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Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix - Road Course at Badger Raceway - Muskego, WI
November 30, 2017
Round 7 of 16
New All-Time Victories Record!
Margetta Wins for the 18th Straight Season
Muskego, WI -- Dan Margetta spoiled the Angry Squirrel Speedsport party with relish and became the winning-est driver in IndySlotCar Series history at the Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix at Badger Raceway. Margetta's 43rd victory sets him atop every major statistical record in the series history except pole positions and is second in that category. The win also continues another amazing stat, the veteran driver has at least one win in each of the last 18 seasons.
The night started with Husarsbilt Cup points leader Mike Lack looking like he would again dominate another event, with a new track record-setting qualifying effort, while Pete Dorn started from the front row for the first time in his career. In the heats, which were grouped by qualifying position, Dorn looked to move to the final, finishing second in to Lack after hometown favorite Dean Strom made a spectacular early exit with a crash that is sure to be a YouTube sensation just four laps into the race winding up last, eleventh. John Wiedemann had no real challenge in the second heat, especially after Bill Black crashed out early just ahead of Strom in tenth and Matt Hayek could not match Dorn's lap total for the transfer, Hayek would finish seventh on the night and Amy Butler struggled as the last driver still on track in ninth.
The final heat looked to be competitive early with Margetta, Ev Kamikawa, Mike Fitzlaff and Mike Kristof all running together for much of the early going, eventually "Fitz" showed to be the class of the field while Kamikawa and Kristof faded, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, while Margetta would eventually surpass Dorn's laps to qualify for the Transfer spot and suffer a "Pete-down" in the process.
Early in the 20 minute final it looked like Mike Lack had a sizable lead but at halfway his handling started to go away and Margetta's speed began to show, eventually, with about five minutes left, Dangerous Dan went to the point and never looked back, Lack finishing second with his Angry Squirrel Speedsport teammate John Wiedemann third, just holding off Fitzlaff.
The series moves on to unknown territory next as the all-new Bermuda Raceway will host the Christmas Classic.
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Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Nov 30
Track: 3.5 mile Natural Terrain Road Course in Muskego, WI
Race distance: 20 minutes
Twitter: @indyslotcar
IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com
2016 race winner: Dan Margetta (No. 3 Penske HO Dallara-Chevrolet)
2016 Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award winner: Dan Margetta (No. 3 Penske HO Dallara-Chevrolet)
One-lap qualifying record: Mark Walczak, 3.977 seconds, 2010
Race record: Dan Margetta, 248 laps, 2016
YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel
At-track schedule (all times local):
6:30 – Driver introductions
7:00 – IndySlotCar Series Practice
7:30 – Qualifying for the Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)
7:50 – Heat races
8:40 – Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix (20 minutes)
Race Notes:
· The Sweeney Memorial GP is the first open class event of the season.
· Mike Lack dominates the Husarsbilt Cup championship, coming off his fourth win of the season and holding a 69 point lead coming into this race
· Last season the Sweeney Memorial was the halfway mark of the season and Dan Margetta scored the win, his third of the season up to that point, the defending race-winner this season has no wins, one final appearance and two DNFs, sitting 11th in the Husarsbilt Cup standings, 183 points behind Lack.
· Hometown hero Dean Strom returns to action after missing the Turkey Trot.
Duane Sweeney Memorial Grand Prix PRE-EVENT QUOTES:
Mike Lack No. 1 Angry Squirrel Speedsport: YES!
Bill Black No. 7 Black-Atom Racing: Third in points?! I’m THIRD in the points!
Dan Margetta Team Castaway: This season is still an improvement, I haven’t received a single Pete-down.
DUANE SWEENEY MEMORIAL GRAND PRIX HISTORY (14 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
12/15/2016 Dan Margetta 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
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