WISCONSIN INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY KAUKAUNA, WI
TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2007
By: Kevin Ramsell & Matt Panure
Tuesday, August 07, 2007 (Kaukuana, WI) – Kyle Busch made his third visit to Wisconsin International Raceway, his second visit in three weeks. He used what he learned a few weeks ago tonight to collect the Factory Motor Parts 150 ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Equipment event at WIR.
Steve Carlson and Dan Fredrickson led the field to Tom White’s green flag where it was Fredrickson getting the jump on the outside.
Fredrickson’s lead only lasted one lap as Brian Johnson Jr. went on the inside of Fredrickson going down the backstretch to take over the top spot on lap 2.
Johnson continued to lead but Fredrickson was looking to take back the top spot. Fredrickson got on the inside of Johnson on lap 12 going into turn three and took back the top spot. Carlson followed Fredrickson to take over the second spot.
Steve Holzhausen entered into the top three on lap 15 as he and Jeff VanOudenhoven moved past Johnson, sending Johnson back to fifth.
By: Kevin Ramsell
Monday, August 06, 2007 (Daytona Beach, FL) – ASA Midwest Tour Touring Star, Nate Haseleu, picked up an exciting win at Madison International Speedway this past Friday night. Haseleu led only one lap but it was the right lap to his win. It was a win that could really build momentum towards the Factory Motor Parts 150 at Wisconsin International Speedway this Tuesday night.
With five laps to go in the Bob Schmelzer 100 lap event, former NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Midwest Series champion, Brian Hoppe, appeared to be on his way to the win as Haseleu was about three car lengths behind him. But, lapped traffic allowed Haseleu to get on his rear bumper with two laps to go.
“The lapped car allowed me to get to Brian’s bumper and I was able to get underneath him as we were coming to the white flag,” Haseleu recalled. “I got a good run going down the backstretch and went pretty deep in to turn three, we touched a little bit and I beat him to the line. Just excited with the way how it worked out. It’s a lot of fun racing with Brian.”
By Matt Panure
Monday, August 6th 2007, (Daytona Beach, FL) -- When a driver jumps behind the wheel early on in their career, they may often dream of someday climbing behind the wheel of a NASCAR machine. Many fans may herald those drivers as the “next Matt Kenseth” or the next driver to make it to NASCAR. However, there are many success stories of those who turned wrenches on those machines. Green Bay WI’s Ritchie Wauters is one of those stories.
Wauters maintains and crew chiefs the super late model that will be driven by NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kyle Busch. Busch is set to make his second appearance with the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment when the tour invades Wisconsin International Raceway for the Factory Motor Parts 150. Two other entries will be fielded by Wauters. Hueytown AL’s J.R. Norris and Wauters’ son Spencer will also challenge the ASA Midwest regulars at WIR.
By: Kevin Ramsell
Friday, August 03, 2007 (Daytona Beach, FL) – Back on Thursday, July 19th, Kyle Busch took advantage of Wisconsin International Raceway’s Thursday night racing program to prepare for the ASA Midwest Tour’s Factory Motor Parts 150 on Tuesday, August 7th. He left that night taking home a feature win.
Not only did he take home the feature win, but he also came close to breaking Andy Monday’s track record in qualifying, only to come up .039 seconds short.
“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is to be going up there to have fun, bring the car up there and run the Tuesday night show with the ASA Midwest Tour,” Busch recently stated. “We had a great run when we were there, learned some new things that we can hopefully bring back and have another decent run and hopefully race well with all of these guys.”
During that week, Busch competed at the Slinger Nationals, WIR and made his debut in the ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment event at Madison International Speedway where he drove home to a sixth place finish.
By Matt Panure
Thursday August 2, 2007, (Daytona Beach, FL) -- It has been a rocky rookie campaign on the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment for Freedom, WI’s Kyle Calmes. The turbulent waters may calm for Calmes and his team as they head into familiar territory at the Wisconsin International Raceway on August 7th for the Factory Motor Parts 150. “Our car seems to be really dialed in at Kaukauna right now,” stated Calmes. “Hopefully I can whoop up on the touring drivers because they’ve been whooping up on me all year long,” he added in jest.
