Kevin Nouse had a much different feel in the car the last two times he ventured into the competitive 410 Sprint Car ranks.
In each case, Nouse, a 358 Sprint Car regular, was a part-time fill in. He ran for the injured Will Rose in 2015 and got comfortable pretty quick on his way to a victory at Port Royal Speedway.
The second stint in 2017 was a little different. Nouse was filling the seat in the Matt Highlands entry before James McFadden arrived, and he struggled to get a acclimated to his surroundings.
Now, Nouse gets another crack. Burt and Wanda Wiegner are new to the Sprint Car game, and they have paired with car-owner Jake Raudabaugh and Nouse to run 10 to 12 races at Port Royal Speedway this season.
“When I ran the Highlands car, I wasn’t competitive,” Nouse said. “I think the reason I wasn’t competitive is because I wasn’t in my car. I never could get a good feel in the car … the steering was night and day from my car, so I never got comfortable.
“The last time I was comfortable [in a 410] was when I ran Will Rose’s car back in 2015. I only ran nine or 10 races and just about the time I was getting comfortable, it was time for him to get back in the car.”
Continued Nouse, “The one thing that excites me is driving my own car with my own team. It’s a comfortable situation. It’s like sitting in your living room at home and watching television. You’re familiar with your surroundings, you’re not trying to impress anybody, and nobody is expecting you to set the world on fire.
“I think all of those things will help me. It’s just going to take some time to get used to it again. I’m really excited about it, but we have to hold back that excitement and look at it realistically. If it goes well, maybe we get another motor or come back and do it again. If everything goes well, I expect it to be a really good partnership.”
This wasn’t a traditional merger that morphed out of a simple introduction and handshake. It actually started through rumors and a meeting at Racing Xtravaganza.
Two and a half years ago, Nouse was told an owner was looking at him to run and be the driver for a 410 Sprint Car team. Nothing came of it, so Nouse didn’t give it a second thought.
A year ago, there was more interest. Someone told Nouse that his owner — Raudabaugh — bought the engine the team with previous interest was looking at. That wasn’t the case, so in Nouse’s words, “It came and went. It was weird.”
Strange turned into reality during this year’s Racing Xtravaganza show. Wiegner walked into Nouse’s booth and introduced himself as the man who wanted to put the 358 Sprint Car star in a 410 two years ago.
“He wanted me to build it, run it, the whole nine yards,” said Nouse of Wiegner. “So, we got together and talked about what he wanted to do. In the meantime, I talked to Jake about the whole thing, because I wanted him to know what was going on.
“I said to Jake, ‘If he has any interest in teaming up with us, would that interest you?’ He said, ‘Absolutely, we just have to work out the details of how the whole situation would work. So, I had a meeting with Burt, and we talked about everything.
“I told him I was flattered, but I have a business and a family. I asked him why don’t he bring his engine to our team? He wanted to build slowly and run 10 to 12 races anyway, and instead of spending all of this money to build a team, why doesn’t he bring an engine to our team and get his feet wet being involved in 410 racing?”
Continued Nouse, “He didn’t have to spend the $70,000 or $80,000 to build a team. So, that interested him, and me, Jake, and Burt sat down, had a meeting, and figured out the details.”
The Nouse-Raudabaugh-Wiegner combination was supposed to debut April 11 at Port Royal Speedway. Obviously, that was nixed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Now, Nouse and Co. will not only have to play the waiting game, they will also have go to work at trying to juggle events when racing resumes.
“We are trying to stay away from time-trial shows,” Nouse said. “We took the motor to Don Ott, and he went over everything and ran it on the Dyno. It’s not a killer motor like Danny Dietrich, Macri, or Rahmer has, but it’s a fine engine for what we want to do.
“Obviously, the schedule is changing, so we will have to see when we get going and look at our schedule. We have to look at the 358 schedule and mesh everything.”
When Nouse does dip his toe back into the 410 division, he is going to be more realistic than he has been in the past. This is a different situation, and his circumstances have changed.
Nouse isn’t a 28-year-old driver trying to make his mark. He is 47 and has plenty of responsibility with his business and a family.
Instead of trying to run every race on what would quickly turn into a pressure cooker schedule, Nouse is content to ease into the 410 process. The idea is to set modest goals, get Wiegner acclimated to the division, and most important, have fun.
“I have to get comfortable in the 410 and see where we are at as a team at Port Royal before we go to a time trial show that has 45 cars,” Nouse said. “If you go to Port Royal and start seventh or eighth and go to the front and contend, you are doing well. If you are struggling to qualify in your heat and running outside the top 10, you have a problem.
“Top 10s are our goal. You are losing money, but the money you are losing is way less than running 18th or not qualifying. If we go there and run 15th, we need to get better, but we can’t let that get us down and take the fun out of it.
“There is no pressure from Burt or Jake for me to run up front. All the pressure I get will be from myself, so we will see how it goes. We want to do this to have fun.”