JEFFERSON, Wis. – After competing in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday night, Ty Majeski made the trip to Wisconsin to race with the ARCA Midwest Tour at Jefferson Speedway.
The trip turned out to be worth it for Majeski, who earned his 26th series victory during the Salute the Troops 100.
“Obviously I had a great night last night in the truck series and made the flight up here this morning and we came to Jefferson to figure this car out,” Majeski said after the race. “We really struggled with it at the Dells in its debut and Toby (Nuttleman, crew chief) and his guys got it to where we needed it to be, and it showed here tonight.”
Majeski didn’t waste time showing the large crowd how strong his car was in the main event. By lap seven he was up to third and five laps later he passed Paul Shafer Jr. for second place.
It took six more laps for Majeski to chase down and pass Max Kahler for the top spot.
The first of two cautions waved on lap 32 when Cody DeVoy made contact with the turn three wall.
On the restart, Majeski pulled away from the field. Behind him, Casey Johnson got by Kahler for second on lap 34.
Fast qualifier and new track record holder Luke Fenhaus made his way up to the top three on lap 41. Seven laps later, Fenhaus would get by Johnson for second.
Joe Shear Classic winner Rich Bickle Jr. was working his way to the top-10 on lap 64 when he made contact with Jonathan Eilen going into turn one. Bickle’s car jumped up on Eilen’s car, causing right-front suspension damage that would force him to retire from the event.
The final caution waved on lap 79 when Ryan Farrell made contact with the turn four wall. This would allow Fenhaus and Johnson to close the gap on Majeski.
Majeski’s strong car prevented a battle as he quickly pulled away from Fenhaus during the final 21 laps to get the victory.
“I knew I had a good car, obviously Luke has been really fast at the beginning of this year,” Majeski said. “Obviously, when you are the leader, you don’t want to see a late race caution. But overall, I knew the car was good and I had confidence in it. We were able to hold them off and get it done.”
Fenhaus claimed his second consecutive runner-up finish in the ARCA Midwest Tour after setting a track record in qualifying. Earlier in the day, he made contact with the wall and was able to recover for a podium finish.
“It was up and down all day,” Fenhaus said after the race. “We had an issue go wrong, and I overdrove a little bit and hit the wall pretty good and wrecked almost the whole right side. We went to work and got some parts from the Bickle team and got it back together, and somehow finished second.”
Johnson, who won at Jefferson the last time the ARCA Midwest Tour visited the venue, was satisfied with his third-place finish.
“The car was actually pretty good on the long runs, nobody had anything for Ty. That car was lights out,” Johnson said. “We were about second best, but that late restart she was a handful, but with a few to go, it came back to where it was. Third is not terrible.”
Shafer, another former Jefferson winner, was fourth while Austin Nason rounded out the top five.
The race was broadcast live by SPEED SPORT TV affiliate MidwestTour.TV.
The finish:
Ty Majeski, Luke Fenhaus, Casey Johnson, Paul Shafer Jr., Austin Nason, Jonathan Eilen, Shaun Scheel, Justin Mondeik, Levon VanDerGeest, Josh Wallace, Curt Tillman, Dale Nottestad, Dalton Zehr, Gabe Sommers, Brandon Hill, Luke Westenberg, Dillon Hammond, John Beale, Ryan Farrell, Max Kahler, Rich Bickle Jr., Andrew Brocker, Riley Stenjem, Jordan DeVoy, Braison Bennett.