Ty Majeski Leads Wisconsin Podium Sweep in Bigley Memorial at Freedom Factory

The Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128 may occur in Bradenton, Florida, but the frontstretch looked like Wisconsin at night's end.

Ty Majeski claimed the $30,000 winner's prize in the 9th Annual Noland's Roofing Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial on Saturday night at Freedom Factory, leading a Badger State sweep of the podium. Casey Johnson finished second, with John DeAngelis taking third in the UARA National season finale.

Majeski also earned $4,000 earlier in the evening after setting fast time in qualifying, courtesy of Langford Lawn.

Majeski took the lead from another Wisconsin driver, Luke Fenhaus, on lap 17, and led the rest of the way in a dominant showing from the newly-crowned NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion. Majeski now adds the Bigley Memorial to his trophy collection, an ever-growing one from one of the all-time greats in Late Model competition.

“What a great car," said Majeski in victory lane. "This goes back to preparation back at the shop. When we unloaded this weekend, we knew we’d be tough. We didn’t practice much, which is really unlike us.

"We knew we had a good piece. Just trying to execute once we got in the race. Just tried to manage my gap to Casey [Johnson] there, try to gap him a little bit and then just manage it for a late-race caution.”

Majeski was not surprised to race against his fellow counterparts from Wisconsin throughout the Saturday evening at the former DeSoto Speedway, who shined in a field of 40 competitors who made the trek to Freedom Factory.

“The Midwest is a hotbed for racing," said Majeski. "We’ve got a lot of great racers up there, a lot of great racing, great fans. It really is a great place to race and a great place to learn. We’ve got a lot of great racers that come down here and it shows. I think we swept the podium tonight and top five in qualifying. It’s a really special night for the Midwest, and hopefully we can keep bringing more guys down.”

While Majeski was making his fourth appearance in the Bigley Memorial, both Johnson and DeAngelis were newcomers to the event and plenty pleased with their podium efforts.

"We had a good car, you know," said Johnson. "It’s our first time down here, so we’ve got a good notebook to come back with. Awesome experience, Ricky [Brooks] puts on a heck of a program here. Super inviting. It was just a great time, a great run. You couldn’t ask for much more."

“It’s really cool to run third in this race first time here," said DeAngelis. "Congrats to Ty and the whole 91 team on the win, Casey Johnson on the second. It’s really cool to run with the same guys you run with at home up front. It’s always fun to come south and finish third. First time here, it’s really cool.

“It feels good. We were in front of them by about five or six car lengths there for a while. We just kept getting freer and freer. I think I just used a little bit up too early. I did what I had to do to keep it out front.

With a fourth-place finish, Stephen Nasse collected the $250 bonus from Apache Rental Group for highest finisher from the state of Florida in the field. However, he hoped to finish much higher while representing the home state.

"The car was decent," said Nasse. "We were just a little bit too tight all weekend. Ty and them guys were pretty good. I don't really like having these guys come down here to our home state and beat us like that. That's racing. They had a really good car. All we can do is go back and work on it. My guys worked real hard all weekend, I'm proud of them."

Still, he was excited to see how the Bigley Memorial has grown in recent years to a widely-recognized event drawing top competitors from across the country.

"It means a lot," added Nasse. "The Bigley family has been a part of Florida racing for years and years now. They're real racers. I'm happy for them that this event has turned into such a big thing, drawn so many cars and had such a good fanbase come out this weekend. I just would love to see what it can do next year."

Racing in the event held in memory of his grandfather, Dylan Bigley rounded out the top five. It was Bigley's fourth top-five finish in the race, but his first since a fourth-place finish at 4-17 Southern Speedway in 2020.

"I just needed to make the dang race," said Bigley. "I feel if we had started up front, we definitely would have had a chance. I don't know how hard Ty was running at the end, but we definitely were pretty comparable to him at the end.

"My dad's even talking about racing in it next year. Year 10, hopefully that's the one. We've been gaining and gaining, it's been four or five years of bad luck. We've definitely turned it aroudn this year. Without Richie Wauters Motorsports, this wouldn't be possible, and my whole family."

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America

9th Annual Noland's Roofing Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128 Results