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Bires Beats NASCAR Nextel Cup Champions At MIS
By: WalTom Racing
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (06/29/2006): The odds are pretty good that only a small
percentage of the 10,000-plus fans that showed up to Madison International
Speedway on Tuesday night for the All-Star Challenge 100 knew a lot about
21-year-old Kelly Bires. The odds are also pretty good that most of the
10,000-plus fans knew exactly who Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart are.
After Tuesday night, though, Kenseth, Stewart and the rest of the 10,000-plus
fans now know exactly who Kelly Bires is!
Bires and his #89 WalTom Racing team beat Kenseth (the 2003 NASCAR Nextel Cup
Series Champion), Stewart (the 2002 and 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion) and
26 other of Wisconsin’s best short track drivers to win Tuesday night’s
Super Late Model “special event” at Madison.
“It’s great that Matt and Tony can do things like this, because it really
helps drivers like myself and the rest of the field by bringing in added
attention, added media and other stuff,” said Bires, who leads the ASA Late
Model Challenge Series points standings.
“It’s cool that they do that kind of stuff, but even cooler when you beat
those guys. It is tough for those guys, though, to come in and run well. They
are all over the place every week and they aren’t in cars like that very
often. They didn’t even get in those cars until that morning, so for both of
them to run as well as they did shows that they really are talented
drivers.”
“We were expecting to be tough against them, though. If we didn’t run top
three, we were going to be disappointed.”
Bires qualified second, had to start eighth after the inversion and slowly
worked his way toward the front of the 100-lap event (which had a halfway
break at lap 50 for teams to adjust their cars). In the end, it came down to a
battle between Bires, who is one of Wisconsin’s hottest young stars, and
Kenseth, one of Wisconsin’s favorite racing sons.
“We qualified second. The first part of the race, we had gotten up to fourth
and that is where we stayed until the halfway break. We were tight and I
didn’t want to burn the tires off it, so I just kind of rode the first half.
About five laps from the break, the car just started hooking up and it took
off. It was dynamite fast. We were going to free the car up at halfway, but I
told them the car was coming in and it was good.”
“We went back out there after the break and took it to them. We really made
it look easy coming back through the field. We led the last 25 laps or so. It
was really a battle between me and Kenseth later. A caution came out with 20
to go and it put Matt right back on my bumper.”
“Then, we had another caution with about nine to go and it put Matt back on
my bumper again. We were running times faster than everyone else. We just
never fell off. It was pretty neat to be able to do that.” Besides winning,
running against Kenseth was the highlight of Bires’ evening.
“We had two cautions at the end of the race, and I could see that yellow car
(Kenseth) right there behind me. He races really clean, though. He had
something for us on the first lap, but then we pulled away. That was pretty
neat.
“I’m sure Matt was running as hard as he could be. He is a racer and he
wants to win, no matter what. Racecar drivers don’t like to get beat.
“Matt came right over to the car and leaned in and congratulated me and said
‘hell of a job.’ He told us we were in a league of our own. That is great
to hear coming from them. He is a pretty cool guy. He is definitely someone to
look up to.”
Despite not seeing their home-state hero win, the fans took the time to let
Bires know that they are quickly becoming fans of his and the WalTom Racing
team.
“There were so many people there. Matt ran well all night, which was good
for the hometown crowd. The fans really go crazy over those guys, but they
were very appreciative to see me win too. They cheered a lot when I got out of
the car. The night wasn’t just focused on them. They were pretty impressed
with what we did.”
Up next for Bires and the WalTom Racing team will be the ASA Late Model Series
Challenge Division event at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, MO, on July 8th.
WalTom Racing, with Kelly Bires, will compete on the ASA Late Model Challenge
Series tour in 2006. For more information on the team, please visit: WalTom
Racing or call Mike Twist at (207) 590-1786.
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