BURLINGTON, Wis. -- Last year Steve Carlson added a new item to the history books of the Dixieland 150 as he became the first six-time winner of the great event held every first Tuesday in August at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, WI. He comes into the 2009 event second in the American Speed Association Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment points with three wins already this season.

What's interesting to know about Carlson is how the six-time winner approached the half-mile "D"-shaped oval when he first competed there, "I kind of take that racetrack as a personal challenge, cause many years ago I didn't run good there and my crew used to give me a real hard time about that," Carlson recently said. "I kind of made it my goal to run good there and I kind of focused on that."

That focus has sent him to victory lane in 1998, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2008. What would it mean to win it a seventh time? Carlson gave his patented answer, "That would be cool. I would really like that."

The 28th annual event on Tuesday, August 4th will bring two NASCAR drivers who are both coming off a strong weekend of racing.

Kevin Harvick will be making his first visit to WIR and competing in his first Super Late Model event in Wisconsin. He recently finished sixth in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. will be competing in his second Dixieland 150 event. He competed in the 2007 event where he finished 23rd after retiring with a broken hub. This past weekend, while driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., he won his fourth straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, IN. He followed that up with a sixth place finish on Saturday night in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event at ORP.

Hornaday currently has a 174-point lead over Mike Skinner in the Truck Series standings.

Harvick will be adding his name to an impressive list of competitors who have raced the famed event. Some of the biggest names that have competed is among the Who's Who in the history of the sport: Bobby Allison, Davey Allison, Terry Baldry, Lowell Bennett, Rich Bickle, Bobby Blount, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Steve Carlson, Landon Cassill, Kevin Cywinski, Erik Darnell, Justin Diercks, Bobby Dotter, Dale Earnhardt, Mike Garvey, David Green, Scott Hansen, Nathan Haseleu, Steve Holzhausen, Brian Hoppe, Ron Hornaday, Bobby Iverson, Matt Kenseth, Alan Kulwicki, Travis Kvapil, Stephen Leicht, Dave Mader III, Jimmy Mars, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Butch Miller, Ted Musgrave, Pete Parker, Adam Petty, Tony Raines, Bryan Reffner, Tom Reffner, Robbie Reiser, Jay Sauter, Jim Sauter, Tim Sauter, Tim Schendel, Larry Schuler, Al Schill, Al Schill Jr., Ken Schrader, Bob Senneker, Joe Shear, Jimmy Spencer, Tony Stewart, Dick Trickle, Kenny Wallace, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip, Dave Watson, Jim Weber, and Scott Wimmer.

In the past 27 runnings of the event, 13 different drivers would visit victory lane. Mark Martin (1981, 84), Jim Sauter (1982), Dick Trickle (1983, 87, 90, 91), Butch Miller (1985, 86, 88), Rich Bickle (1989), Steve Holzhausen (1992), Scott Hansen (1993, 99), Joe Shear (1994, 96), Bryan Reffner (1995), Steve Carlson (1997, 98, 2001, 03, 04, 08), Brian Hoppe (2000, 2002), Stephen Leicht (2005), and Kyle Busch (2007).

For the third straight year, the Big 8 Series will join the ASAMT for a 38-lap feature event. Last year, two-time series champion Jeremy Miller held off Ross Kenseth for the win. Both will be back this year along with the best weekly competitors in the Midwest.

A special VIP ticket is on sale for this event for $100 (all ages) that includes a question/answer session and autograph signing with Kevin Harvick, VIP Seating, FREE VIP Parking, Dinner, and Beverages. The first 200 VIP tickets bought will also receive an autographed 1/24th scale Diecast car valued at $69.00.

VIP and advance general admission tickets can be purchased online by clicking the link at www.asamidwesttour.com. VIP tickets are $100 (all ages), Adult (ages 12 & up) General Admission tickets are $18.00 advance ($25 day of the race); Children (ages 8-12) are $8.00 advance ($12.00 day of the race), ages 7 and under are Free (general admission only, this does NOT include the VIP).

The 28th Annual Dixieland 150 presented by Gandrud Chevrolet on Tuesday, August 4th will get underway with ASAMT ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment/Oregon Cutting Systems "Quick Cut" Qualifying will get underway at 4:30 p.m. with the autograph session scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. Racing gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Fan gates open at 3:00 p.m.

To learn more about the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment log on to www.asamidwesttour.com or call the ASA Midwest Tour office at (262) 514-3880 or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@asamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@asamidwesttour.com.

To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asaracing.com.