Kenseth not contemplating retirement

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 20, 2016

Kenseth not contemplating retirement

6-time Slinger Nationals champ feels good

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Matt Kenseth is not deterred by the retirement of Jeff Gordon and the pending retirement of Tony Stewart, despite the similarity in age among the three.

“Age is just a number,” Kenseth said. For Kenseth, that number will be 44 on March 10. And this season, the number is 17 — his 17th full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Gordon retired after last season. He will turn 45 in August. Stewart has indicated this season will be his last. He turns 45 in May.

Kenseth shrugged off the notion that retirement is close.

“I haven’t thought about it,” said Kenseth, who will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 on the outside of the front row next to 20-year-old rookie Chase Elliott. Elliott turns 21 in November.

In a historical connection, Kenseth’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut came in 1998 as a substitute driver for Bill Elliott so he could attend his father’s funeral. Bill Elliott is Chase Elliott’s father.

Again, according to Kenseth, age is just a number.

“I’m where I want to be,” Kenseth said. “I love racing. I have great sponsors, a great team and great teammates. I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time.

“I’m still capable of winning races.”

Since joining Joe Gibbs Racing in 2013 after a 14year run with Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing, Kenseth has won 12 races in 106 starts. He won 14 races from 20062012. There were those who thought Kenseth was losing his competitiveness.

Instead, Kenseth has found a different gear and is in potentially the best three-year stretch of his career, showing no signs of slowing down as he approaches his mid-40s.

How long can Kenseth go? He doesn’t know.

Kenseth is approaching the age where most of the sport’s greatest drivers either called it a career or won what turned out to be their last race.

Richard Petty was 55 when he retired, but was 47 when he won his last race. David Pearson was 46 when he won his last race before retiring five years later. Darrell Waltrip was 45 when he won his last race. He retired at age 53. Cale Yarborough was 49 when he called it a career in 1988. His last victory was in 1985.

On the flip side, Bobby Allison was 51 when he retired in 1988. His last victory was the 1988 Daytona 500.

Mark Martin won five races after he turned 50 — all in 2009. In that year he finished second in the points for a fifth time. Martin retired after the 2013 season at age 54.

“You just need to work at it,” Kenseth said. “A lot of people think you just show up and drive a race car. You get back what you put in.”

In Kenseth’s first season with JGR, he won a career-high seven races and finished second in the points for the second time since winning the 2003 series championship. He also finished second in 2006.

After a winless 2014 season, Kenseth bounced back with five victories in 2015. Had it not been for an on-track dispute with Joey Logano at Kansas and later Martinsville — which got Kenseth suspended two races for intentionally crashing Logano while he was leading — Kenseth would have been in the thick of the championship picture.

“There’s always things you can look back on no matter what it is that you wish you’d do different,” Kenseth said. “Sometimes it happens every lap. Overall, it was a great year. Throughout the year, we were in position to win races.”

He doesn’t have to look far for motivation. One of his teammates is the reigning series champion, Kyle Busch.

Kenseth, along with teammates Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards, all made the Chase — NASCAR’s version of the playoffs. Those four drivers won 14 of 36 races and qualified on pole position in 11 races.

“We’re really excited,” Kenseth said. “We ended the season strong last season. It’d be tough not to be excited.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” he said when asked how the JGR program has become as competitive as it is. “We’re working hard, making the cars better. We’re unselfish as teammates.”

Kenseth is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 (2009 and 2012). If he wins Sunday’s race, he’ll join Petty, Yarborough, Allison, Gordon and Dale Jarrett to win the 500 at least three times. Petty won it a record seven times.

Kenseth is one of four drivers in this year’s field trying to win the 500 for a third time — Michael Waltrip, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” Kenseth said. “It’s my 17th try, but I’ve only won two of them. I feel like we’ve had a chance to win a few of those.

“It’s a big deal any time you can win this race.”

Kenseth still likes to win the big races and when it comes to the short-track scene, he’s won the Slinger Nationals a record six times.

He didn’t compete in last year’s Nationals and was second in 2014. Kenseth last won Nationals in 2012.

Kenseth said he is interested in competing in this year’s race, which is slated for July 12. He said there is talk of being in this year’s race.

