Published: May 3, 2016
Majeski keeps momentum on race track
Ty Majeski figured out the best way to not lose momentum: don’t stop what you’re doing.
The 21-year-old Seymour native won Sunday’s ARCA Midwest Tour Joe
Shear Classic at Madison International Speedway in Oregon only
continuing what he did in 2015.
Since the start of the 2015 season, including Sunday, Majeski has won
25 features in his last 67 starts or an average of one victory every
2.68 races.
“We had a really good car throughout practice and qualifying,” Majeski said. “We set fast time and got inverted to start 12th.
“My lane on the outside went in the beginning of the race. I was able to get up to sixth or seventh. Then the bottom line went and I was able to pick up a couple more spots. Ten laps in I was already in fourth.”
Majeski took the lead on lap 32 and remained there the rest of the way. Johnny Sauter, who won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in February at Daytona and won last year’s Joe Shear Classic, finished second. Dennis Prunty, a three-time track champion at Slinger Super Speedway, was third.
West Bend’s Duke Long was 21st.
“Madison has not been good to me,” said Prunty, who led the first 31
laps of the 100-lap feature. “I’ve not finished that well there ever so a
third place, our best finish, I feel real good about it.”
The race honored the late 1974
Slinger super late model and four-time Slinger Nationals champion Joe
Shear. He won the Slinger Nationals in 1987, 1990, 1991 and 1993. It was
the first time Majeski won the Joe Shear Classic.
“It’s really cool,” Majeski said. “He’s a legend around here. One of
the best ever short-track racers in history and certainly in the
Midwest.
“We’ve
struggled in this race this last couple of years, so it was really cool
to flex our muscle a little bit and improve on where we’ve been
running.” Sauter started the feature from last place — 24th. He was in
fifth by lap 41 and second on lap 69. “He’s where he is for a reason,”
Majeski said of Sauter. “He is obviously a great race car driver. When
he shows up to the track in a super late model, he’s obviously always
going to be one to beat, always has been and always will be.”
Majeski is making that case for himself as arguably the hottest short-track driver in the state.
That argument can go beyond the state lines. Of Majeski’s six
victories, four were out of state — three at Speedweeks in Florida and
the Rattler 250 in Alabama.
Last season, he won the Governor’s Cup in Florida. He also broke the
track record at the famed Snowball Derby at New Smyrna Speedway in
Florida near Daytona Beach. He finished third in the feature.
Majeski started competing in a super late model in 2012. In 2013, he
won his first career super late model race May 18, 2013, at La Crosse.
Then he won three races on Oktoberfest weekend, also at La Crosse.
His run picked up speed in 2014 when he won five features in 35 starts and won the ARCA Midwest Tour championship as a rookie.
Then he took off in 2015 and has been the driver to beat for the last 15 months.
“It’s kind of funny, the season never really ended for us,” Majeski
said. “We raced once a month during the ‘offseason.’ The season never
really ended. I feel like it wasn’t such a bad thing. “We had such good
momentum going all throughout the year and it never kind of ended. To
me, it doesn’t feel like a new season. It feels like 2015 never ended.”
Majeski didn’t think about slowing down for two reasons. One, he
didn’t want to ruin a good thing, and, two, he knew the proverbial
target gets bigger with each victory so he has to stay sharp.
“We can’t ever think we’re the best,” Majeski said. “We have to keep getting better.”
'I always say, ’Once you think you’re on top, that’s when you get passed,’' he added.
He plans to compete in this summer’s 37th Slinger Nationals on July 19. He finished fourth last year.
❑
Locals crack top-5 at Spring Fling
Richfield’s Josh Bilicki finished third in the Spec Miata division
Saturday at the Spring Fling at the Farm, held at Blackhawk Farms
Raceway, a 1.95-mile road course in Rockton, Illinois, while Hubertus’
Greg Gauper was fifth in the HProduction division Sunday. Also on Saturday, Erin’s Dave Yahn was 18th in Spec Race Ford and Gauper was 13th in HProduction.
On Sunday, Hubertus’ Mike Reupert finished sixth in Prototype 2.
Reupert was 15th on Saturday after qualifying third. He qualified
fourth Sunday. Bilicki finished 29th and Yahn was 18th in their
respective divisions.
❑
Oshkosh SpeedZone asking for fans help
Oshkosh SpeedZone posted a notice on its website Saturday called “Save The Race Track.”
It is a petition in hopes of delaying the Winnebago County Parks
Department’s desire to close the track after this season and demolish it
in favor of a concert hall for Lifest, a Christian rock festival held
annually in Oshkosh.
“Larry (Stratton) and Jeff (Lemiesz) have tried to work with the county
parks director, but have come to a dead end,” the website says. “The
cost of operations and the $7,000 increase in rent the county is
insisting on would not make business sense to continue. The county parks
director, Rob Way, feels that racing is dying and feels that it has to
change direction for the future of the Sunnyview Expo Center and
Winnebago County.” According to the website, the goal is to get 5,000
signatures “before anything goes to the county board.”
As of Monday, there were nearly 2,000 online signatures.
The track’s season started Friday with Steve Schneider (IMCA
modified), Travis Van Straten (IMCA stock cars), Tom Schneider (IMCA
sport modified), Steve Gawaresky (street stock), Larry Richards (grand
national) and Chris Maas (dirt devil) getting the 'A' main feature
victories.
No comments:
Post a Comment