Oregon, WI- The competition level will rise this Friday Night July 19 in NASCAR Late Model action as the season’s largest field of the year will contest double features during Fink’s Paving of Mt. Horeb Kid’s Night at Madison International Speedway. Current point leader Bobby Wilberg will be joined by LaCrosse front man Nick Panitzke and Schaun Scheel who sits atop the Jefferson point standings as well as last week’s feature winner and defending track Champion Zack Riddle and Shane Morrissey who collected the feature win last week at the Dells.
Last Friday Night’s Late Model feature was a barn burner, with Zack Riddle and Rusty Hansen trading the top spot over the final twelve circuits around ‘Wisconsin’s Fastest Half Mile’ while Shaun Scheel applied pressure to both front runners, making for a great three car battle to the checkered flag. Riddle went on to claim his first feature win of the season, as the defending MIS Champion is beginning to warm up, having set fast time in the Late Models at last week’s Slinger Nationals. With the win, Riddle joins Wilberg, John Baumeister, Jr, Hansen and Brian Beale in the win column, each driver collecting one feature win, making it five winners in five features.
With nine MIS Championships to his credit and 21 career titles, Bobby Wilberg again finds himself leading the NASCAR Late Model point standings at MIS. Wilberg and Dale Nottestad tangled in heat race action last week. Wilberg recovered for a fourth place feature finish while mechanical woes slowed Nottestad’s feature aspirations. A former Super Late Model and two-time Champ at MIS, Nottestad the five time and defending Jefferson Champ, finds himself one marker ahead of Riddle in second, trailing Wilberg by 36 markers in the Championship battle.
A driver with other point battles on his mind is Nick Panitzke. The former LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway Champion and current point leader at the West Salem, WI oval has indicated that he plans to make the haul from Lonsdale, MN to chase those ever important NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points. Panitzke currently leads the NASCAR Wisconsin standings and a full field of Late Models Friday night has the potential to catapult Panitzke into the top ten of the NASCAR National standings. Having completed this drill in the past, Panitzke has found success here at MIS, winning a feature under the same circumstances in 2017.
Looking to make his second MIS weekly start of the season, Shane Morrissey just collected the winner’s hardware last Saturday night at Dells Raceway Park. He will join MIS regulars Stephen Scheel, Kyle Taylor, last week’s fast heat winner Pat Richgels, 1999 MIS Champion Jeff Watters and Colton Morgan. In addition to Panitzke making his first start at MIS of 2019, Seth Reamer, Craig Phillips, Dan Heying, Kyle Smith and Hunter Drefahl are all expected to make their first appearance of the year at the Oregon, WI oval this Friday night.
Pit gates open this Friday night at 3:30pm with practice getting underway at 5pm. Spectator gates open at 6pm, qualifying begins at 6:15pm with the first race at 7:30pm. Racing action includes the NASCAR Late Models and Dave’s White Rock MISfitz on the half mile with the Pellitteri Waste System Bandits and Bandoleros taking on the Ring of Fire. Kids ages 11 and under will be invited onto the track for the Kid’s Candy Scramble between double features for all four division during Fink’s Paving of Mt. Horeb Kid’s Night. Adult general admission tickets are $14, Whelen Heroes and Seniors are $12, Students ages 12-17 are $8 with ages 11 and under admitted free. Madison International Speedway is located at 1122 Sunrise Road between Oregon and Stoughton, WI, for additional information visit www.misracing.com or call the Speedway Box Office at 608-835-9700.
Expected Entries- ///NASCAR Late Models
Fink’s Paving of Mt. Horeb Kids Night
Friday Night July 19, 2019
19 as of 7/17/19
| Car # | Driver Name | Hometown | State | |
| 4 | Stephen Scheel | Lake Mills | WI | 1 |
| 7 | Rusty Hansen | Sun Prairie | WI | 2 |
| 8 | Shaun Scheel | Lake Mills | WI | 3 |
| 14 | Kyle Taylor | Deerfield | WI | 4 |
| 14 | Zack Riddle | Oregon | WI | 5 |
| 15 | Pat Richgels | Lake Mills | WI | 6 |
| 18 | Brian Beale | Franklin | WI | 7 |
| 19 | John Baumeister, Jr | Beloit | WI | 8 |
| 21 | Shane Morrissey | Cuba City | WI | 9 |
| 22 | Nick Panitzke | Lonsdale | MN | 10 |
| 28 | Bobby Wilberg | Beloit | WI | 11 |
| 37 | Seth Reamer | Beaver Dam | WI | 12 |
| 38 | Jeff Watters | Mineral Point | WI | 13 |
| 39 | Colton Morgan | Mazomanie | WI | 14 |
| 51 | Dale Nottestad | Cambridge | WI | 15 |
| 79 | Craig Phillips | Edgerton | WI | 16 |
| 97 | Dan Heying | Watertown | WI | 17 |
| 97 | Kyle Smith | Cambridge | WI | 18 |
| 99 | Hunter Drefahl | Evansville | WI | 19 |