Four Crown Nationals

Race Story

RICO ROMPS IN ELDORA 4-CROWN MIDGET ROUT

(Courtesy Richie Murray, USAC)
Rico Abreu arrived at Eldora Speedway Saturday evening via an airplane ride alongside Tony Stewart after competing in the afternoon’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in New Hampshire.

As soon as the St. Helena, California driver hit the western Ohio half-mile for the first time on Saturday, it almost seemed as if Abreu was still on-board a jet as he piloted his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports entry to a complete sweep of the night’s USAC National Midget events, recording ProSource Fast Qualifying time, then following that up with a new 8-lap track record run on his way to a heat race victory before slashing his way to third from his sixth starting position by the end of the first lap of the feature.

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WINDOM IS SILVER CROWN CHAMP WITH 4-CROWN VICTORY AT ELDORA

(Courtesy Richie Murray, USAC)
Chris Windom left no doubt that he came to Eldora Speedway Saturday night in championship mode.

The Canton, Illinois driver arrived at Eldora’s “4-Crown Nationals” with a ten-point deficit to two-time and defending USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson.

By the time Windom pulled into victory lane after a dominating, soul-crushing performance on the half-mile dirt oval, he was the USAC Silver Crown division’s newest champion. Windom lapped up to 4th place during the 50 lap main event and may have potentially lapped the entire field if not for a late race caution.

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GRATEFUL GRANT GETS THE SPRINT WIN AT ELDORA 4-CROWN

(Courtesy Richie Murray, USAC)
Eldora Speedway has provided the highest of highs and lowest of lows to Justin Grant over the last couple of seasons.

Just a little over four months after his most recent visit to Eldora Speedway, Grant, a 2015 Eldora USAC Sprint Car winner, found himself without a full-time sprint car ride.

Throughout the summer the Ione, California driver bounced around between a handful of different teams searching for consistent success, but since joining forces with the Sam McGhee Motorsports team in mid-August, the pair have jelled to become a force night-in, night-out.

Saturday night at Eldora, it all finally came together for the team and the driver as they both recorded their biggest wins to date in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car portion of the 35^th running of the “4-Crown Nationals.”

Grant stole the lead from Matt Westfall on lap 11 and survived several slide job attempts by Chris Windom in the final laps to pick up the victory.

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MADSEN SCORES ALL STAR WIN IN FOUR CROWN

(Courtesy Tyler Altmeyer, All Stars)
Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time can make all of the difference. For Ian Madsen, that statement proved to be worth $5,000.

For the first time in his career, Ian Madsen is a main event winner at the world-famous Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio; scoring a victory against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions during the 35th Annual Four Crown Nationals.

Climbing ahead from third on the feature grid, Madsen took command officially on lap 28, utilizing Rico Abreu’s misfortune while racing in the runner-up position. The victory was Madsen’s third against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions during the course of his career, but his first in 2016. Chad Kemenah finished second, followed by Randy Hannagan, Kraig Kinser and Brady Bacon.

Race Results

Event Box Score

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS:

QUALIFYING: 1. Rico Abreu, 97k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.164; 2. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.647; 3. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-17.647; 4. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.721; 5. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-17.724; 6. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-17.775; 7. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.852; 8. Holly Shelton, 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.972; 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 25x, Petry/Goff-18.065; 10. Jake Blackhurst, 37, Felker-18.153; 11. Tyler Courtney, 7k, Irwin-18.155; 12. Ryan Greth, 4, Lesher-18.197; 13. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-18.211; 14. Dave Darland, 11AG, Gray-18.236; 15. Justin Grant, 37x, Felker-18.391; 16. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-18.491; 17. Isaac Chapple, 52c, Chapple-18.528; 18. Bear Wood, 8JR, LW-19.075; 19. Eric Hein, 3, Drangmeister-20.411; 19. Robert Bell, 71-1/2, Bell-NT (Time of 19.266 disallowed); 20. Gary Gipson, 5, Byers-NT (Time of 19.763 disallowed); 22. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-NT; 23. Steve Buckwalter, 25, Buckwalter-NT; 24. Carson Macedo, 71k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 25. Ken Drangmeister, 76, Drangmeister-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Thorson, 3. Felker, 4. Robinson, 5. Neuman, 6. Blackhurst, 7. Hein, 8. DiMattia. 2:08.94 (NTR)

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Darland, 3. Ray, 4. Shelton, 5. Chapple, 6. Courtney, 7. Bell. 2:15.76

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Bacon, 3. Macedo, 4. Coons, 5. Grant, 6. Greth, 7. Wood, 8. Gipson. 2:14.25

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Chad Boat, 5. Holly Shelton, 6. Davey Ray, 7. Carson Macedo, 8. Ryan Robinson, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Dave Darland, 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Justin Grant, 13. Jake Neuman, 14. Isaac Chapple, 15. Jake Blackhurst, 16. Bear Wood, 17. Robert Bell, 18. Tyler Courtney, 19. Eric Hein, 20. Gary Gipson, 21. Ryan Greth, 22. Spencer Bayston, 23. Steve Buckwalter. NT

