Austin Nason ASA STARS National Tour /

ASA STARS National Tour Drivers Discuss Busy Month of May

The ASA STARS National Tour has completed the busiest stretch of the 2023 season, with races at Madison International Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and Hickory Motor Speedway in an 18 day stretch. Nine drivers contested all three races, with others having competed in two of the three events.

Not only did Austin Nason have to prepare for all three races, he also had to return to Illinois on multiple occasions to compete at Rockford Speedway, where he is chasing the weekly Late Model championship in the quarter-mile’s final season. He won the feature on May 20 between North Wilkesboro and Hickory and currently leads the points standings at Rockford.

“We had to leave the cars down here. We actually had to go back home to race at Rockford in between all these races, so it’s been a busy last couple of weeks for these guys,” said Nason. “We struggled a little bit at North Wilkesboro but I think we’ll be pretty good (at Hickory).”

While Nason’s team kept their car in North Carolina in between the two races, Albert Francis and team returned to Ohio to get the car ready for Hickory. The two travel days left the team led by two-time ASA champion Gary St.Amant with less time to get ready for the Tar Heel 250.

“It wasn’t too bad from Madison to North Wilkesboro. It was different having two weekday races right after each other just because you lose the two days driving, so there’s really only five days in between and you’ve got to work those days, too,” Francis stated. “It’s definitely difficult, but it’s not the hardest thing we’ve ever done.”

Blaine Rocha only competed in the two North Carolina races with teammate Ross Strmiska, but also had the furthest trip out of any team, making the cross-country trek from California to compete at North Wilkesboro and Hickory. With no other viable options, they kept the equipment at Port City Racecars to get the cars ready for Hickory, checking off a pair of tracks on the bucket list.

“It’s been a fun trip so far. North Wilkesboro was pretty short and not a lot of time to get things figured out, but it was a great experience overall. I’ve never been to this track either so we’re checking off a lot of new places on the bucket list,” mentioned Rocha. “We had to go over to Port City and fix a couple things on both cars to get them serviced and ready to race.”

A second at Madison and a win at North Wilkesboro vaulted Bubba Pollard back into the thick of the points race. Even after a DNF at Hickory, he sits just 39 points out of the lead with six races to go. The busy month of May proved to be a grind even for the Pollard team, but it was business as usual for the Georgia driver.

“It’s been the same, these midweek races are tough but we’re doing all we can do. We’re kind of struggling today (at Hickory), the car drives fine but not enough speed. That’s not a good thing, you want it the other way around,” said Pollard. “It’s been a long couple weeks but that’s just part of the grind. We’ve got good guys to turn around and go again.”

The ASA STARS National Tour heads to the historic Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, June 18 for the Father’s Day 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza. Tickets for the Father’s Day 100 are now on sale at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds ticket office, or online by clicking here.

The Father’s Day 100 will be co-sanctioned with the ASA Midwest Tour, which will be the fourth race of the ASA MT season. RJ Braun, Ty Majeski, and Dalton Zehr have won races with the series this season.

The ASA STARS National Tour opened the ten race, six-state schedule at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL on March 11. Gio Ruggiero is the most recent winner, winning his first-career Super Late Model race in the Tar Heel 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway.

For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at starsnationaltour.com, or be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).


ASA STARS National Tour
The ASA STARS National Tour debuted in March of 2023 for Super Late Model racing in America. Announced last October, many of the best drivers in America will compete in the ten-race national tour with a minimum $100,000 point fund. The championship team will be guaranteed $25,000.

The ASA STARS National Tour is made up of three races from each of the regional pavement Super Late Model Series under the Track Enterprises banner; the ASA CRA Super Series, the ASA Midwest Tour and the ASA Southern Super Series.

The Team Construction Winner’s Circle program has been announced as a part of the ASA STARS National Tour for licensed drivers/teams with perfect attendance. The program provides additional financial incentives to those teams who support the Series, thanks to Team Construction.

Track Enterprises, a Racing Promotions Company based in Illinois, will operate the ASA STARS National Tour. It announced the acquisition of the CRA sanctioning body in January and followed that up with the purchase of the Midwest Tour in July. In October, Track Enterprises President, Bob Sargent announced a partnership with the Southern Super Series which set the table for the formation of the ASA STARS National Tour.