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06/23/2008 - 01:19 PM
Janesville, Wisc.
Gates for Tuesday's All Star Challenge at Madison International Speedway open at noon and the first race of the evening will take the green flag at 7 pm. ยป More Photos
After months of working double shift days to establish his latest business venture, Rich Bickle is finally going to get back to what he really enjoys doing - driving a race car.
The Wisconsin short track ace and 15-year NASCAR veteran has entered Tuesday's Madison International Speedway All Star Challenge - an event that will feature a full field of the midwest's super late model stock cars and drivers - along with NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.
"I used to be the big draw for these kind of races back when I was in Cup, but now I guess I'm just a field filler," joked Bickle from his office at Muscle Up Performance and Hot Rod Shop in Janesville, WI. "With Matt, Tony and Kyle coming up, it's going to be a big deal and I'd like nothing better than to go up there and kick their butts. We've got a good car and hopefully, she'll run the way we want it to the whole race. I think we'll be able to be right there racing them for the win. I'm looking forward to it."
Bickle has the right to be confident heading into Tuesday's all-star event on the Oregon, WI half-mile oval. The super late model champion at MIS - then Capital Speedway - in 1985 and 1986 (below right), Bickle was winning
"You have make sure you don't get the car loose into the corner at Madison," Bickle stated. "You have to be able to 'mow the grass there,' you have to be down on the bottom and get off the corner straight. It's a great racetrack. It's been really good to me. I've probably won more than 40 super late model features there and two championships over the years. The place hasn't changed much. It's a good old racetrack."
This time around, Bickle will be wheeling a familiar combination, a Lefthander Chassis powered by a Carl Wegner powerplant. The Chevy Monte Carlo will carry Bickle's familiar No. 45 and is owned by longtime Wisconsin late model campaigner Scott Ollerman.
"We've got a five-race deal with Perlick Corporation," Bickle stated. "They make the best commercial and residential bar systems, coolers, and dispensing systems around and they are going to sponsor us Tuesday at Madison and later in the year at the Miller Nationals at Slinger. We're also going to do a race at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukana and the National Short Track Championships at Rockford (IL) at the end of the year.
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