Daily News Sports Editor
SLINGER — Michael Bilderback finally has something to shoot for and that gives him confidence moving into the 2013 season.
For the past four seasons, the 21-year-old driver from South Beloit, Ill., has been jumping from track to track, series to series, building a résumé and hoping to make a move into NASCAR.
As the economy continues to frustrate the racing community, Bilderback’s dream was going slower than he hoped.
"Everybody knows that money takes you a long way in racing," Bilderback said. "I’m not here to cry and complain about it. It’s a family team, a family-paid team with no big sponsors. We’re doing what we can week in and week out, paycheck to paycheck."
He still wants to get to NASCAR and said he’s had discussions with Fortune 500 companies about potential sponsorship deals, but there hasn't been much progress.
This year, he decided to run a full schedule at Slinger Superspeedway, despite the almost two-hour drive to get to the track.
"We haven’t had a goal in five years," Bilderback said. "We just traveled around and raced. It’s something to put on the pedestal for the year and look forward going into for the race."
Bilderback has a history at Slinger, albeit a brief one.
He’s won two career limited late model features there (July 13, 2008, and June 26, 2011) and one super late model feature (Sept. 4).
"For Saturday morning practice, it was the first time I woke up smiling in a long time, knowing I was going to come to this track week in and week out," Bilderback said. "It’s going to make me a better driver, too, just because I’m not having to learn a new track week in and week out. I can fine tune myself and what I can do."
And the lure of Slinger was worth chasing, too.
"Everybody here is fun to race with," Bilderback said. "We’re here to have some fun and hopefully get a couple of victories."
The Bilderback name in these parts isn’t as well known as it is around the Rockford area.
Bilderback’s uncle, Ricky, is a short-track legend in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Bilderback won seven consecutive track championships (2001-07) at Rockford Speedway in Loves Park, Ill.
"I don’t want to be that hometown track guy; I really want to learn multiple tracks," Michael Bilderback said. "It’s why we traveled the last couple of years.
"Now we’ve done our traveling and it’s time to settle down."
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Bill Balog started the 2013 season with a jaw-dropping move in the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car feature Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway.
Balog made an aggressive move through Turns 3 and 4 and edged Mike Kertscher by 0.009 seconds for the victory in the Jim Wipperfurth Memorial. It was the only "lap" Balog led the whole race.
"I got a good run," Balog said. "I pretty much went wide open through (Turns) 1 and 2; I got a good run and slid up in front of him, or I thought I was going to slide up in front of him.
"Being Mike Kertscher and very hard core, he drove back around me and we were neck and neck at the finish line."
It is believed to be one of the closest finishes in series history.
Kertscher finished second, while Rookie of the Year contender and 2012 MSA 360 champion Jeremy Schultz finished third, followed by Tommy Sexton and Kewaskum’s Russ Borland to round out the top five.
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Jim Melis won the time-shortened 25-lap MSA 360 Sprint Car ‘A’ main Saturday at Beaver Dam Raceway.
Tim Haddy Sr. was second, followed by Ben Schmidt, Kurt Davis and Scott Theil to round out the top five. West Bend’s Paul Pokorski finished 10th.
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The regular race programs at Beaver Dam and Plymouth begins Saturday.
Plymouth Dirt Track on the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds also announced three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart will compete in the IRA Sprints Special on June 15.
"The IRA/PDTR think it’s absolutely great that Tony has the passion for racing that he does, and that he not only gives back to his racing roots, but actually participates in it," according to a news release.
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