NEW SMYRNA, Fla. — Seven midwest drivers have filed their entry for the ASA STARS National Tour’s Clyde Hart Memorial 200 season opener on Feb. 13 at New Smyrna Speedway.
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio will have representatives heading to the famous half-mile speedway located near the eastern Florida coast, escaping the cold northern weather for the warmer weather.
ASA Midwest Tour champion Gabe Sommers, fresh off his Oktoberfest 200 victory at La Crosse Fairgrounds (Wis.) Speedway will bring that momentum to New Smyrna. Last year, the Plover, Wis. driver competed in four STARS events where he had two top-five and four top-ten finishes.
In the ASA Midwest Tour, he had two victories, five top-five and 10 top-ten finishes en route to his championship. He has 12 starts in New Smyrna’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with two top-fives and six top-ten finishes.
Austin Nason finished fifth in the STARS Tour standing last season with one top-five and seven top-ten finishes. He also picked up a victory in the ASA Midwest Tour’s Howie Lettow Memorial 100 at Wisconsin’s Madison Int’l Speedway.
Nason has 20 career starts at the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing with one victory, five top-fives, and nine top-ten finishes in Pro Late Models and Super Late Models.
Former ARCA Menards West Series champion Derek Kraus will bring his super late model to New Smyrna. Kraus made five starts in the STARS Tour last season with one top-five and three top-ten finishes. He is no stranger to the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing as he has made 31 starts in his career with three top-fives and 16 top-ten finishes.
Billy Van Meter hopes to kick off his ASA STARS National Tour campaign with a victory at New Smyrna. Last year, he competed in the ASA Southern Super Series event during the World Series but fell out with mechanical issues. He competed in nine STARS events last season with five top-10 finishes.
Albert Francis will be making the trek from Painesville, Ohio to compete in the STARS season opener for what appears to be his first time at New Smyrna. Francis competed in all 10 STARS events last season with one top-10 finish. He is a veteran in the ASA CRA Super Series where he has 25 starts with four top-five and ten top-ten career finishes.
James Lynch will be looking to make his second Clyde Hart Memorial start in the STARS season opener. The Palos Park, Ill. driver finished 10th in the ASA Southern Series opener last year at New Smyrna. Lynch finished third in the Midwest Truck Series points last year with four victories, seven top-fives, and 10 top-ten finishes. He also finished third in Late Model points at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Il.
The final driver is no stranger to New Smyrna as he will come to the famous track as the ASA STARS National Tour champion. Ty Majeski will be looking for another victory during the World Series. Majeski has seven victories, 16 top-five’s, and 20 top-ten’s previous starts during the nine-day race event.