In a tuneup for next weekend, Jerry Coons Jr. took the Cornfest 50 at Angell Park before a packed house. Coons took the lead before the race was half over and never looked back. It was a nice return for Davey Ray, back from a racing injury, who finished second. Mike Hess was third and Dakota Armstrong, perhaps preparing for the next three big nights of racing at the speedway finished fourth.

Coons was the fastest in time trials, where over half of the field ran in the 14-second range. Preliminary wins went to Matt Smith, Bubba Altig, Coons, Scott Hatton and Armstrong.

This weekend, it’s a double header at Angell Park Speedway as Badger and USAC take to the track in a co-sanctioned event. Both Saturday and Sunday will have 30 lap features as most of the nation’s best midget drivers compete in the Hall of Fame Classic, sponsored by McGovern’s, Miller Genuine Draft and the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission.

Davey Ray has been released to race after almost 12 weeks of recovery from a broken knee cap suffered in an accident at Knoxville Raceway back in May. Ray was expected to be out for at least 6 weeks for the initial break to heal, but it took an additional 6 weeks of physical therapy exercises for the muscles around the knee cap to heal. Daily biking, stretching, and climbing in the cockpit of his racecar were some of the activities Ray performed in order to get his knee at the 90 degree angle needed to safely return to racing.

Ray is set to make his return on Sunday August 23rd at Angell Park Speedway for the “Corn Fest 50” event. Ray is a two-time winner of the “Corn Fest” event claiming the 2008 50-lapper driving for John Jones and the 2004 event driving for RaJo/Wilke. Ray will pilot the Mecum Racing No. 33 this weekend, and couldn’t be happier to make his return.

Photos by Jeff Wilcenski www.openwheelpictures.comThe Mid-Season 25 by Merillat Cabinets and Chase Lumber was contested at Angell Park Speedway on Sunday.

Indiana's Brad Kuhn set the bar in qualifying, as he was the only car to crack the 14-second bracket.

The trophy dash was won by Mike Hess in the Jerryatric Motor Sports number 1.

In heat action, Scott Hatton in the Huston Solution Racing midget took the first one. Meanwhile, Kurt Mayhew wondered where all the fast guys were, as he backed up several Victory Lane visits of late, with a feature win over both Hess and Kuhn.

Bubba Altig, with Mopar power, won the qualifying race, while Sun Prairie's Chad DeSelle took the Semi.

The Badger A-Main started with a strong run by Aaron Fiscus. Kuhn looked good early, but a flat tire put him in the pits and relegated him to a 13th place finish. In the end it was Hess who topped the field.

Bill Blummer Photo - Sun Prairie's Leroy Waelti flipped during Badger Midget action at Angell Park on Sunday. His car is a historic one and it was his first time out with it, this year. A former Fiscus car, it was driven in its prime by Hall of Famer BiFans had the pleasure of monitoring two streaks this week at Angell Park Speedway, as Brad Loyet and Kurt Mayhew each had a string of feature wins to defend. Loyet had won the last four Badger Midget Auto Racing Association mains at the Speedway, while Mayhew, also a Badger regular, had poached the last five events from the Illini Racing Series there. The race was sponsored by Mid-State Equipment, the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission and Pepsi of Madison who provided many kids in attendance with big Pepsi water bottles.

Story by Bill Blumer photos by Jeff Wilcenski
Missouri's Brad Loyet made it four straight feature wins at Angell Park Speedway, as he took the Firecracker 25. The main event saw Jason Dull and Aaron Fiscus lead the field to the green. It was a drag race between the two down the backstretch, where Fiscus won the battle into the third turn. From here Fiscus paced the field for the next five laps until Loyet slid under him in turn-four. With that, Fiscus got his car high and in trying to gain control, headed down toward the inner guardrail, as the field came toward him. Chad DeSelle did an excellent job as he swung high, just narrowly missing Fiscus.

The restart had Loyet in front followed by Scott Hatton, DeSelle, Mike Hess and Matt Smith. Hatton stuck to Loyet when racing resumed, but Loyet quickly put distance between the two. On the tenth lap, Hatton rode against the turn-four wall and appeared to be stuck in that cycle, but just as the yellow came out, he freed himself and continued on, as if all was well. The next restart had Hess in second and Hatton in third.

