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Carlson Rebounds To Win Rockford Title

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ryan Carlson attained one of the nation’s toughest-to-win pavement Late Model division track championships in 2011. He became only the sixth different driver in 25 seasons to take the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series title at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway while snagging the 2011 NASCAR Illinois state championship, as well.

Carlson worked his way through the ups and downs of the racing season that included a winless streak of more than a month.

Carlson divided his time between his own car and that of respected team owner Fred Nason. Nason’s cars were driven to seven consecutive Rockford NASCAR Late Model championships by Ricky Bilderback from 2001 to 2007. Nason owns three Rockford Sportsman division championships as a driver on his own accord and his son, Austin Nason, won Rockford’s 2011 All-American Sportsman division championship.

Carlson’s 2011 campaign started out with great results. He posted three wins to go along with several steady finishes and enjoyed a healthy points lead entering July. Then his racing fates became fickle. A few skirmishes and some minor mechanical issues virtually erased that lead around the midpoint of the season.

“We were struggling and got down to a lead of only seven points,” Carlson said. “It was pretty nerve racking from July until the last race of the season. We were racing for the title against Jerry Gille. He’s one of the best and he has two championships. I didn’t have the experience of racing for a championship that he does.”

After a cold streak that lasted 43 days, Carlson finally posted his fourth win of the season on Aug. 20. He added one more win down the stretch and posted solid results the rest of the way to win the title by 29 points over Gille. In addition to his five wins, Carlson logged 13 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes in 17 starts.

Carlson, a graduate of Legends racing, was Rockford’s Late Model division Rookie of the Year in 2002. He won his first two features in 2003 and finished third in track points. In 2004, he branched out to race at other tracks before resuming a fulltime schedule at Rockford in 2007.

“I wanted to go for the championship in 2007,” Carlson said. “The season started out good, but in the end I learned how tough it is to win a championship.”

Bilderback won his seventh consecutive Rockford championship driving for Nason while Carlson placed eighth in the final point standings in 2007.

The collaboration between Carlson and Nason began in July 2010 as a bit of a pilot test.

“Fred called me out of the blue and asked if I wanted to drive for him. We agreed to do it once and if it was fun we’d just go from there,” Carlson stated.

Carlson got all the incentive he needed to win Rockford’s championship after attending the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C., following the completion of the 2010 season.

“I attended the banquet as a crew member for Tim Sargent, who won our Late Model championship in 2010,” Carlson said. “That showed me what we could go get. Being there as track champion myself was something else. NASCAR showers you with praise.”

Nason’s car is based on a Lefthander chassis and powered by a Tesar engine. Carlson’s car is owned by his mother Debra Numbers and her husband Mark. It uses a Hamke chassis and is powered by a JAMR engine.

Team members include Jason Knaus, son of seven-time Rockford champion John Knaus and younger brother of five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion crew chief Chad Knaus, along with Tom Kahler, Pete Gwizdala, Ben Read, Jacob Aldridge and Katherine Dougherty.

In addition to John Knaus and Bilderback, Bobby Wilberg won a total of seven Rockford Late Model championships since 1987. Gille has two while Sargent and Carlson have one each.

By winning the Rockford (Ill.) Speedway Late Model division championship in 2011, Ryan Carlson joined an elite group of drivers who have accomplished that feat. Courtesy of Rockford Speedway