Joe Verdegan

For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Lou Goss will be the first to admit that he’s not exactly a “household name” when it comes to the local stock car racing circles.

Over the past several years, the Green Bay native has raced sporadically on the pavement in a few classes and touring series — without a ton of success.

He’s competed in roughly 70 races dating to 2007. He’s raced super stocks and in the Mid-American Stock car series, combined with the occasional race in a late model at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. He’s had experience at bigger tracks like the Milwaukee Mile and Road America in Elkhart Lake. He has a handful of heat race wins to show for his efforts.

So when Goss recently announced he was going “all-in” to compete in the NASCAR truck series, a few eyebrows were raised, to say the least. That doesn’t bother Goss one bit. In fact, this mechanical engineer for a Sturgeon Bay company recently gave his employer a one-month notice that he was quitting his job to pursue the racing dream full time.

“This has pretty much been a dream of mine to attempt to race in NASCAR since I was about 5 years old,” said Goss, now 31. “This whole deal got started last fall. My brother John Goss got in touch with someone who was a relative of someone who drove the semi hauler for B.J. McLeod’s team. He said they were always looking for crew help during races.”

The Goss brothers wound up crewing over the wall for a NASCAR team. Goss applied for a NASCAR truck series license and got approved.

“Brett Bodine (NASCAR director of competition) called and said I was approved last year to race on tracks the size of 1 mile or smaller,” Goss said.

Late last year, Goss was a NASCAR-approved driver without a truck. He had sold every racing part, nut and bolt from his short track days to scrape together funds to purchase a truck.

“We got in touch with Mike Harmon Racing in January," Goss said. "They needed to raise some money to get their Xfinity team car to Daytona for Speedweeks. So I ended up buying his truck. The timing was perfect to get a good deal.”

The decision to purchase his truck was a no-brainer after Goss called a few teams inquiring about renting.

“Even some of the mid-pack teams wanted like $40,000 per race to rent the truck,” Goss said. “And you didn’t even keep the race winnings from that either.”



Goss’ truck he purchased came as a “roller,” which means it still needed a motor, transmission, racing seat, radiator and fuel cell.

“Mike (Harmon) has been really helpful to me and they’ve finished the truck and it’s still down in North Carolina,” Goss said. “We’re going to rent an engine and transmission to start out and for now our team will still be based in Green Bay until we can secure enough sponsorship to move it down south.”



The NASCAR truck series isn’t a cheap date.

“The entry fee per team is $1,750 for each race,” Goss said. “The racing fuel we run is close to $10 a gallon which isn’t much different from what you pay locally. One set of tires cost $2,450, though. That is costly. The truck shows pay about $10,000-to-start and around $40,000-to-win give or take a little bit. So our goal is to raise $10,000 per race. We could manage on ($6,000-$8,000) per race, though. I’ve already got enough from selling my short track stuff to get to our first race.”



That first NASCAR truck race for Goss will be June 15 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. It is a three-quarter mile, paved oval.

“Our goal is to make the show the first race because we don’t have any owner’s points to fall back on to earn a provisional,” Goss said. “They’ll start 32 trucks so we’ve got to be fast enough if more than 32 trucks show up. It puts a little pressure on you. But I’m taking this seriously and my attitude is if you take a part-time approach to it you’ll get part-time results. Securing sponsorship will be nearly a full-time job in itself.”

Goss’ support system includes his dad Dean, brother John and his wife Teele.

“My wife was with me many a race over the years when we were far from home so she gets it,” Goss said. “When I first told her of my plans she didn’t speak to me for a couple of days. But she came around. I’ve taken care of things like our insurance and what not. Things are taken care of on the home front so she’s better with it.”

The team has launched a website, lougoss74.com to help market themselves and secure sponsorship.

“Everybody I’ve talked to has been very supportive,” Goss said. “It ultimately comes down to money and knowledge. We’re on a shoestring budget, so for the time being our shop will remain in Green Bay. It’s our goal to raise enough sponsor money to get a shop down south. We’re going to operate like a short track team for now. We’d love to move down south.”

If Goss can make it work, he’ll be the second Green Bay driver to make it to NASCAR’s big leagues. The last driver from Titletown to break into NASCAR’s truck series was five-time WIR champion Scott Hansen. Hansen raced a truck for Kenny Schrader in 1998 and 1999.

And if this dream crashes and burns?

“You don’t know until you try it,” Goss said. “My employer says I’ve still got a job if waiting for me if this doesn’t pan out. We really want to make this work.”

Joe Verdegan is a freelance columnist and motorsports author who’s penned three books on local racing history, including “Life In The Past Lane — The Next Generation.” You can reach him at jverdegan2@gmail.com.

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LOCAL NEWS AND NOTES

141, Shawano openers rained out: Racing programs scheduled for April 20 at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek and Shawano Speedway in Shawano were washed out due to excessive rain. Both programs will attempt to get their seasons underway at 6 p.m. April 27.

Practice makes perfect: A handful of open practice sessions are available in the coming weeks at area ovals. The Hill in Sturgeon Bay will host an inspection/car show followed by a practice session at noon May 11 at John Miles Park.

Norway (Mich.) Speedway will host an open practice from noon to 4 p.m. May 11. Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna hosts its weekly Tuesday night practices beginning May 7 from 4 p.m. until dusk.

Gravity Park opens: Gravity Park USA in Chilton has its scheduled season-opening race at 7 p.m. April 26. Defending track champions include Menasha’s T.J. Smith (modified), Green Bay’s J.J. Heinz (stock car), New Holstein’s Tim “Grasshopper” Mueller (street stock), Malone’s Tim Warner (sportmod), Omro’s Derek Schrauth (grand national) and Chilton’s Mitchell Meier (4 cylinder.)

Zehr to Beale Racing: Menominee, Michigan’s Dalton Zehr, the defending ARCA Midwest Tour super late model champion, will serve as the crew chief for Beale Racing out of Madison for 2019. While Zehr will race in a number of ARCA MT events, he does not plan to defend his crown. Zehr will make a handful of appearances at Norway (Mich.) Speedway, including the season opener May 24 and the 36th annual Stateline Challenge on July 5.

Jefferson ISS leftovers: With Shawano Speedway’s opener weathered out, the father-son duo of Jerry and Eddie Muenster of Green Bay joined Suamico’s Andy Kleczka and towed to Jefferson Speedway to take part in the Impact Survival Series event. Eddie Muenster fared best of the trio, taking sixth, with Kleczka on his heels in seventh. Jerry Muenster wound up 16th. Other local notables who placed in the top 20 included Wisconsin International Raceway owner Danny Van Daalwyk in 13th, Pulaski’s Dean DeKeyser in 12th, Faithhorn, Michigan’s Trevor Cronick in 14th and Sobieski’s Sean Jerovetz taking 19th. Kyle Stark of Waterloo won the 300-lap contest.

Joe Verdegan