Jeff Steenburgen (62) battles with Jeremy Miller (5) (Mark Melchiori Photo)
BIG 8 SERIES…COMPETITION AT ITS BEST
By: Kevin Ramsell
A few years ago, Tom Deery, Gregg McKarns, and Greg Folk were sitting in a Bob Evans restaurant in Michigan. It was at that meeting that the idea of the Big 8 Series came about. After finishing its third full season, an idea has turned into one of the most competitive series going in the Midwest.
What makes the series unique is that it’s designed for the “Weekly Warrior.” In other words, drivers who compete at tracks like Rockford Speedway, Jefferson Speedway, Columbus 151 Speedway, La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Wisconsin International Raceway, and more have the opportunity of racing in low travel touring series yet still compete weekly at their tracks. It’s designed for the Limited Late Model stock cars.
The 2007 season saw the best competition anywhere. They had an average car count in the 40’s and not a single repeat winner. Every event had a different winner in 2007. In the end, it was Jeremy Miller capturing the championship with young hot shoe, Matt Byrne taking home the Rookie of the Year honors.
The season opened on April 15th with Mike Ehde holding off Miller for the season opener win at Rockford Speedway. A month later, veteran driver Brian Hoppe, added his name to the long list of Big 8 Series winners when he captured the Madison International Speedway event.
The Big 8 Series ran in support of the ASA Midwest Tour event at Dells Raceway Park on June 12th with Ricky Bilderback and Jeremy Miller putting on a great show in front of a large attendance. At the checkers, it was Bilderback finally capturing his first Big 8 Series feature win.
The Series returned to MIS on July 27th where MIS weekly competitor, Brady Liddle, added his name to the list of feature winners. Ten days later, the Big 8 Series once again joined up with the ASA Midwest Tour at Wisconsin International Raceway and it was local talent, Gary Bock, taking home the win.
For the third year in a row, the Big 8 Series highlighted the two-day Wisconsin State Championships at Jefferson Speedway with a twin-50 lap event. Two more drivers, Kyle Jarlsberg and Jon Reynolds Jr. had their names added to the list of feature winners while Jason Erickson took home the overall honors.
Two weeks later, the “Weekly Warriors” met up again at Rockford Speedway for a twin-58 lap event during the National Short Track Championships. Ryan Carlson and Miller each collected the wins with home track champion, Bilderback, taking the overall honors.
The season finale was at the famous Oktoberfest weekend at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Andy Burgess was the winner of that event to make it a season of non-repeat feature winners. But it was at that event where a 14-year-old second generation driver, Ross Kenseth and a bright and up and coming female driver, Emily Sue Steck, were the two fastest qualifiers out of the 51 cars that made a qualifying attempt that day. Kenseth would come home fourth while Steck took home an eighth place finish.
In the three plus years, the Big 8 Series has seen 20 different drivers take home a feature win in 28 feature events.
The season opener will be on Sunday, April 13th at Rockford Speedway. The Series will headline the afternoon of racing with a 100-lap feature event.
The series will also run in support of The Swiss Colony All-Star Challenge event featuring Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart on Tuesday, June 24 at Madison International Speedway. Rockweiler Insulation will be sponsoring the Big 8 Series feature event.
For more information on the Big 8 Series and to get a copy of the 2008 rules, please visit their website at www.big8series.com.
2008 Big 8 Series Schedule (Tentative)
Sunday, April 13 Rockford Speedway (100 laps)
Sunday, May 4 Madison International Speedway (38 laps)
Tuesday, June 24 Madison International Speedway (38 laps)
July TBD
Tuesday, August 5 Wisconsin International Raceway (38 laps)
Friday, September 12/ Jefferson Speedway (Twin 50’s)
Saturday, September 13
Saturday, September 27 Rockford Speedway (100 laps)
Thursday, Oktober 2 La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway (40 laps)
