Troy Rave
Troy Rave

A year ago he was dealing blackjack. Now he’s being called the NASCAR rookie of the year.

Tonight, NASCAR rookie Troy Rave will wrap up his impressive first season in the Kwik Trip Late Model Division when he kicks off a four-day Oktoberfest Race Weekend, happening at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, Wisconsin.

Rave won’t be named this year’s Late Model track champion, but he is looking at securing 10th place. Regardless of how he well he does, Rave is definitely rookie of the year.

Rave has been racing for a while. He started out behind the wheel in a demolition derby, and then went on to race for the North Country Contractors Sportsmen Division, but he says this was definitely his best season so far.

Just a year ago, Rave was a casino dealer, running blackjack card games at Ho-Chunk Casino in Black River Falls. In December 2009 he was approached by the local Blackjack Racing team, headed by Westby’s Dave and Dexter Bean, who asked him to drive a Late Model stock car for the team. Bean founded Blackjack Racing in 2001 with money he got winning at black jack. The rest is history.

Tonight’s race will end Rave’s season of La Crosse Late Model racing, but he is also racing in the Big 8 Series this weekend, and has also been invited to compete at NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Combine in Radford, Virginia later this month.