Ty Majeski Starts ASA STARS Wisconsin Doubleheader With Madison Victory

Ty Majeski set the tone to start the ASA STARS National Tour’s Wisconsin weekend, winning the Capital 200 at Madison International Speedway.

Majeski qualified on the pole and led 134 of the race’s 200 laps to score the victory, remaining undefeated in the state of Wisconsin in ASA STARS National Tour competition.

All three of Majeski’s wins during his 2023 ASA STARS National Tour championship run came in his home state, with victories at Madison, the Milwaukee Mile and Wisconsin International Raceway.

“We’re on top of our game right now,” said Majeski in victory lane. “Our race cars are really good wherever we go. I really wanted these guys from the south to come up to see where our stuff was at. They obviously have a lot of good people and a lot of great drivers come up from down there. It’s good to defend our home turf.”

Cole Butcher took the lead from the outside of the front row to start the race. Butcher led the first 66 laps but hit the outside wall in turn three after losing traction in fluid from Michael Bilderback’s car.

“I guess a bunch of [expletive] big puffs of smoke doesn’t mean throw the [expletive] caution,” said a frustrated Butcher on the TrackTV.com broadcast.

“I was starting to smell something a couple of laps in advance,” recounted Majeski. “I was sort of looking for something. All of a sudden, I saw a bunch of smoke off of turn two. I saw the track a little discolored, so I just pulled to the bottom. Cole obviously didn’t see it.

“I really wish we could have raced it out. He had a good car. We’re right with him. It would have been interesting to see how the race played out. Just got lucky and saw it and avoided disaster there.”

Majeski’s biggest threat following the incident came on the restart following the conclusion of stage two. Casey Roderick fired off with plenty of pace with 50 laps to go, but ultimately settled for second place.

“I knew he had a really strong car,” said Roderick. “He looked great all night. Definitely the class of the field tonight. We made some really good adjustments there on that last pit stop. When I turned underneath him off of two there once we went green, I was like, man, we might be able to battle it out with him. He was just too strong tonight.

“When we went back green [after a caution on lap 159], my car didn’t fire back off. It went back tight and just didn’t like that heat cycle, I guess.”

The ASA STARS National Tour will race again on Sunday at The Milwaukee Mile for the Father’s Day 100. While Majeski won there a year ago, Austin Nason is a former winner of the event.

Nason finished third on Friday night at Madison, and hopes to score another victory at the historic Wisconsin State Fair Park circuit on Sunday. He might have been quick enough to take second from Roderick, but didn’t want to force the issue with a driver who has raced him respectfully.

“We just rode around there at the beginning,” said Nason. “We had a good race car all day. The guys worked really hard on it that last stop, when we put tires on. I knew we had something, it was just a matter of getting track position, and it kind of fell our way there.

“I might have used the brakes up a little too much at the end. I think we could have gotten by him, but I just didn’t want to do him dirty. He’s raced me clean whenever we’ve raced him. I got to him, and I tried, but I had no brakes left.

“We built a brand-new car to go there. Last time we built a brand new car, we won. I’m excited to go there. These guys have busted their butt all week. We built the car in a week. Hopefully, it’s good. I’m excited to get there. We’ve finally got some luck on our side. I think it’s finally turning this way. We’ve got fast cars, all we need is luck.”

Caden Kvapil finished fourth, with Levon Van Der Geest rounding out the top five.

-Photo credit: Reid Scott, Liberty Racing Review

ASA STARS NATIONAL TOUR CAPITAL 200
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS