KAUKAUNA, WI -- Two Chevrolet Monte Carlos based in Appleton will be competing in the Memorial Day afternoon NASCAR Auto Zone 200 at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. A last chance race will hit the D-shaped half-mile speedway at 1 p.m. followed by the 200-lap NASCAR Touring race at 1:30 p.m. Qualifying begins at 12 noon.

Dick Trickle of Iron Station, NC and a former Wisconsin Rapids resident, will drive a car owned by Tim Rothe of Appleton. Trickle holds the all-time NASCAR Midwest victory record with 68, five more than current series hot shoe Steve Carlson. Justin Hirt of Tigerton will be the youngest driver in the field. He is just 19 years old and will drive a car owned by Dave Stammer of Appleton. It will be Hirt's second series start. "It's neat to see the excitement and drive in a rookie racer," Stammer said. Hirt leads the NASCAR Auto Zone rookie point standings after one race. He is currently ninth in the division points. "Our goal is to win the rookie of the year title and finish in the top ten," Stammer. The top ten NASCAR Auto Zone drivers will be invited to the Toyota Shootout in Irwindale, CA in November. Stammer said the team got some practice laps at the Kaukauna tack May 18. "We learned a lot," Stammer noted. "Right now we've got about a 12th place car and we going to make some adjustments that hopefully will get us in the top ten," he concluded.

Stammer, who owns EZ Lube in Appleton, said the car will be on display at the Auto Zone store in Neenah May 29 from 1 to 4 p.m. and the Auto Zone store in Appleton May 30 from 1 to 4 p.m. Stammer has had third place finishes in NASCAR touring races. Terry Baldry of Omro drove the car to a third and a fifth place finish at WIR last year. Steve Carlson had a third in the car at Phoenix, AR. David Streme, now running the NASCAR Busch Series, originally owned the car. Wayne Hirt, Justin's dad, has watched his son work his way up the motorsports ladder. When he was 13 years old he began racing go karts at Shawano, Clintonville, Cecil and Marshfield. In 200 he was the street stock division rookie of the year at State Park Speedway in Wausau. The next season he raced at Norway Speedway and was named the late model rookie of the year. Hirt continued racing late models in 2002 and finished second in the point standings at Norway. He also ran the Yellow Book USA MARS Late Model event at Norway and finished fifth. Last year Hirt ran the entire Yellow Book USA MARS schedule and was sixth overall. He turned in a 10th place finish at the Milwaukee Mile MARS race in his first race on a large oval and his best Yellow Book Series finish was a seventh at I-94 Raceway. "My son learned a lot traveling around four states," Hirt said. "Right now we have the funds to run at least half the schedule, but our aim to do the entire thing and win the rookie of the year deal," Hirt indicated. Carlson leads the series points going into Monday's race at Kaukauna.

(Story by Gary Vercauteren)

For more information on the NASCAR Auto Zone Elite Division --
Dean Strom 414-328-0773

Wisconsin International Raceway phones: 920-766-5577 or 5575.