Tribute to America Night Brings Out the Best at MIS Wilberg Wins Track Championship By John Wells
Oregon, WI Sep 08, 2008 - Bobby Wilberg successfully defended his track championship in the Rockweiler
Insulation Limited Late Models on Tribute to America Night at Madison International Speedway that featured eight division in action. Thanks to a pair of fifth place finishes in both features, Wilberg was able to hold off rookie sensation Ross Kenseth to win yet another track title at MIS.
Kenseth and John Baumeister Jr. each won a feature in the Rockweiler Insulation
Limited Late Model division with Don Fassett (Hobby Stocks), Rodney Mundt
(International Four Cylinders), Zach Rodriguez (AST Four Cylinders), Jay Kalbus
(Area Sportsman), Alex Arelano (Legends), Caylie Duncason (Bandoleros), and Pat
Heaney (Midwest Stock Car Classics) also winning features.
Due to the threat of rain in the area, MIS track officials decided eliminate the heat races and only run features. With Mother Nature’s cooperation the entire event including the spectacular fireworks program was completed much to the delight of the fans.
There’s No Denying Kenseth in First Supply 40
Ross Kenseth had to control his own destiny in his quest for a track championship, and that’s exactly what he did by winning the First Supply 40 and besting a huge field of thirty-one cars in a caution free event.
Nathan Oppliger and Andrew Kulka had the honor of pacing the field to the green flag with Oppliger out to the early lead. By lap 2 Kyle Jarlsberg would overtake Kulka for second with Scott McGettigan and Jason Hicks getting by Kulka two laps later.
With Oppliger running out front, Kenseth would move to the sixth position on lap 8. Out front it was clear that Jarlsberg was closing the gap and on lap fourteen was right on his rear bumper. Two laps later on lap 16 Jarlsberg would become the new leader as he passed Oppliger coming out of turn two. On this same lap Kenseth also joined the top five and was quickly working his way to the front.
By lap 23, Kenseth was up to second and ready to challenge Jarlsberg as the two had put some real estate between themselves and the field…at least the field behind them. Lapped traffic was now a real issue as the two worked their way adeptly through the tail end cars. Keeping a close eye on this entire situation was Bobby Wilberg who quietly had moved into the top five.
On lap 30 it appeared that Kenseth was going to have to make his move on the outside and while coming out of turn two that’s exactly what he did as he cleared Jarlsberg to take the lead. From there Kenseth worked inside and outside of lapped traffic including a potentially disastrous situation on lap 34 when a car spun just ahead of him.
But there would no stopping Kenseth who picked up his second feature win of the
season and put himself forty-four points behind Wilberg going into the second
feature. Jarlsberg would finish second followed by Oppliger, Hicks, and Wilberg.
Wilberg set fast time with a lap of 18.654.
“It was a lot of fun. There were a lot of lapped cars in the way and I wasn’t
always sure what they were going to do,” said Kenseth from Smart Motors Victory
Lane.
