MIS E-News
Week of May 5, 2008
By John Wells

Our thoughts and prayers go out to former MIS driver Casey Burns who was injured in a motorcycle accident on Sunday evening. At the time of this E-News Casey was recovering at University Hospital in Madison.

What seemed to be a winter that would never release its grip on us now just seems like a distant memory as Wisconsin�s Fastest Half-Mile came alive on Sunday with perfect weather and the talented drivers from the ASA Midwest Tour and Big 8 Series. Here are some observations from the weekend�

Opening Day 2008: Kudos to Steve Einhaus and Tim Olson for the work they have done with the ASA Midwest Tour. This is a very professional operation that seems to be the answer to what fans and drivers have been looking for for many years. With nearly fifty cars on hand this show turned out to be everything and more.

Dan Fredrickson won for the first time at MIS after holding off Steve Carlson with Kyle Busch edging Mark Eswein for third. It seemed like we were going to have a wire to wire repeat of 2007 when local star Andrew Morrissey grabbed the early lead and held on for 68 laps before Fredrickson took over and powered to the win.

It was not an easy feature to make as many very talented drivers loaded up early and headed home after failing to make the show.

Jeremy Miller won the Big 8 Series feature event by edging out Michael Bilderback. Miller is always tough at MIS, but how about the run by sixteen year old Bilderback. Keep your eye on this kid because he�s going to get better and better each time he gets on the half-mile. It was also a very solid run for fourteen year old Ross Kenseth who finished fifth in his first appearance on the half-mile under the watchful eyes of dad and grandpa.

Complete race results can be found on both the Big 8 and ASA Midwest Tour websites.

Should be a very competitive field of super lates and limited lates on a weekly basis in 2008.

Weekly Racing Begins this Friday Night

Let�s all plan on coming out to MIS this Friday night when the weekly racing program gets going. It will mark the return of the super late models as a weekly division at MIS along with the Area Sportsman who are back on the half-mile and the Legends who will also be a weekly division. The Bandits and Limited Late Models return for the 2008 season.

Here�s Friday night�s schedule: Subject to change

4:45 Hot Laps
Rockweiler Insulation Limited Late Models
Bryden Motors Area Sporstman
Weaver Auto Parts Super Late Models
Pellitteri Legends
Roto Rooter Bandits

6:30 Qualifying
Legends (2 laps)
Bandits (2 laps)
Super Late Models (2 laps)
Area Sportsman (2 laps)
Limited Late Models (2 laps)

7:30 Racing (Feature distances subject to change)
Legends Heats (8 laps)
Bandit Heats (8 laps)
Super Late Model Heats (8 laps)
Area Sportsman (6 laps)
Limited Late Models (8 laps)
Legends Feature (15 laps)
Bandit Feature (15 laps)
Intermission
Super Late Model Feature (40 laps)
Area Sportsman Feature (15 laps)
Limited Late Model Feature (30 laps)

Drivers� Corner

Looking to get some additional sponsors. Check with Holly Coley about a new marketing program we are offering our members in 2008. This program will offer incentives for the new sponsors you are trying to attract.

Driver Info Sheets: If you have not filled out the paper work you will need to do so before getting paid on Friday night. All drivers must have driver info and car owner sheets filled out. Go to our website and have this done before you get to the track on Friday. I will be coming around before hot laps to collect your information. We need this information for our driver profiles on the website and to announce to the fans during qualifying.

Memberships: Be sure to purchase a membership if you wish to be included in the point fund program in 2008. Last year over $15,000 was awarded at our banquet to eligible members. Don�t get left out!

ASA Educational Series: If you have a high school student on your team or you are a high school student please be sure to sign up for our ASAES program to be eligible to win scholarships to Ohio Tech. Some of the scholarships will be as much as $25,000. This is a great opportunity for our young people.

Rookie of the Year: To be eligible for Rookie of the Year in your division you must not have raced in that division at MIS or another track in previous years, not raced in a �higher� division, and you must be an MIS member.

Kyle Busch Will Return to MIS
By: Kevin Ramsell

Roy Kenseth of RK Race Promotions has announced that the current NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader will be competing in The Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge event on Tuesday, June 24th at Madison International Speedway. Kyle Busch will join Matt Kenseth and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, in the fourth annual event.