Photos by Jeff Wilcenski for www.openwheelpictures.comJust out of curiosity, the archives of Sun Prairie’s hometown newspaper, "The Star Countryman," were perused. Back in 1965 (a semi-arbitrary year of choice) it was discovered that the first two races at Angell Park Speedway qualified 20 and 24 cars, respectively. With that in mind, Sunday’s annual Dash for Dads by Mountain Dew and Stark Automotive Group saw 23 cars in the Badger pits, plus 17 more signing on with the Illini Racing Series.

It was a great car count and crowd considering rain came as close as County "N" and Lonely Lane (about a mile south of the tack), when qualifying pushed off.

Photos by Jeff Wilcenski for www.openwheelpictures.comAnd what a track it was. After seeing the previous week garner only one car in the 14-second bracket during qualifying, the dads in the crowd saw 12 cars slipping under 15 seconds for their special day.

In racing, it’s as hard to control quantity as it is quality at the track. You can offer a fair purse and a fast track, but that never guarantees you will get either of the , "‘Q’ Words." Of those two words, in the end what folks will recall is the quality. When two or more drivers are going wheel to wheel in a midget, risking life and limb, no one is paying attention to how many other cars are in the field. Their eyes are glued to the gladiators battling for position. On Sunday at Angell Park Speedway for the Flag Day 25, presented by Mounds Pet Food Warehouse and the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission, fans got the quality they have come to expect from the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association.

With Davey Ray out due to injury, several others, including Brad Kuhn racing in USAC’s Speedweek and a couple of more regulars with damaged mounts from running the night before, the stage was set for some new faces to show their stuff.

Scott Hatton started the night with the fast time in qualifying, as he was the only car in the 14-second range. He then backed that up with a win in the Fast Dash, after starting from the front row.

Jason Dull and Aaron Fiscus in recent Badger action from Angell Park Speedway. Photo courtesy of www.openwheelpictures.comIn Badger qualifying, Bryan Walters scored his first fast time at Sun Prairie with a round of 15.073. Meanwhile in qualifying, Joel Wyttenbach, appearing for the first time in 2009 and Mark Brown in his first-ever visit to the historic track, both flipped their mounts, causing heavy damage.

Brad Kuhn lead flag to flag in the first heat as Missouri’s Brad Loyet chased Aussie Matt Smith for second. The two ran the cushion until Loyet tested the bottom on the last lap. Here he stuck and surged past Smith for a second place finish. In the post-race interview with emcee Dennis Thompson, Kuhn thanked Hall of Famer, Ron Hoettles of SESCO, for getting his engine back in shape.

The cushion was tricky on this night. It was about in the middle of the track around the curves, but almost to the wall on the front straight. Mike Hess lead flag to flag in the second heat, and added some excitement with a rare wheel stand, as he came to the white flag.

Photo by Bill Blumer Jr. Angell ParkMay 17, Sun Prairie, WI- It was a field any promoter would be proud to host, as the Badger midgets took to the tacky Angell Park clay for the first time in 2009. National stars, local heros and those who hope to earn such titles were on had for the Spring Opener 25 presented by MGD Light.

California’s Darren Hagen set the pace in qualifying as he circled the third-mile track in 14.489 seconds. A surprise in time trials was David Budres, in just his third season, who ran sixth quickest at 14.922.

The first heat saw Bubba Altig in the Bill Eckert machine battle Chad DeSelle early. By lap five it was a three-car race, with Davey Ray now in the picture. It took until lap eight for Ray to overtake the leader, DeSelle. Ray then hung on for the win ahead of DeSelle and Altig.

Photo used with permission from Angell Park SpeedwayRepublished with permission from Angell Park Speedway

1973 Badger Midget champion John Hartwig, had a racing career that spanned some 25 years. He started out in stock cars, but "All they did was crash," according to Hartwig. He had watched the midgets run at Sun Prairie and liked their style of racing, so in 1957 he bought his first open wheeler at the age of 20. He notes the first car was the number 73, McGovern’s Spec., previously driven by Al Fredenberg. In his rookie year he did not crack the top 25 in points. Then the service called for a couple of seasons and Hartwig could not race. Taking his place in the cockpit of that car was Hall of Famer Tom Bigelow. Hartwig’s next car was a Hillegas, with a tired motor. He upgraded to one of the first Chey II engines and his racing took off.