The next two races on the ASA STARS National Tour season sees Super Late Model racing’s biggest stars take one two drastically different racetracks.
First, they take on the biggest track on the schedule on Sunday, June 18. The ASA brand returns to the historic Milwaukee Mile for the Father’s Day 100 Presented by Hunt Brothers Pizza with the ASA Midwest Tour. Then, the series joins the ASA CRA Super Series for the first time on Saturday, July 15 for the Greg Hubler Automotive Group Redbud 400 at the season’s smallest racetrack, Anderson Speedway.
As if preparing for the mile-long facility in the Milwaukee Mile wasn’t tough enough, they turn around to a quarter-mile bullring a month later for 400 laps.
While Bubba Pollard has six top-five finishes in nine starts at Anderson in his career, he has competed at the Milwaukee Mile just once – finishing 16th in an ASA Midwest Tour race back in 2012.
“(Milwaukee)’s an easier racetrack. It’s flat, you go flat out, it takes no skill to drive around that place. You got to have a good car, good body, good motor, the rest of it’s easy,” said Pollard. “You go from one extreme to the other. (Anderson)’s a place that’ll tear your stuff up and takes some patience to get around there. It’s fun having different racetracks to adapt to, that’s what it’s all about.”
Current ASA STARS National Tour points leader Ty Majeski is a former winner at the Mile, winning the Father’s Day 100 in 2021. With his experience competing at bigger tracks in NASCAR and ARCA, he talks about the importance of aero at a track like Milwaukee.
“You just have to brace up the bodies and aero-wise your car’s alright. It’s more like an intermediate track for us so a lot of speed, a lot of on-throttle time,” stated Majeski. “Aero’s going to be a big deal, we pay attention to it on the short tracks but there it’s going to be a premium.”
Majeski will go from a track he’s acutely familiar with to a track he’s never seen before when the series heads to Anderson. He hopes to use his past experience at another quarter-mile bullring closer to home for 400 laps.
“I’ve never seen the place. It gets rough there for the 400 every year, there’s going to be a handful of cars there at the finish. It’s going to be about survival and making it to the end. Tight quarters there, it kind of reminds me of Rockford. I think we’ll have a decent package there, it’s just a matter of surviving that race and having a car to race with at the end.”
Austin Nason is another driver with a win at the Mile, winning the first iteration of the Father’s Day 100 in 2019. The Father’s Day 100 won’t be the only race he takes part in that weekend, as he chases after a championship at Rockford Speedway along with the ASA STARS National Tour title.
“I’m excited to be going back there. We’ve had good runs and a good program there. We have a new car sitting at home that we’ll be taking to Milwaukee,” said Nason. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“The (Rockford) car’s been good all year and it’s been good the last couple years. We have the point lead so from here on out it’s about keeping that point lead and finishing races.”
A night off at Rockford on July 15 will allow him to contest the Redbud 400 at Anderson, a race that has been on his calendar for the past five years. He’s finished third in the Redbud twice, with his other appearances at Anderson being marred with misfortune.
“It’s two of my favorite tracks. I feel like we’ve always run good at the Redbud, just haven’t had any luck there. We’ve had fast cars, we just can’t finish the race. That’ll be our goal when we get there.”
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.
