Zeb Wise picked up his first career All Star win at Sunday's $26,000 Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race at Kokomo (Riegle Racing Photography) (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com)
KOKOMO, Ind. (May 23, 2021) - In a showdown of epic proportions, Zeb Wise and Wise-Priddy Racing topped them all on Sunday evening at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Indiana, eventually out-dueling a stacked field of 42 FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 competitors and securing the largest payday of Wise’s open wheel resume. Adding a little extra depth to the stat sheet, the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race victory, which earned the recent high school graduate a $26,000 top prize, was the first All Star Circuit of Champions win of Wise’s short but distinguished career.
“I’ve had this event highlighted on our calendar since I saw it come out on the schedule,” Wise said, driver of the Sundollar Restoration General Contractors, Quikpits.com, No. 10 sprint car. “Our goal was to be in contention for a win, let alone be standing up here in front of all of you great fans. We knew it was going to be tough, but here we are. This is awesome.”
Although Wise would come out on top, the 40-lap Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race was an all-out war involving four different leaders and seven different lead changes. Tyler Courtney, who ultimately secured the All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation four-race championship for $10,000, was the first to lead at Kokomo, controlling the first nine circuits before the “Macho Man” Brady Bacon made his presence known after a restart with nine in the books.
After firing around the outside of Courtney, Bacon maintained the point until lap 18 when the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma-native pulled to a stop during a caution, eventually making his way pit-side. Bacon’s surrender allowed the “Madman” Kerry Madsen to inherit the top spot. Madsen actually ripped by Bacon one lap prior, but the aforementioned caution negated his move.
The lap 19 caution and ensuing restart not only proved to be beneficial for Madsen, but also Zeb Wise, as the Angola, Indiana-native powered ahead from fifth to second in just one circuit, using the cushion to drive right by Tyler Courtney and Rico Abreu. Just four circuits later, Wise was the new man in charge, using a big slider through turns one and two to get by Madsen on lap 23. Madsen returned the favor quickly, getting back by Wise on lap 24.
The war between Wise and Madsen continued through lap 34, swapping slide jobs and battling side-by-side for several circuits while trying to negotiate a slew of slower cars. A move by Madsen to split a pair of lappers on lap 32 looked to be the winning move, but an eventual mishap with traffic cut Madsen’s 40-lap contest short leaving the lead to Wise with only six laps left on the board.
From that point forward, it was all Zeb Wise at the front of the field. Tyler Courtney held strong to finish second, followed by Rico Abreu - a third consecutive podium finish for the St. Helena, California-native - a hard charging Cole Macedo from the B-Main, and Scotty Thiel.
“I just knew to hammer the heck out of it and don’t screw up,” Wise said of his final restart with Courtney and Abreu breathing down his neck. “I’ve raced with Tyler (Courtney) a lot here so I expected him to be racing around the bottom. I just wanted to hammer the top of one and two to get a gap on him, then get to the bottom of three and four. Kerry (Madsen) actually got by me on the bottom in three so I knew I wanted to change it up and get down there.”
Abreu capped his Indiana Invasion with a runner-up finish in the final weekend standings, followed by Hunter Schuerenberg, Justin Peck, and Zeb Wise; second through fifth were awarded $7,000, $4,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively.
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Contingency Awards/Results: Kokomo Speedway - Sunday, May 23, 2021
Event: All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation | Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race
Entries: 42
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Rico Abreu | 10.956
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Brady Bacon | 11.083
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Ian Madsen
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Kerry Madsen
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Cap Henry
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Zeb Wise
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Paul Nienhiser
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Gio Scelzi
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Tanner Thorson
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Zeb Wise
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Cole Macedo (+18)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 69-Brady Bacon, 11.083; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 11.137; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.154; 4. 11-Ian Madsen, 11.176; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi, 11.224; 6. 91x-Cale Thomas, 11.380; 7. 51B-Joe B. Miller, 11.674; 8. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson, 11.704; 9. O2-Brandon Long, 12.199
Group (B)
1. 39-Buddy Kofoid, 11.250; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 11.262; 3. 14-Kerry Madsen, 11.297; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel, 11.304; 5. 7-Zane DeVault, 11.359; 6. 18M-Cole Macedo, 11.440; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 11.442; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 11.595; 9. 20G-Noah Gass, 11.613
Group (C)
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 11.110; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.247; 3. 4-Cap Henry, 11.303; 4. 21BP-Brinton Marvel, 11.309; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.331; 6. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 11.342; 7. 16-DJ Foos, 11.594; 8. 55m-McKenna Haase, 11.711