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS:

QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-16.514; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.612; 3. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-16.612; 4. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-16.705; 5. Chad Boespflug, 98E, NineEight/EZR-16.901; 6. Dave Darland, 11, Walker/Curb-Agajanian-16.918; 7. Justin Grant, 17, McGhee-17.048; 8. Dallas Hewitt, 18x, Keen-17.105; 9. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-17.113; 10. Nick Bilbee, 17N, Bilbee-17.172; 11. Thomas Meseraull, 9x, SC-17.190; 12. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-17.193; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 1, Ballou-17.248; 14. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-17.249; 15. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-17.283; 16. Scotty Weir, 22s, Simon-17.301; 17. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-17.314; 18. Aaron Farney, 17GP, Dutcher-17.320; 19. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-17.354; 20. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-17.355; 21. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-17.398; 22. Brandon Whited, 15, Whited-17.433; 23. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-17.440; 24. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR-17.451; 25. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-17.459; 26. Jerry Coons Jr., 20N, Nolen-17.542; 27. Corey Smith, 66s, Smith-17.552; 28. Mitch Wissmiller, 1w, Wissmiller-17.557; 29. Carson Short, 66, Amati-17.609; 30. Bill Rose, 320, Kissel-17.719; 31. Logan Hupp, 7x, Gindling-17.730; 32. Luke Hall, 9N, Nelson-17.741; 33. Jake Blackhurst, 37, Felker-17.836; 34. Drew Rader, 74, Seven-Four-17.847; 35. Travis Hery, 21, Hery-17.852; 36. Tim Creech, 2c, Creech-17.856; 37. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-17.883; 38. Kyle Wissmiller, 3, Simmons-18.036; 39. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, DPI-18.203; 40. Joe Bares, 19, TEST-18.259.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Simon, 3. K.Thomas, 4. Westfall, 5. Boespflug, 6. Stockon, 7. C.Short, 8. DiMattia, 9. Blackhurst, 10. Underwood. 2:14.65

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Farney, 2. Bacon, 3. Darland, 4. Whited, 5. Bilbee, 6. Coons, 7. Andretti, 8. Rose, 9. K.Wissmiller, 10. Rader. 2:12.50

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Goodnight, 2. Hodges, 3. Grant, 4. Meseraull, 5. Cottle, 6. Hery, 7. Hupp, 8. Smith, 9. Ingle, 10. Windom. 2:13.81

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Leary, 2. Chapple, 3. Weir, 4. Hewitt, 5. Mellenberndt, 6. Hall, 7. Bares, 8. Creech, 9. Courtney. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Courtney, 3. Windom, 4. Boespflug, 5. Mellenberndt, 6. Andretti, 7. Coons, 8. Bilbee, 9. Cottle, 10. C.Short, 11. Rose, 12. Hall, 13. Hupp, 14. Rader, 15. Bares, 16. Blackhurst, 16. Hery, 18. Creech, 19. K.Wissmiller, 20. Underwood, 21. Ingle, 22. DiMattia. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Dallas Hewitt, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Matt Westfall, 9. Josh Hodges, 10. Nick Bilbee, 11. Brandon Whited, 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 13. Bret Mellenberndt, 14. Jarett Andretti, 15. Isaac Chapple, 16. Thomas Meseraull, 17. Jerry Coons Jr., 18. Matt Goodnight, 19. Carson Short, 20. Aaron Farney, 21. Chad Boespflug, 22. Kody Swanson, 23. Scotty Weir, 24. Landon Simon, 25. C.J. Leary. NT

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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS:

QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 99, RPM/Gormly-18.099; 2. Chris Windom, 98, RPM/Gormly-18.099; 3. Jeff Swindell, 21, Swanson-18.187; 4. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-18.248; 5. Brady Bacon, 48, Martens-18.273; 6. Dave Darland, 6, Klatt-18.592; 7. Justin Grant, 8, Carli-18.595; 8. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-18.796; 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-18.823; 10. Davey Ray, 25, Sachs-18.999; 11. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-19.003; 12. Chris Fetter, 89, Fetter-19.159.13. Austin Nemire, 91, Hemelgarn-19.225; 14. Casey Shuman, 55, Bateman-19.227; 15. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-19.265; 16. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary/6R-19.281; 17. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-19.311; 18. Joe Liguori, 58, Liguori-19.392; 19. Dakota Jackson, 120, Nolen-19.464; 20. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 27, Phillips-19.471; 21. Mitch Wissmiller, 0, Barker/Thackery-19.559; 22. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-20.154; 23. Brian Tyler, 12, Galas-NT; 24. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT (Time of 19.717 disallowed).

