Wisconsin Native and Open-Wheel Junior Formula Team Owner Co-Driving the No. 61 Wulver Racing LMP3 at Road America
By Jeff Olson
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – It’s a one-off, but it’s more complicated than that. It’s about friendship, rejuvenation, a racetrack and the love of racing.
Augie Pabst III, who hasn’t driven a race car professionally in 13 years, will team with Tonis Kasemets, a friend of more than 20 years, in Sunday’s IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.
The idea was Kasemets’, a celebration of gratitude and competition.
Pabst was skeptical, but that eventually waned, and the two are co-driving the No. 61 Wulver Racing Ligier JS P320 in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class as the team makes its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut. The car is under the care of a crew of mechanics and engineers volunteering their time to join the effort.
“It’s a massive group get-together,” Kasemets said. “Fun, no strings attached. It’s a one-off event. We’re going to have fun and see how the car will shake out.”
Pabst, whose racing career included stints in several formula classes, put driving aside after the Six Hours of Spa in 2008 to focus on running Pabst Racing. Kasemets, who began racing for Pabst in the early 2000s, has a racing resume that includes IndyCars, formula cars and IMSA.
Kasemets came up with the idea of co-driving a Wulver Racing LMP3 entry with Pabst, whose family name is associated with racing and the Milwaukee brewing industry. Pabst’s father, Augie Pabst, won national championships in SCCA and USAC in the late 1950s and early 1960s, finished fourth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1961 – the same year he won the Road America 500 – and was a GT class winner at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1963 when he drove with Roger Penske.
Pabst Racing, which enters cars in the USF2000 Championship and Indy Pro 2000 Championship open-wheel development series, was founded in 1983 by Pabst III’s father and is based in nearby Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
Always the businessman, Pabst III first asked about the financial details of the Road America comeback.
“First thing he asked was, ‘Who’s going to pay for it?’” Kasemets said. “Not who’s driving, but who’s going to pay for it. That’s quite typical of him. He worries about those things first. We talked about it and I laid out the idea of several test days beforehand.”
The first test in July at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Illinois, wasn’t perfect. But during the second test a week later, Pabst was six-tenths of a second off Kasemets’ best lap.
“That was my max, all I had in me,” Pabst said. “I don’t expect to be three or four seconds off the pace, but I don’t expect to be setting the pace, either.”
Last week, K-Hill Motorsports team manager Brandi Kaiser arranged for Pabst to compete in an Atlantic Championship Series race at Road America to familiarize him with the track he “knows like the back of my hand.” He finished second.
“I don’t have the seat time the regulars do, but I haven’t forgotten everything,” Pabst said. “The goal here is to have fun and be as competitive as we can while doing that. I think we’re pretty well set to go.”
Their first laps of the race weekend came Saturday morning in practice. Pabst was third quick among the LMP3 Bronze-rated drivers and Silver drivers 30 and younger, at 2 minutes, 3.058 seconds. Kasemets, unfortunately, went off course late in the session and made contact with a tire barrier, though damage to the car appeared limited.
The point of the weekend’s effort is to celebrate racing and companionship and see how competitive two veteran racers can be. Kaiser, longtime financial supporter Jay Ilioham, and Bruce Hamilton, Wulver Racing’s owner and Kasemets’ usual co-driver, are part of the celebration.
“It was cool to see them all jump in,” Kasemets said. “That means a lot. They’re coming from other places and doing this. We’ve done so many other things in our lives. It’s camaraderie and having fun this way. This is our little camping trip together.”
When he heard about the plan, Burke Harrison, an engineer for Pabst Racing, booked a flight, rental car and hotel room.
“All on his own dime,” Pabst said.
Just some friends who share a common interest, sharing the joy it brings.
“These guys would not show up for free anywhere else,” Kasemets said with a smile. “Just for this little camping trip. We’re excited, nervous and looking forward to it.”