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Early Season Racing Report Card with Dave Kallmann · Midwest Racing Central Today

• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Hi everybody and welcome into Midwest Racing Central today.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Pete Pistoni, and hard to believe we're getting into the month of June.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's been a lot of racing going on.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: And let's bring in from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Dave Colman to help break us down what's going on here in the racing world.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Dave, how are you doing?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, wonderful.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: You're right.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting we're getting into it.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: We're getting serious about it now.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I love it.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh all right.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: I want to start with you.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: We were just in Indianapolis.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: How many indie 500s is this for you after you covered it last weekend, Dave?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I ran out of fingers and toes a long time ago, but I'd have to think it was 37.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: So so give us the sort of the view uh of what you saw this task uh last uh Sunday there with uh Felix Rosenquist running the race.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: What was the vibe like up there in Indy?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what an amazing finish.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh certainly the uh you know it's I thought it was a good race throughout.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think as we've seen the last few years, the leader is a bit of a sitting duck, which I was I don't know, I have mixed feelings about that.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: It makes for an exciting finish.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um you can kind of argue whether it's a fair finish or you know, a fair race in that case, but that's that's what we got.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, you can't complain about the entertainment value at all.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, great winner.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, really good talent, hasn't had the finishes that uh you know that that he would like or that he deserves in in IndyCar.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: But um, no, he's it's been been a tremendously talented racer who finally you know kind of broke through on the biggest stage possible.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: I I thought it was an interesting race.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was entertaining for sure.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: The finish was great, but you know, in my world on the morning drive on Sirius XM NASCAR radio, we talk about saving fuel a lot at Daytona and Talladega.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: What kind of fuel saving was going on during the Indy 500, Dave?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you have two different strategies going, or maybe three.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's hard to get hard to keep track, and you know, but uh so you know, you do have a couple trying to stretch it, and that's the strategy that worked out.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, uh, you know, when when the time came, Felix had uh had enough, and it is probably well potentially helped to those who were trying to make that.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But either, either way, whichever strategy had played out, there were enough guys on it who were fast enough that it it would have been you know really exciting either way, no matter how no matter which way.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I get what you're saying about yeah, fuel saving isn't the most important, but we had guys switching the lead, you know, lap after lap after lap, which I thought was interesting because what we had seen in recent years, I think up a guy would take the lead, lead for you know, half a stint, and then drop back to second.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Some, you know, the other guy would go by, follow him, you know, and that was some sort of that was a different sort of artificial, maybe those were artificial lead changes, and maybe these were too, but uh, but but they were a little different.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was interesting to see how how that was different this year.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, obviously, you know, the specter of the loss of Kyle Bush has been over the entire motorsports world, certainly in the NASCAR world.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: What was that vibe like losing Kyle around Indianapolis over the weekend, Dave?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was certainly felt there.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, there's uh there's not many, obviously, the connection, you know, people uh racers knew Kyle, but not didn't know him the way, or very few knew him the way that uh that that the NASCAR world did.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I mean you could it just there was that feeling, and you know, I mean the the thing about it is the end it is the indie 500, so once the you know, once race morning popped around, you know, it was all all business, but uh, you know, in the days leading up, that was one of the one of the big questions, you know, just reaction to that.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought there were some really touching things said.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now, maybe the other side of that, you know, we didn't know them as well part is you didn't get to see the uh the sometimes difficult side, you know, it's easier to remember the you know the tremendous racer.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's easier to remember that part part of his story uh on the indie car side, maybe a little bit.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, no, it was definitely that was felt.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, his his passing.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And he was remembered by the speedway, of course, which where he had had won.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I thought it was you know very fitting, appropriate tribute and and memories of uh you know, and of Kyle.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I I I found it interesting that Jay Fry, who was the president of IndyCar, obviously longtime motorsports executive, laid out a couple days ago, or maybe this morning, how close Kyle was to maybe running the Indy 500, Dave, which is something I think that would have been great for all of us to watch.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that that would have been interesting.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: When Ky uh when Kurt did it, it was you know really intriguing.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Kyle Larson uh as the most recent, you know, double doers, but uh double doer, but uh yeah, what what a you know tremendous talent.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it takes a little bit to to adjust, but he was but Kyle was clearly a very adaptable driver.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you saw him jump in dirt cars and whatnot, and um he he loved his super late models and whatnot.