Kerry Madsen sat behind Knoxville Raceway victory lane two weeks ago, hunched over, dejected and in disbelief over yet another podium run against the World of Outlaws that ended without a win.
Despite being the fastest driver on the track all night, a late caution and a mistake saw another race get away from the veteran from Australia.
“It was devastating,” Madsen said. “I let the team down. We were in position to win and didn’t get it done.”
On Thursday night, however, Madsen was the star of the show.
He qualified the Tony Stewart Racing No. 14 car at the top of the charts to start things off. The new Jackson Nationals format moved him back to 8th for his heat race.
After points cycled out, he would start in the 14th position with 30 laps ahead of him.
Madsen drove through the field, passing car-by-car and eventually putting himself behind defending Jackson Nationals champion Logan Schuchart to battle for the lead.
Madsen slid the car under Schuchart, taking advantage of a lapped car that was running on the high side in front of the No. 1S, and sliding in front of both cars to take the lead.
He went on to win Night 1.
“It’s a testament to the organization,” Madsen said. “For me to just jump in and have the confidence with crew chief Ricky Warner is fantastic. To just go out there and focus and try to do your job… it’s good.”
Madsen just couldn’t get that monkey off of his back – even though a win had been coming in the cards for the team on the national tour.
Since he joined the team at Eldora, Madsen only finished outside of the top 10 once. He also went on a seven-race stretch of top 5 finishes that ended on Tuesday at Huset’s with a P8 run.
Now, Madsen will look to start another streak and improve his starting spot in Saturday’s AGCO Jackson Nationals, which are set by cumulative points Thursday and Friday night.
The No. 14 team currently sits in fifth and will go for improvement tomorrow. For now, though, Madsen will just appreciate his win.
“It’s fantastic,” Madsen said after the race. “There’s no doubt. Outlaw victories are hard to do. It’s certainly a monkey off of our backs.”
Jackson Nationals Nigh 1 Results
1. Kerry Madsen
2. Logan Schuchart
3. David Gravel
4. James McFadden
5. Carson Macedo
6. Sheldon Haudenschild
7. Brad Sweet
8. Jacob Allen
9. Gio Scelzi
10. Kraig Kinser
11. Donny Schatz
12. Shane Golobic
13. Parker Price-Miller
14. Tim Kaeding
15. Aaron Reutzel
16. Brian Brown
17. Cory Eliason
18. DJ Netto
19. Justin Henderson
20. Jason Sides
21. Ayrton Gennetten
22. Brock Zearfoss
23. Spencer Bayston
24. Wayne Johnson