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Kody Swanson, 6. Jeff Swindell, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 9. Shane Cottle, 10. Bill Rose, 11. Chris Fetter, 12. Steve Buckwalter, 13. Joe Liguori, 14. Dakota Jackson, 15. Austin Nemire, 16. David Byrne, 17. Davey Ray, 18. Mitch Wissmiller, 19. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 20. Dave Berkheimer, 21. Aaron Pierce, 22. C.J. Leary. NT

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ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS SPRINT CAR RESULTS

QUALIFYING
1.11N-Randy Hannagan, 14.158; 2.11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.243; 3.24-Rico Abreu, 14.258; 4.70-Dean Jacobs, 14.259; 5.1-Dale Blaney, 14.281; 6.10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.339; 7.99-Brady Bacon, 14.387; 8.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.396; 9.18-Ian Madsen, 14.500; 10.35-Jac Haudenschild, 14.548; 11.21-Cap Henry, 14.549; 12.81-Lee Jacobs, 14.565; 13.17W-Kerry Madsen, 14.572; 14.8M-TJ Michael, 14.602; 15.20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.649; 16.23-DJ Foos, 14.691; 17.40-Caleb Helms, 14.739; 18.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.740; 19.49D-Shawn Dancer, 14.755; 20.9X-Cole Duncan, 14.782; 21.OO-Dane Lorenc, 14.817; 22.23c-Tyler Courtney, 14.835; 23.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.885; 24.19P-Paige Polyak, 14.890; 25.33M-Max Stambaugh, 14.932; 26.09x-Carson Macedo, 14.976; 27.83-Adam Cruea, 15.022; 28.71m-Paul May, 15.109; 29.O7-Jacob Wilson, 15.127; 30.7J-Joe Swanson, 15.140; 31.59-Ben Schmidt, 15.167; 32.11R-Chase Ridenour, 15.288; 33.10S-Jay Steinebach, 15.314; 34.49H-Bradley Howard, 15.321; 35.60-Kory Crabtree, 15.611; 36.6-Bill Rose, 15.649; 37.5B-Chad Blonde, 15.693;

HEAT 1- (8 Laps)
1. 35-Jac Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 99-Brady Bacon[3] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 4. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg[1] ; 5. 23-DJ Foos[5] ; 6. 09x-Carson Macedo[6] ; 7. O7-Jacob Wilson[7] ; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson[8] ; 9. 6-Bill Rose[10] ; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree[9]

HEAT 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 23c-Tyler Courtney[1] ; 2. 18-Ian Madsen[3] ; 3. 17W-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 5. 19P-Paige Polyak[5] ; 6. 33M-Max Stambaugh[6] ; 7. 59-Ben Schmidt[7] ; 8. 11R-Chase Ridenour[8]

HEAT 3- (8 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 4. 21-Cap Henry[1] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[5] ; 6. 71m-Paul May[8] ; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard[9] ; 8. OO-Dane Lorenc[7] ; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer[6]

HEAT 4- (8 Laps)
1. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 2. 11N-Randy Hannagan[4] ; 3. 70-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[5] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[2] ; 6. 9X-Cole Duncan[6] ; 7. 57X-Andrew Palker[7] ; 8. 83-Adam Cruea[8] ; 9. 10S-Jay Steinebach[9]

DASH – (6 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[3] ; 2. 11N-Randy Hannagan[1] ; 3. 18-Ian Madsen[5] ; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[2] ; 5. 99-Brady Bacon[6] ; 6. 35-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[8] ; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7]

B-MAIN – (12 Laps)
1. 33M-Max Stambaugh[5] ; 2. OO-Dane Lorenc[3] ; 3. 9X-Cole Duncan[2] ; 4. 09x-Carson Macedo[6] ; 5. 71m-Paul May[8] ; 6. 59-Ben Schmidt[11] ; 7. 83-Adam Cruea[7] ; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson[10] ; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson[9] ; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree[15] ; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard[14] ; 12. 6-Bill Rose[16] ; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 14. 49D-Shawn Dancer[1] ; 15. 10S-Jay Steinebach[13] ; 16. 11R-Chase Ridenour[12] ; 17. 5B-Chad Blonde[17]

A-MAIN – (30 Laps)
1. 18-Ian Madsen[3] ; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 3. 11N-Randy Hannagan[2] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8] ; 5. 99-Brady Bacon[5] ; 6. 35-Jac Haudenschild[6] ; 7. 21-Cap Henry[15] ; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[16] ; 9. 33M-Max Stambaugh[21] ; 10. 17W-Kerry Madsen[12] ; 11. 70-Dean Jacobs[13] ; 12. 23c-Tyler Courtney[10] ; 13. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg[14] ; 14. 09x-Carson Macedo[24] ; 15. 9X-Cole Duncan[23] ; 16. 23-DJ Foos[17] ; 17. 57X-Andrew Palker[25] ; 18. 40-Caleb Helms[9] ; 19. 24-Rico Abreu[1] ; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[7] ; 21. 8M-TJ Michael[20] ; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs[19] ; 23. 1-Dale Blaney[11] ; 24. 19P-Paige Polyak[18] ; 25. OO-Dane Lorenc[22]

Photos