Big Game Motorsports & Kerry Madsen Ride Fast Car & Consistency To Standout Season
Story By: SHAWN MILLER / BIG GAME MOTORSPORTS – WINDOM, MN – A fast race car and consistent performances led Big Game Motorsports to a successful season in 2017.
The Muddy sponsored team earned eight wins, 34 top fives and 51 top 10s in 59 races. That consistency shined bright when driver Kerry Madsen competed on the biggest stage.
“We won five races in about 30 races with the World of Outlaws,” Madsen said. “That’s a good percentage. Another highlight was our podium at the Knoxville Nationals. I was disappointed with third, but it was still a good run.”
Madsen’s five wins with the World of Outlaws was tied for fourth best in the series and his 18 top fives ranks seventh best despite the team competing in approximately one third of the races. He also scored three consecutive Outlaws wins for the first time in his career.
“It gives you confidence,” he said. “It frees you up because you’re confident to try a few things or different lines. You’re not chasing speed so you’re working on ways to be better.”
That speed and consistency guided Madsen to a third-place finish in the sport’s biggest event – the Knoxville Nationals. It marked his third podium in the last four years at the marquee race.
“The biggest thing I’ll remember about this year is every time we hit the track, if we weren’t the fastest car we were the second fastest car,” he said. “The whole speed of the operation is probably my biggest memory.”
Madsen set quick time during qualifying a staggering 21 times and the team made the dash an astounding 28 times.
In fact, Big Game Motorsports was relegated to the B Main only twice all season – June 10 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, where a mechanical problem didn’t allow for a qualifying time and the team elected to scratch from the remainder of the night following the heat race and June 24 at Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wis., where Madsen won the consolation race before charging from 21st to second place in the World of Outlaws main event to garner the Hard Charger Award.
“For our first season together I think it was very successful and we’ll only improve the more we race together,” Madsen said. “I wish the season wasn’t over and we were still racing. I can’t wait to get to Florida in February to start the 2018 season.”