2017-18 Round 11

Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix - Streets of Rapids - Milwaukee, WI

February 1, 2018

Round 11 of 16

2018 Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix

Kamikawa Is Back!

(Milwaukee, WI) -- Six drivers have been to victory lane in the 2017-18 IndySlotCar season and the most glaring absence from the list of winners is two-time champion Ev Kamikawa, but last night, the home town hero of Rapids International came through and added his name to that list, taking the checkered flag at the Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix, his first win on home soil since 2007.

As the veteran driver noted after the race, the car was hooked up all night, qualifying on the front row, in fact, scoring the exact same lap time as pole winner Mike Fitzlaff, but by a quirk in the rules as to how tied qualifying times are broken, the driver that sets the time first, gets the higher position, meant Kamikawa would grid second. Mike Lack and Mike Kristof started on the second row, with Dan Margetta and Lack's Angry Squirrel Speedsport driver slotted on the third row and Black-Atom Racing's Bill Black and Pete Dorn on the final row.

Heats were filled by random selection and Kamikawa led from the start of the first heat, while Mike Fitzlaff tried to stay close, running fast on the straights but not holding the track the way Kamikawa did. John Wiedemann ran solidly in third in with the possibility that he could still qualify for the final in the two heat format, meant every lap could make the difference, ultimately it would, as he would score 82 circuits and come up one lap shy of Dan Margetta's lap total from the second heat, finishing fifth for the third straight race. Fitzlaff would advance to the final with a quality run two laps down to Kamikawa's Ferrari. Mike Kristof made the biggest backward move on the night, squandering a solid fourth place in qualifying, he was never a threat and backed up to eighth on the night.

Mike Lack started the second heat cleanly and kept the field behind him while Dan Margetta overcame numerous spins early on to bump Wiedemann and make his sixth straight final-four appearance. The Black-Atom Racing teammates would battle each other throughout, with Bill Black holding off Pete Dorn and finish sixth and seventh respectively.

The 20-minute final looked like the pole sitter would be able to reassert his lead position, after Fitzlaff finished second to Kamikawa in the heat, he took a solid lead in the opening half of the race, but pit-stops would see the Ferrari team work swiftly to get the hometown driver out in just eight seconds, it would take 20 seconds for Fitz-Matador Racing to complete the service on Fitzlaff's #34 Wellbox car and once the positions were swapped in the pits, Kamikawa never looked back, while third and fourth place would swap between Dan Margetta and Mike Lack, as the #41 ABC Supply car would lose power and eventually Lack would have to jump out of the cockpit as the car overheated and had a "hotseat" for the points leader.

Kamikawa's victory was the 41st of his distinguished career, just one behind the second place total, it was also his first since a win at the Black track in January of 2017. The win also catapulted the Ferrari driver from sixth in the Husarsbilt Cup standings to fourth and just two points behind third-place Mike Fitzlaff. Meanwhile, Mike Lack continues to hold a dominant 77 point strangle-hold on the championship over his Angry Squirrel Speedsport teammate John Wiedemann with just five races left on the schedule. The series takes a three week break before returning to the challenging "de-slot" format of the Quarryfest Deslotmania at Quarry Heights Raceway.

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Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix Fast Facts

Race date: Thursday, Feb 1

Track: Rapids International, 2.3 mile street course in Rapids

Race distance: 20 minutes

Twitter: @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2016 race winner: Matt Hayek, (No. 15 MaD Motorsports Dallara-Honda) run as round 2 of ’16-’17 season

2016 Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award winner: Dan Margetta (No. 3 Penske HO Dallara-Chevrolet)

One-lap qualifying record: Dan Margetta, 5.569 seconds, 2016 (september)

Race record: Mike Lack, 175 laps, 2016 (January)

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)

7:45 – Heat races

8:30 – Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix (20 minutes)

Race Notes:

· Dan Margetta has made the last five straight finals and won two of the last four races, those wins extend his series all-time victories total to 44.

· Amy Butler’s heat win at the Black Track is her 15th and moves her into a tie with Chad Sorce for 18th all-time.

· With the TCLGP moving from round 2 of the 16-17 season to the 11th round of this season it’s been 16 months since the series has run the streets of Rapids, where Matt Hayek is the defending race winner.

TROKAN CUP 500 PRE-EVENT QUOTES:

Dan Margetta No. 20 Team Castaway: Was that a mosquito in January? Oh it was another Pete-down? I just keep winning you keep ‘em coming Dorn.

Ev Kamikawa No. 27 Ferrari: There is this trend of race hosts finishing last? Oh no, not me, I’m due!

Alex Hayek No. 16 MaD Motorsports: The semester started up again, I’m back in Madison, so Dad will have one less car to have to try to beat from now on.

TOO CLEAN LAUNDRY GRAND PRIX HISTORY (18 events, 1995 - Present)

Date Race Winner Event Name Track

4/13/1995 Dave Austin Rapids Grand Prix Rapids Raceway

4/11/1996 Dave Austin Rapids Grand Prix

12/3/1998 Dan Margetta Rapids Grand Prix Rapids Raceway Version 2

12/2/1999 Ev Kamikawa Rapids Grand Prix

12/7/2000 John Shea Rapids Grand Prix Rapids Raceway Version 3

11/29/2001 Phil Cianciola Rapids Grand Prix Rapids Raceway Version 4

2/1/2007 Ev Kamikawa WiJobs.com Grand Prix Rapids Raceway Version 5

1/31/2008 Mark Walczak Rapids Grand Prix Rapids International Version 6

2/5/2009 Mark Walczak Lia Sophia Grand Prix

9/17/2009 Mike Lack Lia Sophia Grand Prix

9/30/2010 Mark Walczak Lia Sophia Grand Prix

3/15/2012 Mark Walczak Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix Rapids International Version 7

9/20/2012 Mark Walczak Lia Sophia Grand Prix

1/17/2013 John Wiedemann Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix

1/16/2014 John Wiedemann Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix

1/22/2015 Mike Lack Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix Rapids International Version 8

1/21/2016 Mike Lack Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix

9/22/2016 Matt Hayek Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix (moved to Round 2)

Most Wins: Mark Walczak-5; Mike Lack-3; John Wiedemann, Ev Kamikawa, Dave Austin-2