ASA - Mackesy Driving To The Front

DAYTONA BEACH, June 29, 2011: Could the event being delayed by one day hurt? No. Could a local competitor beat out the talented field of ASA Midwest Tour stars to win? Yes.

It was around 11:00am on Friday morning when some saw a rare thing entering the parking lot at State Park Speedway, an ASA Member Track in Wausau, WI. An open trailer carrying a white #12 Chevrolet Impala Super Late Model drive to the pit entrance. Little did anyone know that less than 12 hours later, that car would be in victory lane.

Even though it didn't arrive in an enclosed hauler and he wasn't a regular on the ASA Midwest Tour, the local fans knew that Mark Mackesy, a Wausau, WI resident, could go from his eighth starting position to pulling off an upset win in the Flip Merwin Memorial 150.

This has been a dream season so far for the veteran, second-generation driver. He won the season opening event at State Park Speedway and finished second to Ben Pettis at the last Thursday night event.

"It's fantastic, it's great, I love it," Mackesy said after his win. "Now that Wimmers have this place fixed up, it is just great to be here. It's just great."

Mackesy has been racing at Central Wisconsin tracks like State Park Speedway, Marshfield Motor Speedway (another ASA Member Track in Marshfield, WI), and Golden Sands Speedway in Plover, WI.

He has raced with the best but on Friday, he finally won over the best. "I think it's neat. In all of the years that I have raced, I don't think I have ever passed Bryan Reffner," Mackesy recalled. "When I started, he was the king around here and was whooping all of us pretty bad. To pass him, it felt pretty good. I don't think I ever raced with Steve Carlson, but I think my dad did. So to run with him was pretty neat."

His win was also a boost for State Park Speedway. Last year, Ron, Scott, and the entire Wimmer family put their heart and soul into making State Park Speedway a place that fans want to come and see great racing. The full house got to watch one of their locals beat the best in the Midwest on his home turf, an honor that Mackesy is proud to own. "We talked to the guys at work all week and told them that this is the most excitement that this place has had in probably 25-30 years," Mackesy said. "Probably since the days that Trickle was here. To get this buzz back, this excitement back at our local track is just fantastic."

"We were really happy with our first season. We had really great car counts, great fan turnout and a lot more positives for our first year," Scott Wimmer, Co-owner of State Park Speedway said. "Going into our second year, we went into it the same way as we did last year. Try to improve and make things better for the fans. Also, try to keep it affordable as we do things to keep money at the bare minimum. We keep our ticket gates the most reasonable around and try to pay our drivers well. Just give people a good quality show."

"What the Wimmers have done in just one year is amazing," Dennis Huth, ASA President said. "They were able to take a track and resurrect it to be this successful in a very short amount of time. They are doing everything right. Even a rain delayed ASA Midwest Tour event didn't hurt them. They still had a great crowd and a memorable event. We are very proud to have them as part of the ASA family."

For Mackesy and the other competitors in Central Wisconsin, they have a solid place to race. "I think it's back, finally back here," Mackesy exclaimed. "I'd say that four years ago, I was worried that this was going to be a compost thing for the county and all kinds of things. We didn't think it would be a racetrack."