Much to the delight of his fans, Wisconsin’s biggest NASCAR superstar Matt Kenseth returned to his home state and to The Milwaukee Mile in winning fashion Sunday afternoon, dominating the race that bore his name, the “Wisconsin All-Star 50 with Matt Kenseth. ”
Kenseth drove a super late model race car, much like the racecar he raced in Wisconsin and across the country before his opportunity in NASCAR racing. Thirty-six race teams from five Midwestern states, most with multiple track and series championships took the green flag, but Kenseth left little doubt he was here to win.
He visited with Matt Kenseth Fan Club members and other race fans in a special RK Race Promotions hospitality villa before the race, with most attending donning black and yellow, which were highly visible in the grandstands.
“It was a good crowd today, ” Kenseth said in The Mile’s A. J. Foyt Victory Lane. “It was nice to see a lot of fans, fan club members before the race; it was a really good deal. We went and talked to them for a half hour or an hour. So it was nice to catch up with them guys. It’s always nice to come back home. ”
After setting a new track record in qualifying, Kenseth started the race from the eighth position after the top eight qualifiers were inverted for the start. It took just eight laps for Kenseth to rush forward into second place as Minnesota’s Dean Cornelius set the early pace. Using consistent lap times, Kenseth tracked Cornelius down and took the lead for good with an inside move entering turn one at the halfway point.
Once out front, Kenseth pulled out to a comfortable advantage and drove to the victory in the caution-free event, with Cornelius settling for second. Elko (MN) Speedway standout Dan Fredrickson finished third while New Glarus, Wis. driver Jesse Saunders crossed the stripe in fourth.
Wausau, Wis. native Jeremy Lepak finished in the fifth position, with defending race winner Nathan Haseleu of Marshall, Wis., the current ASA Midwest Tour point leader, taking the checkered flag in sixth. Nine-time NASCAR Elite Division champion Steve Carlson posted a seventh place result, just ahead of Bangor, WI’s Steve Holzhausen, a past LaCrosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway champion in eighth. Slinger Super Speedway frontrunner Josh Bauer of Random Lake, Wis. was ninth and Rockford (IL) Speedway racer Brian Johnson Jr. from Roscoe, Ill. finishing tenth.
The victory marked Kenseth’s first triumph at The Milwaukee Mile in 12 attempts which included eight in late models and four in NASCAR’s Busch Series. The Cambridge, Wis. native last competed in the 2001 NASCAR Busch Series event at America’s Legendary Oval, finishing second to his current NASCAR teammate Greg Biffle.
Kenseth arrived at the track in time for the 8:15 a. m. driver’s meeting, after competing the night before in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race in Bristol, Tenn. to compete in one of four stock car main events on The Milwaukee Mile’s traditional Governor’s Cup weekend.
“It’s great whenever you can win, ” Kenseth stated after the caution-free event. “It’s fun to come here and race against all these guys I used to race against like Steve Carlson, Steve Holzhausen and Nathan Haseleu, and get to race against some of the new guys here. ”
| 
|