into the second spot with seven laps to go. Chilson and Klinger broke away from the pack and worked their way through lapped traffic with Chilson hanging on for the win followed by Klinger, Morris, Ozzie Osborne and Nelson.
“Feels good to be back in victory lane this year,” Chilson said.