Germantown to welcome 2 new members to its Hall of Fame

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 19, 2016

Germantown to welcome 2 new members to its Hall of Fame

Ceremony is tonight

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

In his last days as an eighth grader, Ron DeLong had the same aspiration as most young lads in Germantown: to play football for the Warhawks.

So he signed up.

It wasn’t until his first days as a wide-eyed freshman in the halls at Germantown High School he realized something: Football practice had already started.

When he signed up and in the months that followed, he was never told when practice started.

Disappointed and shocked by the news, he looked for something else to do.

“It wound up being a blessing in disguise,” DeLong said.

The 56-year-old will be one of two inductees into the Germantown Athletics Hall of Fame tonight. Joining him is Tracy Howard (nee Tesch), Class of 1983.

DeLong earned eight varsity letters while competing in cross-country and track for the Warhawks — four in cross-country and four in track. He set several school records, including the 3,200meter run in track with a 9:28.4 in his final race in 1977. It’s a record that stands today.

DeLong also led the Warhawks track team to a conference championship in 1974.

Howard earned seven varsity letters in track and gymnastics. She was also the gymnastics coach at Menomonee Falls from 19892003, then continued as coach with Menomonee Falls combined with Germantown in 2004.

She retired from coaching in 2013.

“I’m very humbled and honored,” Howard said. “It’s very nice.”

As coach, Menomonee Falls won the 1991 regional title and the Menomonee Falls/Germantown co-op won the 2007 sectional title. She led three conferencechampionship winning teams, helped 18 individuals advance to state in 52 events and coached Kristi Kitzman, who won the floor exercise state titles in 1996 and 1997, and the balance beam title in 1997.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie with the kids,” Howard said. “It was fun to help them perfect high school gymnastics.”

DeLong will join former classmates in the school’s Hall of Fame.

“It’s quite a privilege and honor to be included with the other athletes that have been inducted, including Lew Potter and Wilbert Henry,” DeLong said. “I had the privilege of being on same track team as Lew Potter.”

Potter (Class of 1975) was a member of the first induction class in 2007. Henry (Class of 1972) was a member of the 2013 Hall of Fame class.

“It’s been a flattering and humbling experience,” DeLong said.

Football was DeLong’s first choice. Football was in the family blood. His father played football at Glenwood City High School in northwest Wisconsin.

“Like most kids, we all dreamed of being the star,” DeLong said. “If you wanted to be a star, you had to be in the spectator sports — football and basketball.”

So when it came time to get ready for football practice his freshman year at Germantown, he got the news he never expected.

“When I went to the first classes of the year, some of my friends who were out for the football team said that I already missed practice,” DeLong said.

So what now?

“I saw a post on the wall inviting students to try out for the cross-country team,” he said. “I always liked running.”

After the first several practices, that’s not what he thought. He wondered what he got himself into.

“Practices were grueling,” DeLong said. “I don’t know if I had ever worked so hard in my life.”

He stuck with it.

“I’m not a quitter,” DeLong said. “I wasn’t going to quit because it was difficult or challenging.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was good at the sport.”

After three weeks or so on the junior varsity team, DeLong surged onto the varsity team and, in his sophomore year, the accolades piled up.

As a sophomore, he was second at the cross-country conference championship meet. The next year, he was third, which was a disappointment. He believed he was the heir apparent to win the title as a junior.

“I had my sights set on winning the championship my senior year,” DeLong said.

That’s what he did.

On his biography for the Hall of Fame, DeLong is described as a “focused and determined competitor known for his sharp elbows, jack rabbit starts and ‘DeLong Stride.’” That determination and focus led him to the conference championship and an eventual Hall of Fame tenure with the Warhawks.

From 1974-76, he was in the top-10 in all invitationals, including a three-time invitational champion, and a state qualifier in 1976. When he graduated, he was the school record-holder for best time by a sophomore, a junior and a senior.

In track, he set school records in indoor mile run, two individual meet mile run and two-mile run.

The two-mile run time of 9:28.4 was set in his final race as a Warhawk — the sectional. He finished third at the sectional, which was short of qualifying for state.

However, the two runners ahead of him at the sectional went on to be 1-2 at state.

“It’s brought me a lot of pleasure,” DeLong said of the school’s two-mile or 3,200-meter run record. “All records are meant to be broken. I hope the next person who has it enjoys holding it as much as I have.”

Despite football being at the forefront in the family household growing up, there was always a curiousity with running.

