Kerry Madsen Doubles Down, Sweeps Jackson Nationals WoO Sprint Prelim Features

Story By: BRIAN WALKER / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – JACKSON, MN – Two weeks ago, Kerry Madsen saw not one, but two wins slip through his grasp in the closing laps at Knoxville Raceway.

This weekend, Kerry Madsen has absolutely dominated not one, but two nights of the Jackson Nationals.

On a full fledged redemption tour, “The Mad Man” has become a man possessed since unleashing his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian #14 at Jackson Motorplex. One night following his stunning 14th-to-first charge, the St. Mary’s, NSW, AUS native backed it up with a sixth-to-first route of the field.

His sweep of preliminary action at the 43rd annual event sponsored by AGCO has Madsen entering Saturday’s $50,000-to-win finale as the high point man. He’ll battle for the pole position along with Carson Macedo, Brad Sweet, and Logan Schuchart in the unique timed-version of the King of the Hill.

“I think I might be too confident right now,” Madsen mentioned. “I probably need to back it down some. Tomorrow is going to be a long race, and you’ll need to drive smart. This FPS410 is just ripping right now, though. Again, it’s such a blast to drive.”

In a reversal of fortune, Madsen’s path to victory lane on Friday night was much different than the route he took on Thursday, when he set Slick Woody’s QuickTime, finished seventh in his Drydene Heat Race, and won the NOS Energy Drink Feature from 14th.

On this night, Madsen clocked in 12th-quick and proceeded to charge from sixth-to-first in his Drydene Heat Race, putting him in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash. A bad drew negated him to finish sixth, lining him up on the outside of the third row for the 30-lapper.

While Carson Macedo and Brad Sweet battled for command of the lead, Madsen marched his way to third on Lap 5 and by Lap 8 had already moved by Sweet to take over second. Five laps later, on Lap 13, the #14 went zooming by the #41 down the backstretch and the rest was history.

Madsen survived the final 18 laps with minimal challenges through lap traffic, officially crossing the line with a 1.433-second margin of victory.

The win marked the 27th of Madsen’s World of Outlaws career, tying him with Paul McMahan and Tim Shaffer for 21st on the All-Time Wins List. It’s the first time Madsen has won back-to-back with The Greatest Show on Dirt since July of 2017.

Carson Macedo led 11 of the first 12 laps before finishing second aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41. A pair of top-five finishes was good enough to give the Lemoore, CA native the second-most event points, placing him in position to contend for the pole position of tomorrow’s $50,000-to-win finale.

“It feels good to be locked-in,” Macedo noted. “I made a few mistakes tonight that I know I can clean up tomorrow. We had a shot there for a minute, and thought I was gonna get another in traffic, but I got caught up battling Brad in the fight for second. This car is really good, though, and I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Logan Schuchart, who finished on the podium both nights, ran third and locked-in as well with his Shark Racing, Drydene Performance Products #1S.

“The car really felt strong the whole time, we just had to come from farther back,” Schuchart said. “I feel really good right now heading into the big $50,000 finale. I would love to defend our title last year with another one tomorrow.”

Closing out the top-five on night two of the Jackson Nationals was a pair of Californian’s with Brad Sweet in fourth aboard the NAPA Auto Parts #49 and Shane Golobic in fifth aboard the NOS Energy Drink #17W.

Rounding out the top-10 on Friday night was Parker Price-Miller with his season-best finish of sixth, Jason Sides with his own season-best of seventh, Giovanni Scelzi with a Hard Charging 24th-to-eighth performance, Kraig Kinser with another top-10 run, and James McFadden in the Kasey Kahne Racing #9.

UP NEXT: The 43rd annual AGCO Jackson Nationals conclude tomorrow, Saturday, June 26, with a $50,000-to-win finale at Minnesota’s Jackson Motorplex.

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 14-Kerry Madsen [6][$10,000]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$5,500]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10][$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [3][$2,800]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic [2][$2,500]; 6. 5-Parker Price-Miller [16][$2,300]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [4][$2,200]; 8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [24][$2,100]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [9][$2,050]; 10. 9-James McFadden [17][$2,000]; 11. 2-David Gravel [14][$1,500]; 12. 15-Donny Schatz [15][$1,200]; 13. 83-Aaron Reutzel [18][$1,150]; 14. 11-Spencer Bayston [19][$1,100]; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [22][$1,050]; 16. 7-Justin Henderson [11][$1,000]; 17. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [20][$1,000]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13][$1,000]; 19. 83X-Lynton Jeffrey [8][$1,000]; 20. 26-Cory Eliason [23][$1,000]; 21. 81-Jack Dover [7][$1,000]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen [21][$1,000]; 23. 21-Brian Brown [5][$1,000]; 24. 88N-DJ Netto [12][$1,000]. Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo 1-5, 7-12, Brad Sweet 6; Kerry Madsen 13-30. KSE Hard Charger Award: 18-Giovanni Scelzi[+16]