Two-time ASA Midwest Tour champion and former Joe Shear Classic winner Dan Fredrickson posted the fastest lap overall in four practice sessions for Sunday’s ASA STARS National Tour’s Joe Shear Classic 200 at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin.
The Minnesota veteran driver and his team didn’t have an easy day. After posting the fastest time in the third session with a time of 17.371 seconds, Fredrickson experienced engine issues causing his team to work on putting in a backup motor for the 16th running of the event named after the legendary Midwest short track champion competitor.
Former Gandrud Auto Group 250 winner Paul Shafer Jr. is making his return to Super Late Model racing after a hiatus to post the second fastest time of the day with a time of 17.425, only 0.054 seconds behind Fredrickson.
John DeAngelis Jr., posted the third fastest time of 17.440 seconds with NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Derek Kraus fourth quick with a time of 17.498.
Kulwicki Driver Development finalist Levon Van Der Geest rounded out the top five with a time of 17.516 seconds.
Overall, the top 32 was separated by 0.473 seconds, setting up for an intense qualifying session for the second event in the inaugural season for the ASA STARS National Tour. The top 20 in qualifying are automatically locked the Joe Shear Classic, which will pay $15,000 to the winner.
Practice will get underway at 11:30am on Sunday with qualifying scheduled to start at 12:45pm. Racing will get underway at 2pm.
The Midwest Truck Series will also be in action with their season opening event.
Plenty of tickets will be on sale at the main gate starting at 10:30am.
The Joe Shear Classic will be live-streamed on Racing America, MidwestTour.tv and TRACKTV.com. MAVTV will air the event on Monday, May 15 at 8pm ET.
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.