FORT ATKINSON, Wis. (November 28, 2009) – The Mid-American Stock Car Series is going where no regional asphalt traveling series has ventured in almost 20 years – to the dirt. For the first time since 1992 the Wisconsin-based organization will hold events on both dirt and asphalt.

Mid-American will take a page out of its history book in 2010 and run at least one race on the clay at the Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam, Wis., on Friday, July 2. A second appearance for Mid-American at Dodge County on September 3 is still in negotiation.

The event will be promoted by Dan Thiel of STM promotions. The Ninth Annual Sue Thiel Memorial honors Thiel’s late wife and will feature IRA Sprint Cars and an open-competition midget class.

Mike Reinke and Scott Young were the winners in Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series events over the Labor Day weekend. Reinke picked up a well deserved and overdue win by capturing the IRA portion of the Stan Fox Memorial at the Dodge County Fairgrounds, while Young who has competed a very partial schedule this year grabbed a thriller at the Grant County Speedway the following night. For both it was their first IRA victories of the season, making it 18 different drivers winning IRA A-mains thus far in 2009. Scotty Neitzel had a outstanding weekend with a pair of runnerup finishes and the closed the point chase some as defending series champ and current point leader Bill Balog suffered from horrendous luck at Grant Co after recording a solid third place run the night previous. Balog broke a rear axle while leading his heat, then apparently had a rear-end let go while leading the B-main, thus failing to transfer to the A. 31 cars were on hand at Dodge, while 26 made the tow over to Lancaster the following night.

Terry McCarl played weatherman and headed the Big Game Tree Stands entry towards Wisconsin as it appeared the World of Outlaw event scheduled at Husets Speedway in Sioux Falls, SD in which he originally planned on attending was going to rained out. He guessed right and made his long tow pay off by capturing the prestigeous Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series 25 lap Sue Thiel Memorial Classic at the half-mile Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway. A huge crowd turned out for the annual event with 31 IRA Sprinters on hand. While McCarl took the $3000 winner's share, it was no easy task as early leader Donny Goeden gave McCarl a solid challange throughout the contest. For McCarl who recently won at Eldora Speedway with the All-Star Circuit of Champions, and Knoxville Raceway with the World of Outlaws, he now added Dodge County with IRA to his win list. It was the Iowa driver's third IRA win of the season.

After the initial start went red due to 4th starting Dave Uttech's unfortunate contact with the third turn concrete resulting in a slow roll, and then 11th starting Billy Hafemann's brake locking spin, the third try was a charm as pole sitter Goeden took the initial lead.

This Friday Night, July 3rd, The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series invades the big Dodge County Fairgrounds half-mile for the running of the annual Sue Thiel Memorial.

In addition to the winged/410 IRA sprints will be the Badger Midgets creating a great open wheel combo. Both shows pay $3000 to win, $300 to start. The IRA point chase has certainly heated up as Billy Balog leads Mike Reinke, & Scotty Neitzel. All three have visited Dodge County victory lane in the past. John Haeni, Steve Meyer, Scott Biertzer, and Scott Uttech are involved in a tight battle as only a handful of points separate 4th thru 7th. A solid field is expected. IRA is averaging 35 cars per event thus far in 2009. IRA is a ASA affiliated series with additional support from United Trailers, Osborn & Son Trucking, Hoosier Tire, Bar's Leaks, Rislone, Can-Am/BRP, Mechanix Wear, and The U.S. Army.

by Bryan Gapinski
BEAVER DAM,Wis. -- Friday Night's July 3rd eighth annual Mid State Equipment Sue Thiel Memorial at Dodge County Fairgrounds, will post one of the Badger Midget Series, largest purses for the season. The event will also feature the IRA Bumper-to-Bumper Outlaw Sprint Car Series.

Race organizer Dan Thiel has structured a purse which pays $3,000 to-win, with $300 to start the feature. The payoff for the 22-car feature will total $13,400, with additional money slated for non-starters and preliminary race winners. Previous Thiel Memorial midget winners include: Jerry Coons Jr. (2006, '07) and Cole Whitt ('08).

The lightning fast half-mile dirt oval will also host a second Badger/IRA doubleheader on Friday Night Sept. 3 with the running of the third annual Stan Fox Memorial. A special ceremony honoring all previous Badger & IRA Drivers Champions will take place at the start of the evenings events.