By Kari Shear-Carlson
May 22, 2012 - Dan Fredrickson and Jerry Wood were victorious in the American Speed Association® Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings and the ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour events at State Park Speedway on Saturday night, May 19th.

DAN FREDRICKSON WINS HIS DEBUT AT SPS

The 2008 ASAMT Champion, Dan Fredrickson in his Mid-State Reclamation & Trucking; B&B; Brothers Jorgenson sponsored car made his first ever trip to State Park Speedway on Saturday and adapted to the very competitive quarter mile as if he raced there weekly. Dan started in the sixth position after qualifying fifth. It did not take him long to make his way to the front.

He proved that two-groove racing is alive and well at SPS when he chose the outside at the restart after a competition yellow. Fredrickson was able to maintain his lead, albeit with a very hungry Jonathan Eilen never losing site of Fredrickson’s bumper until the checkered flag fell.

Last year’s winner and local hero, Mark Mackesy came on strong at the end and got another podium finish rounding out the top three.

JERRY WOOD WINS THE ASA MIDWEST SCAG TRUCK TOUR SEASON OPENER

Jerry Wood led James Swan and Chad Knaus of Sun Prairie, WI across the finish line in the Truck Tour’s first event of the 2012 season. Wood is the 2010 and 2011 ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour Champion and he continued right where he left off on Saturday night. Fourteen trucks took the green flag. Jerry took the early lead and while Swan closed in on him a bit, it just was not enough to get the job done. There were some great battles throughout the field during the 50 lap event indicating that it is going to be a great season of great racing in 2012.

ROOKIE MATT TIFFT GETS FIRST ASAMT POLE OF THE SEASON
Youngster, Matt Tifft from Hinckley, OH, powered his way to the top of the charts in qualifying, putting his #89 Malco Products, Judge, Lauric & Pahoresky, CPA Ford in the top spot turning a 13.467. Tifft started the event in 14th position and hung on in one of the most jam-packed, side-by-side events ever seen for an 18th place finish.

DAN BARBER OPENS UP THE ASA MIDWEST SCAG TRUCK TOUR WITH THE POLE
The #3 of Dan Barber opened the Truck Tour season by taking the pole with a 13.932. John Wood was second with a 14.093 only one-one thousand of a second ahead of Bill Collins who had a 14.094.

ECHO AND ECHO BEAR CAT TOURING STARS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE FIELD
Jonathan Eilen led the way for the 2012 ECHO and ECHO Bear Cat Touring Stars on Saturday night. After coming out of nowhere in the season opener at MIS, Eilen continued to show that he is in it to win it in 2012. Eilen started 11th and made his way to the front, maneuvering through lapped traffic in professional style. He and Fredrickson put on a fantastic finish to a great night of racing.

Another Touring Star who is off to a great start is Nick Panitzke. After running up front and leading for a while, Panitzke unfortunately encountered some problems and dropped back later in the race. Jacob Goede, Nathan Haseleu, Skylar Holzhausen, Chris Weinkauf and Chris Wimmer were all in the top ten. Last week’s winner, Andrew Morrissey finished 13th.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CONTENDERS CONTINUE TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE
Six Rookie of the Year drivers competed in the feature event on Saturday night. Once again, Jason Weinkauf sponsored by Professional Drywall, Jay VanDerGeest Cattle and Hartleban Farms, led the way for the rookies. Weinkauf ran up front most of the night finishing in ninth.

Young Ty Majeski, who won the ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour event at SPS in 2011, finished in 11th. Fast qualifier, Matt Tifft finished in 18th, followed by Cardell Potter in 20th, Austin Luedtke in 21st and Jeff Holtz in 27th.
HASELEU AND SWAN TAKE HOME BIG DOG BONUS

The Big Dog Bonus lap sponsorship program continued to grow for the ASAMT and was already up to $1300 for the ASA Midwest Tour. RaceTeamGear.com and Swiss Colony sponsored, Nathan Haseleu was the Big Dog for the ASAMT.
Finishing in the top 10 awarded Haseleu a little extra cash for the night. Because he was not a part of the program at MIS, he took home only $600 and the remaining $700 will carry over to Berlin Raceway on June 2nd.

The ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour started it’s season off with $500 in the pot. James Swan got the luck of the draw for the Trucks. Swan finished second in his race and took home the full $500 for the Trucks. They will start a new pot at Milwaukee on June 12th.

POINTS BATTLES BEGIN
With his victory on Saturday night, Dan Fredrickson tops the ASAMT point standings with 293. Skylar Holzhausen is in second with 286 only one point ahead of Jonathan Eilen with 285. Jason Weinkauf leads the rookie standings with 264 followed by Ty Majeski with 251 only one point ahead of Matt Tifft with 250.
Jerry Wood leads the ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour points with 167, followed by James Swan (160). Camden Murphy and Chad Knaus are currently tied for third with 153 points each.

NEXT EVENT
The next event for the ASA Midwest Tour is Saturday, June 2nd at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI for the Port City Racecars 100 only 10 days before the Howie Lettow 150 at the Milwaukee Mile on Tuesday, June 12th.

The Howie Lettow 150 will be the next event for the ASA Midwest SCAG Truck Tour.

Be sure to follow the ASA Midwest Tour on Facebook (asamidwesttour) and Twitter (@asamidwesttour).

To learn more about the American Speed Association® Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings, log on to asamidwesttour.com. For questions call the ASA Midwest Tour office at (630) 212-6022 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@asamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@asamidwesttour.com.

To learn more about the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association® Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association®, visit www.asaracing.com.

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