ASA STARS National Tour Rookie Dawson Sutton earned his first career series win Sunday afternoon at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway in surprise fashion.
Sutton, the 17 year-old rising star from Lebanon, TN swept past Ty Majeski on lap 96 of the Father’s Day 100, then held off the Wisconsin Short Track Superstar over the final 4 circuits at the famous Wisconsin State Fair Park oval.
Majeski dominated early, passing pole-sitter Casey Roderick on lap 15, leading the next 80 laps and winning both the first and second stages. Majeski had opened up leads of more than 3 seconds during each stage, but could not pull away from therookie Sutton over the final 30 lap sprint.
Sutton stayed on the rear bumper of Majeski during the final stage, challenging him on several occasions before making the winning pass with 4 laps to go.
“This Rackley team brought me a great car. I just can’t thank everybody enough that puts in the work and all the guys in the shop,” said Sutton. “They give us a great race car every weekend. This is the first Super win, so I’m super proud of it, guys. This is awesome. Honestly, the car just really came in there. We had a really good car all race, a good long-run car. We just kept it clean and got there at the end.”
Majeski, who dominated opening round of the ASA STARS National Tour Wisconsin Doubleheader Friday Night at Madison International Speedway, held on for 2nd.
“Obviously disappointed. It’s been a hell of a run to start this season,” said Majeski. “First of all, huge congrats to Dawson Sutton and all the Rackley guys. They’ve got a good car.
“I got a little free at the end. I was working the cushion, working the very top. I got a little loose in and had to chase it above the cushion there in one and two. Obviously, he got around me.
“He probably would have had to rough me up to get around me if I didn’t make that mistake. Man, overall, a great race and great race car. I appreciate everyone on my team.”
Cole Butcher, who entered the weekend as the Series points leader, rebounded from a tough weekend to finish 3rd. Butcher crashed while leading Friday night at Madison, and then crashed his primary car during practice at the Mile Saturday afternoon. The podium finish salvaged the weekend for the hard-charging Canadian.
“I’m just happy to finish,” said Butcher. “The car’s in one piece. Congratulationss to Rackley W.A.R. and Dawson, they deserve this.
“My guys worked their butts off these past two days, and I cannot thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me at Wilson Motorsports. We’ll move on to Anderson and hopefully never, ever have a repeat of this weekend again.”
Casey Roderick, who took over the ASA STARS National Tour points lead after the Madison, finished fourth Sunday afternoon. The Pulaski, MS racer lead the first 15 laps from the pole before surrendering the point to Majeski. Roderick ran in the top five all afternoon, placing 2nd in stage 1, and 5th in stage 2. The solid day allowed Roderick to unofficially retain his point lead at the ASA STARS National Tour mid-way point.
“It’s a good points weekend for us,” said Roderick. “We’ve just got to keep digging. We’ve got to get back to the shop and think about what’s going on, try to improve for the next couple of races coming up. We’ll be ready for the next one.”
Billy Van Meter rounded out the top five Sunday afternoon, also a solid rebound after finishing dead last Friday night at Madison.
Engines sent to independent dyno
Following the race and inspection, the engines for the cars driven by Sutton and Majeski were crated and prepared to be sent to RW Enginges for an independent dyno.
“We basically know how much power these engines are supposed to make, and tonight’s a good night for it because [Sutton and Majeski] have really good motors,” said ASA STARS technical director Freddie Query. “Robbie White is a reputable engine builder but he didn’t have a motor in the top 2. We didn’t want to send them to either of their two engine builders’ shops. [White] has done it before in these situations.”
ASA STARS Father’s Day 100
Milwaukee Mile
June 17 2024
- Dawson Sutton
- Ty Majeski
- Cole Butcher
- Casey Roderick
- Billy VanMeter
- Caden Kvapil
- Eddie MacDonald
- Gio Ruggiero
- Derek Kraus
- Jeff Storm
- Albert Francis
- Kyle Steckly
- Austin Nason
- Matthew Henderson
- Gabe Sommers
- Jonathan Knee
- Ridge Oien
- Josh Nelms
- Hudson Halder
