I never had so much fun finishing 16th.

Tuesday’s Miller Lite Nationals didn’t produce the on-track results that driver Rich Bickle and I had hoped for, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Bickle was his usual killer self of the quarter-mile, high-banked Slinger Superspeedway oval driving our car right to the front only to have a mechanical failure put us out of the race with just under 50 laps to go.

Normally, I might have been disappointed at coming so close so spotting Bickle’s fourth and my second Nationals title, but it was hard to feel badly about anything on return trip to my old Wisconsin stomping grounds.

Unlike many Nationals events in the past, this one had perfect weather – a Wisconsin chamber of commerce type of day with cool blue skies, temps in the 80s and no humidity. The pit area was packed with stock cars – 52 super lates in all vying for just 24 starting spots in the 250-lap main event.

Qualifying was insane as driver after driver pounded their 2,800-pound rockets around the track in a three-lap effort to make the show. Lowell Bennett, a three-time Nationals champ and a weekly Slinger standout, turned the fastest lap of the session throwing down a 11.393-second effort.

Think about that – 11 seconds a lap. It’s hard to describe how hard these cars are digging into and out of the corner.

If there’s beauty in racing, this is it.

Bickle’s lap of 11.450 was only good enough to place us eighth in time trials. That means there were six other cars between us and Bennett’s fast lap – all in less than the blink of an eye or in this case, .057-seconds. Talk about a tight field.

Even more incredible was that a time of 11.533 seconds didn’t make the 16 cars locked into the starting field based on their qualifying times. Included in that group was eventual winner Matt Kenseth.

Twenty-four cars took the green flag in the evening’s main event and Bickle, starting in the fourth row, immediately took our white No. 45 to the front racing it to the second position by Lap 25.

Spotting Bickle at Slinger has to be like mixing paint for Michaelangelo. The guy is just so good there, it’s scary. His car control is amazing considering the speeds and the tight quarters he’s racing under. It's one thing to crack off an 11-second lap when you are on the track by yourself. It's another to be doing that under control and passing guys like Rich does.

He's a master at this place and being the guy on the other end of the radio and having a part of that is more fun than I can explain.

By Lap 75 of the first 125-lap segment, Bickle (right) was ready to take the lead away for David Prunty. Prunty paced the event from the drop of the green and when we doubled up on the outside of the front row for a restart after a caution, Bickle took a shot at the lead.

The two cars wiggled hard as we pounded into the first turn. As Prunty sped off the bottom, Bickle went into a 60-degree loose slide through the entire top half of the corner and somehow recovered. We lost three spots in the process, but it was an amazing save – easily the best anyone made all night.

Determined to get back in the fight, Bickle ran down Kenseth from nearly a straightaway back and blasted by him for fourth with little trouble. About to gain the third spot back just two rounds from the break at Lap 125, Bickle radioed he had a fire under the hood of our car. We quickly completed the segment and Rich immediately headed to the pit area where I had already grabbed a fireman and had him on the ready to put out the fire.

During the 10-minute break between race segments, the team fixed a leaky power steering pump (the cause of the fire) and replaced the burnt plug wires on the engine – all in addition to changing tires and making all the other adjustments needed to give the car the winning edge.

Unlike a 14-second NASCAR pit stop, little was choreographed here as many of our old Wisconsin racing buddies – people who rarely work together at the track – poured over the car to get it back on the track prior to the 10-minute deadline. People were running over each other trying to get things done and, somehow, they did it.

Unfortunately, the fire sparked the beginning of the end of our chances to win the race. Back under green in the second segment, contact from behind during close quarters racing in Turn 3 wrinkled our left rear quarter panel. It also cut the left-rear tire and we started to cycle back through the field as the tire slowly gave way. Later, the end came when the engine dropped a cylinder – thanks to the crispy electricals from the earlier engine fire - as it roared by me in the Turn 4 spotter’s area.

We were done for the night.

All that was left was to watch Kenseth (left) catch Prunty in the late stages of the race and motor by for his third Nationals title. Prunty, who led 224 of the 250 laps, had to be satisfied with second. Dennis Prunty came home third with Bennett fourth and Brian Johnson Jr. fifth.

Travis Dassow earned his best Nationals finish with a sixth-place effort with Jeremy Lepak, Josh Bauer, Chad Barker and Matt Kocourek completing the Top-10. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Erik Darnell was 11th while Cup star Scott Wimmer was 14th after running third behind us most of the first segment.

Like Bickle, Wimmer had mechanical problems in the second segment suffering a broken sway-bar on Lap 183. Another NASCAR standout - Busch Series driver Todd Kluever – was never a factor in the ultra-tough field and wound up 19th.

It was great seeing Matt win. Matt and I go back to his teenage years – before he was a racer - and Tuesday’s Nationals were like old times as we pitted between him and another Wisconsin racing legend, Dick Trickle (right). There were plenty of stories and laughs throughout the day – just like old times.

Afterward, there was no NASCAR-style hurry to get packed and get to the next race. Kenseth’s winning car wasn’t cloistered in tech somewhere, but parked right at the back of his trailer with the winning trophy on the roof.

A couple hundred people swarmed around our three haulers drinking beer and swapped racing “lies” hours after the event. It was a time to relax and greet countless old friends who had come to see the race. It’s the way racing used to be for this writer – uncomplicated, fun and respectful. Guys raced their asses off against each other, but when it was all over, everyone got together and relaxed.

Given that we had driven by Matt twice during the race, I’d like to feel we would have beaten him if it came down to a race finish. It was bittersweet to not win Tuesday – it was my best chance to capture a race in a long time - but going back home and experiencing the fun of racing at Slinger again and seeing so many familiar faces made it all worthwhile.

It was a great trip - despite getting stranded in a Chicago airport for 10 hours because of bad weather on my way back Thursday. With any luck, I’ll be able to make it again next year.