Kemenah Snaps Out of Nightmare for 34 Raceway Win
The Wheatley Chronicles – Volume V, No. 27
Lonnie Wheatley, WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (June 11, 2017) – A dream drive out front nearly turned into a nightmare for Chad Kemenah in Sunday night’s 30-lap All Star Circuit of Champions feature event at 34 Raceway.
Gunning into the lead at the outset, the reigning series champion cruised out front until Bill Balog, “The North Pole Nightmare”, blasted by on the high side to take command on the 20th round.
“Sometimes it sucks to be leading,” Kemenah said afterward.
Kemenah rallied back around Balog four laps later and set to sail to post the win aboard the Hunter Racing No. 10h entry.
With 35 cars on hand for the first All Star card at 34 Raceway since a Kenny Jacobs triumph in 1998, Kemenah landed the pole for the feature event after winning the Pole Dash.
Ryan Smith challenged early on, only to watch Kemenah slip away. Smith soon fell victim to the advances of both Balog and “Madman” Kerry Madsen, who began to close in on Kemenah past the midway point.
Balog had the upper portion of the track working, rallying into the lead at the two-thirds mark. Kemenah responded though, first fending off Madsen and then chasing Balog back down to reclaim a lead that he wouldn’t give up a second time.
“The top was working good enough that he (Balog) got me there for a little bit,” Kemenah said in victory lane.
The triumph came off a pair of third-place finishes over the previous two nights in Illinois at Lincoln and Macon, sending the Alvada, OH, racer into Ohio Sprint Speedweek on a strong note.
“That always helps,” Kemenah said. “If you go into Speedweek on a bad note, nine nights can seem like nine months.”
Balog trailed Kemenah at the stripe in the feature that ran off 30 consecutive laps after an opening lap flip by Ian Madsen, with Kerry Madsen capturing the show position. Brian Brown was fourth with Paul Nienhiser rounding out the top five.
The Vitals
Series: All Star Circuit of Champions
Track: 34 Raceway (West Burlington IA)
Car Count: 35
Quick Time: Caleb Armstrong, 12.792 seconds.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Chad Kemenah (2), Tony Stewart (1), Danny Lasoski (2), Bill Balog (1).
Heat Moments: All four heats ran off caution-free, though Tyler Esh rolled to a stop on the backstretch following the checkered flag in heat two with a flattened left rear after getting wheel-slapped by Cap Henry’s right rear at the line for the non-pivotal fourth position; The only passes note beyond the first lap took place in heat three with Ian Madsen moving past Brandon Matus for a Dash position on the second round and then Jake Blackhurst taking the fifth and final transfer from Bobby Mincer at the midway point.
Dash Winners (starting position in parentheses): Chad Kemenah (2), Ian Madsen (2).
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Tayler Malsam (1).
“B” Main Moments: After a pair of early cautions, Tayler Malsam kept Austin McCarl at bay to take the win while T.J. Michael withstood a late charge by Hunter Mackison to hold on to the final transfer.
“A” Main Cautions: One
Original Start – Trying to rally past Brian Brown for second entering the third corner, Ian Madsen slipped too high up the track and flipped in turn four; The crew made quick repairs to get the younger Madsen back in the chase.
“A” Main Hard Charger: Tim Kaeding gets the nod by advancing seven positions from 19th to 12th.