“I always had a fascination with numbers,” DeLong said. “Running is about numbers and it’s about competing with not just against other people, but also against times, numbers.”

He also never drifted far from the possibility of being a runner. And the same went for him putting together a Hall of Fame resume at Germantown.

“I enjoyed it quite a bit,” DeLong said.

Pressure rising

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 18, 2016

Pressure rising

Allenton native getting ready for Daytona 500 as rookie’s car chief

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

The days leading into the Daytona 500 are both exciting and scary at the same time.

“There’s a lot of money, prestige on the line,” said Greg Emmer, an Allenton native and the car chief for the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Chris Buescher. “It sets the tone for the first half of the season.”

The Daytona 500, which is Sunday in Daytona Beach, Florida, is the first race of the season for the Sprint Cup Series. It’s also the race every driver wants to win. It is NASCAR’s Super Bowl.

Emmer said imagine if the Slinger Nationals at Slinger Superspeedway was held in April at the start of the season rather than July, the season’s midway point.

“Our biggest race is the very first one of the season,” he said. “There is no preseason. There is no regular season. That in itself is a daunting task. It’s a pressure point. This is what starts your season off.”

He wouldn’t have it any other way. “We love the pressure,” Emmer said. “It builds throughout the 10 days we’re (at Daytona). It’s the reason we do it. It’s an addiction.”

For Emmer, who attended Slinger High School and recently turned 30, there is pressure on him.

Emmer is going into his 12th season in NASCAR. This year is his second as a car chief.

The car chief is like the top assistant coach for a race team. The “head coach” is the crew chief.

The crew chief is responsible for the pit crew, the driver and what changes he wants to make to a car. As a car chief, Emmer is bestowed the responsibility to make those changes happen.

Last year, Emmer was the car chief for 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne.

“The pressure is definitely way higher than just being a mechanic,” Emmer said. “I’m in charge of the entire race car. To be at this point, I had to be a mechanic of every part of the race car.”

From 2007-11, Emmer held several roles while working on the pit crew of David Ragan. Then he worked on Greg Biffle’s pit crew (2012) and Carl Edwards’ crew (2013-14).

In NASCAR, crew members generally have specialties that help improve or fix a car. For Emmer, he did just about everything, which helped him elevate to key role with Bayne’s team in 2015 and Buescher’s team this season.

“It’s not something just anybody can do,” Emmer said. “It takes a lot of hard work. You have to keep your head down and keep going. It’s daunting at times, overwhelming at times, but the support is a tremendous asset.”

One of Emmer’s key responsibilities as car chief is to make sure the car is ready and passes technical inspection at every race track every week. If a car doesn’t pass tech inspection, lots of money can be lost, which adds to the pressure.

The ante is increased at Daytona.

“It has an aura that makes it special,” Emmer said. “It’s awesome and scary at the same time.”

Again, it’s an addiction and a desire to compete that keeps Emmer going and eager for Sunday’s race.

Emmer believes drivers like Biffle and Edwards have helped him reached the status he has in the sport.

“Those guys are superstars in the sport,” Emmer said. “You learn, as a team, being with those guys that it makes everybody better. They perform at a high level every weekend.

“When they win, it makes people notice who’s on that team. It advances everybody’s career. It’s a great feeling to have talented drivers like that.”

Emmer and Buescher’s crew chief, Bob Osborne, believe they have a talented driver in Buescher — the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion.

“Bob and I, think very highly of Chris,” Emmer said. “He’s very talented. He’s been working really really hard at it.”

Buescher, a 23-year-old native of Prosper, Texas, who was once coached by road-racing veteran and Hartford native Dick Danielson, won two races last season with the XFINITY Series. He also had 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10 finishes.

Buescher is also a former ARCA Series champion (2012) and ARCA Series Rookie of the Year (2011).

“He drove his way to this level,” Emmer said. “Everything he drove, he succeeded with. For me, that’s a very important part. We’re looking forward to continuing that success with him. We think he’s going to be a superstar.”

This season, the goal for Emmer is to help Buescher win Rookie of the Year in a class that also features Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, who will start Sunday’s race from the pole position.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Emmer said.

OUTDOORS: Fly fishing catching on at Muskie Expo

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 13, 2016

Fly fishing catching on at Muskie Expo

Show runs through Sunday at Fair Park

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

TOWN OF POLK — A new venue meant new opportunities for the promoters and organizers of the Muskie Expo.

