By: Eric Huenefeld
Friday 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 1/3 mile speed plant, but in the end, 15 year old Ross Kenseth rose from the ultra tough field of 24 cars to take the lead late from veteran Jim Duchow and score his first ever series win to the delight of the enthusiastic Central Wisconsin crowd.
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 Master 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.