Category | Stock car racing |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Inaugural season | 2007 |
Drivers' champion | Casey Johnson (3rd title) |
Official website | starsnationaltour |
The ASA Midwest Tour (until 2022: ARCA Midwest Tour) is a pavement Super Late Model auto racing series based in the Midwestern United States with its headquarters in Oregon, Wisconsin. [1] It was a developmental series of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), and currently of the American Speed Association, along with the CRA Super Series. [1]
The series can trace its roots back to the ARTGO series which was formed in 1975. NASCAR sanctioned the tour from 1998 until 2006. During that time, it was known as the RE/MAX Challenge Series, International Truck & Engine Midwest Series and finally the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series. NASCAR discontinued the series in 2006 as car counts dwindled. [1]
Tim Olson and Stephen Einhaus formed Cars and Stars Promotions in 2006 to begin a separate series that replaced the defunct ARTGO/NASCAR series. It was sanctioned by the American Speed Association (ASA) and was known as the ASA Midwest Tour. ARCA took over sanctioning the series in 2013 when it began to be known as the ARCA Midwest Tour. [1] Tim Olson, President of the ARCA Midwest Tour, announced that he has sold the ownership of the ARCA Midwest Tour to former Big 8 series director and Rockford Speedway general manager Gregg McKarns. [2] The purchase of ARCA by NASCAR on April 27, 2018 [3] [4] indirectly reunited the series with the series' former sanctioning body. Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises announced to purchase the ARCA Midwest Tour from McKarns at the end of 2022, and rebranded it the ASA Midwest Tour.
The series has its "Touring Stars" program, which recognizes the top drivers committed to racing the whole schedule. The "Touring Stars" are featured throughout the year on posters and event fliers promoting the series, as well as are eligible for pay bonuses at each race.
There have also been many NASCAR stars that have made appearances in the ASA Midwest Tour, such as Aric Almirola, David Ragan, David Stremme, Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, Kelly Bires, Kevin Harvick, Landon Cassill, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Green, Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch, Travis Kvapil, Todd Kluever, Johnny Sauter, Erik Darnell, Scott Wimmer, Ken Schrader, Tim Sauter, Jay Sauter, Dick Trickle, Natalie Decker, Rich Bickle and William Byron.
Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location | Fast Qualifier | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | April 23 | Miracle On the High Banks 75 | Slinger Speedway | Slinger, Wisconsin | Ryan Farrell | RJ Braun |
2 | May 7 | Joe Shear Classic 200 | Madison International Speedway | Oregon, Wisconsin | Paul Shafer Jr. | Ty Majeski |
3 | May 27 | Salute the Troops 100 | Jefferson Speedway | Cambridge, Wisconsin | Gabe Sommers | Dalton Zehr |
4 | June 18 | Father’s Day 100 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | Ty Majeski | Ty Majeski |
5 | July 8 | Wayne Carter Classic 100 | Grundy County Speedway | Morris, Illinois | James Lynch | Paul Shafer Jr. |
6 | July 22 | Larry Detjens Memorial 125 | State Park Speedway | Wausau, Wisconsin | Gabe Sommers | Brock Heinrich |
7 | August 1 | Gandrud Auto Group 250 | Wisconsin International Raceway | Kaukauna, Wisconsin | Luke Fenhaus | Ty Majeski |
8 | August 19 | Hawkeye 100 | Hawkeye Downs Speedway | Cedar Rapids, Iowa | Gabe Sommers | Gabe Sommers |
9 | August 25 | Howie Lettow Classic 100 | Madison International Speedway | Oregon, Wisconsin | Derek Kraus | Austin Nason |
10 | September 2 | Jim Sauter Classic 200 | Dells Raceway Park | Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin | Max Kahler | Ty Majeski |
≠ | September 23 | Thunderstruck 93 | Elko Speedway | Elko New Market, Minnesota | Race weekend cancelled due to rain | |
11 | October 8 | Oktoberfest 200 | La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway | West Salem, Wisconsin | Ty Fredrickson | Gabe Sommers |
Season | Champion | Rookie of the Year |
---|---|---|
2007 | Nathan Haseleu | Jonathan Eilen |
2008 | Dan Fredrickson | Nick Murgic |
2009 | Steve Carlson | Jacob Goede |
2010 | Steve Carlson (2) | Ross Kenseth |
2011 | Andrew Morrissey | Skylar Holzhausen |
2012 | Jonathan Eilen | Matt Tifft |
2013 | Dan Fredrickson | James Swan |
2014 | Ty Majeski | Ty Majeski |
2015 | Ty Majeski (2) | Austin Nason [5] |
2016 | Ty Majeski (3) | Casey Johnson |
2017 | Ty Majeski (4) | Michael Ostdiek |
2018 | Dalton Zehr [6] | Billy Mohn |
2019 | Casey Johnson | Gabe Sommers |
2020 | Casey Johnson (2) | |
2021 | Ty Majeski (5) | Luke Fenhaus |
2022 | Casey Johnson (3) | Harley Jankowski |
2023 | Gabe Sommers | Bryan Syre-Keske |
The series has raced at 23 different race tracks, mainly in the Upper Midwest:
Richard Allen Bickle Jr. is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Now retired from NASCAR racing, Bickle, who never completed a full season in the NASCAR Cup Series, had a long history in short track racing. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described him in 2012 as a "stud on the short tracks in the late 1980s and early '90s and a journeyman who rarely caught a break in NASCAR." He won three NASCAR truck races and had a career-best fourth-place finish in the Cup Series in 218 career NASCAR starts.
