by Kari Shear-Carlson / June 28, 2015 – The ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment returned to Rockford Speedway this past Saturday night for the Kar Korner All-Star 100. When Ty Majeski said the key to Rockford Speedway was to make his car work on the bottom, that’s exactly what he and his crew did. In what was virtually a caution-free event, Majeski added his name to the historic list of All Star 100 winners.
“This car was unbelievable. I know I got into the 88 (Trent Snyder) early on to get the lead, and he did everything but wreck me with a few to go, but I guess that’s Rockford,” said a happy Majeski from victory lane.”
“This race has a lot of history. I’m really happy to be a part of it,” he added.
When the green flag waved, Skylar Holzhausen and 2008 event winner, Trent Snyder led the field into turn one. Snyder had the momentum coming out of turn two and was able to snag the early lead. Chris Weinkauf fell in line in second as Holzhausen got stuck on the bottom falling back into the middle of the pack.
Jim Olson, Ty Majeski, and James Swan fell in line behind Snyder and Weinkauf. Olson didn’t waste any time looking to the inside of Weinkauf, but Weinkauf held his line. Majeski was patiently waiting for things to sort out, but didn’t let them out of his reach.
On lap 25, Majeski dove to the inside of Olson in turn four and took over the third spot followed by Swan and Ricky Baker. The top three were pulling away at this point but started to encounter lapped traffic. As they maneuvered through, Majeski got an opening and made the move around Weinkauf for the second spot and set his sights on Snyder.
Majeski was closing in on Snyder every lap, while Swan and Baker continued to fight for the fourth spot. The top two pulled away from Weinkauf, who was a straightaway ahead of fourth place, Swan.
At one point, Snyder bobbled a little bit giving Majeksi the edge but Snyder continued to have the momentum on the outside. On lap 53, Majeski moved to the inside coming out of turn two and took the lead down the backstretch. He immediately started to pull away.
Weinkauf remained in third but Austin Nason had made his way up to the top five and was battling hard with Baker and Swan for the fourth spot.
The first and only caution of the night came out on lap 93 when Jason Weinkauf hit the turn three wall. This set the field up for a seven lap shootout with a single-file restart.
As they got up to speed, Snyder got into Majeski getting him sideways but Majeski held on. Snyder got into him a second time, but Majeski saved it once again.
“We had a great car all night. I got into the wall a little bit early on, and it wasn’t quite the same after that, but I was just trying to ride and save tires. It just didn’t work out,” said Snyder.
Austin Nason had gotten around Swan for the fourth spot. He, too, bumped Weinkauf and stole the third spot.
“This is my home track. I say I hate it, but I definitely love this place. Weinkauf came across my nose a little bit, but that’s Rockford. I just needed more laps,” said Nason.
Former All Star 100 winners, Eddie Hoffman, Michael Bilderback, and Rich Bickle, all found themselves retiring early due to individual mechanical issues.
The next event for the ARCA Midwest Tour is Friday, July 17th at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, IL for the Wayne Carter Classic 100. Complete event details are available at 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.
