by Gregg Paul
Ross Kenseth will join his famous father NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Matt Kenseth in the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings Swiss Colony Howie Lettow Memorial 150 presented by RaceTeamGear.com on Monday and Tuesday, July 8th-9th at the famed Milwaukee Mile
The 2010 ARCA Midwest Tour Rookie of the Year is excited to be a part of this fast growing racing event.
“It’s a really special event for many reasons,” said Kenseth. “I haven’t had the honor of working with Howie Lettow, but my crew chief, Kelly Bires, worked with Howie for a while and I have heard so many great things about him. That said, it’s really cool for the ARCA Midwest Tour to honor him by making their biggest event of the year in his name. Not many people get an opportunity to race at the Milwaukee Mile, especially when it was closed down for a while, so any chance to race there is always neat. I think it depends who you ask on where it will rank on the biggest races this year, but it’s definitely a top 5 event.”
Considering that it is such a prestigious event, Ross Kenseth might just as soon forget about his efforts in the inaugural event in 2012. Kenseth struggled throughout the two days of practice and qualifying, and failed to crack the starting lineup for the feature.
“Our performance at last year’s event was extremely disappointing to say the least,” said Kenseth. “Kelly Bires joined our program for this season and I’m really excited about the improvements I’ve seen so far. I don’t see a reason why we can’t compete for a solid finish this year.”
Solid finishes were the norm, if not expected by Kenseth and his race team in 2012. Kenseth became only the second driver in history to record wins in the Winchester 400 and the All-American 400 on back to back weekends. Short track racing legend, and Kenseth’s crew chief last year Butch Miller was the other driver to accomplish the feat.
Kenseth also captured the checkers winning the Red Bud 300 at Anderson, Indiana to complete a hat trick of major wins in a super late model for 2012.
Although it is the race at the Milwaukee Mile where Kenseth will once again get the chance to race against his dad, Ross is just glad to be able to see his dad at the same race track.
“Anytime my dad can be at the racetrack with me is really cool,” said Kenseth. “I wish I could race against him more often, as we are both extremely competitive so it’s always a good time for one of us! Some people don’t like it when NASCAR drivers come and race short track races but I think it’s really good for the sport and for the drivers. Anytime you can mix it up with guys from the top level you can learn something.”
Not only does Ross Kenseth get to learn something on the racetrack, the college sophomore at Clemson University continues to learn some things in the classroom as well. His pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering is still fueling his desire to race and learn.
“I came to Clemson because of their great engineering program,” said the 19-year old sophomore. “Getting my degree is certainly important to me, but if I could go run a NASCAR schedule tomorrow, I’d go do it.”
However in the meantime, Kenseth will eagerly await that opportunity while enjoying the chance to compete against his father in the ARCA Midwest Tour.
All of the event details can be found at www.arcafest.com.
Rain date is Wednesday, July 10th. All times will remain the same.
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.