The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in their ASA Member Track program along with racing series in the United States and Canada.
Jim Sauter was an American stock car racing driver from Necedah, Wisconsin. He formerly raced in all three of NASCAR's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the International Race of Champions, as well as winning two championships in the Midwest-based ARTGO Challenge Series.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death of Bob Loga. The ARCA Menards Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Cup Series, and indeed most cars used in the Menards Series were previously used in NASCAR. ARCA's competitor "Frankie" contain a mix of both professional racers and hobby racers alike, in addition to younger competitors trying to make a name for themselves, sometimes driving as part of a driver development program for a NASCAR team. ARCA Menards Series races are broadcast on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 or MAVTV, and they have been previously broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, USA Network, TNN, Prime Network, CBS Sports Network, NBCSN, TBS and TNT.
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup races from 1958 to 1984.
The Wisconsin International Raceway is an asphalt stock car racing oval and dragstrip in the Town of Buchanan, in Outagamie County, just outside Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA.
The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile." The weekly program at the track runs on Friday nights under NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanction.
I-70 Motorsports Park, formally known as I-70 Speedway, is a multi-purpose motorsports facility near Interstate 70 east of Odessa, Missouri, USA. The track, first opened in 1969, was open yearly until its closure in 2008.
The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR.
Angell Park Speedway has a 1/3 mile (0.54 km) dirt racetrack located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The track has been run by the city's fire department since 1903. Racing occurs every Sunday approximately Memorial Day until Labor Day. Special racing events and the weather may alter the schedule. The races were sanctioned by the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association (BMARA), the oldest midget organization in the world. Some events are co-sanctioned by the United States Automobile Club (USAC). BMARA sanctions several midget car events at other nearby tracks. The World of Outlaws held their first sprint car races at the track in August 2016.
Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name.
Rockford Speedway is a 1/4 mile short track high banked asphalt oval located in Loves Park, Illinois on Illinois Route 173. Rockford Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway are the only racetracks running under NASCAR sanctions in Illinois.
Joe Shear, Sr. was an American stock car racing driver from Clinton, Wisconsin. He won an estimated 350 races in his career, including four of his last five races. Fred Nielsen, Shear's car owner from 1975 to 1984 and 1986 to 1994, said that his team won 250 races and he estimates that Shear won 600 races. He won at least 30 track or touring series championships in his career. Even though he was known as a pavement driver, two of those championships were on the dirt at Freeport, Illinois.
The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in West Salem, Wisconsin. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom to 11 degrees on the top. The track was built at the fairgrounds for La Crosse County. It used to host an event on the American Speed Association (ASA) and the ASA Late Model Series before the demise of the series. It currently hosts annual touring events on the ARCA Midwest Tour and Mid American Stock Car Series. It hosts weekly stock car races which are sanctioned by the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. It was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race track in Wisconsin.
Tim Schendel is an American professional stock car racing driver. A past winner of the Toyota All-Star Showdown and champion of the NASCAR Midwest Tour, he has also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the ASA Midwest Tour.
Norway Speedway, located in Norway, Michigan, is a one-third mile asphalt oval track that is slightly banked. Norway Speedway began as a dirt track in 1942 and was paved in 1978. The track held American Speed Association sanction before the sanctioning body closed. The track holds stock car races on Friday nights from mid-May through Labor Day Weekend which is the weekend of the Dickinson County Fair. The fair has games, carnival rides, a demolition derby, and a livestock building filled with animals. Events include the Auto-Value Challenge Series, Race to a Cure Cancer, the Stateline Challenge and the Labor Day 100 championship race held during the Dickinson County Fair. The ARCA Midwest Tour, Mid-American Stock Car Series, and the TUNDRA Super Late Models have raced at the track.
Travis Sauter is an American professional stock car racing driver. A regular competitor in several midwestern racing series, he is second on the all-time win list with four Oktoberfest wins at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Ross Kenseth is an American stock car racing driver who currently competes part-time in the Blizzard Series. He is the son of 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth. He has competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Midwest Tour, CRA Super Series and ARCA Racing Series.
Scott Hansen is an American stock car driver from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Now retired, Hansen primarily competed in the American Speed Association. He raced for several years in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series.
Tyler Brad Majeski is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 98 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, as well as in late model racing. He has also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, ARCA Menards Series, and ARCA Menards Series West in the past.