Whelen All-American Champion Meets the Nebraska Govenor

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state champion
Jase Kaser with the 2013 NASCAR championship trophy. Courtesy Nebraska Governor's Office

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman personally congratulated his state’s 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American champion two days before Christmas. The governor’s office soon put pictures of the visit on the state website http://www.governor.nebraska.gov/. Jase Kaser won the state championship and NASCAR dirt Late Model track championships at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., and Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb.

Accompanied by his parents Jay and Shari, Kaser, 21, of Lincoln, Neb., made a quick crosstown trip to the Nebraska State Capitol Building.

“I got to meet our governor and I’ve never done anything like that,” Kaser said. “It was cool… really fun.”

Heineman is a popular governor who has held the office since 2005. He’s welcomed several NASCAR state champions to his capitol building offices over the years.

“I was expecting the governor to be kind of formal, but he was really easy to talk with. It was just like talking with someone at the track,” Kaser said of his comfort level. “Gov. Heineman is interested in racing and he knows there are a lot of short tracks and NASCAR fans around the state.”

Kaser said he was impressed by the opportunity to meet the governor.

“I didn’t know any of this was going to happen. It’s pretty special,” he said.

“NASCAR has been very good to us with the banquet, trophies, point fund and governor visit,” Kaser said. “We really appreciate that. We’re going to stick with NASCAR and hope we can run for a couple more titles.”

Kaser’s plans for the 2014 are fluid right now, but he said his team is considering a two-track, two-state effort. His schedule could be fulltime at I-80 on Fridays while picking up starts at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa on some Saturdays.

“It might be tough to do, but it would be cool to do it,” Kaser said.

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