2025 Badger 200
| Race details[1][2][3][4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 20 of the 2025 ARCA Menards Series | |||
| Date | August 22, 2025 | ||
| Official name | 1st Annual Badger 200 | ||
| Location | Madison International Speedway in Rutland, Wisconsin | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.500 miles (0.850 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 100 mi (150 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 200 laps, 100 mi (150 km) | ||
| Average speed | 70.093 mph (112.804 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 18.453 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Max Reaves | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 200 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 18 | Max Reaves | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FS1 | ||
| Announcers | Eric Brennan and Phil Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | ARCA Racing Network | ||
The 2025 Badger 200 was the 15th stock car race of the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season, and the 1st iteration of the event. The race was held on Friday, August 22, 2025, at Madison International Speedway in Rutland, Wisconsin, a 0.500 mile (0.850 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. In ARCA's first trip to Madison since 2019, Max Reaves, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the class of the field and swept the race, leading every lap from the pole position to earn his second career ARCA Menards Series win.[5] To fill out the podium, Lavar Scott, driving for Rev Racing, and Brenden Queen, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
Report
Background
Madison International Speedway is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile." The weekly program at the track runs on Friday nights under NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanction.
The track opened in the 1950s as a dirt quarter-mile run by several organizations as Oregon Legion Speedway. Sam Bartus purchased the track in 1963 and paved the track. In 1969, he tore down the quarter-mile track and built a state of the art high-banked half-mile oval and named it "Capital Super Speedway".[6] Fred Nielsen bought the track in 1980 with John and Sue McKarns running the track in 1980 and 1981.[7] Tony Zidar and his brother Bob purchased the track in 1983 and the added 29 rows of grandstand seating along with a scoreboard on the backstretch.[7] They built a quarter mile track in the infield of the half mile so that sportsman drivers from Jefferson Speedway could race at the track.[8] The track resumed operation as a dirt track under the name of Impact Speedway from 1987 until 1989 under the ownership of Craig Henmen,[7] where the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars made numerous appearances. The track was closed down until 1992 when Wayne Erickson, the owner of Slinger Super Speedway, took over.[7] Wayne ran the track until 1996 when Jerry Fillner and his son Kevin Fillner took over.[7] The Fillner family operated the track and made several improvements to the pits and upper concession areas. In 2003, Chicago area businessman Terry Kunes purchased the racetrack[7] and hired Roy Kenseth (Matt Kenseth's father) to be the promoter. After two seasons Roy Kenseth started RK Promotions and decided to leave the track. Steve Einhaus was hired to fill the void left by Kenseth. In 2007, Einhaus would be focusing his attention on the newly formed ASA Midwest Tour (now known as ARCA Midwest Tour) Super Late Model Series. Track promotions were turned over to longtime competitor and official Dave Grueneberg. During his tenure, the track had weekly Friday night races in most seasons but in 2013 it was occasional Sunday afternoon races. In 2015, new ARCA Midwest Tour owner Gregg McKarns purchased the speedway from Kunes.[7] He decided to run weekly Late Models races following the Big 8 Series rules with a monthly Super Late Model event.[7] MIS was later announced as a weekly NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track starting in 2015.[9] It was the third NASCAR weekly track in Wisconsin after Cedar Lake Speedway and La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.[9] The late models were designated NASCAR Division I, Sportsman as Division II, and Bandits as Division III.[9]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
The first and only practice session was held on Friday, August 22, at 3:45 PM CST, and would last for 45 minutes.[10] Tristan McKee, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 18.460, and a speed of 97.508 mph (156.924 km/h).[11]
| Pos.[12] | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 82 | Tristan McKee | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 18.460 | 97.508 |
| 2 | 18 | Max Reaves | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 18.583 | 96.863 |
