AUBURN, Mich. — For the sixth time this season and second time in as many tries, Zeb Wise is a Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions main event winner — this time conquering the winged sprint car action in his first-ever appearance at Tri-City Motor Speedway.
Wise, ace of the Rudeen Racing/Rayce Rudeen Foundation No. 26 sprint car, led all 30 circuits of the 30-lap contest, scoring a $7,000 top prize in the process to add to his recent $10,000 payday in Selinsgrove, Penn. Wise’s career win total now stands at 10 with the All Star Circuit of Champions, continuing his quest toward his first series championship.
“I owe it all to the four guys standing behind me. They do such an incredible job on this race car. They make my job really easy, that’s for sure,” Wise said. “Honestly, I don’t think I ran that well of a race, but it was enough to get it done. A pretty big win for me and my family, as we are not that far from home, especially tomorrow at Butler.
“We had the Chevy in tonight, which also says a lot about this team…we’ve been good no matter what we have under the hood.”
Although leading every lap, Wise’s campaign at the front of the field did not come without challenges, as he was forced to withstand two momentum shifts in the form of cautions, mixed with periods of heavy lapped traffic.
Vermeer Motorsports’ Kerry Madsen and Premier Motorsports’ Kraig Kinser did everything they could to reel in the Rudeen Racing entry, but all attempts failed.
Kinser started 11th on the A-Main grid, powering his way to fourth by lap 12 and to third by lap 14.
The former Knoxville Nationals champion went on to get by Madsen for second on lap 19, holding that position for a brief stint until the “Madman” was able to get back by in traffic on lap 24.
“Traffic was kinda difficult there at the end,” Wise continued. “I knew I probably needed to be on the bottom, but a lot of the slower guys were down there so it was hard for me to find the chance to move down. I just stayed true to what I was doing the whole race.”
Feature Results (30 Laps)
1. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen[6]; 3. 70-Kraig Kinser[11]; 4. 4-Chris Windom[7]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog[13]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson[17]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[4]; 8. 32-Bryce Lucius[12]; 9. 42-Sye Lynch[8]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 11. 7N-Darin Naida[10]; 12. 73-Scotty Thiel[20]; 13. 22M-Dan McCarron[18]; 14. 23-Cale Thomas[3]; 15. 97-Zeth Sabo[23]; 16. 50YR-JJ Hickle[15]; 17. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 18. 24D-Danny Sams III[5]; 19. 85-Dustin Daggett[19]; 20. 16C-Tylar Rankin[14]; 21. 5-Byron Reed[21]; 22. 12-Corbin Gurley[24]; 23. 29-Adam Kekich[25]; 24. (DNF) 71H-Max Stambaugh[22]; 25. (DNF) 77-Geoff Dodge[16]