Dale Nottestad of Cambridge, Wisconsin, held off Michael Bilderback and Riley Stenjem to win the Big 8 Late Model Salute to America 48 at Madison International Speedway. It was his third Big 8 win at Madison after taking home the checkered flag in 2010 and 2013.

The twenty-one car field was brought to the green flag by Nick Egan and Shane Morrissey. Egan jumped out to the lead with Jon Reynolds Jr. moving to the inside of Morrissey to take second On the move was Jacob Nottestad who was up to challenge Morrissey for third. Nottestad would take the position on lap 3 with Brody Willett grabbing fourth one lap later.

Willett worked his way past Nottestad for third on lap 6. Two laps later Austin Nason worked to the inside of Nottestad to take fourth with Michael Bilderback up to fifth. Out front Egan had opened up a ten car length lead over Reynolds Jr.

Egan’s lead would be negated when the first caution came out on lap 15 for a spin in turn two.

On the restart, Egan paced the field back to green but drifted up the track in turn two allowing Reynolds Jr. to take the lead only to give it back to Egan before the lap was done. However, it was Dale Nottestad who made the biggest move jumping up to second with Nason and Bilderback side by side for third.

On lap 20 the caution flag came out for a front stretch incident involving Nason and Bobby Wilberg.

Once again Egan would pace the field back to green and maintain his lead over Nottestad and Bilderback. Disaster would strike one lap later for Egan who experienced rear end issues bringing out the caution flag and ending his night.

Now it was Dale Nottestad’s turn to bring the field back to the green flag. Nottestad and Bilderback were able to break away from the pack while hard charging Riley Stenjem and Jacob Nottestad were racing for third. Out front Dale Nottestad had opened a two car length lead over Bilderback. On lap 30 Willett took the fourth spot from Jacob Nottestad who was also passed by John Baumeister Jr. one lap later.

With ten laps to go the lead was still two car lengths for Dale Nottestad. With nine laps to go the lead was down to one length with Bilderback and Stenjem both within striking distance. But Dale Nottestad was able to increase his lead back up to two car lengths with six laps to go and three car lengths with five to go.

The last five laps belonged to Dale Nottestad who cruised to victory lane. Bilderback, Stenjem, Willett, and Baumeister Jr. would complete the top five. However, Stenjem’s car failed to pass post race inspection.

“The car was fast tonight. It’s been a struggle so far. It’s cool to be back, but it wasn’t easy. We’re glad to get it done,” said Nottestad.

“There were a lot of good cars here tonight. It was a lot of fun,” said runner-up Bilderback.

Dale Nottestad set quick time with a lap of 18.567 (96.946 mph) edging Bobby Wilberg who turned a lap of 18.572. Heat races were won by Shane Morrissey, Wilberg, and Michael Bilderback.

Results

48 Lap Feature: (1-10) Dale Nottestad, Michael Bilderback, Brody Willett, John Baumeister Jr., Bobby Wilberg, Jacob Nottestad, Justin Neisius, Austin Nason, Shane Morrissey, RJ Braun
(11-20) Ryan Kamish, Tom Gille, Chad Walen, Jerry Mueller, Jeff Watters, Luke Westenberg, Nick Egan, Jon Reynolds Jr., Brent Edmunds, Michael Grueneberg,

(21-23) Riley Stenjem-DQ, Tyler Kingery-DNS, Jesse Bernhagen- DNS

8 Lap Heat #1: Shane Morrissey, Dale Nottestad, Brody Willett, Riley Stenjem, Ryan Kamish, Jerry Mueller, Chad Walen, Luke Westenberg

8 Lap Heat #2: Bobby Wilberg, Austin Nason, Nick Egan, Justin Neisius, Brent Edmunds, Tom Gille, Michael Grueneberg, Tyler Kingery

8 Lap Heat #3: Michael Bilderback, Jacob Nottestad, Jon Reynolds Jr., John Baumeister Jr., RJ Braun, Jeff Watters, Jesse Bernhagen-DNS,

Qualifying: (1-10) Dale Nottestad, Bobby Wilberg, Michael Bilderback, Riley Stenjem, Austin Nason, John Baumeister Jr., Brody Willett, Brent Edmunds, Jacob Nottestad, Jerry Mueller

(11-20) Justin Neisius, Jon Reynolds Jr., Shane Morrissey, Nick Egan, Jesse Bernhagen, Chad Walen, Tom Gille, RJ Braun, Ryan Kamish, Michael Grueneberg

(21-23) Jeff Watters, Luke Westenberg, Tyler Kingery