North Carolina star Stephen Leicht to compete in Aug. 2 race at WIR

KAUKAUNA, WI -- North Carolina NASCAR development driver Stephen Leicht will be competing in the Tuesday Night Shootout at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. with racing at 7:15 p.m. on the WIR half-mile paved oval. Leicht, of Ashville, NC, will compete in the American Stock Car League (ASL) 150. Earlier this year Leicht won a 150-lap ASL race at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, IA in his only previous series start. He has also won an ASA Late Model Series event this year.

The evening's events will also include the B & B Race Engines AllStar Shootout, featuring top local drivers against the top ten drivers in the Midwest AllStar Racing Series (MARS). The winner of the 44-lap race will receive the Wally Jor Memorial Cup, honoring a former competior at WIR and other Wisconsin tracks. A Wally Jors Classic was annually held at Hales Corners Speedway, but that track closed recently. Also on the schedule will be the return of the Royal Rumble Mid-American Stock Car vs. Mid-Am Super Truck race. The 30-lap race will match up the top eight Mid-American Stock Cars and top eight Mid-Am Super Trucks in a popular event which was held in conjunction with the ARTGO/Dixieland Challenge in 1997 and 1998.

Leicht will drive the Texor Petroleum/Walton Racing Development/GM Performance Monte Carlo. "The ASL is a great series," Leicht noted. "They are trying to build it back to where the ASA National Tour was before. I hope they do because it's an awsome deal," he said. The ASL 150 will be run in two 75 lap segments with a ten-minute break where teams can make adjustments. Twenty-four cars are slated to start the 150-lap feature. A free autograph session is planned from 5 to 6 p.m.

Wisconsin drivers have won the other ASL events held in 2005. Bryan Reffner of Stevens Points won the opener at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, MO while Andrew Morrissey of DeForest won the 150-lap ASL feature at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, WI. Ryan Mathes of Lake Geneva won the most recent 150 at I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre, MN. All three are expected to compete in the Tuesday night Shootout August 2 along with drivers from at least a dozen other states.