Oregon, WI- Three former ASA Midwest Tour Champions and two past Howie Lettow Classic winners are amongst the Super Late Model entries for this Friday Night’s $5,000 to win Bytec Cheeseland Howie Lettow Classic 100 at Madison International Speedway. Three-time Tour Champion Casey Johnson looks to win his third ‘Howie’ as defending two-time Tour Champ Gabe Sommers has recorded three straight runner-up finishes at ‘Wisconsin’s Fastest Half Mile’. Former Tour Champion Andrew Morrissey has twice won May’s Joe Shear Classic at MIS and seeks his first Lettow triumph, a feat Chicagoland Champion Paul Shafer, Jr completed in the 2017 edition of this event, paying tribute to one of short track racing’s greatest crew chiefs Howie Lettow.
Two of Lettow’s former Championship drivers, Travis Dassow and Kelly Bires will each be crew chiefs on Friday Night. Dassow leads the team for Joe Valento throughout the ASA Midwest Tour campaign while Bires mentors Weston Marthaler during weekly competition at MIS and Dells Raceway Park, making the jump up into Super Late Models this week.
Tour standouts Levon VanDerGeest, Justin Mondeik and Ty Fredrickson are expected to battle amongst the front runners. VanDerGeest has held commanding leads in the past two Tour events, only to see them vanish due to late race cautions. Mondeik, who has three Tour victories to his credit placed third this May in the Joe Shear Classic following up his fourth place finish in last year’s Howie. Ty Fredrickson has been shining on the national stage, including his first ARCA Menards Series start where he would finish fourth.
Iowa’s Kody King, a former Hawkeye Downs Late Model Champion currently sits atop a tight Rookie of the Year battle which includes former Big 8 and Tundra R-O-Y Mitch Haver, Truck Series standout and Kulwicki Development Driver Bryce Miller as well as third generation driver Penn Sauter.
2024 Jim Sauter Classic victor Max Kahler has filed his entry for Friday Night. Kahler barely missed his first Tour victory during the 2023 Howie following a three-wide shootout to the finish where Kahler wound up third when the dust settled. Joining him will be former Tour Rookie of the Year and Elko Weekly Winner Billy Mohn and Wisconsin Weekly Winners Joseph Scholze and Harley Jankowski.
Short track veterans Jeff Storm and Tim Cox will also be chasing the $5,000 top prize. Storm has been amongst the leaders plenty during the last decade and has one Super Late Model victory at MIS while chasing his first Tour checkered flag. Meanwhile, Tim Cox who is a member of the Southeast Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame is trying his hand at asphalt racing once again. The accomplished dirt track driver has a history on the pavement including with the ARTGO Challenge Series as well as the Must See Racing Sprint Cars where he is a two-time winner at Madison.
A trio of Madison Weekly Competitors have filed entries for their Super Late Model rides. Brent Edmunds who wowed the field in the 2024 Joe Shear Classic with a third place finish has three wins this season at Madison in nine starts. Riley Stenjem battled his way to a runner-up showing during the Howie Lettow Classic just two seasons ago while Pat Richgels returned to weekly racing this season and will make his first tour appearance.
Another driver making his first ASA Midwest Tour Appearance is 15 year old Max Reaves. Making the haul from Trinity, North Carolina, Reaves won the ARCA Menards Series race last month at Elko Speedway and has three ARCA East victories thus far in 2025. Cody Vander Loop will also look to make his first Tour start Friday Night. Vander Loop is a former Midwest Truck front runner who is now focusing on his Super Late Model efforts. Meanwhile Alex Hartwig will make his second Tour appearance. Hartwig has won over 130 times in various racing applications including throughout Wisconsin in his Bandolero.
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Advance Discount Tickets are on sale now at misracing.com through the Ticket Hoss App.
The Midwest Truck Series will also be in action this Friday night with the Hougan Farms 30.
About Howie Lettow: Lettow was a highly respected crew chief who led eight different drivers to rookie of the year honors in the American Speed Association. Best known of that group is seven-time Champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Jimmie Johnson. Other drivers included Pat Schauer, Scott Hansen, Ken Lund, David Stremme, Ted Musgrave, Steve Holzhausen, Steve Carlson, and Ricky Johnson. Lettow won an ASA championship in 1996 as crew chief for Tony Raines.
He also won three straight championships from 2005-2007 in the ASA Late Model Challenge Series with Stephen Leicht, Kelly Bires, and Travis Dassow behind the wheel.
Lettow passed away in 2010 at the age of 62 following a battle with cancer.
Friday’s Schedule
1pm – Pit Gate Opens
4pm – Spectator Gates Open
4pm – Practice Begins
6:15pm – Qualifying
7:30pm – Racing Begins
Howie Lettow Classic Winners
2024- Dalton Zehr
2023- Austin Nason
2022- Casey Johnson
2021- Casey Johnson
2020- No Race
2019- Ty Majeski
2018- Rained Out
2017- Paul Shafer Jr.
2016 Rained Out
2015 Ty Majeski
2014 Erik Jones*
2013 Kyle Busch*
2012 Travis Sauter*
*Event held at The Milwaukee Mile