Dennis Setzer scored his 2005 Indy victory after starting from the pole. Inclement weather forced NASCAR to cancel the scheduled qualifying and the field was set according to the Owner’s Point Standings in which Dennis Setzer’s team was leading at the time.
On that night, the short track specialist led 177 of 200 laps en route to the dominating win at the 0.686-mile O'Reily Raceway Park. The win was the driver's fourth in six races and 16th of his truck career, but his first career top-five at ORP. He started on the pole courtesy of an afternoon rain storm which cancelled qualifying and the race was over almost before it began. Ted Musgrave started on the front row and gave Setzer a challenge for the first couple of laps, but he was no match for Setzer that evening.
This week at ORP Setzer stated, "I might just be the happiest person in the garage at Indy. We had a great run last weekend in Kentucky with the No. 18 Tahoe Dodge. Bringing Jeff Hensley on board has really made a difference in how our team communicates. We won at Martinsville in March and had a really good truck at Mansfield before a parts failure took us out of contention."
"I feel like if we can keep our nose clean we will have a good chance at winning on Friday night. Both the team and myself have scored victories at ORP in the past and I hope we can add another to that list this weekend."
Bobby Hamilton Racing has two victories( 2000 and 2004) at ORP. In 2004 Chad Chaffin drove to victory over Johnny Sauter to score his second win of the season. The No.18 Dodge crossed the finish line 0.348 seconds ahead of the runner-up. The victory was Chaffin's second of the season and second of his truck career. Chaffin's first Craftsman Truck Series win came in June of that year at Dover.
"I drove hard all night," said Chaffin.
Joe Ruttman scored his second of three victories in 2000 for BHRVA by winning at Indy after starting from the pole.
Two years ago it was Johnny Sauter who cruised as one of only three leaders the whole race, running 162 laps up front and taking victory at The Milwaukee Mile as the race ended under caution. Last year it was Paul Menard who led a race-high 85 laps and brushed aside a charging Kevin Harvick with three laps to go, which ultimately resulted in the aggressive Harvick spinning into a seven-car pileup while Menard rolled to victory. The last two Wisconsin races ... two Wisconsin winners. Neither Sauter nor Menard will be driving tonight. But Wisconsinites won't be without local flavor.
"I have been going to Milwaukee for as long as I can remember and watched my uncle race there along with #### Trickle, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin," said Wausau native Scott Wimmer.
"The track itself is not one of my favorites just because I don't usually like the flat tracks very much, but winning there would be one of the best places to do it because it's home," said Todd Kluever, who is from Sun Prairie.
Mauston native Kelly Bires will be making just the third Busch Series start of his career by again filling in for Jon Wood. It will be his first NASCAR start at The Milwaukee Mile, although he has won at the track before in the American Speed Association Late Model Series.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Frank Kreyer, a 37-year-old from Lyndon Station who has plenty of Late Model experience but will be making his Busch Series debut. He ran two Truck Series races at Martinsville and Mansfield to get certified to drive in the Busch Series.
He is not necessarily my boy. But I hope you enjoyed hearing more about Kelly Bires who appears to be an up and coming young gun in NASCAR. If he isn't my boy, why am I writing about him? He is a team mate of my boy Bobby Hamilton Jr. on the Ford Racing team in the Busch Series. That's why. Cheers!
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