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I he would have he would have figured it out.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thing about indie, is there's enough time uh to to get it.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I yeah, it would have been it would have been a lot of fun for sure.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you brought up the super late model because I think you know, people in our area of the country, some folks had a chance to see him at Madison and at Slinger.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: And and I I remember brought this up a couple weeks ago.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, when he would come, it wasn't just there to sign autographs, he was there to race and to win races.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: But man, we got a lot of Kyle Bush on that super late model around the Midwest, Dave, over the years.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we did, and I had kind of forgotten when I, you know, when I caught the news that afternoon that that he had died, I went, Well, I mean, I he he raced in Wisconsin, sure, and he won a Slinger Nationals, but I don't know that it was that and then I started digging.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I started looking looking up my own clips, and of course, over that many years, uh I've forgotten a few things, but yeah, you know, he he ran Slinger, I think, four times before he won the nationals.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I believe it was the next year he was back and finished second to Matt Kenseth and was not real happy about the way it played out.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he he was a winner of the event, but it was still very important for him to win another one.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that was he to the point where he was out and out pissed off that he didn't and unhappy with the way uh the race played out, maybe the officiating played out.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that would that was yeah, that would that showed his his fire how important it was, how how important that aspect of his racing was, even though that wasn't his day job, he was absolutely 100% serious about it.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And he he raced um you know what was then called the the Dixieland 250 at uh Wisconsin International Raceway up in Kaukana, and um you know he won on the track and lost in tech.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, of course, the uh you know the the joke is that uh what you know what's Casey Johnson's favorite beer, Bush Light.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um so but uh you know he ran that, but he was serious about that enough that he ran a Thursday night show, a regular weekly show to prepare himself for that, you know, and the then uh with the now O'Reilly then Xfinity race that he won at Road America, he didn't necessarily need to run that race, but he knew the cup was racing.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't he was not familiar with the track.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good opportunity.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, winning wasn't the important thing, that wasn't the primary reason he got in.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was so that he would prepare to win the next day, which unfortunately came up a little short, but he got what he needed out of it, and he got the win too.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And as I recall, that was a pretty exciting finish as he well kind of dogged uh AJ Almendinger for another you know a number of laps.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, obviously that's not the the super late stuff that we're talking about, but it's just kind of an extension of that in my mind about how you know he he would he would do those sort of sort of things and found that important to him.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: I want to double back to IndyCar because again, those of us who've been around a while after Indianapolis, we would go to Milwaukee.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: That doesn't happen, it hasn't happened in a while, but well, IndyCar will be up in your state in the Wisconsin, the Road America and back to the Milwaukee mile.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: What's sort of the feel about having those two races this year?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: What's the vibe around the 2026 IndyCar visits there to the Badger State?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it it's it's fabulous.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, certainly when IndyCar came back to Road America after a little hiatus, now that's been quite a while, but it was suddenly a huge weekend.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it just seems like I mean, I've I I know I'm being a little biased here, but I've said that or I've said for a long time that Road America is, you know, it's just an absolutely wonderful piece of property, maybe my favorite place in the on the planet to be.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, by the way, there's a racetrack there too.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pr it's a pretty nice racetrack.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it seems like so.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I do kind of overhype a little bit, but the uh the vibe there the last, well, as long as like I said, since the return and and before and previous, uh, you know, the the I think they've run, well, I can't do the math, but again, they ran there since the 80s, mid-80s, mid early to mid-80s, and uh has always been fabulous.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: A great, and it's often been the usually been the biggest event of the season there.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And the is you know, the last few years it just seems like it's it continues to build, which is a little bit hard to imagine because I thought you know thought it was really good.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean the two-year run for NASCAR there helped all the other weekends as well.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yes, NASCAR is not there now, but it exposed some people to Road America, which I think is important because I think Road America is to a certain degree a hidden gem.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's not like the big golf courses just down the road that everybody knows about because sports editors play golf, TV, TV folks play golf.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: They don't necessarily race cars in their spare time.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I think Road America is a little tucked away, a little hidden.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's maybe better known to the to the racing world in general than it is to the general populace in Wisconsin.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: So having the NASCAR races for the couple of years, uh the cup races for a few years, I mean, um, really did bring some some new attention and helped the helped the IndyCar weekend and helped the IMSA weekend, and they got bikes this weekend, you know.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there are a few people who became aware of it um and who love motorcycle racing, and and you know, that'll the uh uh that that was their exposure to it.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: And and like I said, it I think it helps helped across that awareness helped across the board.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, IndyCar really looking forward to it.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: So the question I get a lot, and you're the guy that's up there and plugged in, will NASCAR ever come back to Road America?
