By: Kevin Ramsell
Wisconsin Dells, WI - Former four-time Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA Midwest Tour presented by Five Star Race Car Bodies and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ty Majeski took home his second Jim Sauter Classic 200 victory on Saturday night at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, WI.
Majeski joined last year’s winner Gabe Sommers as the only two-time winners of the event sponsored by Hableman Brothers and Don’s Auto Care.
It was on a restart with 26 laps to go after a competition caution where Majeski got a better restart over Fenhaus. Fenhaus tried to battle back for the lead until Majeski pulled away to a 0.988-second victory.
“Yeah, it's hard to get hooked up on the bottom. You really have to get leverage here and I wasn't sure what lane I wanted there. I was definitely a little bit vulnerable in the bottom,” Majeski explained. “So I wasn't too mad about the top, but I knew it was important to get out of turn two with leverage, and I was able to do that, and kind of keep them pinched down. I lost it, one corner, lost leverage, and got it back, and yeah, I was able to clear them there for the win.”
Fenhaus, who led a majority of the second half of the race, knew he was in trouble near the end and said the competition caution didn’t make a difference.
“We just struggled after the pit stop. We took two rights and should have loosened it up some more,” Fenhaus said. “We did a little bit, but not enough. It’s kind of just threw our whole balance for a shift and really didn't expect it. I knew I thought about staying out the whole race, you know, with just our original four tires because our balance was really, really good.
Overall, Fenhaus was satisfied with his finish after how his day started at Dells Raceway Park.
“I mean, we struggled when we got here. Our loads were off, and our heights were different, and so we threw it all at it for the race. We changed the bar and we changed both front shocks and all sorts of stuff,” Fenhaus said. “So we made a big adjustment for the feature that I didn't know which direction we would really go, but obviously it paid off when we were pretty close at the end. Can't complain about that.”
Fast qualifier Paul Shafer Jr. came through to finish third with Casey Johnson in fourth.
Penn Sauter, grandson of the late Jim Sauter, rounded out the top five.
For Majeski, a win at the Dells is rare for him, according to him.
“I think we had a pretty dominant car the whole race, just some restarts didn't go my way and I need some long green flag runs to really see where my car really shined. Those short runs, I was a little bit vulnerable and some restarts didn't go my way and it's hard to pass here,” Majeski said. “You know, I don't, this isn't really a track that I run too often. Like, I run it, you know, maybe two or three times in the last five years. So to come here and run like that, yeah, I'm pretty proud of that.”
Majeski won the odd heat while Tristan Swanson won the even heat.
Nick Egan won the qualifier heat after a tough battle with Jayden Johnson.
The Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA Midwest Tour presented by Five Star Race Car Bodies will be back in action on Saturday, September 19th for the Bettenhausen 100 at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, IL.