WEST SALEM, Wis. — Andy Burgess scored an impressive victory on his own home track on Friday while Jeremy Miller clinched his first Big 8 Series title in the 38th annual Oktoberfest race weekend at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Burgess beat out Ryan Carlson to become the 10th different winner in 10 Big 8 Series events this season, while Miller beat out defending champion Ricky Bilderback to claim his first series title.
Burgess moved from his third starting spot to challenge Jason Schuler for the lead on lap five, sliding past on the inside to take over the top spot on lap seven. Carlson followed in Burgess’ tire tracks to take over second.
A caution flag on lap 12 bunched up the field, giving Carlson a shot at Burgess, but the leader easily pulled away. Burgess led the rest of the way as Carlson struggled to keep up, pulling out to a 10-car advantage as he cruised to an easy victory over Carlson and Matt Bryne.
Fourteen-year-old Ross Kenseth, son of 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Matt Kenseth, patiently worked his way into the top five to finish fourth in the feature in his Big 8 Series debut. Kenseth finished just ahead of Miller in fifth.
The finish:
Andy Burgess, Ryan Carlson, Matt Byrne, Ross Kenseth, Jeremy Miller, Todd Oliver, Skylar Holzhausen, Emily Sue Steck, Todd Korish, Adam Degenhardt. Michael Bilderback, Bob Wilberg, John Baumeister, Andy Jirik, Jason Schuler, Chad Stevens, Gary Natrop, Brian Back, Kris Kelly, Mike Beyer, Tim Nelson, Tim Hagen, Mike Ehde, Ricky Bilderback, Shawn Pfaff, Dan Jung.