| 3 | 55 | Isabella Robusto (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 18.658 | 96.473 |
| Full practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, August 22, at 5:15 PM CST.[10] The qualifying procedure used is a single-car, two-lap based system. Drivers will be on track by themselves and will have two laps to post a qualifying time, and whoever sets the fastest time will win the pole.[13]
Max Reaves, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would score the pole for the race, with a lap of 18.453, and a speed of 97.545 mph (156.983 km/h).[14]
Qualifying results
Race results
| Fin[16] | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 18 | Max Reaves | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 200 | Running | 49 |
| 2 | 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott | Rev Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Running | 92 |
| 3 | 2 | 28 | Brenden Queen (R) | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 200 | 0 | Running | 91 |
| 4 | 3 | 55 | Isabella Robusto (R) | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running | 90 |
| 5 | 8 | 70 | Julian DaCosta | Nitro Motorsports | Toyota | 200 | 0 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 7 | 25 | Mason Mitchell | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 199 | 0 | Running | 38 |
| 7 | 9 | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | 0 | Running | 87 |
| 8 | 11 | 17 | Kaylee Bryson | Cook Racing Technologies | Chevrolet | 198 | 0 | Running | 36 |
| 9 | 10 | 10 | Tony Cosentino | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 198 | 0 | Running | 35 |
| 10 | 12 | 3 | Willie Mullins | Mullins Racing | Ford | 197 | 0 | Running | 34 |
| 11 | 4 | 82 | Tristan McKee | Pinnacle Racing Group | Chevrolet | 196 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 12 | 15 | 31 | Quinn Davis | Rise Motorsports | Toyota | 188 | 0 | Running | 32 |
| 13 | 16 | 03 | Alex Clubb | Clubb Racing Inc. | Ford | 187 | 0 | Running | 81 |
| 14 | 18 | 06 | Brayton Laster (R) | Wayne Peterson Racing | Ford | 182 | 0 | Running | 80 |
| 15 | 14 | 99 | Michael Maples | Maples Motorsports | Chevrolet | 182 | 0 | Running | 79 |
| 16 | 19 | 11 | Dustin Hillenburg | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 178 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 17 | 21 | 67 | Shane Backes | Maples Motorsports | Chevrolet | 177 | 0 | Running | 27 |
| 18 | 6 | 20 | Lawless Alan | Venturini Motorsports | Toyota | 164 | 0 | Running | 76 |
| 19 | 20 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports | Ford | 127 | 0 | Parked | 75 |
| 20 | 22 | 86 | Jeff Maconi | Clubb Racing Inc. | Ford | 73 | 0 | Mechanical | 24 |
| 21 | 17 | 9 | Trevor Ward | Fast Track Racing | Toyota | 11 | 0 | Mechanical | 23 |
| 22 | 13 | 12 | Matt Kemp | Fast Track Racing | Ford | 5 | 0 | Mechanical | 22 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
|
References
- ^ "Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. December 3, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ "Entry list: Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. August 20, 2025. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- ^ "Qualifying results: Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
- ^ "Race results: Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
- ^ White, Brandon (August 22, 2025). "Max Reaves dominates at Madison for his second ARCA Menards Series victory". ARCA. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
- ^ Track history. Madison International Speedway.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "McKarns Will Keep Friday Nights Alive at Madison". 9 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ Grubba, page 188
- ^ a b c "Madison Speedway Joins NASCAR". NASCAR. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
- ^ a b "Schedule of events: Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. March 10, 2025. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ "Practice results: Badger 200 at Madison International Speedway". ARCA. August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Badger 200 Practice Results". Racing-Reference.info. August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
- ^ White, Brandon (August 18, 2025). "PIT BOX: ARCA makes its long-awaited return to Madison International Speedway, 'Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile'". ARCA. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
- ^ Calloni, Josh (August 22, 2025). "Max Reaves on Pole for ARCA Race at Madison". Frontstretch.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Badger 200 Qualifying Results". Racing-Reference.info. August 22, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
- ^ "2025 Badger 200 - The Third Turn". The Third Turn. August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.