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News Ross Kenseth finishes 14th at Memphis after briefly flirting with the leadRoss Kenseth made a strong showing in the ASA series at Memphis Motorsports Park this weekend, contending for the lead within the first 100 laps. Unfortunately, he would cut a tire while running 4th and eventually end the race in 14th position. The event was the 15-year-old’s second ASA Late Model Series race of his career after debuting with an 11th-place finish at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Aug. 30. Below, Kenseth battles with ASA veteran Steve Carlson for the lead.
Ross Kenseth enters the King’s Ransom 300 ASA late model series race at MemphisThird generation driver Ross Kenseth has entered The King’s Ransom 300 ASA Late Model Series race at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park on Saturday night Nov. 15. The start will be the 15-year-old’s second ASA Late Model Series race of his career after debuting with an 11th-place finish at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Aug. 30. “I’m looking forward to the challenge,” said Kenseth, driver of the No. 25 Blain’s Farm & Fleet late model stock car. “It’ll be the longest feature that I’ve run, but that’s fine with me. I love being in the seat right now and I’d race every night if I could.” Kenseth, in only his second season in a late model, began to make a name for himself this year on the short tracks of Illinois and Wisconsin. Already in 2008 Kenseth completed his first full season in the popular BRP Big 8 Series, scoring two feature wins, including the season finale Oktoberfest 100 at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, en route to a fourth-place finish in the series championship point standings. “This is a great opportunity for Ross to get some track time against a field of talented drivers,” said Ross’ dad, the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Matt Kenseth. “He’s had a good year in late models and he’s having a lot of fun doing it. Since his season is over in Wisconsin we were looking for another race and Memphis made sense for a number of reasons.” The younger Kenseth will use the owner’s points accrued from Jeremy Miller’s No. 32 car, which finished fourth in the ASA Late Model Series North Division final point standings. Miller used a Pathfinder Chassis this season, the same chassis used by Kenseth and Generation 3 Motorsports. Founded in 2008, Generation 3 Motorsports fields the No. 25 late model stock car driven by Ross Kenseth, competing at tracks throughout the Midwest. Three generations of Kenseths — Roy, Matt, and Ross — share a love of stock car racing and all three made their respective late model debuts at Columbus (Wis.) 151 Speedway. For more information visit the Generation 3 Motorsports website at www.mattkenseth.com/g3. ROSS KENSETH WINS BRP BIG 8 SERIES FEATURE AT OKTOBERFESTIt was 15 years ago this weekend that a young driver named Matt Kenseth held off Ken Lund to win the Oktoberfest 100 feature. Tonight, his 15-year-old son Ross took home his first Oktoberfest win by capturing the BRP Big 8 Series 48-lap feature event. Also Jeremy Miller defended his Big 8 Series championship as he won it by one point over Michael Bilderback. “It’s just awesome, there is a lot of history here and you can by the names that have won here,” Kenseth stated in victory lane. “Dick Trickle was here and he is a really cool guy, it’s just cool to win here as well.” Kenseth and Bobby Wilberg led the field to the green flag of the 48-lap feature event. At the break, it was Wilberg jumping to the lead over the rookie. Wilberg had a five car-length lead on Kenseth until the caution flew on lap eight for Tyler Sauter’s spin in turn four. On the re-start, a nine-car pile up slowed up the field to bring out the second caution. Fortunately, all were able to continue. Kenseth looked to the inside of Wilberg on the re-start. Wilberg would hold on to the position but the young driver continued to look as ten laps were completed. Kenseth would get on the inside of Wilberg going down the backstretch on lap 17. The two touched in turns three and four causing Wilberg to get loose coming off of turn four. Kenseth would power to the front and Michael Bachus would take over second. “That was my best shot to get him, but I guess he decided to come down,” Kenseth stated. “I will take it any way I can get it.” Two laps later, Brent Kirchner would run into the same situation with Wilberg in turns three and four and would take over the third position. At the halfway mark, it was Kenseth with a ten-car lead over Bachaus with the same distance back to Kirchner in third. The best battle was for fourth between fast qualifier Bradley Powell and Ty Reedy. The two raced side-by-side until Powell was able to get the position on lap 28. Kenseth continued to lead with 15-laps to go. Way back in the pack the battle for the championship got intense as Michael Bilderback was chased down by Jeremy Miller. Miller would get past him with 13 to go. The caution flew on lap 36 when Ryan Miles spun in turn three at