“That was well worth the wait,” he said with a big smile. “The track was awesome, wide open around the cushion.”

Madsen started sixth in the 25-lap feature – only the third ever for the World of Outlaws at the famed high-banked, half-mile oval – but didn’t stay there long. He secured fourth place on the third lap and slid Joey Saldana in turn four for third place on lap six.

Madsen rocketed to the runner-up position on a restart midway through the race before a caution on lap 16 provided a unique opportunity. Polesitter Sammy Swindell, who built a sizeable lead during the first half of the feature, was called for jumping the restart. He was penalized one row and Madsen advanced to the lead.

“As it turned out he went a little early and gave us the preferred line on the restart,” said Madsen, who chose the outside lane for the double-file restart. “It would have been good. I was right on his bumper and I felt like one little bobble and I was going to make a slide-job attempt.

“We caught a break and we took full advantage of it.”

Craig Dollansky, who timed in quickest during qualifying with a lap of 14.407 seconds, restarted second and Swindell third. The duo appeared to touch wheels in turn two on the restart, with Swindell winning the battle for second and Madsen driving into an advantage of half a straightaway.

The drivers entered traffic with five laps remaining, but Madsen was too strong and Swindell was unable to overcome the penalty. He held off Steve Kinser, who maintains the championship points lead, for second place. Swindell declined to comment following the race.

Dollansky finished fourth and Saldana was fifth. Donny Schatz placed sixth, Kraig Kinser seventh, Mark Dobmeier eighth, Bill Rose ninth and Cody Darrah rounded out the top 10. Patrick Stasa earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after charging from 24th to 15th.