'Bad Fast' joins BCS; Aberdeen man at home on new home track

American News Photo by John Davis (Aberdeen News / June 17, 2011)

Kevin Bliese of Aberdeen is enjoying the chance to stay home and race this summer. Bliese used to run in the Midwest Modified Division, which does not compete at Brown County Speedway. He now has switched over to the Super Stock Division meaning BCS is his new home track.

BY DAVE VILHAUER, dvilhauer@aberdeennews.com

A veteran driver is gaining a new perspective on auto racing this summer.

Kevin Bliese of Aberdeen is competing in a new division on a new home track.

After seven years in a Midwest Modified, Bliese decided to switch to the Super Stock Division, especially since Brown County Speedway does not have a Midwest Mod Division.

“I had to drive at least 90 miles one way to race,” Bliese said. “I heard rumors every year that BCS was going to add the Midwest Mod class to their regular schedule but it never did happen. Now that I'm in a Super, it takes me less than 10 minutes to get to the track.”

Bliese, a Gettysburg native, had his share of success in his old division, winning 23 career features, but a subpar season last year only reinforced his decision to move to the Super Stock Division.

“I tried some different things and none of them seemed to work,” he recalled. “By about the midpoint of last season, I was already starting to come to the conclusion that it's time for something different.”

While Bliese has spent hours behind the wheel, he is a rookie in many ways this summer, figuring out a new car on a foreign track.

“For me, it's dealing with the learning curve of setting up the car to my liking,” Bliese said. “So far, it's been a humbling experience, but I made huge gains just from opening night to the second Friday of racing. It'll just take some time.”

Bliese, who moved to Aberdeen four years ago, grew up in a racing family. His father and grandfather both raced and used to haul Kevin out to the Black Hills several times a season to watch the races. When Kevin got into racing, he ventured out to Rapid City and won several times on that oval. For those reasons, it became his favorite track.

“Brown County Speedway will now be a close second since I can finally call it my home track,” he said.

Bliese has come a long way from his initial ventures on the track.

“The very first night I was in my car it caught fire and I didn't even know it,” he recalled.

Bliese was running dead last when he noticed a yellow flag. He could tell there wasn't an accident ahead of him, but did not know that the race was stopped because of him.

“I slowed down and noticed several track officials running to get me stopped along with the fire truck leaving the infield. I finally slowed down enough where the flames caught up to me and I knew then I was on fire.”

If that wasn't exciting enough, Bliese flipped his car in his third night of racing and then did his best Dukes of Hazzard impersonation in his fifth outing when his steering wheel came off and he missed a turn at full speed.

“I'm not sure how much air I caught during that ride, but it felt like I flew the length of a football field,” Bliese said. “I thought about changing my car color to orange and number to 01 after that ride.”

Now Bliese has his own website, a car that stands out in any field because of its pristine exterior, and even a unique name for his racing program: Bad Fast Motorsports.

“I'm not sure who coined the phrase 'bad fast,' but the first time I ever heard it I thought it was catchy and used the term on a regular basis,” Bliese said. “It seems everyone uses their last name in front of the word 'racing' to label their program. I wanted to be different and thought 'Bliese Racing' was boring and unoriginal so I developed 'Bad Fast Motorsports' as a team name.”

As for the looks of his number 31 vehicle, Bliese explained, “My goal is to be fast and look good. I guess if you can't always be fast, you can always look good.”

At age 37, Bliese still has plenty of years of racing left, but unlike a lot of his contemporaries, he will probably hit the pit area early.

“I've always said I was going to hang up the driving suit when I turned 40,” he said. “At this point I'm taking it one year at a time and will continue to race as long as I'm still having fun. As much as I love racing, I'm also looking forward to the time when I can spend more time doing the other things in life I also enjoy.”