Calmes has been one of the drivers to beat at WIR over the past two years. In 2006 Calmes dominated the limited late model division at WIR sealing the championship with four feature victories. No other driver had more than two feature wins on the season.
The success from the limited late model has carried over into the super late model effort for Calmes in 2007 at WIR. Calmes currently sits tenth in points and is the leading rookie contender. Calmes has steadily improved every week. In seven events he has two top fives, three top tens and had a season best second place finish on July 5th.
By Matt Panure
Wednesday, August 1, 2007, (Daytona Beach, FL) -- Few drivers on the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment can brag that they hold a home track advantage at two venues on this year’s tour. Especially when those two tracks are over two hours away and are in separate states. When the ASAMT rolls into Wisconsin International Raceway on August 7th for the inaugural Factory Motor Parts 150, two drivers from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will already know the fast way around WIR.
Both Escanaba MI’s Jamie Iverson and Norway MI’s Kris Kelly were well heralded before the Norway 100. The extra press was well warranted. Kelly finished a season best fourth and Iverson won the event in front of a very large, overwhelmingly pleased crowd. The story may be very similar at WIR as both drivers have experienced their share of success at the legendary half-mile.
by Joe Verdegan
(Kaukauna, WI) July 31 - Green Bay brothers Doug and Nick Mahlik will have their super late models on display at Pleshek-Vosters Outdoor Power Equipment in Kaukauna on August 6 from noon to 5 p.m.
The Mahlik brothers compete full time in the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour presented by Echo Power Equipment. They will be promoting the Factory Motor Parts 150 which will take place at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna Tuesday, August 7.
While Nick has run a limited schedule on the series Doug Mahlik has competed in all of the series shows, where he sits 11th in the series points. "I really love where this series is headed," said Doug Mahlik, who was the 2001 limited late model champion at WIR. "The series sponsors Echo Power Equipment, Kwik Trip and Scag Mowers have been great to the competitors all season long."
Doug Mahlik continues to keep plugging along, slowly climbing in the series point standings with each event. "I'd love to get to the touring star status for their '08 campaign. That's our goal this year." Mahlik's Pontiac Grand Prix' will carry sponsorship from Tri-County Heating of New Franken for the WIR "Tuesday Biggie".
By Matt Panure
Monday, July 30, 2007 (Daytona Beach, FL) -- When the Kwik Trip ASA Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment makes its inaugural appearance at the Wisconsin International Raceway on Tuesday August 7th for the Factory Motor Parts 150 there will be a very familiar face in the field for race fans. Wisconsin short track legend Dick Trickle is scheduled to make his second appearance of 2007 with the ASA Midwest Tour at the famed “D-shaped” half-mile oval.
Trickle recently competed in the Echo Chainsaw/Five Car Stock Car Bodies No Bull 100 presented by Briggs and Stratton and Lancaster Toyota at Madison International Speedway finishing 23rd.
By: Kevin Ramsell
Friday, July 26, 2007 (Daytona Beach, FL) – Since 1982, race fans in the Fox Valley area were accustomed to going to Wisconsin International Raceway on the first Tuesday in August for a big racing event. After a one year hiatus, the ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment will re-ignite a tradition with the running of the Factory Motor Parts 150 on Tuesday, August 7th at 7:00 p.m.
John McKarns and his famous ARTGO Challenge Series wanted to bring a big racing event to Wisconsin International Raceway, located just outside of Kaukauna, WI, featuring a top NASCAR Winston Cup driver. So he created the Dixieland Race.
The first event was held on Sunday, May 31st with the late Neil Bonnett as the featured Winston Cup driver. The race was a Twin 50-lap feature event. Larry Schuler won the first while Jim Sauter won the second. But, the overall winner was a young Arkansas driver named Mark Martin. His second place finish in the first and his third place finish in the second race, gave him the overall win.