The Box Score…
All Star Circuit of Champions – 34 Raceway (West Burlington, IA)
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 00:12.792; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 00:12.912; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 00:12.996; 4. 2KS-Austin McCarl, 00:13.145; 5. 8M-T.J. Michael, 00:13.208; 6. 17-Caleb Helms, 00:13.253; 7. 9C-Roger Campbell Jr, 00:13.352; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 00:14.237; 9. 50P-Harold Pohren,
Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 00:12.840; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 00:12.878; 3. 35-Tyler Esh, 00:12.960; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, 00:12.978; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam, 00:13.021; 6. 82-Cap Henry, 00:13.071; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:13.228; 8. 12-Daniel Harding, 00:13.388; 9. 9-Ryan Linder, 00:13.835
Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 41X-Dominic Scelzi, 00:12.966; 2. 18-Ian Madsen, 00:12.999; 3. 1M-Danny Lasoski, 00:13.009; 4. 13-Brandon Matus, 00:13.294; 5. 15-Bobby Mincer, 00:13.298; 6. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 00:13.435; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison, 00:13.573; 8. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.662; 9. 51-John Garvin, 00:22.513
Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 00:13.061; 2. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 00:13.184; 3. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 00:13.186; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.206; 5. 2KS-Austin McCarl, 00:13.275; 6. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:13.359; 7. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 00:13.433; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 00:14.120
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, [2]; 2. 59-Ryan Smith, [1]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler, [3]; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, [4]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms, [6]; 6. 8M-T.J. Michael, [5]; 7. 9C-Roger Campbell Jr, [7]; 8. 33-Brent Matus, [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Tony Stewart, [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, [3]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen, [4]; 4. 82-Cap Henry, [6]; 5. 35-Tyler Esh, [2]; 6. 12-Daniel Harding, [8]; 7. 26-Tayler Malsam, [5]; 8. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, [7]; 9. 9-Ryan Linder, [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Danny Lasoski, [2]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen, [3]; 3. 41X-Dominic Scelzi, [4]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus, [1]; 5. 25-Jake Blackhurst, [6]; 6. 15-Bobby Mincer, [5]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison, [7]; 8. 44-Chris Martin, [8]; 9. 51-John Garvin, [9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog, [1]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, [2]; 3. 55-Brooke Tatnell, [3]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh, [4]; 5. 3-Tim Kaeding, [6]; 6. 2KS-Austin McCarl, [5]; 7. 49-Josh Schneiderman, [7]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison, [8]
Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, [2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, [1]; 3. 14-Tony Stewart, [4]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, [3]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, [5]
Dash 2 (4 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen, [2]; 2. 59-Ryan Smith, [3]; 3. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, [4]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen, [5]; 5. 1M-Danny Lasoski, [1]
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 26-Tayler Malsam, [1]; 2. 2KS-Austin McCarl, [4]; 3. 49-Josh Schneiderman, [8]; 4. 8M-T.J. Michael, [2]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, [3]; 6. 95-Hunter Mackison, [9]; 7. 9-Ryan Linder, [11]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison, [12]; 9. 44-Chris Martin, [10]; 10. 33-Brent Matus, [13]; 11. 51-John Garvin, [14]; 12. 15-Bobby Mincer, [5]; 13. 12-Daniel Harding, [7]; 14. 9C-Roger Campbell Jr, [6]
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, [7]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen, [8]; 4. 21-Brian Brown, [3]; 5. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, [6]; 6. 1M-Danny Lasoski, [10]; 7. 41X-Dominic Scelzi, [12]; 8. 59-Ryan Smith, [4]; 9. 14-Tony Stewart, [5]; 10. 55-Brooke Tatnell, [13]; 11. 82-Cap Henry, [15]; 12. 3-Tim Kaeding, [19]; 13. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, [9]; 14. 22-Brandon Spithaler, [11]; 15. 33M-Max Stambaugh, [14]; 16. 2KS-Austin McCarl, [22]; 17. 18-Ian Madsen, [2]; 18. 17-Caleb Helms, [18]; 19. 8M-T.J. Michael, [24]; 20. 26-Tayler Malsam, [21]; 21. 25-Jake Blackhurst, [20]; 22. 35-Tyler Esh, [17]; 23. 49-Josh Schneiderman, [23]; 24. 13-Brandon Matus, [16]
Lap Leaders: Chad Kemenah 1-19, Bill Balog 20-24, Kemenah 25-30.
The Wheatley Chronicles brings insight and highlights from all variety of racing series throughout the nation in 2017 and beyond along with the Open Wheel Power Rankings on a regular basis. Please send any comments, questions or advertising inquiries regarding The Wheatley Chronicles at www.sprintcarmania.com and www.midgetmadness.com to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
