AUTO RACING: Hoppe Lites it up
0:21 AM 8/20/03
Jesse Osborne Wisconsin State Journal

OREGON - On a Tuesday night when a pair of big names headlined the field for the Madison International Speedway Miller Lite Nationals, a familiar duo was there at the end.

With NASCAR Winston Cup series points leader and Cambridge native Matt Kenseth and his Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch done for the night because of mechanical problems, Madison native Brian Hoppe and Marshall native Nathan Haseleu put on a spirited battle for the top spot.

It was Hoppe, a 10-time late-model feature winner at the half-mile track, who pulled away from Haseleu, a 15-time winner here, to take the checkered flag and a $4,000 winner's purse in a race watched by about 8,000 fans.

Hoppe had replaced a pair of tires, and maybe most importantly, his front brake pads during the final competition caution at Lap 175.

"At the end of the second 75 (laps) there at (lap) 150 (Haseleu) was really just holding on, and so was I," Hoppe said. "I knew he's got one of those heavier-duty motors than I've got and I thought if we could wait for 25 laps (to go) I could get him."

It worked out sooner than Hoppe expected. Heading into Turn 3 on Lap 195, Hoppe made his move to the inside.

"(Haseleu) was just trying to protect himself and he went down into (Turn) 3 and got a little loose and I had to go for it - that was my opening," Hoppe said. "Without that we wouldn't have won."

Haseleu knew his car was going away, but was nevertheless satisfied with a second-place finish under the circumstances.

"We had 4 inches of (tire) stagger when it was over, and it was just way too loose," Haseleu said of his car. "Coulda, shoulda, you know. If we had the right stagger, we might have been able to win that thing. It went away on every run and we tried to make it better. It just went away."

Coupled with his sixth-place finish at Slinger Superspeedway on July 22, Haseleu finished second to Edgerton native Rich Bickle, who finished fourth, in the final points standings for the two-part Miller Lite Nationals.

"That's what we come for. We come from back to the front, put the show on again," said Bickle, who has more Nationals aspirations in the future. "I'm not going to quit this deal until they figure out the total overall points. (Dick) Trickle, I know is leading yet, but I'm going to pass him. I'm going to own this deal before it's over."

Bickle won the event's first portion in Slinger. He was also the overall winner in 1992 and '96.

The showing was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary year for Bickle, who was fired from his Craftsman Truck Series ride with Billy Ballew Motorsports earlier this season.

Bickle also said that a proposed deal to run in the Winston Cup series in 2004 has been moved to the back burner.

"I've been talking to sponsors, and we're supposed to have a meeting in October," said Bickle, who added that a meeting that late in the year might lead to only a part-time deal.

The night didn't go nearly as smoothly for Kenseth, the 1994 and 2002 Nationals champion.

He qualified 17th and had to deal with a loose car for most of the night. He finally climbed his way into the top 10 after the first competition caution on Lap 75, but a blown tire sent him to the pits on Lap 120, to the garage on Lap 130 and to a 25th-place finish.

"It just went flat those last few laps," said Kenseth, who was disappointed he couldn't put on as good a show as he did when he dominated a 100-lap feature here May 9.

"We just didn't hit it as good and there was a lot more competition here tonight than there was May 9. We didn't have the same motor in it and didn't have it set up quite the same.

Busch was running fourth before his power steering hose failed, forcing him out of the race on Lap 192 and relegating him to a 19th-place finish.

"We moved up to fourth. I thought we could have got third, but (I had) nothing for Hoppe and (Haseleu)," Busch said.

Notes: Busch tells his tale
Questions about Kurt Busch's run-in with fellow NASCAR Winston Cup driver Jimmy Spencer Sunday at Michigan International Speedway were off-limits during a media session involving Busch prior to the Miller Lite Nationals Tuesday afternoon at Madison International Speedway.

But that didn't mean the outspoken 25-year-old Las Vegas native didn't have something to say about the incident.

Following an on-track incident during Sunday's race in Brooklyn, Mich., Spencer allegedly punched Busch in the face as Busch sat in his car, which was parked in front of Spencer's hauler after it ran out of gas near the end of the race.

NASCAR suspended Spencer for this week's races in Bristol, Tenn., and fined the veteran driver. Spencer is appealing both the suspension and fine.

"We were in the pits for 1.8 seconds (to top off with fuel late in the race), that is enough for two gallons," Busch said when asked why he was parked in front of Spencer's hauler.

"With our fuel mileage being about 4.5 (miles) to the gallon, you do the math. Where am I going to run out? In the pit area."

Busch, sporting a red mark and some swelling on the left side of his face, managed to crack a smile when a fan asked how he felt about the incident.

"It's a sore subject," Busch said.

The feud between Busch and Spencer began last season at Bristol, when after an on-track incident, Busch called Spencer a "decrepit, old has-been."

A fan of Sterling Marlin asked if Busch felt Marlin was a has-been. At that point, Busch tried to set the record straight.

"I got caught up in the moment," he said of the comment. "The media construes everything that I have to say, for some reason."

Not that there is any confusion about Busch's feelings for Spencer.

"I meant just to have a singular pronouncement when I mentioned has-been," Busch said. "Not has-beens. Just one has-been."

Bires to Trucks?
Mike Calinoff, the spotter for Cambridge native and Winston Cup series points leader Matt Kenseth and car owner for Mauston's Kelly Bires, said he has a deal in place to move Bires into the Craftsman Truck Series next season.

"I think all the components are in place," Calinoff said. "That truck series is pretty ripe for the picking. That's the next logical move for him."

Bires, 18, hooked up with Calinoff this season and scored his first two career wins at Dells Motor Speedway in Wisconsin Dells. Calinoff is also considering sending Bires south later this year to run in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series.
"I'm looking forward to (moving up)," said Bires, who did not qualify for Tuesday's feature. "That's where you have got to start."

Morrissey's schedule set
DeForest native Andrew Morrissey's American Speed Association schedule has been set for the remainder of the season.
The 19-year-old, who made his ASA debut in July at MIS, will drive for the team owned by MIS owner Terry Kunes this weekend in Lake Erie, Penn.; Sept. 20 in Illiana, Ind.; and Oct. 19 in Nashville, Tenn. Should Morrissey fare well, Kunes said that he plans to run him as many as eight ASA events next season.

Pit stops
Six cars that did not qualify for the feature were added by promoter Roy Kenseth. They were Bickle, Al Schill, Brad Mueller, 1999 winner Conrad Morgan, 2001 winner David Prunty and Chris Peterson. ... Bill Weber, NBC's NASCAR commentator, has spent the past two days in the area working on a story about Kenseth. ... Wisconsin racing legend Dick Trickle, who competed in the Slinger portion of the event, was at the track but did not compete.