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think that prognosis might be, Dave, down the road?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I hope so.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I I think NASCAR has really shown after all those years of you know copy paste, NASCAR has shown in the last whatever it is, five, eight, ten years, that it's not afraid to to try things, it's not afraid to move around.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: It proved that it could do a street race, uh, which opened up a that's kind of a uh a double-edged sword because it showed they were willing to try things and circulate a little bit and maybe leave Chicagoland and go elsewhere and then come back to Chicagoland and whatnot.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I I think that's a good thing.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think that would be a good thing to have that freshness in the schedule on a regular basis.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, the couple of years on the on the street circuit also showed they can race anywhere.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that opened more competition for for a weekend like that.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So will it happen?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm not uh I I wouldn't put money either way on that, but I certainly hope I hope I got a few years left and I hope it's I hope I see it happen again.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: 100% right behind you uh as well.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so you mentioned short tracks, and again, one of the things that I admire about you is your versatility.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: You'll do the indie 500, and I'll see you with a baseball cap on backwards and your camera, and you'll be at Slinger or some one of the short tracks around uh the Midwest.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of what's your view about the Midwest Wisconsin specifically on the short track world?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: We've had some regional races, we've had some tours, we've got some weekly things.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: What's sort of the uh barometer, if you will, Dave, for Wisconsin short track racing right now?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh obviously I I see the racing different from the average fan who's out on a Thursday night at Gukon or a Sunday night at Slinger or wherever.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I probably a little different perspective on it.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, like you said, that you mentioned the tours.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, got uh ASA Stars at Madison uh the same day as IndyCart Road America.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, uh at Slinger the same day as IndyCart Road America, and then on Tuesday night you know following at Madison.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's great.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's brought uh some different racers.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's got there are plenty of there's plenty of local talent that will compete.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think anytime you talk about super late models, asphalt super late models in Wisconsin, you start at Time Jeski, and you know, you have to beat him.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but my point is you get the stars tour tour uh at the two tracks, you get the locals, you get the Derek Krause's who's I think Derek is running the whole series, and you get um Luke Fenhouse who's doing some part-time stuff, and you get those type of racers, and you also get people get exposed to the Carson Browns of this world, you know.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's been a nice addition.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think the Midwest tour is in pretty good shape, so that's you know, I I love that.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Slinger Nationals have been pretty good the last few years in terms of participation and you know getting some out of some more out-of-area teams, which is good.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I think you see the pendulum swing a little bit from the regular weekly racer running 15 nights a summer.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I that's those days are I don't say they're gone, but they're certainly not they're not the thing these days.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're not that's that doesn't happen.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, these short tracks are shortening up their schedule, they're writing maybe twice a month or whatever, you know, six races during the summer, and that's their super late model championship, and have gone to other divisions as their headlining divisions on most weeks.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um but you know what I see is we've had some some interesting races and if if you don't have if you're not struggling to get 15 cars on a Saturday night, well, that means you're getting more cars when you do come together for the special events, which hey, we we know the world has changed.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's a short attention span, you know, it's short at tangent span, it's getting pulled in a million directions.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if that's what the market will bear, well then let's make it as healthy as we can, you know, let's make that as healthy as we can.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm good with it.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's interesting for me.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm primarily an asphalt guy, that's kind of where my background is.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: But in terms of the dirt stuff, I've been to Wilmot for the last couple of years, went up to 141 in Francis Creek.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the dirt circuits up there, the dirt tracks are vibrant, Dave.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And when the tours come through, I know the high limit series isn't coming through.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: But you got the world of outlaws coming in, Plymouth dirt track there by Road America.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the dirt track side of things is pretty healthy right now.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: How do you see that up there in Wisconsin?
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I agree with you 100%.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Your take on that, and and our backgrounds are similar.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I'm I hate to admit that I'm 30 plus years into this and I've learned more about dirt in the last five years than I did in the in the first 25 to 30.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it's it's interesting how the fans, while there are similarities, are different.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think the you know, dirt fans really I mean the the way they attach themselves to drivers and to the races and sprint cars uh is fabulous.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: There's I mean, they just really they're just really intense, I feel, and um and their affinity for those events is is tremendous.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like you said, there you know the schedules vary from year to year.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we did have a couple of uh uh high limit, whatever the sponsor was last year.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: I hope it's different this year.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: We did have a few of those in the state last year.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta travel a lot farther this year, so it's different, but the people who go to the you know the IRA shows, which is the regional series, who then see some of those same people racing against the outlaws here in a couple weeks.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lost track of time.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe is that next weekend already?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, um, the uh I mean, yeah, it's great.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Though the it's a it's a little different type of fan and a really hardcore.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, love to see it, though love to see the way they they they follow their people.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh all right.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Last question before you go, Dave Colman from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: You're in the Milwaukee area, obviously.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: Have you been to the new Buckeys there?
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is it Oak Creek, Dave?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: I need to drive up there from the Chicago area, right?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is it open yet?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be you'll be coming through.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: You maybe you can give me the scouting report.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly, we're a uh you know a quick trip state.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's right, it'll be interesting to see how that does.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: Again, with the loyalties, I mean, I guess uh travel stop fans are a lot like uh a lot like race fans, right?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or or or do we just grab the you know the most convenient race, the most convenient uh travel stop?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: We'll find out, right?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: We'll find out.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: As long as I stop at the cheese castle before I come up to see you, I'm fine.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what that's where I'll be.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can find me there for sure.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: I knew that.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it as uh as always.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh look forward to seeing you this summer or some of the races around the country, and uh appreciate you giving us some time here on the podcast.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Glad to do it.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Steve Coleman from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Peeper Stoney, thanks for tuning in.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure you stay here at Midwest Racing Central today.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Everything that's happening around the Midwest, weekly racing, regional tour racing, all the things that are happening, we've got you covered here at Midwest RacingCentral.com.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Peeper Stoney, we'll see you next time.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Take care, everybody.