By: Kevin Ramsell
BURLINGTON, WI (Friday, October 02, 2009) – He remembers watching him as a child and always looked up to him as a great short track racer. At the 40th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend, Dan Fredrickson hopes to join an exclusive club who has won the Midwest popular race event three times in a row, a club that currently has one member, the late Joe Shear.

Fredrickson will be competing in the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment event on Sunday, October 11, the final day of the four-day race weekend. “I have always looked up to Joe and thought he was an awesome short track racer when I watched him as a kid,” the 2007 & 2008 Oktoberfest Race Weekend Champion recently said. “To be in a class of people like him would be awesome. Even the two in a row class is not a bad class to be in, but if I can be in a class with Joe by myself that would be pretty awesome.”

“I think it would be great for Dan to be able to say that he shares the record with my dad,” Kari Shear-Carlson, Joe’s daughter said. “It certainly is not an easy record to have especially in the ASA Midwest Tour where the competition is so fierce. The irony of sharing the same car number with my dad would be pretty cool too.”

Both Shear and Fredrickson share the same race car number which is 36.

Shear was a four-time winner of the event. He won his first Oktoberfest in 1989 holding off Steve Carlson and Terry Baldry for the win. He was also the ARTGO Challenge Series Champion that year as well.

He started his streak of three in a row in 1994 as he won the last chance race to make it into the feature field. He would quickly come through the field and pass Matt Kenseth for the win.

Shear and Kenseth would renew their battle in 1995 with Shear winning his second in a row. “The year that Matt Kenseth and my dad battled lap after lap was awesome,” Kari Shear-Carlson remembered. “My dad took Matt to school, so that made it even more fun to watch.”

He would make history on October 6, 1996 when he held off Ron Breese, Jr. to win his third in a row. It was the conclusion to a banner season where he had eight ARTGO feature wins.

His effort to win four in a row in 1997 came up short as he finished fourth behind winner Terry Baldry. It would also be Shear’s last race. “1997 was a difficult season,” Kari Shear-Carlson recalled. “His cancer had really progressed and he had tumors and neck muscles removed. But, just like any other racer, he was not going to quit. After winning his final National Short Track Championship at Rockford with an unbelievable performance, he was ready to head to Oktoberfest. Well it didn’t start off very well, blowing a motor in his own car, borrowing a motor from Travis Kvapil and blowing that one too. It looked liked once again; we were going to be heading home. Brad Wagner offered his car to my dad, taking himself out of the seat. My dad was never one to drive in anyone else’s equipment, however, for some reason; he took them up on his offer. He started dead last and methodically drove up to a fourth place finish. It was really amazing weekend considering all of the obstacles.”

Shear would pass away on March 9, 1998.

Fredrickson would hold off Steve Carlson to win his first Oktoberfest championship in 2007 and last year he dominated the 100-lap feature to win his second in a row as well as the ASAMT Championship. “It was great!” Fredrickson recalled. “I think the previous two years, I felt like I should have won it and I didn’t. Last year and the year before was just awesome, last year especially with winning the championship.”

This year he plans on coming to Oktoberfest and having a good time, “Its one of the most fun weekends we have on the Tour and its one of my favorite tracks. We do have a little bit of pressure to run good and go for three in a row, but no matter what happens I’m sure it will be a good time.”

For the Shear family, Oktoberfest has special memories, “The 1997 Oktoberfest was his last and final race,” Kari Shear-Carlson said. “It was only a month later that he was told by the doctor that he did not have much time left. So this race has a very special place in my heart and not a year goes by that I do not think about all of the great memories we shared at Oktoberfest. I wish Dan Fredrickson the best of luck and would definitely share in the excitement of seeing the #36 in victory lane for the third consecutive year.”

The American Speed Association Midwest Tour will be racing on October 10 & 11 at the four-day Oktoberfest Race Weekend which will run from October 8-9-10-11, 2009 at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.

For more information about Oktoberfest, please visit www.oktoberfestraceweekend.com.
To learn more about the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment log on to www.asamidwesttour.com or call the ASA Midwest Tour office at (262) 514-3880 or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@asamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@asamidwesttour.com.

To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail toinfo@asa-racing.com. For news and information from racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asaracing.com.

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