ALGER, Wash. — Zeb Wise remains on the list of drivers to highlight before the upcoming 51st Annual Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway next week.
Hailing from Angola, Indiana, Wise will make a return appearance at Skagit Speedway in the Rudeen Racing No. 26. Wise competes heavily with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions. Wise has picked up two wins this year with the All Stars, amongst seven top fives and 13 top 10s.
“[The season] didn’t start too good out in Florida we kinda had a rough patch there,” Wise stated when asked how his season has been. “When we got back to home base, we kinda made a team change, [and] crew chief change…Ever since we’ve changed that and got on the road with the All Stars, we’ve been really good.
“Second in All Star owner points and have been really successful and had speed about anywhere we go. Overall, it didn’t start off too good, but the last couple months have been really solid.”
Dirt Cup last year was Wise’s first time behind the wheel of a sprint car for owner Kevin Rudeen, and it was a bumpy start. Thursday night went well for Wise.
He finished third in his heat race and eighth in the feature, an overall decent points night for a first time in the car. However, trouble struck Friday night.
Wise blew a tire during the feature on Friday forcing his team to have to fix almost everything on the car before Saturday. After thrashing to get the car back together, more bad luck struck the No. 26R car as during the main event the steering gear forced Wise to end the night short.
“I’m excited,” Wise said when asked about coming back to Dirt Cup. “That was my first race with Rudeen last year… [feeling] really confident rolling in there. The Westcoast boys are no joke, so the handful of guys out there that are really stout we will have to contend with for sure, but I feel like with our team and our package and the way we are going right now, no reason we can’t go out there and grab a win.
“It’s really cool to go there in Kevin Rudeen’s car and race at his track that he owns and where he grew up at.”