Kenseth and Busch Race at Milwaukee Mile
Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch race in the ASA Wisconsin All-Star 100 at State Fair Park, West Allis, WI, Aug. 24.
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Two of NASCAR’s biggest racing stars, Kyle Busch and Cambridge, Wisconsin’s own Matt Kenseth gave the fans at State Fair Park a treat.
They participated in the American Speed Association, Kwik Trip Midwest Tour event. The Wisconsin All-Star 100-lap Challenge was the 11th of 13 stops. It was part of the Governor’s Cup weekend that featured short and long races on August 23rd and 24th. All competitors raced in late model stock cars, which is in a whole different world than NASCAR.
The ASA operates on the cheap end of auto racing. Late model cars have less horsepower and run on Hoosier tires. They cost around $440 for four. Each of the cars has only one backup set in the pit areas. Goodyear tires for NASCAR are around $1,700 for a set of four. Teams in the Craftsman, Nationwide and Sprint Cup series have at least six sets because drivers make frequent pit stops.
To save operation costs, the ASA races are divided into two halves. For example, if it’s a 40-lap race, the drivers go 20 laps, drive into pit road and take a 10-minute break. And the countdown begins when all the cars are parked.
During that time, the four-man crew for each driver can make adjustments to their cars. They can remove the tires to adjust anything underneath. However, the same tires must go back on the car. Unlike NASCAR, there aren’t two tire changers, a gasman, a jackman, a mechanic and a crew chief. The mechanic in ASA may be the crew chief. The jackman may be the tire remover, installer, and the one who empties the three plastic six-gallon gas cans into the car. At this level, the four-person teams wear many hats on the track.
The racing at the Milwaukee Mile began with 18-year-old Ross Zumbach from Racine, Minnesota. He won the Governor’s Cup 40-lap Mid-American race, Aug. 23.
“I really don’t know what to say,” he said after the race. “We haven’t even had a top ten (finish) this year, but we’ve been working really hard to get where we are.”
The win was a back-to-school treat as Zumbach began classes at Winona State University in Minnesota. Eddie Hoffman won his fourth ASA Late Model North Division race the same day in the 100-lap feature later that afternoon.
The Busch-Kenseth battle on Aug. 24 was preceded by the 150-lap race, won by Brian Campbell in 1 hour, 40.41 minutes. Then it was Kenseth, Busch and 37 other drivers ready to go. Kenseth won last year’s race. This year, he invited Busch to race against him.
It is probably not a good idea to invite Busch back next year. Busch is the hottest NASCAR driver in the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. He’s currently first in Cup Points and wins and the top money earner. Busch raced at Bristol, Tennessee three times in one week. He won the Craftsman Truck race on Aug. 20 and finished seventh in the Aug. 22 Nationwide race.
At the Milwaukee Mile, Busch got cheers and boos when he was introduced in that Sunday’s race. The night before in the Sprint Cup race, Aug. 23, Busch led most of the Sharpie 500. Carl Edwards’ bumper tapped Busch’s car with 30 laps to go. Edwards won. Busch bumped Edwards’ car in frustration. Edwards drove the nose of his car into Busch’s, bringing wild cheers by the crowd.
In the 100-mile race, Busch drove into the lead position, going three-wide, eight laps into the race.
“It was tough, you know,” Busch said. “Getting up there…All these guys are always tough to beat…Luckily, with the way that this track is, it’s wide enough. And there’s enough grooves out there where you can kind of move around and get by the guys. And we were fortunate to do that.”
Busch and Kenseth went side by side for two laps. Kenseth took the lead at lap 45. He was the leader at the halfway point. Two laps later, at 52, Busch regained the lead for good. The halftime adjustment was a key to the victory.
“We were so loose in the first half,” Busch said. “We were able to tighten it up just a little bit. Just that little bit sort of helped us. You know, we were able to keep it up front.”
The first half of the race was caution-free. In the second half, the caution flag came out only once. It was a good clean race.
Kenseth finished in third behind Chris Wimmer of Wausau, WI. In 2009, Indy Car Series racing returns to the Milwaukee Mile on May 30-31. It runs a week after the Indianapolis 500 and will feature the winner of that race. The Camping World Summer Speed Weekend will feature Craftsman Truck racing on June 19 and Nationwide racing a day later.
