by Kevin Ramsell (Midwest Tour PR)
The 12th season of the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment will get underway on Sunday, May 6th with the 10th Annual Joe Shear Classic presented by SCAG at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, WI.
The 200-lap event will have its highest purse ever with the winner taking home $10,000 with racing action getting underway at 2pm central time.
Last year, ARCA Midwest Tour Century Club member and Touring Star Andrew Morrissey got a hold of a $5,000 check and became the second two-time winner of the event honoring the legendary short track driver who sadly passed away 20 years ago.
“I knew I had a good car and saved it until the end of the race,” Morrissey recently said as he recalled the 2017 victory. “We took it easy and didn’t want to wear out the tires. The longer that car ran, the stronger it got at the finish.”
The Deforest, WI native felt that his pit strategy was the key to his victory, as this event will be using the live controlled pit stops in the 200-lap race.
“Our strategy going into the race was to pit around the halfway point. We had a fine line of when track position would pay off more than fresh tires,” Morrissey explained. “The caution came out about 13-14 laps after halfway. I came in and no one else did. Everyone else came in on the next caution. I just took it easy more than everyone else did in that part of the race. After they stopped, I was able to get out front and hang on for the win.”
When Morrissey was asked about the winner’s payoff doubling from what he earned last year, that really didn’t faze him.
“I try to be prepared all the time no matter what it pays,” Morrissey said. “For me, it’s no different than any other time. But, I will say that I do put more pressure on myself because there is a little more incentive to want to win the race more and get that victory.”
The 2011 Midwest Tour champion is not only hoping to be the first three-time winner of the Joe Shear Classic but is also planning on running the full season and go for his second title.
“I feel like that I have real good equipment to make that happen this year,” Morrissey proclaimed. “This will be a tough, but rewarding season if I do, because all of the tracks are nice to go too and each one is different and makes it a real challenge. It takes a lot of knowledge.”
Qualifying will get underway at 12:45pm on Sunday, May 6th at “Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile Oval.”
Racing Is scheduled to begin at 2pm with the Mid-American Stock Car Series and Midwest Trucks also in action.
Advance tickets are on sale now at misracing.com/tickets.
Make your plans now to be at the 12th annual season opener for the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment.
Visit midwesttour.racing for a full schedule and be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@MidwestTour).
Past Winners of the Joe Shear Classic
2008 Dan Fredrickson
2009 Nathan Haseleu
2010 Steve Carlson
2011 Ross Kenseth
2012 Andrew Morrissey
2013 Travis Sauter
2014 Nathan Haseleu
2015 Johnny Sauter
2016 Ty Majeski
2017 Andrew Morrissey