They took advantage of it.

This year, for the first time — as the event celebrated its 25th year, but first at Washington County Fair Park — a fly fishing presentation was available for anglers.

For more than 30 minutes, Dan Boggs, a certified casting instructor and fly fishing guide, shared more than 25 years of tips, tricks and secrets of fly fishing, specifically on muskies, which is considered a growing area.

It’s what brought Joe Girouard of Rockton, Illinois, to the show.

“I want to get into it this summer,” he said.

Girouard loves an adrenaline rush. He’s a 911 dispatcher and a volunteer fireman.

“It’s all about adrenaline and that’s why I muskie fish,” he said.

Girouard got somewhat of an introduction to fly fishing muskies last year. He caught the fish on a light-weight spinning reel with a small bait.

“That was really exciting, because the fight was different,” he said. “This is taking it 10 steps further.”

This summer, he wants to try it. But first he needs to learn how to do it. That’s where Boggs fit in.

After his lengthy presentation where more than 20 people stood and watched at one time, Boggs offered one-on-one opportunities for curious anglers.

Girouard stepped right up and flung away on the reel, applying the techniques he had just learned from Boggs.

“I hadn’t touched a fly rod in 30 years,” Girouard said.

“I’m really happy they added it to this year’s show,” he added. “We’ve been to the show for the last several years and the new venue is great; love the new venue.”

He also said you couldn’t beat standing next to a pro and learning the tricks of the trade.

Armed with knowledge, Girouard can’t wait for the ice to melt.

“It’s a test of your skills,” he said of the appeal of fly fishing compared to fishing with a mechanical reel — the latter being used by “gear heads,” as they’re jokingly referred to.

“You’re taking the mechanics out of it,” he added. “It’s giving you, as a fisherman, the best toe-to-toe fight. It comes down to you.”

According to Boggs, muskie fly fishing has been around for centuries. But with the advent of mechanical reels, muskie fly fishing lost its following until recently.

Boggs compared muskie fly fishing to deer hunting. You can either gun hunt or bow hunt. It’s the same thing with fishing for muskies.

Bow hunting and fly fishing are for people who like to be hands-on or have a natural rush, he said “It is the most vicious fish we have in Wisconsin,” Boggs said. “To be able to go toe-to-toe with them, bare hands, is real cool.

“If it swims, I want to catch it on a fly rod.”

Boggs and the company he is with — Blackwater Fly Fishing — had been at the Muskie Expo for the last three years. This year was the first time he had the space to do a demonstration.

In previous shows, muskie fly fishing displays were minimal.

This year, there are vendors from several spots in Wisconsin and a vendor from Tennessee. It was possible because the event moved to the county this year.

The event outgrew its former facility — the Wisconsin Products Pavilion — at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis. The two expo buildings at Washington County Fair Park are about 52,000 square feet combined.

The facility at State Fair Park was about 30,000 square feet.

On top of that, growing frustration of traffic and rising parking fees led to a needed change.

“We added probably another 20 booths and added more seminars and workshops,” said Doug Reuter, event promoter.

The agreement between the event and the Fair Park is for three years, but the contract could get extended if both parties are happy.

“Hopefully it works out,” Reuter said, adding he doesn’t want to move the event often.

The show runs through Sunday.

OUTDOORS: Concern looms for sturgeon spearing season

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: Feb. 10, 2016

Concern looms for sturgeon spearing season

Water clarity may be the worst in 10 years

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Area fishing enthusiasts are holding their breath as spearers get ready for the 2016 sturgeon spearing season — a one-of-a-kind tradition, which opens Saturday on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calumet counties.

“There’s a lot of discussion, but a little different than the last two years,” said Ryan Koenigs, DNR senior fisheries biologist stationed in Oshkosh. “We had better conditions. There was more excitement.

“This year, there’s similar buzz, but it’s a little different. They’re questioning water clarity and conditions, and what it means for this year’s season.”

In the 2014 and 2015 seasons, water clarity was the best it had been in a tradition that goes back to the early 1930s. Last year’s harvest of sturgeon was the sixth-best all time and the largest since the harvest cap system was established in 1999. In 2014, it was the 10th-best all time.

