2016-17 Round 13
Stardust 500 - Stardust Speedway - Vegas
March 2, 2017
Round 13 of 16
Hayek Hits The Jackpot At Stardust
Read the complete box score here
(Vegas) -- They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Matt Hayek doesn't want that to be the case, he is proud to say he won the pole, his heat race and the 500 lap final of the Stardust 500 at Stardust Speedway, helping restart his hopes of winning the Husarsbilt Cup championship. Qualifying showed how hooked up the MaD Motorsports Steak-n-Shake #15 car was, setting a new four lap qualifying record of 7.326 seconds, almost a full six-tenths of a second faster than the second place qualifier, Dan Margetta. Only Margetta and JAM Racing's Mike Lack broke the eight second bracket in qualifying.
The opening heat saw the most dramatic moment of the night with Lack leading, Dan Margetta was struggling with handling and trying to score laps with hopes of making the final from the transfer spot, but it was not to be, because on lap 204 the car flew off the track in turn two and Penske HO driver would have to watch the rest of the night and see that no other cars suffered the same fate, settling for last place.
The second heat featured Margetta's rival for the Husarsbilt Cup, John Wiedemann and his HO Penske Racing teammate Ev Kamikawa. Kamikawa and "JW" battled throughout the heat but eventually Kamikawa would help his teammate out by keeping Wiedemann from automatically advancing to the final by winning the heat by three laps, the JAM Racing #19 team would have to wait and watch the third heat to see if they were moving on.
Hayek had a challenger early on in his heat race from former Target Fitz Ganassi Racing driver Mike Kristof, who had a rock solid car, but was no match ultimately for the MaD Motorsports driver who was hooked up all the way around the track in speed and handling. But Kristof had a shot at advancing to the final and knocking Wiedemann out, but a couple of late race spinouts cost him too much time and the former Target car wound up 3 laps short of the lap total needed, much to Wiedemann's relief and Margetta's chagrin. Kristof would finish fifth on the night with his former Fitz Ganassi teammate sixth, hometown favorite ran competitively early and still finished a solid seventh in only his second start of the season and leading the pack of the four Spehert Autosport cars in the field ahead of Bill Black in eighth, Tom Spehert in tenth and Pete Dorn ahead of Margetta in eleventh. Dean Strom struggled with handling to finish ninth.
The 500 lap finale was all Hayek as he took the lead early and never gave it up, while John Wiedemann just tried to score as many points as possible to open up the points advantage he had with Margetta crashing out early, he would wind up second, 17 laps down to Hayek, but 22 points better than Margetta to stretch the lead to 25 heading into the last three races of the season. Wiedemann's JAM Racing teammate, Mike Lack cruised to third, while Kamikawa struggled with handling to finish a distant fourth.
Next up is a wild card race of sorts, as the series travels to Lucky Bob's Raceway for a rare public event and a track that no driver has run on before. Be sure to join us on Tuesday, March 21 at 7pm at Lucky Bob's on Forest Home Ave in Milwaukee, just east of 60th St. A rare chance to meet your favorite IndySlotCar drivers and watch the action in person.
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Stardust 500 Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Mar 2
Track: Stardust Speedway, 1 mile tri-oval, Greendale, WI
Race distance: 500 laps
Twitter: @indyslotcar
IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com
2016 race winner: John Wiedemann (No. 19 JAM Racing Dallara-Honda)
2016 Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award winner: Mike Kristof (No. 9 Target Fitz Ganassi Racing Dallara-Chevrolet)
Qualifying record: Mike Fitzlaff, 7.843 seconds, 2012; Single lap record: Mark Walczak, 1.763 seconds, 2012
Race record: Ev Kamikawa, 11 minutes, 2.1 seconds, 2014
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 (single car/ four laps)
7:40 – Heat races
8:30 – Stardust 500
Race Notes:
· The battle for the Husarsbilt Cup championship continues to tighten, with Dan Margetta just three points behind John Wiedemann, after Margetta finished just one position ahead of JW at the last race.
· Three-time defending champion Mike Lack is working himself back into the conversation, with a win and two third place finishes in the last three races, and now sits just 32 points behind his JAM Racing teammate.
· This will be the fourth oval race of the season, the first season since 11-12 that there will be five oval races on the schedule.
Stardust 500 PRE-EVENT QUOTES:
Fitz Ganassi, owner, Target Fitz Ganassi Racing: After the pathetic performance at Quarryfest Deslotmania, both my drivers need to look for employment next year!
Dan Margetta No. 3 Penske HO Racing: If I lose this championship by one point, Bill Black is going to hear from me.
John Wiedemann No. 19 JAM Racing: Did I say Dean Strom was my hero? Bill Black is my new hero!
STARDUST 500 HISTORY (9 events, 2006 - Present)
Date Race Winner Event Name Track
9/28/2006 Jim Iverson Reinhart FoodService 400 Milwaukee International
9/27/2007 Jim Iverson Reinhart FoodService 400 Milwaukee International
9/18/2008 Mike Fitzlaff Reinhart FoodService 400 Milwaukee International
10/8/2009 Ev Kamikawa Reinhart FoodService 400 Milwaukee International
10/7/2010 Chris Spehert Reinhart FoodService 400 Milwaukee International
2/2/2012 Dean Strom Stardust 400 Stardust Speedway
3/14/2013 Dean Strom Stardust 400 Stardust Speedway
2/27/2014 Ev Kamikawa Stardust 500 Stardust Speedway
3/3/2016 John Wiedemann Stardust 500 Stardust Speedway
Most Wins – 2-Ev Kamikawa, Dean Strom, Jim Iverson