the time Bachaus was passing the lapped car. On the re-start, Bachaus looked to the inside of Kenseth, but the door was shut and Kenseth held on to the top spot. Kenseth would begin to pull away. With five laps to go, Kenseth continued to lead while Bachaus was being challenged by Kirchner for the second spot. Bachaus was able to hold off Kirchner for the position, but at the checkered flag, it was Kenseth taking his second Big 8 Series win of the year. Jeremy Miller got past Mike Ehde in the late stages of the race. That move proved to be important as he was able to defend his Big 8 Series championship by one point over Michael Bilderback who finished 11th. For Miller, winning the championship was a great end to a stressful day as he had to win the last chance race to get into the feature field. “We worked and worked and worked. The car was good in practice and when we went out to qualify it was dead sideways,” Miller stated about his day. “We qualified 15th and had to come through the last chance race. But I am so happy with our run in the feature and have to thank my team.” ROSS KENSETH WINS LIMITED LATE MODEL FALL CLASSIC AT MISRoss Kenseth ended his first full season at Madison International Speedway in grand fashion this past weekend as his third place finish on Friday night and his win on Saturday night gave him the overall Fall Classic win for the Limited Late Model division. Kenseth started out his weekend on a high note as he was the fast qualifier on Friday night. He would start tenth in the 40-lap feature event after the invert. By the halfway mark, he worked his way up to fifth, getting past Kyle Shear on lap 21. He would go by Scott McGettigan for fourth on lap 25 and with eight laps to go, get by Matt Byrne for third. He would find himself in a three-car battle for the lead with Jason Hicks and Scott Broughton ahead of him. Kenseth would settle for third on Friday night. On Saturday, Kenseth would qualify third. The invert would place Ross in the eighth starting position for the 40-lap event. Kenseth would be on a faster pace towards the front on Saturday night as he would move into fifth by lap 13. Brady Liddle led throughout the event and fought off challenges from Kyle Shear and Matt Byrne. Both would spin while trying to take the top spot from Liddle. Byrne’s spin on lap 31 allowed Kenseth to get on the back bumper of Liddle for the re-start. But, due to time constraints, they were counting the caution laps. With the re-start occurring with three laps to go, Kenseth couldn’t wait. On the re-start, he looked to the inside of Liddle, but Liddle showed right away that he wanted the inside line. Kenseth didn’t have a problem with Liddle’s decision as he quickly went to the outside going into turn one and passed him going down the backstretch. As the two came out of turn four with two laps to go, Kenseth bolted to the lead and pulled away from Liddle to take the win to a cheering crowd and a happy grandfather who was his spotter for the two nights. ROSS FOURTH AT DELLSRoss Kenseth returned to Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., on Saturday, August 9, for the Limited Late Model feature. Ross qualified fifth out of 21 cars and finished third in the fast heat. He started ninth in the 35-lap event and put on a great side-by-side battle with Mike Ehde throughout the feature. Ehde would fall out in the late going after making contact with the turn three wall. Ross made a charge to the front, but ran out of laps and come home fourth. ROSS GETS FIRST FEATURE WIN AT MADISONIt was bound to happen and it did on Friday, August 8: Ross Kenseth picked up his first feature win at Madison International Speedway. The Oregon, Wis., track is where Ross’s father, 2003 NASCAR Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, won the track championship in 1994, and where his grandfather, Roy, organizes and promotes the annual All-Star Challenge event every year. Kenseth started 13th in the 40-lap feature event and patiently took his time getting to the front. Kenseth was basically following Johnny Baumeister through the field. With 11 laps to go, Kenseth was running Kevin Kneuse for fifth, “I was trying to get by Kneuse, he wasn’t giving me much room at all,” Kenseth recalled. “I saw them wreck in front of me in turns three and four.” The action in front of him was Baumeister and Andy Evraets spinning in turn four while battling for third. Kneuse was also collected. And for Kenseth, “I hit the brakes, locked them up, and that didn’t too good obviously. I hit Baumeister, got a little airborne, but kept going. I bent the lower shock mount and the oil pan a little bit.” But the damage didn’t stop Kenseth, as he was able to continue and found himself in third place. Many were wondering if the damage would hurt his chances on getting his first win, and it didn’t. “It handled a little better, little slower, and was scraping in some places,” Kenseth stated. “I was praying it wouldn’t break.” With nine laps to go, Kenseth would come off turn four and get a great run on Scott McGettigan and take over the second spot. A lap later, he made