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!
Kelly Bires will drive the No. 47 Clorox Ford in Saturday night’s A####mp;T 250. He is driving in relief of Jon Wood, who’s recovering from an adverse reaction to prescribed medication. Wood’s status at Wood Brothers/JTG Racing remains race-by-race. Bires grew up 142 miles away in Mauston, Wis. He considers The Milwaukee Mile is hometown track in NASCAR.
“Everyone at Wood Brothers/JTG Racing has worked so hard to make me feel comfortable in the Clorox Ford," Bires said. "I know it’s not easy dealing with a rookie, but they’ve been real patient and that makes my job a little easier."
RACE INFORMATION:
What – A####mp;T 250 NASCAR Busch Series race When – Saturday, June 23, 8:30 p.m. ET Where – The Milwaukee Mile Networks – ESPN2, Sirius Satellite Channel 128
Adverse reactions to ADD meds or not, Jon Wood is having neurological problems. The bright side is Bires ran in the top ten last week at Kentucky. Look out! The Wood Brothers might have something here.
Move Marcos Ambrose into the 21 and give Bires the 47. Tough luck for Jon. But #### happens.
Marcos Ambrose was originally to pull ‘double duty’ this weekend in both the NASCAR Busch car at Milwaukee and in an Aussie Vineyards Ford in the NASCAR Nextel Cup event at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. With Ambrose positioned well inside the NASCAR Busch Series top 10 and theRaybestos Rookie of the Year title withinreach, it has been decided to delay the talented Australian’s Nextel Cup debut until August 12 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
Marcos Ambrose has jumped back into the top 10 in the NASCAR Busch Series standings after a strong day earned him 11th place in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky on Saturday. The solid finish lifts Ambrose up to eighth place in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series standings and the Australian continues to sit in second place in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings behind fellow Ford driver David Ragan. Ambrose will next compete in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion in the A####mp;T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 23.
“This was a great day for our team. Wood Brothers/JTG Racing had two cars running inside the top 10 for most of the race today and everyone put in an excellent performance. It definitely feels like I have got a handle on these 1.5-mile ovals now. The next step is to get a little better on the short tracks, so we will see how we go next weekend on the flat, one mile oval in Milwaukee.”
Ambrose is second in the points among Busch regulars and is becoming a candidate for the 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Ford in Cup next year in light of Jon Wood's recent health issues.
Marcos Ambrose retains his eighth position in the overall Busch Series Standings overall and his second place standing in the Busch Class. He also maintains his tight tussle with ex-Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year competition. Montoya finished one place ahead of Ambrose last Friday night.
Ambrose ran comfortably inside the top 15 for the first half of the race. The two-time Australian V8 Supercar Champion dropped down the order slightly in the flurry of late-race pit stops and once among the battling on the verge of the top 20 he was unable to forge a break and get back up the order. Ambrose encountered a close shave on the final lap of the race as he avoided a series of clashes that culminated in his Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team-mate Jon Wood crashing when he was left no where to go when cars spun on the track.
“We were running well and felt good in the early part of the race,” said Ambrose. “It shows some of the progress we have been making that we can qualify in the top ten and run well on a one-mile oval like Phoenix. This is a tough race track and it was a tough field out here today. It certainly felt good running around with all the Cup guys in the first part of the race. "We ran well, showed some speed and we kept our spot in the standings."
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