Winner of the 2011 Midwest Tour Event at State Park Speedway Is Ready for Saturday Night
by Kari Shear-Carlson
May 12, 2015 – This Saturday, May 16th will mark the fifth year the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment has visited State Park Speedway. There have been four different winners of the event with Dan Fredrickson winning two in a row in 2012 and 2013, followed by Tim Sauter in 2014. Local hero, Mark Mackesy won the first ever ARCA Midwest Tour event at the track in 2011.
When Mackesy won the Tour event in 2011, he admitted from victory lane that it was like a Cinderella story, “It’s like a dream to win a race like this.”
Mackesy is a four-time SPS champion, a three-time winner of both the Larry Detjens Memorial and the Flip Merwin Memorial, and won the inaugural ARCA Midwest Tour event. To say that Mackesy knows how to get around the track is an understatement.
“It helps to have experience at SPS. It can be a difficult little track to run on,” said Mackesy.
When the Tour returns to his track every year, Mark doesn’t feel intimidated. With a record like that, he shouldn’t.
“Since I won in 2011 a few drivers have left the series but they have also gained some tough ones, too. The Tour was and still is a tough series. When you look at Ty (Majeski) with Toby (Nuttleman), the Weinkaufs (Chris and Jason), Andrew Morrissey, Skylar Holzhausen, and all the others, it’s very tough,” said Mackesy.
But just like any track champion, he knows just what it takes to prepare for the special events, knowing that the competition level rises a little bit each and every year.
“We won’t change much. This is a four tire show and our weekly events are a two tire show. Qualifying to get into the show will be very tough, so we may concentrate a little more on that,” he added.
Mackesy welcomes the Tour each year and it also brings back a lot of memories for him growing up. “It’s nice to see all the Midwest Touring Stars come to State Park Speedway. It reminds me of when I was a kid watching Trickle, Reffner, Marzofka, and Detjens race out there,” Mackesy remembered.
This Saturday night, the kids will be watching Mark Mackesy and all of the other Stars and Cars race out there for the Cabin Fever 100.
For complete details of this weekend’s event, log on to arcamidwesttour.com
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedway.
