Midwestern racing fans will see an unfamiliar sight when the ASA STARS National Tour heads to Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin for this weekend’s Joe Shear Classic.
Two-time ASA Midwest Tour champion Dan Fredrickson will be competing in Michael Hinde’s equipment for Madison, as well as in the Gandrud Auto Group 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway in August.
The Minnesota driver will be piloting the number 69 instead of his usual 36. Herman’s Landscape Supply, OlsonAutos.com and Fast Eddie’s Fun Center will continue to support Fredrickson, while Mike Scott Plumbing will be added for these two races. Fredrickson will accumulate drivers points for the event and Michael Hinde Racing will keep its owners points from the finish.
Hinde will not race Madison due to other obligations and Fredrickson is looking forward to covering for the young Florida racer.
“To be honest, I wanted him to drive my car for these races, but he’s got to go to prom this weekend and he’s got something else going on during the Gandrud 250 race,” explained Fredrickson, whose original 36 car will be piloted by Bryan Syer-Keske. “It just works out that we run under his number and get him points in those two races with me driving it.
“I think Michael’s a super cool kid and a great up-and-coming young racer. When it worked out that I could run these two races up here, I was pretty excited for it. They’re a great family and I hope they do well and win some races.”
Fredrickson finished 12th in the ASA STARS National Tour opener at Five Flags Speedway in March, where he was one of only two drivers in the field who had competed with the original American Speed Association. He finished seventh in the 2002 ASA points standings, with a best finish of 3rd at Five Flags Speedway and the Minnesota State Fair Speedway.
20 years after his lone full season with ASA, Fredrickson considers his time with ASA one of his favorite career moments.
“That was really a highlight of my racing career. I was pretty young back then and for the most part, it went really well. It set the tone for the rest of my career. ASA was the top level before you went to NASCAR. Even just having that one good year under my belt really made racing life easy for me for a long time as far as getting parts and deals and building up my own team, and having some sort of name to lean on.”
His time behind the wheel has decreased during the past few years to focus on his son Ty’s racing career. Together, father and son have spent much of the winter competing and winning Legend Cars races in the Southeast. Once Mother Nature cooperates in the Midwest, the younger Fredrickson will jump into a Limited Late Model for his first foray in a full-sized car.
With his son’s busy racing schedule, the older Fredrickson’s racing schedule will be trimmed down to just a few races in 2023 and he would not want it any other way.
“We’ve been winning those Legend Car races down south the last month or so. It’s been a lot of fun. His Late Model is ready to go as soon as the weather is better here in the Midwest. That’s definitely going to be my focus from here on out. I’ll race four or five times a year and then transfer everything over to him when he becomes ready. He probably won’t race a Super Late Model this year, he just turned 14, but it’ll be here soon enough.
“It (Ty’s racing) has really revitalized my love for the sport,” he continued. “I’ve been around the sport long enough that I’m kind of sick of it, but this has really stoked the fire.”
Fredrickson is a former winner of the Joe Shear Classic in its inaugural event in 2008 and he believes the Madison track suits him well. With the same team that has taken him to four Oktoberfest wins (LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway), 16 Midwest Tour wins and two series championships, he feels good about his chances come Sunday afternoon.
“I think it’ll be fun. We’ve always run pretty good there. We won this race years ago and we’ve led a lot of laps and finished with a lot of podiums. I think we can do well. I don’t race that much anymore so I’m not as confident as I am when I’m racing 20 times a year, but I think we’ll be good. We’ve got a good car, a good motor, the same guys we’ve always had so we should be good.”
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