LM: Former champion to compete at La Crosse

Former Champion in the old ASA National Tour, Bryan Reffner looking to go two for two in ASA Late Model Series competition at LaCrosse.

(Lexington, Michigan 10/03/05): A rarity in any traveling series is when a driver, in his first ever appearance with the series, goes out and wins in his first try. Perhaps an exception to that rule is that of the 1995 Champion in the old ASA National Tour, Bryan Reffner. In his one and only appearance with the ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM Performance Parts, the Steven's Point, Wisconsin veteran went out and won the Bryden Motors 100 back on May 27th at the Madison (WI) International Speedway beating out current ASA Late Model Series Points Leader, Stephen Leicht on his way to victory on his home track in Oregon, Wisconsin.

Looking to make his ASA Late Model Series resume to continue to show a 1.000 batting average, Reffner has filed an entry for this weekend's Oktoberfest 100 and will be amongst the star-studded and massive 40+ car field looking to make race number 13 of 14 in the ASA Late Model Series 2005 tour.

The ASA Late Model Series will head to the LaCrosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway as part of the 36th annual Oktoberfest Weekend on October 5-9. The ASA Late Model Series will headline the Friday October 7th portion of the weekend with the running of the Oktoberfest 100.

Although Reffner has not raced at Lacrosse for quite awhile, Reffner is by no means a stranger to the fast 5/8s mile semi-banked paved oval. The former winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series won in Oktoberfest in the past and hopes his previous experience at the West Salem, Wisconsin speed plant will aid in his efforts to win his second ASALM Series event in two starts.

"I can't wait to get back on the radial tire and Lacrosse will be a great track for us to get another solid finish." Said Reffner as he looks ahead to the Oktoberfest 100. "The competition level is very high in this series, so we'll have to be on top of our game to get back to victory lane against those guys!" He added.

Reffner, the son of Wisconsin Legend, Tom Reffner, began racing at age 16. Gaining early experience by working hands-on with the race cars. He quickly progressed up the regional ladder and was named the ARTGO Challenge Series (Now NASCAR Midwest Series) Rookie of the Year in 1983. Reffner won a total of three track championships in the 1989 and 1990 seasons in Wisconsin.

In 1995, Reffner won the American Speed Association (ASA) championship in only his second year of competition in the series. Until then, Mark Martin was the only driver to achieve this. A move to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series came in 1996 with rookie-of-the-year honors. He spent several seasons in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, winning one event and scoring five pole awards.

A return to the old ASA National tour in 2003 resulted in four top fives and ten top 10s enroute to sixth in the point standings. 2004 saw Reffner record one win, at the Milwaukee Mile in the last ever season of the ASA National Tour. Six top five finishes and nine top 10s helped Reffner to a second place finish in the final point's standings.

So far in 2005, Reffner has seen time in the ASL Series where he leads the point's standings for the old ASA National Tour machines heading into their final event later in the month. Reffner has won feature in ASL Competition. In addition to his win in the ASALM Series at Madison, Reffner ran part-time at Madison in the tracks ASA Late Model division where he finished 17th in the final points standings in limited appearances.

For this event, Reffner will carry sponsorship on the side of his Ford Taurus from The Swiss Colony as well as Trucks Incorporated, Midway Machine and Equipment Center, Emerson Radio, and Reffner Motorsports. To learn more about Bryan Reffner, log onto his website at: www.bryanreffner.com

The 36th annual Oktoberfest at the LaCrosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway on October 5-9 for the Oktoberfest 100 on Friday October 7th is up next on the 2005 calendar as the cars and stars of the ASA Late Model Series will converge onto the big 5/8s mile semi-banked paved oval located just outside of LaCrosse in West Salem, Wisconsin.

Then three weekends later, the 2005 season will wrap up for the ASALM Series as the 2005 ASA Late Model Series Champion, Pat Bourdow Memorial Rookie of the Year and the GM Performance Parts Shootout Champions will all be crowned during the rescheduled 40th annual National Short Track Championships at the Rockford (IL) Speedway which will conclude on Saturday October 29th

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