2016-17 Round 8

Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix - Road Course at Badger Raceway - Muskego, WI

December 15, 2016

Round 8 of 16

2016 Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

Margetta Collects Third Win

Read the complete box score here.

Muskego, WI - Promoters of the Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix at The Road Course at Badger Raceway would not credential any members of the media, so IndySlotCar.com has had to rely on those who were actually there, the first person who responded to our request for comment came from Penske HO driver Dan Margetta, "I won, the end." That much we knew, what is obvious from the box score is that half the field mastered the long straightaways and tight turns of the track and half couldn't handle it at all, as several drivers crashed out so early that one heat ended after just two minutes, just barely 30 laps in.

One man who clearly had no problem with the track was returning IndySlotCar Hall of Famer Jim Iverson, who built the track originally as Bayside International Raceway. The always classy, two-time Husarsbilt Cup champion, quoted on Facebook, credited the MaD Motorsports manager Dean Strom who supplied the "Silver Fox" with his car that allowed him to climb to the podium after being out of the car for seven years. Mike Lack, the defending three-time Cup champion also commented on Facebook that it was,great racing with Jim, "you haven't lost your touch, we were side by side for half the race!" Iverson replied,"I'm sure you and I would have had some titanic battles for the cup!"

The season has reached halfway and Margetta's win, along with Matt Hayek missing the Sweeney Memorial and John Wiedemann being one of those that exited early allows the 24-season veteran to take over the championship lead by 20 points over JAM Racing's JW and Mike Lack, his teammate, with a strong second place, has closed to within 13 points of Hayek's third place, 37 markers behind Margetta.

The series takes the holiday's off then returns to action at a new old track, as Larry Rotter's Raven Raceway returns to the schedule for the first time in three years as Pete Dorn plays host of the classic road course. Merry Christmas and happy New Year from the IndySlotCar Series!

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Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix Fast Facts

Race date: Thursday, Dec 15

Track: 3.5 mile Natural Terrain Road Course in Muskego, WI

Race distance: 20 minutes

Twitter: @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2015 race winner: John Wiedemann (No. 19 JAM Racing Dallara-Honda)

2015 Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award winner: Matt Lack (No. 1 JAM Racing Dallara-Honda)

One-lap qualifying record: Mark Walczak, 3.977 seconds, 2010

Race record: Mark Walczak, 248 laps, 2009

YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel

At-track schedule (all times local):

6:30 – Driver introductions

7:00 – IndySlotCar Series Practice

7:20 – Qualifying for the Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)

7:40 – Heat races

8:15 – Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix (20 minutes)

Race Notes:

· The Sweeney Memorial GP will mark the halfway point of the 2016-17 season and the final race of the ’16 schedule.

· Three drivers have begun to pull away from the field in the Husarsbilt Cup championship points, with Matt Hayek holding a nine-point advantage over John Wiedemann and sixteen over Dan Margetta. If only these three stay in contention to the end of the season, there would be a first-time champion.

· Hayek has made the final in all seven of the races this season, the second longest streak to start a season since Phil Cianciola’s 10 finals to start the 2004-05 season.

· John Wiedemann is the defending champion of the Sweeney and has won two of the last three races.

· The field is expected to include four former winners and potentially a surprise fill-in on the grid.

Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix PRE-EVENT QUOTES:

John Wiedemann No. 19 JAM Racing: Winning the Christmas Classic for the third time, I will…not…be retiring.

Matt Hayek No. 15 MaD Motorsports: I just realized my son's 18th birthday on the same day as the race.

Dean Strom No. 16 MaD Motorsports: The team has been a little pre-occupied with Hayek this season, but I am going to remind them this is a two car team!

DUANE SWEENEY MEMORIAL GRAND PRIX HISTORY (13 events, 2004 - Present)

Date Race Winner Event Name

1/22/2004 Larry Rotter Duane Sweeney Memorial 500 - Edgewood Superspeedway

12/2/2004 Jim Iverson Duane Sweeney Memorial 500 - Bayside International

12/1/2005 Jim Iverson Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

11/30/2006 Jim Iverson Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

11/29/2007 Mark Walczak Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

12/4/2008 Ev Kamikawa Sweeney Stomp - Road Course at Badger Raceway*

12/3/2009 Mark Walczak Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

12/2/2010 Mark Walczak Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

12/1/2011 Mike Lack Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

11/29/2012 Mark Walczak Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

12/5/2013 Dean Strom Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

10/30/2014 Ev Kamikawa Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

12/3/2015 John Wiedemann Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix

* - Track was built as Bayside International and moved to become The Road Course at Badger Raceway before December 2008.

Most Wins – Mark Walczak-4; Jim Iverson-3; Ev Kamikawa-2