ASA Midwest Tour Matt Panure, ASA Midwest Tour Staff Writer 262.514.3880 info@asamidwesttour.com

HASELEU PROUD TO BE THE FIRST ASAMT CHAMPION

By: Kevin Ramsell
Thursday, October 11, 2007 (Daytona Beach, FL) – After last Sunday’s Oktoberfest 100 at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Nate Haseleu, stood by his car realizing that he just became the first ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment champion. A season where he collected one win, six top-five’s, and seven top-ten finishes.

Prior to the start of the 100-lap finale, Haseleu was honest about his emotions, “Nervous, just hope to make it through clean and get a good finish out of it and win the championship. That is our goal today,” a placid Haseleu stated. “I am not really worried about racing anybody to hard, but just get a good finish. But the problem is there are so many good guys, that you are going to have race hard just to get a 15th place finish.”

Haseleu went into the main event of the four-day race weekend with a 49-point lead over Dundas, MN hot shoe, Donny Reuvers.

Coming into the event, Haseleu had a 47-point lead over Reuvers. But Reuvers was able to gain four points by out qualifying Haseleu. Reuvers was fifth quick in time while Haseleu was seventh.

But, Haseleu was able to get those points back and also gain two more when he won the odd heat on Saturday night with Reuvers finishing fourth.

Reuvers, who was making his first appearance at Oktoberfest, knew that he had to win and Haseleu had to finish 15th or worse for him to have a shot. “We got a lot of work cut out for us,” Reuvers stated prior to the green flag. “It will be tough, but we are going to see what we are going to do.”

Throughout the race, Haseleu kept Reuvers within his sights. While Dan Fredrickson would dominate the 100-lap event, neither Haseleu nor Reuvers had a car to compete with the eventual winner as both finished a lap down. Reuvers came home tenth while Haseleu finished 14th.

After the race, Haseleu stood by his car trying to catch his breath and take in what he just accomplished. “I’m just proud, actually I am just worn out the car was a hunk of junk,” an exhausted Haseleu stated. “I could see Donny (Reuvers) up there, but I couldn’t go and I couldn’t go anyhow. But, I am proud of The Swiss Colony guys, Gary and Joe Schultz (car owners), and all of the people who work on this car. I am real proud to be a part of the ASA Midwest Tour, real proud to have won the first one.”
Haseleu knows that he will have a tough road ahead of him to defend his championship, “We will go home and do our homework and hopefully we can contend for some more wins next year,” Haseleu stated.

When asked directly if he will be back to defend, Haseleu sounded positive that he would, “You know, I don’t know, as of now I would say yeah. But you never know what is going to happen. I love running this series and I am 95% sure that we will be back.”

“Nathan bested the toughest Super Late Model drivers in the country and it’s an honor to have him and the entire Swiss Colony team as our Inaugural Champion. Their team is so well prepared and they always look and act so professional, which paid off for them in the end. Nate is a real gentleman and you never hear anything but positive remarks at all times from the entire team. It’s obvious that the ASA Midwest Tour has produced the finest group of “Super Late Model” drivers from across the nation and everyone within the ASA Midwest Tour would like to congratulate their entire team on their well earned Championship,” stated series VP Steve Einhaus.

Haseleu and his team will be honored at the ASA Midwest Tour’s Championship Banquet on Saturday, January 26th at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, WI.

For more information on the ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment, please visit the official website at www.asamidwesttour.com.