MID-AMERICAN PREPARES TO HONOR 2006 COMPETITORS

Matt Panure
Mid American Stock Car Series
January 20, 2007

On January 20th, 2007 the top competitors who contributed to the success of the inaugural season of the new era Mid-American Stock Car Series will be honored at the Wintergreen Resort and Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells, WI. Over 100 teams took to the track under the series banner in 2006. When the final checkered flag fell at the LaCrosse Fairgounds Speedway, it was James Swan and his team who came out on top of all those competitors as he won his second Mid-American championship, five years removed from his first.

"We had a great year, we ran 29 races and won 11 of them," said Swan of the 2006 campaign. Four of those victories were Mid-American sanctioned events. The impressive statistics of the Lake Geneva veteran's season do not stop with victories. In the 14 Mid-American races of 2006 Swan started every feature, finished in the top five nine times, had twelve top tens and was the quickest timer in five events. Swan has the same expectations for the upcoming season as he did the last. He expects to finish in the top 5 at every event and of course, to pick up some wins along the way.

Swan's first win of the season came in a hard fought battle as part of the Red Race at Wisconsin International Raceway with then point leader George Schultz from Bristol, Wisconsin. Schultz built his lead on Swan through the next two events at the Lake Geneva Raceway and Madison International Speedway. However, a sixth place finish by Swan and Schultz's first DNF of the season at the 141 Speedway would give Swan the points lead. Swan would not relinquish this lead as he and his team gained momentum with a win in Mid-American's return to the Golden Sands Speedway. "Everything just went our way that night," stated Swan. "We came from deep in the field and I think we had the best car," he added. Things kept falling into place for Swan at the next event when he won the Blue race at Wisconsin International Raceway. "We probably should have finished second at Kaukauna," said Swan in reference to the misfortune of Richfield, Wisconsin's Bill Prietzel who was leading late in the race and lost an engine.

While lady luck may have been on the side of James and his team toward the end of the 2006 season, the same can not be said for the Series runner up George Schultz. Schultz stormed out of the gate. In the first five races of 2006 Schultz finished 4th, 3rd, and had three consecutive runner up finishes. After a DNF at the 141 Speedway, Schultz picked up his first and only win at Wisconsin International Raceway. "We hit a little rough spot after the win at Kaukauna with a motor issue," said Schultz. "We had to go to a new motor builder and borrow our old motor for a race," he added. Schultz and crew decided to make an honest run at the 2006 Mid-American championship and cite that incident as the major hit to their campaign. "I don't know if it was the pressure of having to be on top of our game at every event, but that incident with the motor really took the wind out of our sails." he said.

The '06 season was not all bad for Schultz and crew. "I took a year off of racing in 2005 so to start like we did was definitely a high point of the season." stated Schultz. He also mentioned the win at Kaukauna and the great battle with Swan at the Milwaukee Mile as highlights of the season. Schultz also recalls his team overcoming adversity in the first race of the season at Rockford. Schultz was involved in an accident during hot laps early on Saturday morning which did significant damage to the suspension on his Ford Taurus. "We never really gave up. We hammered on the car as much as we could to get it back out and turned it into a fourth place finish," he recalled.

While Swan plans to return and defend his championship, Schultz has decided to head back to the roots of his racing career. "We're going off-road in 2007," said Schultz in reference to his plans to join the World Series of Off-road Racing. Schultz will run in the Pro-Lite division of the WSOR which will have events televised on Speed TV. "It's all about having fun," he said. "I will miss the people and competition of the Mid-American Series," added Schultz. However, do not be surprised to see George hanging around Mid-American events in 2007. "I'll definitely be back to say hi to the guys and see what is going on," he said.

Schultz may have been Swan's biggest threat in 2006, but Swan realizes that the '07 season will bring new challenges. Among those challenges are a few new tracks for Swan to navigate. "Road America is the race that I'm really looking forward to, I haven't been there in five years," exclaimed Swan. The driver who Swan sees as the biggest threat to his championship defense, is Bobby Gutknecht who arguably was the fastest during the last race of the season at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway. "I think he (Gutknecht) could be my strongest competition, he really stepped up toward the end of the year. Gutknecht, from Oak Creek, Wisconsin, finished the year by placing in the top ten of every feature event but one. He ended the year 179 markers behind Swan and just 17 back of second place Schultz.

The Mid-American Stock Car Series will kick off the 2007 season at the Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Illinois on Saturday, April 14th as part of the Spring Opener. A tentative schedule has been posted on the Mid-American website. For more information including results, the final 2006 standings, the tentative 2007 schedule and driver info visit www.midamericanracing.com.