(Bill W) August 2, 2013 – Kerry Madsen and the Keneric Racing #29 team are riding a string of strong finishes heading into the biggest week of the sprint car year. Tonight and tomorrow mark the “Ironman 55” at the I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri. As a preparation for next week’s Knoxville Nationals, the team also plans on competing at Knoxville’s “Capitani Classic” on Sunday.
We last left the St. Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia native after his win at the “Knight Before the King’s Royal” at the Eldora Speedway in Ohio. That was followed up by two top ten finishes at the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup. The race is held annually at the Lernerville Speedway near Sarver, Pennsylvania. “We didn’t qualify real great (19th),” says Kerry. “We were able to start 17th and run up into the top ten (8th) in the first main. The track was pretty narrow, so we felt good. In the second main, we went forward as well (9th).”
The only blemish on the fortnight came at the Williams Grove Summer Nationals near Mechanicsburg. “We had to change the engine after hot laps and that put us behind in qualifying,” says Kerry. “We were actually were going to transfer in our heat (after starting 9th) and someone spun out in front of us. We hit him and it bent the racecar. We had to pull a backup out, and the way the provisionals work, we weren’t eligible.”
Things rebounded the next evening at Lebanon Valley Raceway in West Lebanon, New York.
“At Lebanon Valley, we were good,” says Kerry. “We qualified well (5th) and raced well. We started 11th and finished fourth. Usually at Lebanon Valley, if you pass two or three cars, that’s a good night. So we felt really good about our night.”
A week ago Tuesday, the World of Outlaws hit the Rolling Wheels Speedway in Elbridge New York. “We qualified well again (5th), but we had a front axle component fail on us in the Dash at Rolling Wheels,” says Kerry. “We got into the guardrail. But we came back from that to run up to sixth (from 9th), so we were pretty good.”
Kerry and the team crossed the Canadian border, competing at the Autodrome Drummond Speedway in Drummondville, Quebec last Saturday. “At Drummondville, we had an excellent racecar again,” he says. “We ran fourth. On the initial start, I lost some spots, and on a restart I was in the wrong line. If I would have had a good start on either, who knows? We were able to get back up to fourth, so that was good.”
After a rainout at Cornwall, the Canadian tour concluded at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario on Tuesday. “We didn’t qualify very well (16th),” says Kerry. “It was disappointing. We ran up to third (from 6th) in the heat race. In the feature, we started 16th and actually ran up to ninth. We had a little issue on the last corner. I went into the cushion and broke the front axle, and we tipped over. The fact that (Donny) Schatz lapped up to eleventh still gave us tenth. That was weird.”
The team is motivated for Pevely and Knoxville. “We’ve been really good really,” says Kerry. “Other than Williams Grove, with the motor and the accident, we’ve run really really well. It’s the right time of year to be doing that, and we look forward to Pevely and Knoxville.”
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Kerry Madsen (KMR) Bob & Peter Gavranich (Keneric Racing)
Earthex (Des Johnstone & Murray Lumsden) Morrison Motors (Brian Morrison) KPC Chassis (Steve Kent)
Article Credit: Bill Wright