Group (D)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.149; 2. 5-Paul McMahan, 11.158; 3. 10-Zeb Wise, 11.384; 4. 21-Carson Short, 11.536; 5. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 11.639; 6. 23-Chris Andrews, 11.769; 7. 97-Gary Taylor, 11.786; 8. 7m-Geoff Dodge, 12.544
Group (E)
1. 71-Kevin Thomas Jr., 11.245; 2. 19-Parker Price-Miller, 11.264; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 11.395; 4. 5K-Paul Nienhiser, 11.498; 5. OO-Thomas Meseraull, 11.517; 6. O7-Zach Hampton, 11.689; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.779; 8. 98-Clinton Boyles, 11.848
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 11-Ian Madsen [1]; 2. 69-Brady Bacon [4]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 4. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi [5]; 6. 51B-Joe B. Miller [7]; 7. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [8]; 8. 91X-Cale Thomas [6]; 9. O2-Brandon Long [9]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 14-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel [1]; 3. 39-Buddy Kofoid [4]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 5. 20G-Noah Gass [9]; 6. 18M-Cole Macedo [6]; 7. 7-Zane DeVault [5]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 9. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [7]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 3. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [1]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 5. 16-DJ Foos [7]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 7. 55m-McKenna Haase [8]; 8. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [6]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 10-Zeb Wise [2]; 2. 21-Carson Short [1]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]; 4. 5-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. A79-Brandon Wimmer [5]; 6. 23-Chris Andrews [6]; 7. 97-Gary Taylor [7]; 8. 7M-Geoff Dodge [8]
Heat #5 - Group (E) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 5K-Paul Nienhiser [1]; 2. 71-Kevin Thomas Jr. [4]; 3. O7-Zach Hampton [6]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 5. 19-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 6. OO-Thomas Meseraull [5]; 7. 98-Clinton Boyles [8]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [7]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 39-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [4]; 4. 10-Zeb Wise [5]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 6. 11-Ian Madsen [6]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 2. 14-Kerry Madsen [1]; 3. 69-Brady Bacon [5]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 5. 5K-Paul Nienhiser [2]; 6. 71-Kevin Thomas Jr. [6]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 3. 18M-Cole Macedo [7]; 4. 19-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 5. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [12]; 6. 7-Zane DeVault [11]; 7. 98-Clinton Boyles [15]; 8. A79-Brandon Wimmer [5]; 9. 51B-Joe B. Miller [9]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 11. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [16]; 12. 8M-TJ Michael [18]; 13. 97-Gary Taylor [14]; 14. 55M-McKenna Haase [13]; 15. O2-Brandon Long [22]; 16. 7M-Geoff Dodge [20]; 17. 16-DJ Foos [3]; 18. 23-Chris Andrews [10]; 19. 91X-Cale Thomas [17]; 20. 20G-Noah Gass [4]; 21. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [21]; 22. OO-Thomas Meseraull [8]
A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 10-Zeb Wise [7]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 4. 18M-Cole Macedo [22]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel [14]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [9]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [13]; 8. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 9. 18-Gio Scelzi [20]; 10. 5-Paul McMahan [17]; 11. 19-Parker Price-Miller [23]; 12. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [18]; 13. O7-Zach Hampton [16]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich [19]; 15. 17B-Bill Balog [21]; 16. 69-Brady Bacon [6]; 17. O2-Brandon Long [24]; 18. 14-Kerry Madsen [4]; 19. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 20. 5K-Paul Nienhiser [10]; 21. 71-Kevin Thomas Jr. [12]; 22. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [15]; 23. 39-Buddy Kofoid [1]; 24. 11-Ian Madsen [11]; 25. 21-Carson Short [25] Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney (1-8), Brady Bacon (9-18), Kerry Madsen (19-22), Zeb Wise (23), Kerry Madsen (24-26), Zeb Wise (27-31), Kerry Madsen (32-34), Zeb Wise (35-40)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
9. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 17, 2021): Logan Wagner
10. Bedford Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 18, 2021): Anthony Macri
11. Sharon Speedway, Pennsylvania (May 1, 2021): Justin Peck (2)
12. Tri-City Raceway Park, Pennsylvania (May 2, 2021): Sam Hafertepe Jr.
13. I-96 Speedway, Michigan (May 14, 2021): Tyler Courtney
14. Dirt Oval at Route 66, Illinois (May 15, 2021): Kyle Reinhardt
15. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 20, 2021): Tyler Courtney (2)
16. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 21, 2021): Tyler Courtney (3)
17. Gas City I-69 Speedway, Indiana (May 22, 2021): Cap Henry
18. Kokomo Speedway, Indiana (May 23, 2021): Zeb Wise
All Stars Indiana Invasion presented by Rayce Rudeen Foundation Points Standings (as of 5/23/21):
1. Tyler Courtney - 580
2. Rico Abreu - 550
3. Hunter Schuerenberg - 548
4. Justin Peck - 548
5. Zeb Wise - 544
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 5/23/21):
1. Tyler Courtney - 1786
2. Justin Peck - 1742
3. Ian Madsen - 1706
4. Hunter Schuerenberg - 1696
5. Zeb Wise - 1692
6. Bill Balog - 1642
7. Cory Eliason - 1642
8. Cap Henry - 1620
9. Paul McMahan - 1556
10. Kyle Reinhardt - 1500
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
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#Photo Credit: Riegle Racing Photography
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com