Cheeseheads hope to capitalize on home turf

CONCORD, N.C. -- Winning a NASCAR Busch Series race anywhere is special. Doing it in front of your hometown fans is even sweeter.

This weekend, seven drivers have a chance to taste the victory cheese. The Milwaukee Mile is the site of Sunday's GNC 250, and seven Wisconsin drivers would love to celebrate in their home track's victory lane.

	Scott Wimmer finished third in the GNC 250 in 2002. Credit: Autostock

Scott Wimmer and Johnny Sauter appear to have the best chance of winning among the cheeseheads, but the entry list also includes Sauter's two brothers, Tim and Jay, as well as Brad Mueller of Random Lake, Wis., Lowell Bennett of Neenah, Wis. and Jason Schuler of Cambridge, Wis.

"Milwaukee is a very special place to me because it is the closest thing I have to a hometown track on the NASCAR circuit," Wimmer said. "Even though Wausau, Wis. is three hours away from Milwaukee, the fans in Milwaukee are great about supporting their home state drivers.

"I'll sign autographs at the souvenir rig this weekend, and the turnout is always amazing to me. I'm really grateful to all the fans that come out and show their support. Besides being a great thing for our team, I'd really like to win there this weekend for all the fans because I know they are pulling for me."

Well, maybe not every fan is pulling for Wimmer. The Sauter brothers, who hail from Necedah, Wis., will have a few folks in the Milwaukee Mile's new grandstands pulling for them, too.

ALSO  •  Busch Series Drivers  •  2003 Race Results  •  Driver Standings

"I want to win every race I enter, but winning Milwaukee is really important to me," Johnny Sauter said. "I couldn't even begin to describe how awesome it would be to win at Milwaukee. There is a lot of added incentive to win in front of my family and friends.

"I can't wait to get there. We tested for this race, and I feel like our car is going to be really good. Going home is awesome, and most of all I just want to put on a good show for my family and friends."

Wimmer has a lot of family in the Milwaukee area, too, and he lived in the city when he was racing the Hooters Pro Cup in the late 1990s.

"I really loved that town," Wimmer said. "I thought I might live there for a while but I ended up having to move to North Carolina instead. I actually have a lot of family, aunts and uncles that live in Milwaukee, so it does feel like a homecoming of sorts. Plus my fianc?e went to school there, so between the both of us, we have a lot of friends and family in the area. If I win this weekend, I can promise you it will be a very big victory lane celebration."

	In 2002, the three Sauter brothers raced at Milwaukee with their father, Jim. Credit: Autostock

Of course, Wimmer, Sauter and the rest of the Wisconsin contingent will have plenty of competition. With summer dawning, the race for the Busch Series championship is heating up.

David Green leads the points standings, but Scott Riggs is a close second, 46 points behind. Riggs led the points after his victory at Nashville on June 7, but he crashed out of the Meijer 300 at Kentucky.

"We have to not beat ourselves and not over-think or over-engineering the race cars by trying to figure out some way to reinvent the wheel," said Riggs, who has won twice in 2003. "I think that we just need to be a little more consistent with our finishes and I need to be a little more patient than I was (at Kentucky) and remember what kind of people I'm racing with. I guess last week I just lost my train of thought and forgot who I was racing with and how you have to race against people like that."

Todd Bodine, who led earlier in the year, is third, 72 behind Green.

"The last two weeks have been pretty chaotic," Bodine said. "First it was the fluke thing with the motor in Nashville, and then getting caught up in the wreck at Kentucky. Our team morale is still pretty high, and we're looking forward to taking the Monster Chevy to the Mile. I've had some pretty solid qualifying runs there, and finished in the top-10 once. I would love to get the car into victory lane."

Hornaday is fourth, 98 out of the top spot, followed by Jason Keller (minus-125), Brian Vickers (minus-149) and Bobby Hamilton Jr. (minus-162). Hamilton Jr. was the series' most recent winner, having passed Keller with three laps to go to win at Kentucky.

But this is Milwaukee. And there are some guys from Wisconsin who want to prevent an outsider, if you will, from going to victory lane.