The ASA STARS National Tour is just that, a national touring Super Late Model series.
Well, sort of.
The tour is composed of events across only a few particular regions of Super Late Model competition, with three respective regional series supporting the national tour. The deep south is represented by the ASA Southern Super Series, while the midwest’s representation is a bit more complicated.
The ASA/CRA Super Series is the region’s main representative, collaborating with the STARS Tour for events in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan in 2025. Further to the west lies the ASA Midwest Tour, but it doesn’t host any co-sanctioned events with the STARS Tour like the other two regional series.
Two events in Midwest Tour territory are set to be held this weekend in the state of Wisconsin. It’s an area of the country that hasn’t been the smoothest for the ASA STARS National Tour to grasp a foothold in.
That’s because of two issues: The Midwest Tour rulebook’s major deviations from the STARS Tour rulebook and the historically tough task for southern drivers – the core of the ASA STARS roster – to travel all the way to Wisconsin.
Let’s start by diving into the rulebook discrepancies and why they have led to a rift between the two series.
A staple of Midwest Tour racing is the two-barrel carburetor setup. While slower than the nationally-accustomed four-barrel setup, the Wisconsin crowd will not budge on the issue. The region’s perspective comes from an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mindset.
To Wisconsin’s credit, the setup has worked well. One reason why Wisconsin locals might prefer the two-barrel setup is that with reduced power being delivered to the engine, wear and tear can be significantly reduced over long periods of time.
In a vacuum, that’s great. On its own, the two-barrel setup works well when it’s the only type of carburetor on the track. But when the track is being shared with four-barrel-powered machines, a lot of the Wisconsin racers just can’t keep up. The issue came up when the STARS Tour hosted two races in Wisconsin in 2024, leading to some discontent from the local racers.
But while the carburetor issue is the an obvious issue that’s led to the rift between the differing crowds of racers, another factor has been just as damning.
Travel.
With the ASA STARS National Tour pioneering the way for a modern-day national Super Late Model series to even exist, a much wider area of coverage is to be expected. But in prior years, that ever-expanding area has proven to be too big for some drivers to overcome.
In 2024, only a handful of deep south racers made the trip north to The Badger State. Some of the biggest names synonymous with Super Late Model racing including Stephen Nasse, Matt Craig, and Michael Hinde all stayed home. Even SLM star Bubba Pollard dropped out of the 2024 Wisconsin doubleheader early, electing to head home before the series ventured from Madison International Speedway to The Milwaukee Mile later that weekend.
The Wisconsin stretch’s payouts simply couldn’t compensate for the extensive travel distance that teams had to face. To put it in perspective, the biggest margin of distance between tracks on the 2025 CARS Tour schedule is 644 miles between Dominion Raceway and Cordele Motor Speedway. ASA STARS competitors have more than double the distance to cover between the tour’s furthest-separated tracks – 1,312 miles between Madison International Speedway and New Smyrna Speedway.
On the bright side, a potential remedy has been introduced for 2025 in the form of the ASA STARS Platinum Program. The incentive program was made with the goal of ensuring that racers can gain enhanced monetary value and make full-time competition at least a little more profitable.
For the most part, the program has worked. The series has seen a steady cast of characters consistently show up from track to track. While some have fallen off over the course of the season, the program’s effect has already led to some impressive names committing to this weekend’s Wisconsin venture.
Pollard, Nasse, Derek Thorn, Carson Brown and more have filed entries for this weekend’s events. These are names that might not have elected to show up to Wisconsin this year had the Platinum Program not been established for the 2025 season.
So while a lot of factors remain that might prove to be tricky for Wisconsin to remain as a staple of the ASA STARS National Tour schedule, there’s reason for hope and positivity.
Is Wisconsin still a viable destination for the ASA STARS National Tour? Only time will tell.
The ASA STARS National Tour returns to action on Friday, June 13th for the Capital 250 at Madison International Speedway. The series will then travel to nearby Slinger Super Speedway for the El Bandido Yankee Tequila 300 on Sunday, June 15th. Both races will be streamed on Track TV.