the same move on leader Brady Liddle and pull way from the rest of the field all the way to the checkered flag with crowd cheering him all the way. “It was pretty exciting especially with all of the action going on during the race,” Kenseth stated afterwards. ROSS FINISHES SECOND IN WIR DEBUTRoss Kenseth continued to follow in his father’s footsteps as he competed at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna this past Tuesday night in the Big 8 Series 38-lap feature event. Kenseth tried to follow-up his Big 8 win at Plover by going for two in a row, but came up one position short to Pathfinder Chassis teammate Jeremy Miller. This was the first time that Ross competed at WIR, where his father Matt is the 1993 and 1994 track champion. He started out the evening by qualifying fourth out of 31 qualifiers. He would go on to finish third in the 10-lap fast even heat. Kenseth would start 11th in the 38-lap main event. The 15-year-old pilot would show his patience in the early going as he would fall back to 12th. Once the field sorted itself out, Kenseth began his charge to the front by entering the top-ten on lap ten. His big move came on lap 17 when Ty Reedy checked up in front of a pack of cars. Kenseth swooped to the inside and went from eighth to sixth in a flash. Kenseth then would get by fast qualifier Ryan Carlson for third on lap 25 while following Miller to the front. He would inherit second spot on lap 27 when Kyle Shear spun in turn four while leading. This set up a 10-lap race to the finish between Miller and Kenseth. Lap after lap, Kenseth would get a great run off of turn four and try to get on the inside of Miller going into turn one, but Miller’s experience served him well on this night. Kenseth best chance came with four laps to go when the two touched going into turn one. Miller got a little loose but Kenseth couldn’t capitalize on it and he ran out of laps before he had another shot. Miller would go on to a 0.248-second win over Kenseth. After the race, Kenseth was happy with his run and wished he had a few more laps. But the WIR fans, along with Ross’s grandfather Roy and his father Matt, enjoyed watching the first race at the D-shaped ½-mile oval for the third generation driver. Kenseth gets first Big 8 win in last laps at Golden SandsFriday night’s BRP Big
8 Late Model Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet 58 lap feature at
Golden Sands Speedway saw many twists and turns throughout its
duration. Drivers traded positions and misfortunes throughout the
Series’ inaugural go at the ¼-mile speed plant, but in the end,
15-year-old Ross Kenseth rose from the
Duchow was the beneficiary of the large 13-car invert for the Kwik Trip/Special Olympics 58, starting on the pole alongside fellow veteran and former Golden Sands Track Champion Kenny Richards. Duchow would power around Richards and pace the field comfortably early on. Richards would fall to second, and as the race wore on, started to fall of the pace of the field, not looking at all like one of the masters of the famed bullring. Richards would end up creating the first caution of the event on lap 24, when something underneath of his #26 car broke loose and spun Richards around helping tighten up the field. The restart would put Eric Klawitter behind Duchow in second. With both drivers as previous winners this season at Golden Sands, the race for the lead was sure to be furious, and behind them sat the rookie sensation Kenseth, who maneuvered high and low to put his Blain’s Farm and Fleet/DeWalt/Carhartt/Valvoline Ford Fusion in the top three by the 24th circuit. Cautions would seem to come in bunches on this night, with another yellow coming out for a multiple car incident involving Scott Broughton, Jimmy Ganski and Matt Byrne. All three would join the tail on the restart with little or no damage. After this restart Kenseth would slip around Klawitter and begin to track down Duchow for the lead. On lap 47 the field was tightened up again after an incident on the front stretch with Byrne and the last Big 8 Series feature winner, Ryan Carlson. On the restart it looked as if Duchow would be much too smooth for the youngest Kenseth, as again the Appleton driver put his Alamo Industrial/Weyers Equipment Grand Prix ahead by three plus car-lengths. But a fourth yellow for a five-car pile up in Turn 4 would notch everyone closer once again. This time, Kenseth would get an outstanding restart on Duchow and power around the #27 in Turns 1 and 2 to take the lead with five laps remaining. Kenseth began to get away as the action was heating up behind him. The paint trading got to be too much for Ed Szelagowski Jr., who cut a tire down and headed into the ‘Sand Trap’ in Turn 1 bringing out the final yellow flag with three laps to go. Duchow would give it one more try, but could not overcome Kenseth, and settled for the runner up finish. Kenseth becomes the second youngest winner in the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet. Michael Bilderback holds the record with his win at Lake Geneva Raceway on 10/1/06 when he was 15 years and 47 days old. Kenseth