James McFadden opens four-day All Star trek with victory at Plymouth Dirt Track

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James McFadden opens four-day All Star trek with victory at Plymouth Dirt Track

Story By: Tyler Altmeyer/ASCOC

PLYMOUTH, Wis. (July 26, 2019) – Snapping an All Star winless streak that dates back to May of 2015, Brisbane, Australia’s James McFadden helped the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1, as well as the Bumper-to-Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series, kick off their four-day trip through the Midwest by finding victory lane, doing so at the always-exciting Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wisconsin, on Thursday night, July 25.

Although in charge for the majority of the 30-lap program, the first 11 circuits were certainly a challenge for the now three-time All Star Circuit of Champions feature winner, ultimately powering his way forward from the outside of row two, all while waging war with Monrovia, Illinois’ Justin Peck, who led from the drop of the green flag until McFadden took control on lap 12.

“Oh man, this feels good. We’ve been close on so many occasions, so it just feels great to get it done here tonight,” James McFadden expressed, driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb/Curb Records/Wicked Energy Gum/Wicked Cushion/No. 9 sprint car. “I can’t thank Kasey Kahne and this entire team enough for this opportunity. The track really played into our favor tonight. Hopefully we can do it again this weekend.”

Although forced to start fourth on the grid due to his All Star Circuit of Champions dash result, it only took one circuit for McFadden to find himself within striking distance, actually bumping ahead two spots into second by the completion of lap one, quickly setting aim on Justin Peck, who led the first lap from the pole position.

By lap six, lapped traffic was already a factor, ultimately giving McFadden an opportunity to pounce as Peck tried to work around slower traffic. Despite Peck’s ability to get through the slower cars, McFadden stayed in view, actually pressuring Peck in the form of side-by-side racing on multiple occasions during laps nine through 11.

By lap 12, McFadden was in position to challenge for the lead, eventually using a hard drive into turns one and two to pull even with Peck down the backstretch, soon followed by a slider into turns three and four. For McFadden, the bid for the top spot worked, securing the lead by the exit of turn four. Unfortunately, the lap was eventually negated, as Peck, who drove just as hard into turn three with the intention to get back around McFadden, stumbled on the cushion, caught the lip and flipped. Peck would walk away unharmed, but the incident would allow McFadden to inherit the top spot, anyhow.

Although forced to deal with two more cautions, one of which for another red flag incident on lap 15, McFadden remained in control at the front of the field, only pressured slightly on laps 19 through 23, as a pair of former All Star champions, Greg Wilson and Dale Blaney, edged their noses into a fight for the lead. Traffic did pop back into the picture on lap 17 creating a slight hiccup for the former World Series of Sprintcars champion, but it proved to be no match for McFadden, continuing to utilize the bottom groove around Plymouth Dirt Track to remain the man on top.

Greg Wilson would chase McFadden to the final checkers, followed by Dale Blaney, a hard-charging Aaron Reutzel from 14th, and Paul McMahan.

With a six hour tow to the west to hurdle, the All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their four-race weekend on Friday night, July 26, at the state-of-the-art Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minnesota. The first of two five-figure paydays on the weekend, the All Stars will battle for a $10,000 winner’s share during their visit to southern Minnesota, and much like their stint in Wisconsin, the All Stars will not return to the ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes’ in 2019.

Those seeking additional news and notes pertaining to the All Star visit to Jackson Motorplex should visit the facility live on the Web at www.jacksonmotorplex.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Plymouth Dirt Track – July 25, 2019:
Event: All Star/IRA visit to Plymouth Dirt Track
Entries: 36
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Andrew Scheuerle – 11.954
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: James McFadden – 11.732
Ford Performance Heat #1: Cory Eliason
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Brock Zearfoss
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Justin Peck
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Wayne Johnson
JE Pistons Dash #1: Justin Peck
Fatheadz Eyewear Dash #2: Brock Zearfoss
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Marcus Dumsney
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: James McFadden
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Aaron Reutzel (+10)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: James McFadden (12-30)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Ben Schmidt
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)

9-James McFadden, 11.732; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 11.845; 3. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.936; 4. 11-Dale Blaney, 12.029; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, 12.116; 6. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 12.440; 7. 40-George Hobaugh, 12.484; 8. 73AF-Joey Moughan, 12.625; 9. 45-Matt Wiese, 13.095

Group (B)

O2-Mike Reinke, 12.185; 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.350; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 12.399; 4. 11D-Danny Schlafer, 12.560; 5. 73-Ben Schmidt, 12.781; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.784; 7. 19-Todd Daun, 12.846; 8. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 12.959; 9. 63-Nick Matuszewski, 13.131

Group (C)

87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.968; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 12.014; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.181; 4. 70X-Justin Peck, 12.188; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 12.303; 6. 14M-Marcus Dumsney, 12.332; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.425; 8. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.439; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.670

Group (D)

17B-Bill Balog, 12.266; 2. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 12.324; 3. 23-Russel Borland, 12.441; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 12.462; 5. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.597; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.619; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.827; 8. 29-Hunter Custer, 13.459; 9. O-Johnny Fahl, 99.999

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

26-Cory Eliason [2]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [1]; 3. 9-James McFadden [4]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 6. 40-George Hobaugh [7]; 7. 4B-Scott Biertzer [6]; 8. 45-Matt Wiese [9]; 9. 73AF-Joey Moughan [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 3. O2-Mike Reinke [4]; 4. 85M-Steve Meyer [6]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [8]; 6. 19-Todd Daun [7]; 7. 11D-Danny Schlafer [1]; 8. 63-Nick Matuszewski [9]; 9. 73-Ben Schmidt [5]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

70X-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel [2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre [5]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [7]; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [8]; 8. 14M-Marcus Dumsney [6]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder [9]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

2C-Wayne Johnson [1]; 2. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [3]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [6]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech [5]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz [7]; 7. O-Johnny Fahl [9]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer [8]; 9. 23-Russel Borland [2]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

70X-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [5]; 5. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [4]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

70-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 2. 9-James McFadden [2]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

14M-Marcus Dumsney [1]; 2. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [6]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [2]; 4. 4B-Scott Biertzer [7]; 5. 73-Ben Schmidt [16]; 6. 23-Russel Borland [13]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz [4]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [3]; 9. 19-Todd Daun [5]; 10. 11D-Danny Schlafer [8]; 11. 63-Nick Matuszewski [11]; 12. 43-Jereme Schroeder [15]; 13. O-Johnny Fahl [9]; 14. 29-Hunter Custer [12]; 15. 45-Matt Wiese [10]; 16. 73AF-Joey Moughan [14]

A-Main (30 Laps)

9-James McFadden [4]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [7]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [14]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [8]; 6. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 8. 2C-Wayne Johnson [9]; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [17]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog [13]; 12. O2-Mike Reinke [12]; 13. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [15]; 14. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [19]; 15. O7-Gerard McIntyre [18]; 16. 64-Scotty Thiel [10]; 17. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [11]; 18. 85M-Steve Meyer [16]; 19. 4B-Scott Biertzer [24]; 20. 14M-Marcus Dumsney [20]; 21. 68-Dave Uttech [21]; 22. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [22]; 23. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [23]; 24. 70X-Justin Peck [1] Lap Leaders: Justin Peck (1-11), James McFadden (12-30)

2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 7/25/2019):