After months of working double shift days to establish his latest business venture, Rich Bickle is finally going to get back to what he really enjoys doing - driving a race car.
The Wisconsin short track ace and 15-year NASCAR veteran has entered Tuesday's Madison International Speedway All Star Challenge - an event that will feature a full field of the midwest's super late model stock cars and drivers - along with NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.
"I used to be the big draw for these kind of races back when I was in Cup, but now I guess I'm just a field filler," joked Bickle from his office at Muscle Up Performance and Hot Rod Shop in Janesville, WI. "With Matt, Tony and Kyle coming up, it's going to be a big deal and I'd like nothing better than to go up there and kick their butts. We've got a good car and hopefully, she'll run the way we want it to the whole race. I think we'll be able to be right there racing them for the win. I'm looking forward to it."
Bickle has the right to be confident heading into Tuesday's all-star event on the Oregon, WI half-mile oval. The super late model champion at MIS - then Capital Speedway - in 1985 and 1986 (below right), Bickle was winning features by the fistful before Kenseth, Stewart and Busch ever turned a wheel at the track.
"You have make sure you don't get the car loose into the corner at Madison," Bickle stated. "You have to be able to 'mow the grass there,' you have to be down on the bottom and get off the corner straight. It's a great racetrack. It's been really good to me. I've probably won more than 40 super late model features there and two championships over the years. The place hasn't changed much. It's a good old racetrack."
This time around, Bickle will be wheeling a familiar combination, a Lefthander Chassis powered by a Carl Wegner powerplant. The Chevy Monte Carlo will carry Bickle's familiar No. 45 and is owned by longtime Wisconsin late model campaigner Scott Ollerman.
"We've got a five-race deal with Perlick Corporation," Bickle stated. "They make the best commercial and residential bar systems, coolers, and dispensing systems around and they are going to sponsor us Tuesday at Madison and later in the year at the Miller Nationals at Slinger. We're also going to do a race at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukana and the National Short Track Championships at Rockford (IL) at the end of the year.
"We're also considering do the event at The Milwaukee Mile, but I'm not sure that we have the kind of car we need to go there and have a chance at winning. There's a lot of new chassis tie down stuff that we need to look at, but maybe we'll build a new car for that."
As for Tuesday's Madison event, Bickle is confident he can compete for the win.
"I still like to do the short-track stuff," said Bickle. "I feel like I am as good at it as I ever was. I'd like to do more of it. It would be great to drive for somebody full time again. I just don't have time with a new business to be in a position where I have to build the cars, work on them, and then race on a regular basis. I also still have most of my equipment in North Carolina, so I'd have to get all that and find a shop up here in Wisconsin as well. That just won't work for me right now. That's why I'm really looking forward to these five races this summer - especially Tuesday's race at Oregon."
Gates for Tuesday's All Star Challenge at Madison International Speedway will open at noon. The super late model have three practice sessions from noon to 3:30 P.M. with qualifying set for 4 P.M. The first race of the evening will take the green flag at 7 P.M.
For more information about Bickle's new business concern - Muscle Up Performance and Hot Rod Shop - please visit www.muscleupperformance.com or call 608-754-4545.
