By: Kevin Ramsell
Oregon, WI – The 18th running of the Joe Shear Classic presented by Toyota this Sunday at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, WI will be the 19th season opener for the ASA Midwest Tour.
This year’s event will be special as NASCAR Hall of Fame member and five-time winner at MIS, Mark Martin, returns to the Wisconsin’s half-mile oval to meet and sign autographs for fans from 11am-1pm.
Martin is one of several drivers who have had the honor of racing side-by-side with Joe Shear back when he competed in ARTGO, ASA, and ASA/ARTGO Challenge Series events.
The 200-lap race has become one of the marquee Super Late Model events in the Midwest. Some drivers would equate it to being a short track version of the Daytona 500, as many will start their own racing season this Sunday.
Ty Majeski will be looking for his fourth Joe Shear Classic victory on Sunday. He has won the last two years and also won in 2016.
Two-time winner Johnny Sauter will be helping his son Penn compete in his first Classic.
Both Majeski and Johnny Sauter have won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with Joe Shear Jr. as their crew chief.
Three-time ASA Midwest Tour champion Casey Johnson is looking to add another Shear Classic victory. He won it in 2022.
Andrew Morrissey will be looking for his third victory. He was the second two-time winner of the Classic with victories in 2012 and 2017.
Full-time STARS National Tour competitor Austin Nason will be looking for his second victory after his big win in 2018.
Recent Icebreaker 100 winner Luke Fenhaus is still looking for his first victory after a memorable battle with Rich Bickle Jr. in 2022, in which Bickle held off Fenhaus for the victory in a Joe Shear tribute car.
Penn Sauter will join a competitive group challenging for the ASA Midwest Tour campaign in 2025. Midwest Truck Series winner Bryce Miller, former Hawkeye Downs Speedway champion Kody King, and rising star Mitch Haver will also be competing for the ROY title.
Miller is also a finalist in the 2025 Kulwicki Driver Development Program.
Many other top drivers will be looking for their first Shear victory on Sunday.
Two-time defending ASA Midwest Tour champion Gabe Sommers hopes to join his crew chief Travis Sauter on the winners list. Levon Van Der Geest, who finished second in the ASAMT standings last year, hopes to make Shear Classic his first big victory. Max Kahler, 2024 Jim Sauter Classic winner, has also filed an entry. Also, keep an eye out for 2024 ASAMT Rookie of the Year and TUNDRA champion Ty Fredrickson to make his second start in the event.
Expect a top-notch field to take the green flag this Sunday afternoon!
The full entry list along with advance ticket sales are available at midwesttour.racing.
Qualifying gets underway at 12:45 p.m. with racing at 2 p.m.
About Joe Shear: Joe Shear won four track championships at Capital Super Speedway, now known as Madison International Speedway, and posted 66 career wins at the Oregon, WI oval. The two-time ARTGO Challenge Series Champion recorded 51 ARTGO wins and was also a five-time winner on the ASA National Tour. Shear found success at New Smyrna Speedway as well, winning an All Pro Series event there in 1981 and winning the World Series of Asphalt Series there in 1988, claiming the checkered World Series checkered flag a dozen times in his career. The five-time LaCrosse Oktoberfest winner won four Slinger Nationals and was the Red, White, and Blue State Champion four times. His home track, Rockford Speedway, witnessed Shear win eight National Short Track Championships, including his final career win in 1997. Shear was a seven-time Rockford Speedway Track Champion.
Past Winners of the Joe Shear Classic
2024 – Ty Majeski
2023 – Ty Majeski
2022 – Casey Johnson
2021 – Rich Bickle
2020 – Johnny Sauter
2019 – Bubba Pollard
2018 – Austin Nason
2017 – Andrew Morrissey
2016 – Ty Majeski
2015 – Johnny Sauter
2014 – Nathan Haseleu
2013 – Travis Sauter
2012 – Andrew Morrissey
2011 – Ross Kenseth
2010 – Steve Carlson
2009 – Nathan Haseleu
2008 – Dan Fredrickson