ILLIANA MOTOR SPEEDWAY: ASAMT RACE RECAP

By Kari Shear-Carlson
June 20, 2011 - The American Speed Association® Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment and GrandStay Hospitality completed its fourth race of the 2011 season this past Saturday. Ross Kenseth took home his third victory in the ASAMT in the "10th Annual Elmer Musgrave Memorial" presented by Texas Corral.

MORRISSEY CONTINUES TO RUN STRONG

Andrew Morrissey has been having a strong beginning to his season and continued it at Illiana. Morrissey topped the qualifying charts with a 19.483, followed by fellow ASA Midwest Touring Star, Nick Murgic who had a 19.499. Morrissey rolled the dice to determine the invert. In the ASAMT, the roll plus eight determines the inversion. Morrissey rolled a four, giving him a 12th place starting position. He finished seventh in the main event which was good enough for him to maintain his second place points position.

KENSETH IS ON A ROLL

Ross Kenseth has been showing the way in the first four events thus far. With a win at Madison International Speedway, second at Wisconsin International Raceway and wins at Grundy County Speedway and Illiana Motor Speedway, the youngster leads the point standings by 34 points ahead of Morrissey. Kenseth started on the outside of the front row in Saturday night's event and took the early lead. He never looked back, leading from the drop of the green to the drop of the checkered in the caution-free 100-lap event.

TOURING STARS CONTINUE TO SHINE

The ASA Midwest Touring Stars finished in seven of the top ten spots and continue to show that consistency in racing pays off. Last year's champion and event winner, Steve Carlson has been struggling a bit this season and uncharacteristically does not yet have a victory under his belt. He finished in the ninth spot. Jacob Goede, the 2009 winner of the event had a strong run going and finished fourth. Chris Wimmer was the only one to challenge Kenseth early in the race, but settled for second. Tim Schendel, the only other driver to have a victory so far this season, finished third on Saturday night and sits third in the point standings 43 points behind leader, Ross Kenseth. In fact, nine of the top ten in the point standings are Touring Stars.

OTHER NOTABLES

Matt Kocourek finished fourth at Grundy and followed it up with a sixth place finish on Saturday night. The Franklin, WI driver ran strong all night challenging for the fourth and fifth positions at different times during the race. Local driver, Boris Jurkovic gave the top five a run for their money. Jurkovic charged through the field making attempts at Jacob Goede several times at the end of the race, but settled for a satisfying top-five. Becca Kasten was the only other non-Touring Star driver to finish in the top 12. Becca was consistent most of the night and settled for eighth ahead of Carlson.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The ASAMT has a busy mid-season coming up over the next several weeks. This Thursday, June 23rd, the ASAMT will make its debut at State Park Speedway in Wausau, WI. On Saturday, July 2nd, fireworks will fly as drivers head to Marshfield Motor Speedway and on July 8th and 9th, drivers will compete for $10,000 to win at Elko Speedway in the GrandStay Summer Clash. If you have not yet made plans for any of these events get out your calendar and cancel everything else!

You can find more details for these events at asamidwesttour.com.
Become a fan of the ASAMT on Facebook by going towww.facebook.com/asamidwesttour

To learn more about the American Speed Association® Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment and GrandStay Hospitality, 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.comor 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