A regular fixture at a trio of Wisconsin tracks, Kopellah Speedway, Rice Lake Speedway and Eagle Valley Speedway, Adams proved his mettle at several tracks throughout WISSOTA-land during a grand tally of 52 starts. He amassed an impressive 50-plus percentile of feature wins - 28 to be exact - and concluded the season with a 14-point margin over nearest rival Blake Jegtvig.

“It’s much more entertaining when it (the title chase) comes down to the last race,” Adams mentioned in reference to his final point night at KRA Speedway during their Fall Festival in late September. “After finishing a close second in Friday night’s main, I knew we had to get it done on Saturday. Lady Luck was on my side; I drew the pole for the heat and the feature. We ended up with a clean sweep and the national title.”

The 1,708 points he scored during the season-long chase included, along with the aforementioned 28 main event wins, 36 heat race triumphs, 44 top fives, 49 top 10 finishes and a grand total of 23 clean sweeps.

“I can’t really pinpoint one win as being better than the other,” he admitted. “Aside from the weekend in KRA, the Father’s Day weekend at Eagle Valley stands out. Adams Automotive sponsored that night and Dad (Dave Adams) actually went to a race on Sunday night. He usually takes Sundays off, and we pulled off a clean sweep.”

Wisconsin’s racing history is brim-filled with Dave Adams’ achievements, and the connection between the last name and car numbers is of no coincidence.

“Dad raced for about 20 years,” the younger Adams revealed. “He raced Late Models and Modifieds. After he quit, he got me interested in go-karts as a youngster.”

Not that the youngster in question hadn’t already sprouted some racing intentions of his own.

“There was always racing in the family, and I just wanted to race go-karts, bicycles, anything. It looked like fun, and dad always had fun racing. Now he’s my crew chief, though he’s still a dad first. He always tells it like it is. Period. It makes him the go-to guy for the team.”

The Adams racing bloodline also features his uncle Tim, a Street Stock and Super Stock racer in the 1990s, and brother-in-law Gordy Brunette. Brunette was also a Super Stock pilot who also did a brief stint in ASA stock cars.
To keep the racing blood flowing, Adams has married into a racing family. Wife Megan is daughter to Tim McMann, a Late Model standout from the Superior and Proctor regions.

Marching to the top of his class, Adams strayed from the safe confines of his weekly regiment, turning laps at several other Wisconsin ovals, including Central Wisconsin Raceway, Superior Speedway, Red Cedar Speedway and ABC Raceway. In addition to the KRA foray into Minnesota, he also visited the revived Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon.

In February, while the local tracks shivered in their winter slumber, the team racked up plenty of miles with a road trip to Volusia Speedway and North Florida Speedway located deep into the sunshine state. Along the way, they snagged another show at Golden Isle Speedway in Brunswick, GA.

“It wasn’t a good omen for the year,” Adams said. “We damaged our new Fegers car beyond repair at North Florida. At Volusia, we had some good runs in the new Shaw chassis, nothing to write home about. After hurting an engine and two transmissions, we pulled the plug on the south run.”

Upon returning home, the Fegers was sent to the shop and Adams and crew began a gentle “tweaking” of the Shaw mount to be readied for the opening WISSOTA shows.

“It was just a couple of changes and the Shaw took off like a rocket!” he exclaimed. “It seemed like no matter what I threw at it, it just got faster and faster.”

Wishing to greet racers across the WISSOTA divide, Adams ventured west - way west - to Thunder Speedway in Gillette, WY, for the WISSOTA 100 West Region.

“I’ve never been so cold at a race track,” he quipped about the winter type temperatures that weekend in September. “And never had a better race than going against (eventual winner) Tony Leiker lap after lap, side by side. Even though I didn’t win, that’s one for the memory book.”

For the curious, the power plant under the winning Shaw Chassis is pure Adams Automotive.

Team 40 has a steady crew of Kyle “Lefty” Hansen, Keith Haugen, Simon Wahlstrom, Ben Ebner, Josh Amans and trio of Grilley’s, Joe, Derek and Rory. Rounding out the effort is wife Megan and of course, his dad Dave.

Adams’ self owned Buzz Signs and Graphix is just one of the many sponsors blanketing the black and orange body panels. Among the vinyl embellished are Todd’s Crankshaft Grinding, Thompson Nelson Insurance, Coors Light, Geirtz Motorsports, G-Force Racing Gear, Brunette Powdercoating, Elite Shock Services, Crossroads Café, Quality Cleaners, Bob Seckora, Reiker Motorsports, Bassett Wheels, Larry Shaw Race Cars, Fegers Racing Equipment, Chris Burback, Inc. and Adams Automotive.

Gunning for a point championship, much less at a national level, is usually not the motive for the 28-year-old Cameron native.

“I set out every year with two primary goals: win some races and have a good time,” he stated. “I’m at home with my three weekend tracks, but I do like to see other dirt. The decision to travel away from home is usually one of those last minute things.”

Ultimately, he has raced his way into the national top 10 every year since 1998, beginning with a successful sophomore Street Stock streak. His first run to the top of the national heap occurred in 2003, while campaigning a Brunette chassied Super Stock (an interesting side fact: he has a total of 268 career main event wins; 44 in the Modifieds, 72 in the Super Stocks, 50 in the Midwest Mods and 102 in the Street Stocks).

“I race to win,” he stated, breaking down his tenet a bit further with “and to have fun. I’m fortunate to have found that balance.”
That perfect balance is kept in check by the support of so many friends, and deeply devoted family.

“They keep me real,” he said. “I have to thank my parents (Dave and Linda) and my wife Megan for all their support.”
Staying real also means adding another compliment to his winning life: in January, he and Megan will welcome son Blake to the racing fold. Or, as he states, “The new crew member .”

His racing life will remain basically the same: “Race my three tracks, have fun and hopefully make the top 10 again.”
There will be a behind the scenes change, however. For his entire racing career, his shop has been shared with Canada based Late Model renown Tom Nesbitt.

“There’s a strange kind of emptiness, now that Tom has retired for good,” Adams said. “I’ll miss the advice, but I’m going to miss the stories and the BS even more!”

Reflecting upon a successful year, Adams summed everything up with, “I think it is all a dream right now. I definitely won’t take this for granted. I’m going to party all winter and celebrate this accomplishment with everyone!”

To stay up to date on Adams at work or at play, visit his race company website at www.buzzsigns.com or his race website at www.buzzyadamsracing.com.