“Water clarity is the biggest predictor of spearing success,” Koenigs said.

In those two seasons, water clarity was at 12-15 feet. Koenigs said when he and his crew tested the water two weeks ago, the clarity was at 4-7 feet.

Dale Jenkins, who works at an ice shanty rental business on the east shore of Lake Winnebago, said clarity is at about 7 feet.

The lake is 21 feet at its deepest, but about 15 feet, three miles off shore. Sturgeon are bottom-dwelling fish so the better the water clarity, the easier it is to see the fish as they swim by the fishing hole.

Koenigs said the population for sturgeon is strong, which is why the harvest cap was raised for a second straight year.

“Things are going very well with our population,” he said, adding the rise in harvest cap is “a strong sign of a healthy population.”

The challenge will be to catch the fish. The mild winter has offset the lake’s transformation of mud sliding into the lake from the shore and the water freezing over compared to 2014 and 2015.

Also of concern is the ice depth.

Shawn Wendt, who maintains an ice shanty rental shop on the west shore — West Shore Fishing Club — said he had to cancel the rentals for this weekend because of concern the ice was not deep enough.

“It is getting better,” Wendt said. “We have some spots that only had 11 inches on it, now they’re 12 1/2.

“Our bylaws say that we need everywhere to be at least a foot. If we get this cold snap, it should help us.”

Temperatures are predicted to be well below freezing for the next few days, which should help.

Wendt cautioned spearers to “use their heads” before going out onto the lake. It’s recommended those with reservations with shanty shops should double check to make sure their reservations are still being honored.

Wendt said he urged those who made reservations to wait a few days after the opening day to let conditions of ice depth and water clarity improve.

Because of the mild winter, it is also anticipated the season will go the full 16 days.

Rules state that the lake sturgeon spearing season ends when either after 16 days or when the harvest cap is meet, whichever comes first.

In 2014, the season was six days. In 2015, it was eight days. The season has gone all 16 days in five of the last 10 years. In 2012 and 2013, the water clarity was 8-10 feet and the season lasted 16 days.

“It might be the worse water clarity since 2006,” Koenigs said.

The 2006 season ranks as the 10th-worst all time with only 225 fish harvested from Lake Winnebago.

But Koenigs also believes no matter the conditions, it won’t scare away spearers who are looking to score the big fish.

In 2014, 106 fish were caught in the Lake Winnebago chain that weighed more than 100 pounds.

The sturgeon spearing season is arguably as popular, if not more popular, than the gun deer opener in November. The reason? It’s unique.

Koenigs said he is aware of only one other area that has sturgeon spearing season: Black Lake in Minnesota. The harvest there, however, is nowhere near what Lake Winnebago offers.

“We have one of the strongest sturgeon populations,” Koenigs said. “This is a very unique opportunity.”

Started in the winter of 1931-32, sturgeon spearing, like deer hunting, is a family, community tradition. Crowds gather at the registration stations to see the size of the fish someone brings in.

In the 1960s and 1970s, poaching was a problem. People illegally harvested these unique fish, specifically during spawning time or mating season — when the fish are most vulnerable. The poachers sold the meat on the black market. Soon after, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, a preservation group for sturgeon, was formed.

Dale and John Jenkins are heavily involved in that effort, as was their late father.

“We probably wouldn’t be sturgeon fishing as it is now,” John said. “We would’ve been so depleted.”

The DNR also stepped in and put limits on harvests. At one time, people could buy a tag for 25 cents, catch a sturgeon, buy another tag for 25 cents and go back on the lake.

Now, it’s one sturgeon per license and the population is heavily monitored with required registration at stations throughout the lake region.

“Regulation of over harvest, legal and illegal, has helped protect the fish,” Koenigs said.

But what makes sturgeon spearing popular? The social aspect.

“There’s more to the sport than looking down the hole and spearing the fish,” Koenigs said. “I don’t think the draw is actually getting the fish. The tradition, the culture, the social aspect is what makes it important to a lot people in the area.”

It’s why Dale and John Jenkins do it. It’s why Wendt does it.

“We’ve been doing this our whole lives,” Dale said.

“It’s not like deer hunting,” Wendt said. “It’s more exciting. You’re with your whole family and friends.”

It’s a tradition unlike any other.

“It’s one of a kind,” Wendt said. “It’s the one spot in the world where you can do something like this.”