This time the breaks went with Mike Doss and Terry Madjeski, two overdue drivers who sped to victories in their respective Super Late Model and Legends feature races at Champion Speedway on Saturday night.
Madjeski, of Incline Village, collected his first Legends main event victory in three seasons at Champion in a highly competitive Legends race that ran 30 laps without any cautions.
"How often do you go 30 laps of green light racing? It was just going green all night," Madjeski said, motioning toward his familiar green No. 54 car.
"This is a great feeling. It's long overdue. I've had a lot of seconds and thirds, but this is the first main event I've won."
Doss, of Nice, Calif., grabbed the lead near the midway mark of the 100-lap North State Challenge Series feature race then went on to post his third victory of the season and take a big step toward securing the tour's championship. He came into the race holding a slim 31-point lead over 2004 champion Bill Binns in the season standings.
"I'm ecstatic. I've just got an awesome car and an awesome crew," said Doss, who turned the second-fastest time in qualifying (13.20 seconds, behind only Josh Bews' 13.13).
Junior Roddy finished second, Binns third and Derek Thorn fourth - the only cars on the lead lap at the finish. Carson City's C.J. Bawden finished eighth, two laps behind.
Amazingly, Doss won it under a full moon on a track where he's not had the best of luck in the past. He led 51 laps before colliding with Binns and spinning into the infield on the 73rd lap during the North State 100-lap feature race at Champion on July 16.
"I got sent to the back then came back to finish third,"Doss said. "Six years ago, I was leading a Late Model Sportsman race here when my brakes went out, and I ended up fourth.
"So I was due. This place owes me," he added with a laugh.
Then again, Doss has been running well all season.
On Saturday night he moved into second-place behind Ryan Foster on the 43rd lap. Foster - a Redding, Calif., driver who has three top-10 finishes this season as a rookie in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series - lost his lead two laps later when Doss surged past on the restart after another caution flag. Foster went to the pits with a broken brake line, while Josh Bews was penalized and sent to the back of the pack. Thorn also went back when he lost his brakes and spun out.
Doss was never seriously challenged again.
"I think we were the fastest car," Doss said, adding a word of thanks to car owners Jim and Natasha Stillman.
Some misfortune earlier in the day actually came back to help out as Madjeski led virtually from the start of the Legends 30-lapper.
"Earlier, I had a plug bust so I didn't run well in qualifying, which put me up front (for the main event). That was an advantage, but it's still a win. I'll take it because I've had my misfortunes, too," Madjeski said.
At the end, he held off young stars Martin McKeefery and Micah Parmer to take the checker flag. McKeefery, 17, of Milpitas, Calif., won the Legends main event at Champion on July 30 while Parmer, 18, of Anderson, Calif., is the Legends points leader at Shasta Speedway and second-place finisher in the main event at Champion one week before.
"I knew they were coming," Madjeski said. "I slacked off for a while because I wanted to save my tires, but when I looked back and saw them, I knew I couldn't save anything anymore. I wasn't going to just give it to them."
Parmer moved into fourth-place on the 15th lap, with McKeefery and Denny Hadler in hot pursuit. Parmer moved into second on the 22nd lap and then made an inside move to try and pass into the lead on the 25th lap, only to see Madjeski close the door. McKeefery moved into second-place with two laps to go, but he was unable to make a serious bid for the lead.
Coupled with his heat race victory, Madjeski took the lead in the current Legends points standings from Mackena Bell, who finished ninth in the main event. Madjeski - who added a word of thanks to his sponsors Incline Jewelry, John Hatzinger Residential Design and his own Incline Tahoe Glass - had another incentive on Saturday night.
"It wouldn't be good if I left here without a win," he said, referring to Champion's final show on Sept. 24 and eventual demolition in mid-October.
In other racing, 16-year-old Chris Walton of Washoe Valley won his first Hornets main event and Vince Malone of Sparks posted his second victory of the season in the Late Model Sportsman division. Walton, who earned Junior Hornet Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, won his heat race earlier in the evening.
"This is my first main event win and my first heat race win, so they're both great wins," said Walton, who will be a junior at Damonte Ranch High School this coming year.
Walton moved into the lead on the second lap and held off Mark Turner and Kim Robbins to win the 10-car, 20-lap race. Turner finished second and Robbins, who has won nine main events this season, finished third.
Malone completed a sweep of the Sportsman division by winning the trophy dash, heat race and 20-lap main event.
n Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1220.
Champion stats
Super Late Models
Main event: (100 laps) 1, Mike Doss; 2, Junior Roddy; 3, Bill Binns; 4, Derek Thorn; 5, JimStillman Jr. (99 laps); 6, Brian Gard (99); 7, David Miller (99); 8, C.J. Bawden (98); 9, Brian Wasmund (98); 10, Bobby Butler (98); 11, Josh Bews (91); 12, Darin Snider (91); 13, Ryan Foster (45); 14, Mike Simpson (43). DNS: Jerry Allec Jr. Yellow: 5. Red: 1.
Dash for Cash: 1, Bews; 2, Foster; 3, Doss; 4, Roddy; 5, Miller; 6, Thorn.
Fast time: Bews 13.13.
Legends
Main event: (30 laps) 1, Terry Madjeski; 2, Martin McKeefery; 3, Micah Parmer; 4, Denny Hadler; 5, Bobby Hodges; 6, Todd Thompson; 7, Chris Handley; 8, Jack Randall; 9, Mackena Bell; 10, Derek Copeland; 11, Fred Handley; 12, Dallas Colodny; 13, Lester Mitchell; 14, Jason Anderline. Yellow: 0.
Trophy dash: 1, Mackena Bell; 2, Parmer; 3, Copeland; 4, Thompson; 5, McKeefery; 6, Colodny.
First heat race: 1, Thompson; 2, Bell; 3, Mitchell; 4, Anderline.
Second heat race: 1, Madjeski; 2, Hodges; 3, F. Handley; 4, Randall; 5, Hadler.
Fast time: McKeefery 14.50.
Late Model Sportsman
Main event: (20 laps) 1, Vince Malone; 2, Matt Collier; 3, Dean Heller; 4, Bill Gould; 5, Al Goss; 6, Mark Tompkins (13 laps); 7, Chris Betz (10 laps); 8, Joel Worley (officials decision). Yellow: 2.
Trophy dash: 1, Malone; 2, Goss; 3, Worley; 4, Tompkins; 5, Collier; 6, Heller.
Heat race: 1, Malone; 2, Goss; 3, Worley; 4, Betz; 5, Heller.
Fast time: Worley 14.21.
Hornets
Main event: (20 laps) 1, Chris Walton; 2, Mark Turner; 3, Kim Robbins; 4, Jason Flores; 5, Tony Polestina; 6, Sandy Clark; 7, Shawn Chaufty; 8, Tiffany Mans; 9, Bill Bernard; 10, Stephanie Crawford (11 laps). Yellow: 1.
Trophy dash: 1, Flores; 2, Polestina; 3, Walton; 4, Clark; 5, Chaufty; 6, Turner.
First heat race: 1, Turner; 2, Bernard; 3, Chaufty; 4, Mans.
Second heat race: 1, Walton; 2, Clark; 3, Flores; 4, Crawford; 5, Robbins.
Fast time: Clark 17.08.
