by Kari Shear-Carlson / June 27, 2016 – Ty Majeski added another big victory to his resume’ this past weekend on what would have been Saturday night, but turned into early Sunday morning. After a rain delay and action-packed NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment hit the track as the Illinois Lottery 50 presented the ARCA Midwest Tour 40 lap feature event.
It was a long, hot day, but that didn’t stop the excitement and determination for the night’s race. ARCAMT teams arrived at the track at 7:00am Saturday morning and finally rolled to the grid for the feature at 12:00am Sunday morning.
Practice and qualifying were held earlier in the afternoon where Majeski turned the fastest laps in both. He set a new track record in qualifying, besting the old record held by Mike Garvey.
Five drivers overall broke the former track record, including Majeski, Paul Shafer Jr, Casey Johnson, Jason Weinkauf, and Derek Kraus.
As the field lined up for the 40 lap feature event, Eddie Hoffman started on the pole. Alongside him was fellow Illinois native, Andy Jones. Jones got a good start and led the first few laps.
Majeski was on the move early from his tenth place starting position. He was in second by lap four and just as he was setting up to pass Jones for the lead, Jones fell off the pace handing the lead over to Majeski.
Two laps later, Hoffman fell off the pace leaving some fluid on the track bringing out the one and only caution of the morning. On the restart, Majeski and Ricky Baker made up row one, followed by Paul Shafer Jr and Derek Kraus, and Jeff Holtz and Casey Johnson.
Kraus moved into second and Baker slipped back a little bit allowing Johnson to take third, but Shafer was in their tire tracks. The field started to stretch out at this point as the four jostled for the second through fifth positions.
By the halfway point, Majeski continued to stretch out his lead, while Johnson and Shafer now battled for second. They steamed into turn one. Shafer was able to take the spot coming out of turn four.
Jason Weinkauf had the best finish of his season and a very impressive run. He methodically moved through the field and was hot on the heels of Jeff Holtz for sixth. After clearing Holtz he was in hot pursuit of Ricky Baker for fifth. Weinkauf continued his charge towards the front, eventually passing Kraus for fourth.
The top three of Majeski, Shafer, and Johnson broke away from the rest of the field. When the checkered flag waved Weinkauf and Kraus rounded out the top five.
The Stars and Cars of the ARCA Midwest Tour have a few weeks off before they return to Grundy County Speedway when Rod Baker Ford and Illinois Truck Equipment present the Wayne Carter Classic on Friday, July 15th.
For complete results and event details for all the ARCA Midwest Tour events, go to www.arcamidwesttour.com.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the ARCA 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 Speedways.
