Iowa Native Landon Cassill is the latest entry

By: Kevin Ramsell
BURLINGTON, WI (Thursday, July 17, 2008) – Two of the current hottest drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will return to their roots on Sunday and join the best Super Late Model drivers in the Rasmussen Group Twin 75’s at Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. Recent Chicagoland winner Kyle Busch and 2003 Sprint Cup Champion Matt Kenseth will join the ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment inaugural visit to the 7/8-mile tri-oval.

Cedar Rapids, IA native Landon Cassill will also be competing in a car prepared by current ASAMT point leader Dan Fredrickson. Cassill will be competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night and make the return to his home state on Sunday.

“We are picking and choosing where we get to go to and when we saw Iowa, that was an open date for us to get out and race our Super Late Model,” Busch stated. “The race is going to be fun; it’s a big track, so it should be pretty fast and a cool race. I am looking forward to getting over there.”

So far this season, Busch has seven wins, 12 top-five’s and 13 top-ten finishes and has a 262 point lead in NASCAR’s premiere series. Also, in three previous ASAMT starts, he has one win, two top-five and three top-ten finishes.

Kenseth will be making his debut in the ASAMT at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. He has been on a hot streak in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with four top-five and 12 top-ten finishes and has vaulted up to eighth in points. He also recently finished second in The Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge race at Madison International Speedway in the same Super Late Model that he will be racing on Sunday.

He got his start in the old ARTGO series and was competing for Rookie of the Year in ASA National Tour when he got the call from Robbie Reiser to take over his Nationwide Series car in 1997, “That's were I spent most of my time short track racing so obviously it was were I got noticed and gained a lot of experience,” Kenseth stated.

This will be Kenseth’s first ever visit to Iowa Speedway and is looking forward to driving a high-powered Super Late Model around the Rusty Wallace designed facility, “I think it will be the fastest track I ever raced a late model at so that should make it challenging.”

Cassill will be making his first start in the popular Midwest Super Late Model series. He recently got his first pole in a Nationwide Series event at Loudon, NH and celebrated his 19th birthday on July 7th.

Craig Armstrong, Vice President/General Manager of Iowa Speedway, expects a great fan turnout for this Sunday, “Based on advance ticket sales, we’re pretty confident that we’ll have over 15,000 on hand for our inaugural Rasmussen Group Twin 75’s,” Armstrong stated. “That’s really impressive, and would certainly be among the larger crowds anywhere for a super late model feature show. Naturally having superstars like Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth has helped to generate interest in this event, but frankly the stars and cars of the ASA Midwest Tour are very well known to Midwest stock car racing fans, and they know they’re going to see one heck of a race at Iowa Speedway this Sunday afternoon.”

Kenseth, Busch and Cassill will face tough competition in the likes of Dan Fredrickson, Donny Reuvers, Nathan Haseleu, Jake Ryan, Jonathan Eilen and the rest of the ASA Touring Stars this Sunday.

These drivers along with the rest of the ASAMT teams are now preparing for the ASAMT “Western Swing” this weekend as they will be competing on Friday, July 18th at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, IA for the running of the Keith Fleck Miller 100.

Then it’s off to Newton, IA for the running of Rasmussen Group Twin 75’s (150-lap feature) at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, July 20th.

For more information on Hawkeye Downs, please visit their website at www.hawkeyedownsspeedway.com.

For more information and advance tickets for Iowa Speedway, please visit their site at www.iowaspeedway.com.

To learn more about the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment and the engine giveaway program, please contact the ASA Midwest Tour office by calling (262) 514-3880 or by e-mailing Tim Olson at tim@asamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@asamidwesttour.com.

To learn more about the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asa-racing.com.