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Parker Jones Sweeps Night Two at Angell Park Speedway and Takes AFS Badger Crown

“The Blue Mounds Bullet,” Parker Jones “proved it” as he won the battle and the war with the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association to close the 2024 season. The famed Firemen’s Nationals at historic Angell Park Speedway was the venue as Jones swept day-two of the 39th rendition of the event.

While he clinched the Badger Midget Series title after setting FIVEone Motorsports Fast Time, his wearing of the Badger crown was far from certain just 12 hours prior. On night-one of the event, Jones had a very pedestrian ninth place finish, probably one of his worst since the spring. Afterward, there were murmurs in the pits that his Mark Ray Honda engine was faltering. The Jones team left the track thinking they may have major engine issues.

At the driver’s meeting Monday afternoon Jones had a forlorn look on his face. Now when it comes to expressions, Jones is about as even keeled as it gets. He never looks too high or too low. But the look on his face and tone in his voice told you he had concerns for an outcome that seemed certain to everyone but him. He later contended he had confidence his team would figure out the problem.

The team has the luxury of being out in the country where they can easily push off and test a midget. It was decided that maybe the issue came down to the ignition system, specifically the coils. Jones scrambled, but could not find a system anywhere. At about 1pm on Monday, Jones called Ray, “Sounding like his dog was shot,” according to the builder. Jones needed an ignition coil but Ray had none in stock. Ray then called his son Robbie who was already on the road to Sun Prairie, from Davenport, IA. Robbie turned around and took the ignition system off a race car he had at home. It was delivered at about 4pm.

The few people who knew, held their breath as hot laps/qualifying took place. The diagnosis was correct. Jones set fast time and with the accompanying points he clinched the title. He went on to sweep the night.

PRELIMINARY ACTION

After dispatching polesitter Trey Weishoff as they crossed the line on lap-one, Cale Coons, who’s dad, Jerry Coons Jr. is a former Nationals Champion, took Auto Meter Heat-1 with his USAC D2 car. The D2 cars have about 100 less horsepower than a Badger midget package, but when everything including track conditions are right, the D2’s are very competitive with Badger.

The initial action was furious for Simpson Race Products Heat-2. Harrison Kleven led them to the green in a new car but held the lead only briefly as Cody Weisensel got by him to take lap-one. Behind Weisensel six cars appeared to be separated by just a couple of feet. Kyle Stark, running his patented high side in the “Red Duce,” powered by Weisensel on the next lap. Just a lap later, Daniel Robinson in the RAB #57 took Stark by running about a car-width off the bottom. Robinson went on to take the win and a $50 bonus from Conrad Real Estate.

In Behling Racing Equipment Heat-3 Kyle Koch took the lead from the pole and started to pull away while everyone behind him seemed to have a dancing partner. The field caught the leader and MARA regular Daltyn England took to the point as they crossed the line on lap-two. Before he could settle in, England was passed by Jones who came from the last starting spot, taking lap-three. Jones easily went on to the win, surviving one restart in the process.

With 25 cars on hand it was decided the High Performance Lubricants B-Main, VMS Rod Ends Heat-4 and the Madison Extinguisher Service Last Chance would not be run. The top-five in the heats got their qualifying times back.

LYCO MANUFACTURING INC. A-MAIN

USAC led off the final two events on the night. With the program going smoothly they got a track rework as did Badger before their 25-lap feature. Erin Yeargin, the primary track groomer, has improved his craft all season with his surfaces getting progressively better as the year went on. Tonight was no exception.

From the pole, England bolted to the lead over row mate Jace Sparks to start the Lyco Manufacturing A-Main at the Firemen’s Nationals. From his fourth starting spot Brandon Waelti jumped to the runner up spot.

By the fourth circuit Jones had powered to fifth or so, from his seventh starting position. Meanwhile Todd Kluever was now challenging England for the lead. Soon Jones was fully in the picture and an entertaining battle for the top four spots ensued.

By about lap-eight Jones got past England and the battle would be for all the spots behind him. Even the onset of lapped traffic, who were all battling for their own positions didn’t slow Jones much as England and the rest gained little ground on him.

England, Waelti and Robinson all had equal trouble with the lappers and with ten laps left, Weisensel joined the battle for the podium. With about eight laps left, between lapped traffic and the second through fifth place cars, there must have been ten racers within five feet either side of the start/finish line. Shortly thereafter, the top cars pulled away and the battle was for third with Coons on Weisensel’s tail.

When the duel checkers were waived by flagman Justin Uitenbroek, Jones was ahead of the field by 8.9 seconds or about a half a lap. In the process he lapped up to the thirteenth finisher of the 25 cars that started. In his Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane interview with Eric Huenenfeld, Jones reiterated how much he wanted the hardware. Next to a Golden Driller for the Chili Bowl win, the firefighter trophy of the Firemen’s Nationals is one of the most recognizable in all of short track racing.

England, the second place finisher, started his interview by apologizing for his part in the contact that sent Charles Rufi into the front stretch fence the prior evening. He went on to say how pleased he was that his EcoTech engine proved to be strong enough for a runner up spot at Angell Park.

Cody Weisensel was pleasantly surprised at his third place run. The action was torrid enough for him that he thought he finished about sixth. When he pulled onto the scales and his crew chief/dad Kevin Weisensel told him he was third, the veteran driver was all smiles.

