Dan Fredrickson Makes His Return to the Track after a four-year Hiatus
By Kari Shear-Carlson
Aug 12, 2013-What do the years 2007 through 2010 have in common? At Norway Speedway in Norway, MI they all share one name. That name is Jamie Iverson. The local hometown hero was the winner of four consecutive ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment and Lester Buildings events at the third mile oval.
The ARCA Midwest Tour will once again return to the track in 2013 on Friday, August 16th for the Norway 100 presented by DOC 360.
Out of his four consecutive wins one stands out just a little bit more than the others for Iverson. In 2008 he battled neck and neck with the current ARCA Midwest Tour point leader and i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star, Dan Fredrickson. Friday (16th) will be Fredrickson’s first time back to the track since that event.
Iverson, also a former regular on the ARCAMT circuit, remembers the race well.
“Dan had said he wanted to get out in front and check out so I figured he had a good car, but he just wasn’t able to get away from me. I had a better car at the end and I pushed him just enough to make his car worse,” said the veteran. “It was great racing him and it will be great to race him again. He’s a good friend and it will be a pleasure to have him come up.”
Fredrickson’s story was pretty much the same.
“Man, it was an awesome race! That’s a crazy little place,” said Fredrickson. “He’s (Iverson) definitely really good there. I thought my car was as good as his, but I just didn’t have enough to get away from him.”
Norway Speedway is one of the smallest tracks on the ARCAMT circuit. Originally a dirt track, it was blacktopped in 1979. As of this year the Midwest Tour will have raced at the track six out of the series’ seven years.
The only driver who was able to break Iverson’s winning streak was DOC 360 Touring Star, Nathan Haseleu. In 2012, after the series took a one year hiatus from the track, Iverson settled for a 5th place finish.
He knew going into that event that he wasn’t going to have the dominance that he had the previous years.
“We were struggling that time. I knew we were going to have a hard time. I got it up to the front, but Nathan (Haseleu) and everyone else was too strong. They had their cars set-up.”
Iverson didn’t make it easy for Haseleu however. After his win that night he admitted that at one point he thought the race was over.
“Jamie got up there and I thought it was done, but his car wasn’t very good,” said Haseleu.
The track is also where Jamie Iverson cut his teeth. He started racing in 1992 but has only raced a handful of times in the last year, one of those included a recent Friday night in order to prepare for the upcoming ARCAMT event.
“We went up and raced (last) Friday. It’s only about the third time I’ve raced in the last year. We think we got the car figured out a lot better. I am pretty optimistic. It will be great to see everyone and race against them again. I mean, they are the best in the Midwest. I’m looking forward to rubbing some fenders,” said Iverson.
Dan Fredrickson isn’t too concerned about his four year hiatus from the track either. “We’ll be fine. We do good on those little tracks. I think we’ve got the car to beat them. I gotta be careful yet give ‘er all we got.”
Make your plans now to see if Jamie Iverson can make it five for seven or if Dan Fredrickson, Nathan Haseleu and the rest of the ARCA Midwest Tour stars can hold him off in the Norway 100 presented by DOC 360 on Friday, August 16th.
Qualifying for the event will begin at 5:00pm. Fans can get up close and personal with their favorite drivers during the Autograph session at 6:00pm. The first green flag of the night will drop at 7:00pm.
For a complete event schedule 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. For questions call the ARCA Midwest Tour office at (262) 729-4111 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or Steve Einhaus (630) 212-6022 at or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@arcamidwesttour.comor Steve Einhaus at steve@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 Speedways.
