CAMBRIDGE, Wisconsin --There is no question that the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment is exciting and drawing cars and fans in record numbers but one of the most unique features that sets the Tour apart from other racing series is that it pairs the top Touring Stars against local hometown heroes. At this Saturday’s Jefferson 100 presented by Jon Lancaster Toyota of Madison, three local top-guns have registered to take on today’s best Super Late Model drivers on their home turf: Steve Dobbratz of Rio, Dylan Schuyler of Dousman, and Jason Erickson of Cambridge.
Dobbratz won the first two nights at Columbus 151 Speedway, an hour or so up the road and competes at Jefferson on a regular basis. He has one Jefferson feature win to his career credit. “Dobie” as he is affectionately nicknamed, has won the Sportsman of the Year three times. He has been spending many late nights preparing his car for Super Late Model competition and feels he has no home track advantage. “It’s going to be tough to make the show. Those guys are all so smart and they’ve got their act together. All they need is a few hot lap sessions and they’ll have the place figured out. I don’t know the tires that well and qualifying on stickers worries me. But you know, this is going to be the premier Late Model series in the Midwest and when it’s at your home track you have to try it. Anytime you get that much competition at a race it’s fun. When you do well you know you really accomplished something,” Dobbratz explained. Steve will be piloting a 2004 Lefthander Chassis with FiveStar Monte Carlo body and Wegner engine.
Erickson is worried about jinxing his luck and says he is trying not to overthink things in preparing for his American Speed Association Midwest Tour debut. “We’re just going to do what we’ve been doing and hopefully the rest will fall into place,” Jason said. He feels his strong history at Jefferson will help him Saturday. “We already know what the car needs and how the track is going to change through the night, so it gives us a big boost of confidence going into a show that’s going to be very hard to make,” he continued. Erickson is looking especially forward to racing against Nathan Haseleu. “We grew up racing against each other at Jefferson and a few other places, so coming back and racing here against him is kind of like a team keeping track of wins and losses except I think he is ahead on the wins, so I’m going to try me hardest to catch up,” Jason laughed. Erickson will be piloting a 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo built on a Lefthander Chassis. He was the Jefferson Speedway track champion in 2005 and holds the Limited Late Model track record with a time of 14.105 seconds.
Schuyler agrees with Erickson that there will be a home track advantage. “I think that it takes drivers that are new to the track time to get used to the unique configurations and setup needed,” he said, “Preparing for this week is different from a regular program because I am not driving my own car. During the season you develop a routine and this week is a little different. I will be taking advantage of the extra practice day Thursday.” “Thrillin’ Dylan” as he is known to his fans will not be sporting his normal #33, but instead will run the 9 car. The car is owned by Mike Vogt who raced it at the former Lake Geneva Raceway. Dylan was the Late Model Rookie of the Year in 2003 at Jefferson Speedway and finished third in points in both 2005 and 2006. If neither John Ovadal Jr., nor Doug Hahn show up on raceday (neither had registered at press time) Dylan will get the home track provisional starting spot if he does not qualify in on his own. “When I heard about the ASA Midwest Tour I was very excited because I grew up watching the ARTGO series and most of my memories at the rack track come from those events. It is going to be very cool to be able to race alongside some of the best racers in the Midwest,” Schuyler smiled, “I am most excited about racing with Conrad Morgan. He was my neighbor growing up and I always thought it was so cool to go watch him race and tell people that I knew him personally. I actually got to hop lap with him last Saturday and it was a very cool experience to be able to talk setups with somebody that I have looked up to my whole life. This event is going to be a highlight of my racing career no matter what, just racing with all of the stars of the ASA Midwest Tour.”
The Jefferson 100 presented by Jon Lancaster Toyota of Madison is scheduled for May 19 at Jefferson Speedway at 7PM with a rain date of Sunday May 20 at 2PM.