�I�m looking forward to it,� Busch stated this past Sunday where he finished third in the ECHO Chainsaw 100 ASA Midwest Tour event. �I think it will be a great race. I am looking forward to coming out and having fun with Matt and Tony. I meant to be up here last year, but I didn�t have a car ready. This year we got our stable built up a little bit and we will be ready to come back and have some fun.�

�He is the hottest driver going right now and will be a great addition to the event,� Roy Kenseth stated. �I have always promoted my races with the fans in mind, and I think this will be an awesome event to have three high profile NASCAR drivers competing with the best super late model drivers in the Midwest.�

General admission tickets and pit passes are still available for the June 24th event. Order forms are available through www.mattkenseth.com or www.kevinramsell.com. You can also purchase tickets at MIS�s track office or starting later this week at ESPN 1070/Clear Channel Radio�s office located at 2651 Fish Hatchery Road in Madison, WI. Advance tickets are $20 for ages 11 and up and $10 for ages 10 and under.

A limited amount of pit passes are available for $50. Purchasing a pit pass will also give you access to the main grandstand area. If you purchase a pit pass, you will NOT need to purchase a general admission ticket. PLEASE NOTE: PIT PASSES ARE ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH MAIL ORDER ONLY!!! They will not be available for purchase at either MIS or Clear Channel�s office. These are also limited to ages 14 & older.

RK Race Promotions would like to thank The Swiss Colony as this year�s title sponsor, Rockweiler Insulation as the sponsor for the Big 8 Series which will also be competing on June 24th, Monte�s Grill & Pub in Verona as the halfway bonus sponsor, Bumper-To-Bumper for the Pole Award, and Gatorade as the Victory Lane sponsor.

Gates will open at Noon on Tuesday, June 24th with qualifying at 4:30 pm. Racing will begin at 7 pm. Rain date is Wednesday, June 25th.

Eric Huenefeld Joins MIS Staff as Track Announcer

Madison International General Manager has announced that Eric Huenefeld will be the track announcer in 2008. If you were at the races on Sunday you will recognize Eric as the voice of the Big 8 Series.

At just twenty-three years old, Eric comes to MIS with ten years of announcing experience in a wide variety of venues. Huenefeld has announced the past nine years at several Midwestern tracks and currently is the track announcer at the Rockford Speedway and for the Big 8 Late Model Series. He is also employed at Big Radio in Monroe and Freeport.

�I�ve been going to races my whole life. My family has been involved in racing either driving, owning, building motors, or just watching,� said the Dakota, Illinois native. �I guess sometimes you are just meant to be somewhere. Apparently I am supposed to be at race tracks as much as possible.�

The 2008 season will not be Huenefeld�s first announcing experience at MIS as he was behind the mic in 2007 for the Big 8 Late Model Series. He will be announcing the Big 8 opener on May 4th before taking over the duties for the Friday night season opener on May 9th.

�Eric brings a wide variety of experience to the track and his energy and enthusiasm behind the mic will be contagious,� said MIS General Manager Dave Grueneberg.

The kid is good and I am looking forward to working with him this year.

Badger State Tractor Pullers Coming to MIS

It�s been a long time since Madison hosted a tractor pull, but the 2008 season will feature two major tractor pulling events. The first event is coming up on Saturday, May 17th at 7:00 PM when the Badger State Tractor Pullers come to MIS. In September the Lucas Oil Pro Pullers will be here for their national championship.

In order to host a tractor pull, Dave Grueneberg has arranged to have hundreds of loads of dirt trucked in and dumped on the front stretch pit road starting at the head of the stretch.

If it�s been awhile since you�ve seen a tractor pull please come out on the 17th and see the big �smokers� from Badger State.

Just a reminder that there will be no racing on Friday, May 16th due to the tractor pull.

The Chaplain�s Corner
By Todd Christopherson

First we have to pray for the Burns family! Pray for Casey to recover quickly.

We had some great racing to start the season at MIS. We hope that we have the pits and stands that full every night this year. So tell your friends to come out and join us. As I thought about the great start yesterday I thought that some time a Christian start out great and then fades into just showing up once in a while and not being on fire for the LORD daily. You know every year there is someone that is hot at the beginning of the season and then cools off (no offense Cubs fans). I have seen people get saved and then in a while they are right back to their old life style.

This weekend I studied with a group of guys from my church and we talked about Hebrews 12:1-3 and then Scott talked about it Sunday again. God gives us a good guideline to staying close to Him and on fire. He tells us to do two things: 1) keep out eyes fixed on Jesus and 2) preserve. So how are you doing? Do you have your eyes fixed on Jesus? Are you preserving no matter what your situation is?

I hope you are, but I know there are times that I get off course. I encourage you to pray and study your Bible and get with those that believe and will pour into your life.

Want to encourage yourself, others and me, just ask me to pray with you and keep growing.
You can get me at 608-630-7301 or torch_for_jesus@yahoo.com

That�s all for this week. See you at the races on Friday night.