KAUKAUNA, Wis. – Ty Majeski had himself a night to remember.
Majeski set fast time in qualifying, won the dash and swept both 35-lap features Thursday during the finale of the 48th Red-White-Blue State Championship series at Wisconsin Int’l Raceway.
He won the second feature by a staggering 3.694 seconds, building that gap in seven laps.
“You don’t get race cars like this very often,” Majeski said, adding it was one of the five best cars he’s ever driven in his highly accomplished racing career.
For Majeski, who won the Blue race for the fourth straight year, it was also a good tune up for the one race he hasn’t won and wants to win in his late model career: the Dixieland 250 at Wisconsin Int’l Raceway. That race is Tuesday night.
He said winning that race would mean a lot to him because Wisconsin Int’l Raceway is his home track. His hometown of Seymour is 15 miles away. But he believes winning that race will complete his checklist of races he’s dreamed of winning.
In victory lane, Majeski issued a challenge to what appears to be a stout field.
“Someone is going to have to be really good to beat us,” said Majeski, who finished third in the final Red-White Blue standings.
Elsewhere, in the field, the battle was on for the overall Red-White-Blue State Championship, as Maxwell Schultz held off a determined Casey Johnson to win the championship.
For Schultz, the Red-White-Blue title culminates a year of waiting after the title slipped away in 2018.
Heading into last year’s Blue race, Schultz lead the series points standings. He got caught up in some wrecks in the finale and came away with a second-place finish to Bobby Kendall. That, more than finishing tied for the title in 2014, was more motivation than the tie.
With Majeski clearly checking out from the field, the battle in the final 35-lapper was for second and for the Red-White-Blue title. With eight laps to go, a caution came out after a car spun coming out of turn two. That set up what was thought as the last restart.
For the restart, Majeski chose the top line and Schultz took the low line. Third-place driver Alex Stumpf chose the top line and Johnson, who was in fourth, took the low line, putting Schultz and Johnson nose to tail.
“I just knew we had to hang close with him,” Schultz said.
Johnson said he had a glimmer of hope heading into that restart as his car was fading. He thought he had a chance to challenge Schultz for position soon after the restart.
“I was hoping that would go green (to the finish),” Johnson said. “We were there. He just got high and the bottom was wide open so I was going to shoot ‘er in there and then the caution came out.”
A four-car crash in turn two brought out the caution and eventually the red flag. Once the red flag was lifted, the restart was single file, putting Stumpf between Schultz and Johnson.
That, Schultz and Johnson agreed, changed everything in regard to how the race and title battle could’ve ended up.
“The car just went a little bit tight and we didn’t have much there after the restart,” Johnson said.
Schultz won’t argue with the outcome.
“We’ve always been in the hunt,” he said, adding, “It’s been on our mind to get it. To get it by our self is pretty special.”