Busch, Kenseth popular; Schendel wins Newton race
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| NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth. |
NEWTON — Tim Schendel of Sparta, Wis., won the Rasmussen Group Twin 75s Sunday with a sun-baked announced crowd of 14,888 — an ASA Midwest Tour Super Late Model Series record — watching at Iowa Speedway.
The 29-year-old set fast time earlier Sunday and started the race outside of row six in the inverted start, but ran among the leaders the entire 150 laps.
Many in the ASA record crowd were on hand to meet and watch NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth compete against top Midwest drivers. They weren’t disappointed.
Busch, who raced Saturday night in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kentucky Speedway, led much of the first 75-lap segment, while Kenseth, a former Sprint Cup champion, raced among the leaders. Shortly after the second segment of the race began, however, Busch was forced to the pits with mechanical problems. Kenseth continued and finished third behind Jonathan Eilen of Hampton, Minn. Officially, Busch was credited with a 22nd-place finish.
Kenseth was in a fierce three-way battle for third during much of the late going, beating Donny Reuvers of Dundas, Minn., and Chris Wimmer of Wausau, Wis., for that position.
Busch and Kenseth were the fourth and fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers to compete in events at Iowa Speedway and none have yet to visit victory lane. Kevin Harvick finished second to young driving sensation Joey Logano in the 2007 NASCAR Camping World Series East/West Challenge, best finish by a Sprint Cup regular. Mark Martin also raced last year and Kasey Kahne competed earlier this season.
Having two nationally-known drivers in the field didn’t produce any added tension for the winner.
“This is a tough series week in and week out,” Schendel said. “Busch and Kenseth were just two more racers out there, but having them compete was certainly good for the series and good for the fans. And, when you get to race against guys that you may or may not race against in another series — that’s great, too.
“I really hated to see Busch fall out — I would have lots rather been able to beat him on the track.”
Sixteen-year-old Thor Anderson, a student a nearby Bondurant-Farrar High School, started 14th and raced to a seventh-place finish right behind Jamie Iverson of Escanaba, Mich.