was 15 years and 48 days old with his win at Golden Sands. Klawitter would pick up his best ever Big 8 finish, running third in his SC Masonry Chevrolet. Defending series champion Jeremy Miller would finish the night in fourth spot, to reclaim the series points lead in his Swiss Colony/RaceTeamGear.com/Mastercraft Exteriors Fusion. But right behind Miller again was young hot shoe Michael Bilderback, who muscled through the field late to again finish on Miller’s heels, taking 5th in his Vic & Jim’s Tap/Bilderback Auto Parts/Terry’s Signs Monte Carlo. Miller would leave Golden Sands with a seven-point advantage over Bilderback in the series standings. Kenseth made the biggest jump in the standings from 9th to 5th. Oregon’s Brady Liddle was the Powersource Power Mover of the Race, moving up 12 spots from 19th to 7th in impressive fashion in his Frank Jiran Contractors/Zimbrick Parts Dept/Blue Bazookas Chevrolet. Crystal Lake, IL teenager Ryan Miles tore up the speedway during Quarter Mater Time Trials, earning his first ever Late Model fast time with a lap of 12.991. With the invert, Miles started the feature 13th, and would bring his Bumpersport.com Grand Prix home to an 8th place finish. Ross finishes fifth at MISRoss Kenseth survived an early caution to come back and finish fifth at Madison International Speedway. Kenseth started out the night by qualifying with a time of 19.036 seconds, third out of 18 cars. He would go on to finish fifth in the Dash. All 18 cars would start the feature event in which Kenseth would start 12th. On lap 4, he would make contact with Nate Opplinger going into turn three while battling for position causing the caution to come out. Both were sent to the rear. On the restart, Kenseth would post the fastest lap of the race with a lap time of 19.361 seconds (92.970 mph) on lap 5. Kenseth would make his charge to the front after the caution by getting up to 10th place on lap 12 of the 40-lap event. Throughout the middle portion of the event, he would work his way up to fifth place by lap 28. His move to the front would be halted as he battled with Brady Liddle for fourth all the way to the checkered flag. Kenseth currently sits second in points only 41 points behind defending champion Bobby Wilberg, who won the feature event. Ross captures his first feature win at Dells Raceway ParkThe history books will state that Ross Kenseth made his late model debut at Columbus 151 Speedway on June 8, 2007. But for those who follow the young driver, they will tell you that he gained a lot of experience by racing at Dells Raceway Park. It was only fitting that the 15-year-old, third-generation driver would pick up his first ever late model feature win at DRP this past Saturday night. Kenseth would start off the night by qualifying 10th out of 18 cars. He would go on to finish 8th in his heat race. With the invert, Kenseth would start 5th in 33-lap feature event. Kenseth would show his patience throughout the feature event as he would take over the fourth position from Cardell Potter on lap 5. It was on lap 14 that he moved up to the third spot by getting past Shane Poehnelt. Ten laps later, he made his way past Brett Moffitt for second and set his sights on race leader Joel Soenksen. It only took one lap for Kenseth to get by Soenksen and take the lead on lap 25. With family members in attendance, Kenseth would drive home to his first late model feature win one year and 20 days after he made his debut at Columbus 151 Speedway. On a side note, the track announcer at Dells Raceway Park is Todd Behling. Behling called many of the feature wins that Ross’s father Matt collected when he raced at Wisconsin local tracks in the 90’s and he called Ross’s first feature win. Ross finishes second again at MadisonRoss Kenseth wished he just had a few more laps this Friday night at Madison International Speedway. Instead, he ran out of laps and came home with his second 2nd place finish at Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile Oval. Kenseth started out the night by qualifying fourth out of 28 cars to take time. He was only 0.094 seconds behind fast qualifier Ryan Goldade. He would start eighth in the second heat race and would finish sixth. Kenseth would return to start ninth in the 22-car feature event. In the early going, the outside lane was moving forward causing Kenseth to fall back to 11th. But that didn’t last long as he moved into the top ten on lap 4. The caution flew on lap 17 when Nate Opplinger and Michael Bilderback made contact coming off of turn two causing Opplinger to spin. Both were sent to the rear allowing Kenseth to move from seventh to fifth. On the restart, he quickly got past Brett Moffitt for fourth. With nine laps to go, he got past Cliff Rucks for third then, two laps later, he got past Ryan Miles for second with six laps to go. Kenseth would close the gap between him and Scott Broughton but the checkered flag flew. Kenseth was disappointed that he didn’t have a chance to challenge for the win, but was satisfied with another second place finish. |
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