1977 ASA National Champion Dave Watson has accepted an invitation to be a “Guest of Honor” this Sunday, May 7 for the Joe Shear Classic at Madison International Speedway.
Watson began his racing career on the Midwestern short tracks, winning the 1973 track championship at Rockford (IL) Speedway and the 1975 Slinger Super Speedway track championship.
1976 was a big year for the Milton, WI racer. In 76 events entered during that season, Watson won 41 races – the most in the United States that year. During that magical summer, Watson claimed the Madison International Speedway (Capital Super Speedway) track championship with his Super Late Model, and the Lake Geneva Raceway track championship. He also won two Red, White, and Blue state championship series races at Wisconsin International Raceway.
Watson began racing on two national tours in 1977 – the American Speed Association (ASA) and USAC Stock Car. He took the USAC Stock Car Rookie of the Year award and won the both the 1977 ASA Championship and Rookie of the Year.
After short stint at the NASCAR Cup Level, Watson moved on to road racing and won the Most Improved Driver Award in Trans Am in 1983.
In 2015, Watson was inducted into the Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame, as well as the Madison International Speedway Hall of Fame.
The Joe Shear Classic 200 will mark race two of the inaugural ASA STARS National Tour schedule, set for 2:00PM CT on Sunday, May 7. Advance tickets are available by visiting the track website at misracing.com/tickets, or at the track office during regular business hours. Madison International Speedway is located ten minutes south of Madison, on Sunrise Road off of Highway 138 between Oregon and Stoughton.
The Joe Shear Classic will be live-streamed on Racing America, MidwestTour.tv and TRACKTV.com. MAVTV will air the event on Monday, May 15 at 8pm ET.
For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at starsnationaltour.com, or be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).
Track Enterprises PR
