Making their way into California on Friday night for the first of three weekends of racing in the Golden State, Ian Madsen and the KCP Racing team would score a 12th place finish at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA.

“It was a so-so night of racing for us,” Ian Madsen said. “We got stuck in a battle for 10th for much of the race and we really couldn’t clear the battle and get going. My guys worked hard and we had a good car. Hopefully the weather steps aside and lets us race this weekend.”

43 cars packed into the Thunderbowl on Friday night, and Madsen would get his night underway by timing the Logan Contractors Supply, Inc., Aspen Aire/Royal Flooring backed No. 18 machine in fifth quickest in his qualifying flight.

Lining up in the second row of heat race three, the St. Marys, NSW pilot would find himself engaged in a battle with Daryn Pittman. Finishing fourth in his heat race, Madsen would punch his ticket into the 35-lap feature event where he would roll off the grid from the 14th starting position.

With the tracking taking shape heading into the feature event, Madsen would pick up a couple of early positions as he then hooked up in what seemed like a race long battle with Parker Price-Miller, Gio Scelzi, and Rico Abreu.

The pack of drivers waged war on each other on the high-banked California bullring, and provided quite a race for the final position inside the Top-10. As the battled continue to wage on, laps would click off.

A couple of late restarts would see Madsen try and take a shot to move into the Top-10, but a couple of close calls would see him back down as he would race on to finish 12th on this night.

“It is kind of a bummer to see Saturday rain out,” Madsen said. “When we get out west we look forward to racing, and good weather. We have been pretty fortunate the last few years, but this year has been tough already. I have to thank my guys and this entire team for what they do for me.”

Ian and his KCP Racing team would like to thank Logan Contractors Supply Inc., Aspen Aire, Royal Flooring, Bobcat, Team Kline Electric, Ted’s Body Shop, Bobcat, Team Excavating, Greenland Homes, Finer Cuts Lawn and Landscape, American Express, TammyHeckart.com, Quality Traffic Control, Bergen Paulsen, Coverage Direct, Revolution Race Gear, Monarch’s, and BK Racing Titanium for their support this season.

2018 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-9, Wins-0, Top-5’s- 0, Top 10’s-0

ON TAP: Ian and the KCP Racing team return to action Friday and Saturday night in Stockton, CA.

STAY CONNECTED: To keep up with Ian, make sure you follow him on twitter by clicking over to www.twitter.com/IanMadsen. You can also visit the team’s brand new website at www.kcpracing.com, and follow the team on Twitter @KCPRacing.