by Kari Shear-Carlson
May 16, 2015 – Saturday night’s ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment’s Cabin Fever 100 at State Park Speedway was an event fans are sure not to forget anytime soon, and neither will Ty Majeski and Tim Sauter for that matter.
Majeski and Sauter brought the fans to their feet as they put on one of the greatest side-by-side battles of all time. With 13 laps to go in the 100-lap event, the one and only caution flag flew lining the two up door handle to door handle for the final shoot-out, Majeski on the inside and Sauter on the outside.
When starter Tom White dropped the green flag for the final time of the night, Majeski and Sauter made contact and slipped up the track a little bit as they dove into turns one and two. Majeski had a slight advantage but when they came back across the start finish line and went back into turn one, Sauter bumped Majeski getting him a little crossed up. Majeski was able to hold on but the two continued to bump and grind as they fought for the top spot.
On lap 93, Sauter got Majeski a little sideways and was able to steal the top spot. As they went into to turn three on the very next lap, Majeski forced his way to the inside nudging Sauter out of the way to take back the lead.
“He got me a little messed up there and I returned the favor. But that, that’s just typical short track racing. It was awesome! Kudos to him, he could’ve wrecked me and put me in the wall, but he didn’t,” said Majeski.
As they circled around for the final five laps, Majeski was able to hold off the charging Sauter and secure his first ARCAMT win of 2015.
“That was good hard racing. As far as I’m concerned the race fans are spoiled up here with this kind of racing. Ty did a good job. He used me up a little bit, but that’s racing and we’ll take it,” said Sauter.
Mark Mackesy and Jason Weinkauf led the field to green. The two raced side-by-side for the first five laps before Weinkauf was able to secure the spot as Mackesy fell in line. Mackesy wasn’t done just yet however as he came back on lap 18 and got under Weinkauf to take the lead.
While the two were nose-to-tail, Andrew Morrissey was hot on Weinkauf’s tail. He got under Weinkauf and snagged the second spot. The top ten were nose-to-tail, each waiting for the other to make a mistake. Morrissey made the move to the inside of Mackesy for the lead on lap 27 and Weinkauf followed him through taking over the second spot once again.
As the lead was shuffling around in the front, Ty Majeski was on the move. Majeski was passing a car every two laps and appeared unstoppable. Sauter wasn’t having it quite as easy but once he got through he started his charge to the front.
By lap 29, Majeski had powered his way to the second spot and Sauter was gaining on the top four seeking an open track free of lapped traffic to make up some time. It was evident early on that if things went their way, the ones to beat were going to be the veteran and the young gun.
Majeski was side by side with Morrissey on lap 57 and slid into first. Sauter was able to get a clear track and had set his sights on the second spot taking it over from Morrissey a few laps later. Majeski and Sauter weaved their way in and out of heavy lapped traffic not allowing Sauter to close the gap until the caution flag flew for contact between Skylar Holzhausen and Cardell Potter setting up the 13-lap dash to the finish.
Majeski claimed the victory while Sauter settled for second. Andrew Morrissey rounded out the top three.
With six lead changes, side-by-side battles throughout the night, and a mix of veterans and up and coming stars, Saturday night’s Cabin Fever 100 is one for the record books and will likely have racers and fans talking for a long time to come.
The ARCA Midwest Tour Stars and Cars will head to Illiana Motor Speedway on Monday, May 25th for the Chicagoland Showdown. Ty Majeski will be coming hot off Saturday night’s win and also looking to defend his Illiana victory in 2014. This is one event you won’t want to miss! Racing will begin at 2:30pm. For complete event details, log on to arcamidwesttour.com.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedway.
