It didn’t take much convincing for Zeb Wise and the Rudeen Racing team to sign on for the inaugural High Limit Racing national tour after series co-owners Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson acquired the All Star Circuit of Champions late last year.
For Wise, who would’ve been the reigning All Star champion this season, it was a no-brainer to follow the roots of the series wherever it went. Add in team owner Kevin Rudeen’s influence, along with his deep-rooted support for Sweet and Larson, and that eliminated all other options.
“It wasn’t much of a decision for our team,” Wise said. “I think what they’re doing is really cool, a lot of money on the line and a lot of great competitors — a lot of them are friends of mine.”
As far as the frequency of racing, it won’t be much different for Wise as he transitions from the All Stars to High Limit, since the All Stars held upwards of 50 races per season under Tony Stewart’s leadership.
High Limit has 59 races on the schedule this year.
However, there is one area that will be a little new for the No. 26 sprint car crew.
“The travel and how much we’re going to be on the road is definitely gonna be different, going to California and then only having four days to drive to Pennsylvania,” Wise said.
He’s referring to the Aug. 29-31 Skagit Nationals at Washington’s Skagit Speedway, which will be followed by the Tuscarora 50 at Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway on Sept. 5-7, directly across the country.
Historically, the All Stars based their schedule in the Midwest — primarily at tracks in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Under Larson and Sweet’s direction, the new High Limit tour will stretch from coast-to-coast.
Wise is energized for the season ahead after spending a few months on the couch and out of the cockpit.
However, several top competitors of his — such as Rico Abreu — raced in Australia earlier in the year and others — including Spencer Bayston — ran a midget at the Chili Bowl Nationals, perhaps putting Wise at a seat-time disadvantage.
Wise shared that he was originally supposed to compete at the Chili Bowl in January, but due to his accident during the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte last November, he played it safe on the sidelines.
His only tune-up for the High Limit season was the World of Outlaws DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park one week ago, which helped brush off the cobwebs.
“Volusia is not really my type of race track. It was only my second time there, so we were just shaking myself down, the car, the motors and everything went really well,” Wise said.
A few days later, the blue-and-white No. 26 sprint car rolled out at East Bay Raceway Park for the High Limit season opener. After Monday night’s feature was rained out, Wise spent the night mentally preparing for Tuesday’s doubleheader.
He charged 26th to 11th in the makeup feature after spinning out on lap one. While the result wasn’t ideal, the performance showed the Rudeen Racing team its speed.
“The first feature showed us we had a really good car,” Wise noted, who then went out and set quick time ahead of the final feature.
He continued to improve throughout the night, going from ninth to fourth in the 30-lapper.
“I got to third there and was kind of racing around with those guys, I think I even took the lead at one point,” Wise said. “Racing with a five-time Outlaw champion and a two-time All Star champion and some big names up there — we passed some really good race cars to get to that point.”
He smiled, “Not bad at all.”