by Kari Shear-Carlson / May 15, 2016 – It may have been cold and flurries may have been falling from the sky, but that didn’t stop Ty Majeski from continuing his hot streak on Saturday night. Majeski won his second consecutive ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment event in 2016, and his second consecutive Cabin Fever 100 at State Park Speedway.
The sun came out just as the cars were rolling on the track for the 100-lapper and continued to shine all the way to the finish. Ty Majeski started in the ninth position and quickly maneuvered his way into the lead by lap 51. Local hero, MG Gajewski started on the front row alongside Jeremy Lepak, after Natalie Decker who was slated to start in the front row, pulled off before the wave of the green. Gajewski quickly took the lead and held onto it for the first 50 circuits.
A caution slowed the field on lap seven when another local driver, Mark Mackesy spun down the front stretch. As the cars lined up for the restart, Casey Johnson and Gajewski were side-by-side on the front row followed by Cardell Potter and Dalton Zehr. The field settled back in and starter Tom White waved the green flag. Gajewski once again took the lead as the rest of the field started battling for positions.
Gajewki’s lead was growing, but Majeski was on his way through the field in hopes to present a challenge. Derek Kraus, the young Rookie of the Year contender, who picked up his first career ARCAMT fast time earlier in the day, followed Majeski through the field. Andrew Morrissey made his way through for the challenge as well. Second through fifth continued to jockey for positions.
With 50 to go, Majeski took a look to the inside of Gajewski but encounter lapped traffic so fell back in line. On the next lap, Gajewski got caught up in traffic and Majeski made the pass on the outside for the lead. Morrissey was still in third and Kraus still running fourth. Casey Johnson rounded out the top five at the halfway point.
“I took advantage of lapped traffic and it worked out,” said Majeski, explaining how he took the top spot away from Gajewski.
Debris in turn one brought out the caution on lap 80. Morrissey lined up on the outside of Majeski for the double-file restart. Majeski remained in the lead, but it continued to diminish as Morrissey was making gains in the final circuits. Ryan Hinner and Nick Panitzke made contact with seven to go bringing out the third and final caution. Because there were less than 10 laps remaining the field lined up single file allowing Majeski to get a good jump on Morrissey. Gajewski continued to run in third as Jonathan Eilen had snuck up through the field into the top five.
Majeski claimed the win followed by Morrissey, Gajewski, Eilen, and Kraus, who finished a career best fifth.
“We had an awesome hotrod. We struggled in practice and qualifying, but made an adjustment and got it dialed in,“ Majeski said from victory lane.
Earlier in the day, Derek Kraus turned the fastest lap in qualifying with a 13.634, followed by Morrissey with a 13.642 and Majeski with a 13.643. Matt Kocourek, Chris Weinkauf, Nick Panitzke, and Mark Mackesy finished in the top four transfer spots of the last chance qualifier. Skylar Holzhausen and Justin Mondeik were the winners of the odd and even fast dashes.
The ARCA Midwest Tour has about a month off before they return to the track. On Saturday, June 11th, the Stars and Cars will be at Rockford Speedway for the Kar Korner All-Star 100. Ty Majeski will be looking to make it three in a row for the season and win his second consecutive All-Star 100.
Gates open at 5:00pm with qualifying at 5:55pm and racing at 7:07pm. The ARCA Midwest Touring Stars will be joined by RoadRunners and NASCAR Late Models. It’s going to be a great show so make your plans now! See you at the races!
For the full schedule of 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.
