(PEDAL DOWN PROMOTIONS) June 2, 2024 –Picking up where he left off last season, Brandon Berth of Cascade led every lap of the 25-lap headliner on the way to his second straight Akright Auto Midwest Sprint Car Association 360 Sprint Car Series A-main victory at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. on Sunday, June 2.
The fourth MSA official event and second completed A-main of the 2024 season featured an eventful 25-lap main event, which included a combined five caution and red flag periods on the heavily undulated third-mile clay oval.
After lining up on the outside of the front row of the MSA main event, Berth outpowered polesitter Justin Erickson of Plymouth to seize the lead in turn one of the opening lap.
With Erickson giving chase, Berth caught the rear of the 22-car field on lap 4. Two laps later, MSA Sprint Car 2024 rookie of the year candidate Kevin Ruh of Elkhart Lake spun along the front stretch to bring out the first caution of the event.
After another caution on lap 9, 2005 MSA champion Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started third, charged past Erickson to take over second in the running order.
Berth found himself engaged in thick lapped traffic on lap 12 before the mount of J.J. Pagel of Mount Calvery stalled in turn two on lap 14.
Two laps later, Tristan Koenigs of Van Dyne experienced a hard flip exiting turn four and ending near the front stretch wall. Koenigs was transported to an area hospital and later determined to have a concussion, but otherwise escaped serious injury.
When the race resumed, Berth worked the high groove to fend off Fassbender as he weaved his way through slower traffic. On lap 20, Alex Pokorski of West Bend caught a rut and spun in turn four before collecting Bill Taylor of Boltonville to trigger the fourth caution and fifth overall stoppage of the race.
Berth continued on to complete a nearly flawless effort on the very challenging race surface on the way to his second-straight MSA 360 Sprint Car victory at Angell Park Speedway and third career MSA 360 Sprint Car A-main triumph.
Fassbender had to settle for second, Erickson placed third, 2011 PDTR champion Ben Schmidt of Plymouth moved up from his eighth starting spot to take fourth and 2023 MSA Rookie of the Year Award winner Logan Julien of Oconomowoc charged up from the 15th starting position to round up the top five.
“I’m blown away right now with the fact that we won our first 360 Sprint Car A-main here a year ago and now we’ve come back and done it again,” Berth said during his victory lane interview. “I knew I needed to run the outside groove and hold the lead at the start because passing was going to be difficult. I love this place. I don’t know what it is, but it just seems to be a good fit for me. I need to offer a big thanks to my crew, my sponsors and everyone else who helps to make this all happen.”
MSA heat race victories went to Justin Erickson, Kevin Karnitz of West Bend and rookie Clayton Rossmann of Wadsworth, Ill.
The event drew 23 MSA 360 Sprint Cars to the venerable 88-year-old Angell Park Speedway facility for the series’ first of two scheduled MSA visits during the 2024 campaign.
The next race for the MSA 360 Sprint Cars is the fourth annual Road America Challenge on Saturday, June 8 at The Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wis., which will feature a $1,000 first-place payout. The Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association 410 Sprint Cars and Plymouth Dirt Track Racing Grand Nationals are also on the card.
Grandstand gates open for reserved seat ticket holders at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. for race day general admission ticket sales with "on-track action" slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.
For more information on the 2024 Midwest Sprint Car Association season, visit www.msasprints.com or check out the Midwest Sprint Car Association Facebook page.
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