ENGINE BUILDERS GIVE BACK AND HELP KEEP DREAMS ALIVE
By: Kevin Ramsell

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 (Daytona Beach, FL) – 2007 ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment Champion Nathan Haseleu talked about growing up and racing his bike with his friends. They didn’t imagine that they were NASCAR stars, but ASA stars. They dreamed they were stars like Joe Shear, Dick Trickle, Bob Senneker, and many more.

While Haseleu got to live his dream and become a true ASA champion on Saturday night at the championship banquet, three rookies got to see their dreams stay alive as each won a new engine to compete with during the 2008 season.

Brandon Hill, Travis Sauter, and Kris Kelly each became recipients of a new racing engine at a drawing during the championship banquet.

Tim Olson, ASAMT President and Steve Einhaus, ASAMT VP, announced the names of the 18 drivers eligible for the engine giveaway. As each driver’s name was announced, their name was then placed in a glass bowl for the drawing.

John Schlieper from Pro Power Racing Engines, Bruce Mueller from B & B Racing Engines, and Gary and Mike Tesar of Tesar Engineering were on stage and each drew the winning name for the other engine builder.

Before the winners were announced, Einhaus shared the story of how the giveaway came about through a conversation with Bill Schlieper. Einhaus was attending the Racing Performance Industry Trade Show in Orlando, Florida in December, 2006. Schlieper asked Einhaus that if he was given a list of parts needed, could he get the manufacturers to donate the parts and Pro Power would put the engine together.

With a shopping list in hand, Einhaus worked his way around the trade show and got nothing but “Yes” from many part manufacturers. It didn’t take long for B & B Racing Engines and Tesar Engineering to jump on board and join this program.

“I think it’s a real good deal because you get to give something back to the racers,” Bruce Mueller of B & B Racing Engines stated. “They have supported us for years and years and years and we are in our 36th year of building engines. We felt that the racer deserved something back and this was a good program. We found sponsors to sponsor most of the parts and we were real happy to donate the time.”

John Schlieper of Pro Power also agreed with Mueller, “The reason we wanted to do this stuff is because everyone says that engine builders are the problem, but we have been working all of our lives, been putting in 10, 12, 15 hour days. It’s a good business to have and I hope my kids do the same thing. It’s a tough business but I think it’s a way to go.”

“Well, I think it’s a pretty neat deal,” Gary Tesar of Tesar Engineering stated. “If the racers aren’t racing they are not buying the motors from us and we don’t have a business. We wanted to do this and help the racer out and support racing. Obviously, crate motors aren’t doing our business any good so this is one way to show that we care about the racer and want them to keep coming back.”

Brandon Hill, a rookie who finished 11th in the 2007 points was the recipient of a new Pro Power 9:1 race engine.

“It was a real shock for us,” Hill stated afterwards. “We usually don’t get as fortunate as other teams and don’t get lucky. We usually have more bad luck than good luck.”

It was almost fate that Hill would win the Pro Power motor, “Our first motor we ever had was a Pro Power when I got in my first late model,” Hill explained. “It’s cool to get back on board with them and I know they build good stuff. I know they dominate the dirt series and if they do well there then there is no reason they can have success on the asphalt.”

A few months ago, Travis Sauter explained that he had a car but needed a hauler, some parts and a motor. One of those missing pieces was taken care of as his name was drawn to take home a new B & B ACE Racing Engine.

“My hands were getting sweaty before they drew for that, I don’t even know why I was nervous,” Sauter stated as he was staring at his new motor. “It’s pretty cool, it’s a big help to what we got to do. This is big, I’ve got good sponsors coming on board for this year but this helps a lot. It just lets us put money somewhere else. We would have to build one, buy one or do whatever; it just helps the program all the way around.”

For Mueller, having Sauter winning his motor brought back memories of when he built motors for Travis’ father, Tim. “His dad and I have always gotten along real good. We have a great relationship and we still talk all the time. I was real happy that he won.”

Kris Kelly was the final name called and became the recipient of a Tesar ACE engine.

“I was overwhelmed,” a shocked Kelly stated afterwards. “For these guys to give up the time and money that they put into the series we run, it’s pretty spectacular. We are probably one of the middle of the roads maybe little bit under funded teams, but you got to thank Tesar, Pro Power and B & B to give anybody a chance to collect such a piece that they built. This is top notch. I got a car sitting there, we are going to slap this in there and see what it has this coming year.”

Olson was happy with the way how this program turned out, “Steve got a great idea and he ran with it and to have three of the best engine builders in the Midwest to step up and do this for our competitors, it really says a lot. Because of this, the ASA Midwest Tour will do everything we can to give the support back to the entire engine builders who help make our sport what it is today. Our series will be a true built engine supported series.”
Einhaus was also happy with the results of his efforts, “I thought it would be awesome to just give away one motor, but to give away three, it was nothing I thought of. On top of that, the drivers who won the motors are three drivers who really needed this help and I could not be more pleased with the final results. I have to thank Pro Power, B & B and Tesar for their efforts in this program. I know this will be something we will do again and I know the all three would love to do this again.”

Hill pretty much summed it up not only for himself, but for Sauter and Kelly as well, “There are guys here who have the money to buy this (the engine) and there are guys who can barely afford to get to the racetrack every week. What makes this cool is that it makes it easier on all three of us. We now have three months and we can get the car ready and we already know that we got one of the most important parts ready to go. We got to thank everyone who helped put this together.”

To learn more about the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment and the engine giveaway program, please contact the ASA Midwest Tour office by calling (262) 514-3880 or by e-mailing 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 all the racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asa-racing.com.