JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — For 16-year-old Zeb Wise, this weekend’s racing endeavor is one he’s dreamt of for the entirety of his still-young racing career.
Wise will make his 410 sprint car debut with Baughman Reutzel Motorsports during Friday night’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions event at Jacksonville Speedway.
The quarter-mile Illinois bullring is one that Wise, a USAC regular with Clauson-Marshall Racing, has frequented during his tenure in midgets — making it a logical choice for his maiden voyage in the top class of sprint car racing.
“When we talked about going to an All Star show, I figured it needed to be a place that I had been to in the midget before,” noted Wise. “Obviously, Jacksonville is a place that I’ve ran at many times with POWRi, so I figured that would be as good a place as any to make not only my 410 race debut, but my All Star debut as well.
“I’m excited to get going and I know these guys are too, probably just as much as I am.”
Wise enters the All Star fray off of two 360 sprint car starts at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, which have helped build his comfort level behind the wheel of the winged machines.
“I’ve run the 360 twice at Knoxville and we’ve gotten some good laps there. The first night I went seventh quick (in qualifying) and ran 13th, and the second night I ran seventh, so both those showings were ones we were really happy with,” Wise noted. “I think those two races were about getting me used to being in a winged car and how much different it is than a midget or anything else I’d ever driven. It was all about learning dirty air and using the wing for everything I needed as far as during the race.
“To start in the 360 probably wasn’t a bad idea, given all of that. I’ve actually tested a 410 at Kokomo once, so I know a little bit of how it feels, but I’ve never raced it, so that’ll be a little different.”
Something that won’t be as different for Wise is the hard-nosed style of racing that comes on shorter tracks.
“Most of midget racing is on the little quarter-miles and the bullring-type tracks; we don’t usually get out on the big tracks like Knoxville. That was huge compared to anything I’ve ever driven in a midget,” said Wise. “The biggest track I’d been at in a midget was Eldora, so that was definitely a change, but when you’re in a bigger car and everything, it kind of offsets it a bit.
“I’m excited to go back to a place I’m comfortable at, though,” he added. “It’s tiny, it’s tight, and it’ll be interesting.”
Though his competitive fire is as fierce as ever, Wise is keeping his goals for Friday night’s race realistic.
“With this being my first All Star race and my first 410 race, I really just want to make the show,” Wise said. “I don’t know what to expect, so it’s going to be a big learning curve for me.
“I just want to be in the field and anything after that is a bonus.”