The Firemen’s Nationals have been run since 1982. Among those who have won the Nationals and a Badger championship at some point include Kevin Olson, Davey Ray, Scott Hatton and Christopher Bell.

ECKER’S RAB TEAM TAKES OWNER’S TITLE

Cade Reisdorf noted his grandfather, team owner Bill Ecker, didn’t want to run for the points, “Yet here we are.” Reisdorf went on to say, “We got ‘er’ done for Mom,” referring to his late mother Amy, who is the “A” in RAB.

AWARDS

ASM Motorsports Bob Tattersall Hard Charger Award: Eric Blumer

Last Place Bonus in Loving Memory of Addison Dahlke and The Hammer’s Auto Service Shop; Midwest Engine Service Hard Luck Award both went to RJ Corson.

Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw: Parker Jones.

There were no Spankins Motorsports Rookie of the Race candidates in the event.

NOTES

While there is an obvious amount of context involved, it should be noted that on night-one of the Nationals, Jones had fast time at 14.398 in Badger. This would have been good enough to sit on the poll for the USAC portion of the show where their fast qualifier layed down a 14.427.

During the driver's meeting Brad Weber, a form Badger driver was given an award in recognition of his work through Lyco Manufacturing Inc. to provide Badger a trophy that will bear the names of Badger Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame members.

The top ten in points to end the season are as follows: 1) Parker Jones, 2) Todd Kluever, 3) Kyle Stark, 4) Cody Weisensel, 5) Matt Rechek, 6) Brandon Waelti, 7) Derek Doerr, 8) Luke Wackerlin, 9) Aaron Muhle, 10) Nick Kilian.

COMPLETE RESULTS NIGHT 2 FIREMEN’S NATIONALS

Advanced Fastening Supply A - Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones[7]; 2. 19E-Daltyn England[1]; 3. 20-Cody Weisensel[8]; 4. 20D-Derek Doerr[6]; 5. 63-Cale Coons[11]; 6. 55-Todd Kluever[5]; 7. 40-Jace Sparks[2]; 8. 38-Matt Rechek[9]; 9. 57A-Daniel Robinson[3]; 10. 24M-Aaron Muhle[14]; 11. 2-Kyle Stark[12]; 12. 3W-Brandon Waelti[4]; 13. 3-Jake Dohner[13]; 14. 68-Eric Blumer[21]; 15. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[10]; 16. 17-Nick Kilian[19]; 17. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[17]; 18. 29-Harrison Kleven[20]; 19. 5K-Jeremy Douglas[16]; 20. 59-Kyle Koch[15]; 21. 8-Jake Goeglein[22]; 22. 5-Bryon Walters[18]; 23. (DNF) 45-Trey Weishoff[24]; 24. (DNF) 67U-Mike Unger[23]; 25. (DNF) 15C-RJ Corson[25]
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Cale Coons[5]; 2. 55-Todd Kluever[8]; 3. 3-Jake Dohner[3]; 4. 24M-Aaron Muhle[2]; 5. 40-Jace Sparks[7]; 6. 5-Bryon Walters[4]; 7. 68-Eric Blumer[6]; 8. (DNF) 45-Trey Weishoff[1]
Madison Extinguisher Service Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57A-Daniel Robinson[7]; 2. 2-Kyle Stark[4]; 3. 20D-Derek Doerr[8]; 4. 20-Cody Weisensel[6]; 5. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[5]; 6. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[3]; 7. 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 8. 67U-Mike Unger[2]
Behlings Race Products Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones[8]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 3. 19E-Daltyn England[6]; 4. 38-Matt Rechek[5]; 5. 59-Kyle Koch[1]; 6. 5K-Jeremy Douglas[3]; 7. 17-Nick Kilian[4]; 8. 8-Jake Goeglein[2]; 9. (DNS) 15C-RJ Corson
FiveOne Motorsports Fast Time Schoenfeld Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones, 00:15.534[5]; 2. 20D-Derek Doerr, 00:15.601[17]; 3. 55-Todd Kluever, 00:15.608[16]; 4. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 00:15.671[1]; 5. 57A-Daniel Robinson, 00:15.834[20]; 6. 40-Jace Sparks, 00:15.898[3]; 7. 19E-Daltyn England, 00:15.999[15]; 8. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:16.016[7]; 9. 68-Eric Blumer, 00:16.039[9]; 10. 38-Matt Rechek, 00:16.088[4]; 11. 7F-Aaron Fiscus, 00:16.140[18]; 12. 63-Cale Coons, 00:16.149[14]; 13. 17-Nick Kilian, 00:16.166[2]; 14. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:16.329[11]; 15. 5-Bryon Walters, 00:16.344[25]; 16. 5K-Jeremy Douglas, 00:16.423[21]; 17. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 00:16.429[13]; 18. 3-Jake Dohner, 00:16.491[19]; 19. 8-Jake Goeglein, 00:16.518[10]; 20. 67U-Mike Unger, 00:16.550[24]; 21. 24M-Aaron Muhle, 00:16.693[22]; 22. 59-Kyle Koch, 00:16.814[23]; 23. 29-Harrison Kleven, 00:17.050[12]; 24. 45-Trey Weishoff, 00:17.280[8]; 25. (DNS) 15C-RJ Corson, 00:17.281

Photo: BMARA
Article: Bill Blumer Jr.

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