Kuna, Idaho’s Joe Barton made it two for two in Feature wins at Magic Valley Speedway in the ASA Intermountain Pro 4 Challenge Series with a late pass of Scott Cook with 13 laps to go in the race. Barton won the season opener at the Twin Falls, Idaho facility in April and again looked strong as he moved up from his sixth place starting position stalking Cook and Bruce Renneman for 20 laps before taking the lead for good with a beautiful inside pass for the victory. Barton has now won twice and finished in second in his three races in the Series so far this 2005 inaugural season. Cook completed his strongest run of the year by taking second followed by Kevin Winders in third. Winders had to work his way from the back of the pack after a spin in heavy traffic on lap 16 of the 40-lapper. Dan Madsen finished in the fourth position following Winders through the pack as he was also involved in the same skirmish that claimed Winders. Last race winner Jeff Keller fought a loose racecar all evening eventually settling for the fifth place at the finish.
Barton said “We suffered through a comedy of errors during practice and qualifying but it all worked out in the end, the car really came on there at the finish.” Barton also wanted to thank Patricia Johnson of Veterans Real Estate & Finance Group, Brian Tyler of Tyco Structural Inc., and Stephen and Lee Freiburger for their efforts in keeping his racing program going full throttle in the 2005 season.
Thirteen cars started the Feature with Cook jumping out to the early lead as every position was being contested throughout the early stages of the event. On lap 8 Rookie of the Year leader Mark Bard spun off the backstretch while running third and collected the cars of Salem, Oregon’s Terry Rennick, points leader Kurt Madsen and Shirl Gager. Rennick was the only car not able to continue after repairs were made to the others. Mechanical woes would hit Gager and Madsen later in the event as Gager exited on lap 28 and Madsen left on lap 33, both with engine woes. John Peterson and Rob Powers both suffered flat tires during the event and lost time to the leaders making tire changes.
Bard, Renneman, John Schultz all finished on the lead lap behind the leaders all fighting hard for position until the end.
Heat race action saw Renneman winning his heat over Schultz and Keller in Heat # 1 while Cook of Salt Lake City, Utah won Heat # 2 holding off Bard and Barton in the 10 lap event.
Kurt Madsen took his second pole of the season by timing in an IP4 Series record time of 15.228, an average of 78.723 miles per hour on the 1/3 mile facility. Five cars were under the old qualifying mark set by Winders in April. Second quick was Powers followed by Winders, Rennick, and Gager. Dan Madsen was named the Hard Charger after gaining 9 positions in the Feature after having a tire go flat in line waiting for the start thus having to start in the rear of the field. Dan Madsen is also now tied with Winders for the Iron Man title, each tied for running the most laps completed this season.
Season Point standings show Kurt Madsen still coming out of Magic Valley with a slim 46 point advantage over Winders with Bard third, Barton fourth and Powers in fifth as the top 8 are all within reach of the points lead with the right circumstances.
The ASA Intermountain Pro 4 Challenge Series will resume next this Saturday, June 11th at Idaho Motor Speedway MX in Eagle, Idaho as the ASA IP4CS will run the fifth of their thirteen-race 2005 schedule. See www.ip4cs.com for further information.
ASA Intermountain Pro Four Challenge Series
Race 4
Magic Valley Speedway, Twin Falls, Idaho June 4, 2005
40-Laps on a 1/3-Mile Paved Oval.
Finishing position, starting position, driver, car, laps completed, reason out, money won.
1. (6) Joe Barton, Thunderbird, 40, Running, $300;
2. (1) Scott Cook, Monte Carlo, 40, Running, $200;
3. (9) Kevin Winders, Intrepid, 40, Running, $250;
4. (13) Daniel Madsen, Monte Carlo, 40, Running, $175;
5. (5) Jeff Keller, Taurus, 40, Running, $150;
6. (4) Mark Bard, Monte Carlo, 40, Running, $140;
7. (2) Bruce Rennemann, Lumina, 40, Running, $120;
8. (3) John Schultz, Grand Prix, 40, Running, $110;
9. (11) Kurt Madsen, Taurus, 33, Mechanical, $130;
10. (12) John Peterson, Taurus, 32, Running, $90;
11. (7) Shirl Gager, Monte Carlo, 27, Mechanical, $95;
12. (10) Rob Powers, Avenger, 20, Mechanical, $100;
13. (8) Terry Rennick, Grand Prix, 7, Accident, $85;
