Kossow raced street stock cars at Lake Geneva Raceway and five years ago became the regional dealer and organizer for the Wisconsin Allison Legacy Series for downsized, four-cylinder stock cars. Kossow was impressed with how well the idea of a "spec. car" worked in the Legacy series and decided to borrow the concept and apply it to full sized late models.

"Some of the people that I talked to about the Legacy series agreed that the concept was right, but they were V-8 type people, Kossow, noted. So we decided that, well, seeing how there's enough people who like the idea of the spec. Legacy car, but their egos couldn't let them get over the fact that they're a four-cylinder car, we decided to try it with a full-sized, V-8 machine. So far the response has been overwhelming."

In the month since he announced the series, Kossow has had hundreds of phone calls from potential competitors. Kossow explains, "We feel that this is the late model that's going to have many people gravitate towards it, because it brings back the affordability. It's a new car for the new millennium...hence the name Millennium Series.

The Millennium Series has 13 firm Friday night dates on the schedule so far. They run at Lake Geneva Raceway May 26, June 2, 9, 16, 23, July 7, 14, 21, 28, August 11, 18, 25 and September 1. Kossow is looking to add two additional dates at other tracks but doesn't want to exceed 16 race meets. "We don't want to get the schedule filled with so many races that it becomes a burden on the competitor. We remember that racers have families and want to do something else but race every once and a while. We plan to leave the schedule open enough for a family outing here and there aside from racing," Kossow said. "After talking with literally hundreds of drivers and promoters we've come up with some of the ideas on how to run this series. One thing the competitors have told us is that they all want to take part in a points battle, but when you make it so strict that a driver has to run 24 to 28 times a year, you leave no time for anything else. So, we've decided to leave some time to do other things, which should keep the Moms happy too," said Kossow.

Kossow continued to outline his philosophy, "Coming from my street stock days, I'm looking at the average guy that wants to race on Friday or Saturday and then goes back to work the rest of the week. We're not marketing this series in the direction of the guy who wants to race as a full-time job. We're after the racer who wants to come out on the weekend and have fun, go back to work on Monday and still have enough money to pay the bills at home." Kossow added, "There's a lot of guys with late model chassis sitting in their garage right know, in the past they've gotten out of the sport because it's gotten too expensive to own a full-sized late model car and because of that, they're sitting on the sidelines not doing anything. We want to make it affordable so these guys can come out and race again. That's good for the fans, that's good for the tracks and it's good for the competitors!"

The heart of any "spec. series" is the idea that the cars that compete must be as closely matched as possible by utilizing as many of the same or similar "affordable" components as possible.

Those who already own a late model chassis can compete by using the Jasper Millennium engine, GoodYear D2562-63 tires and steel bodied, non-adjustable, non-rebuildable shocks like the Carrera 3100 series. "A lot of the components that that we're specifying in our rule book are the components that people currently have and are hanging on the wall from days gone by, " Kossow noted.

For those who want to move right into the series, a turn key car is available from Kossow Motorsports that includes: Lefthander Chassis, Jasper Sealed Millennium Engine, Diamond Pro Series Wheels, GoodYear D2562-63 Grooved Tires, Five Star Template Body, Quarter Master 7.25" Clutch, Richmond Quick Change, Carrera 3100 Series Shocks, Lensing Springs, Fuel Safe 12 gallon cell, Fire Bottle System and more.

The first and most important part of the equation is the engine that every series competitor must run. The Millennium Engine is produced by the Performance Division of Jasper Engines. The powerplant is a 355 cubic inch, 440 horsepower "sealed" Chevy engine. The motor comes complete (including Brodix aluminum heads) from air cleaner to oil pan for $5,500 and must be purchased from Kossow Motorsports. "They must buy that complete engine and they can't modify anything on the engine at all", said Kossow.

The second key to keeping costs down in the series is the choice of tire. "Everyone will be using the GoodYear D2562 and 63 series grooved tire," explained Kossow. "It's an 8"x15" tire that costs $88 and we expect them to last four to five nights. I'll say this about the GoodYear tire that we're using, a person who buys brand new tires every night will not go faster than the guy who can't afford to buy tires every night, because of the design of the tire."

When researching the idea, Kossow received support and input from Lefthander's Wayne Lensing, Bill Tandetzke of Diamond Wheel, Fran Prestay of Five-Star Stock Car Bodies, Ed Stoffels at Quarter Master, Bill Behling of Behling CTE and car owner Johnny "Cha-Cha" Carrao. Those individuals have also agreed to be members of an advisory board that Kossow can utilize to help answer questions that will inevitably arise. According to Kossow, Lake Geneva Raceway promoter Kevin Dawson is another individual who supports the concept of lower cost "spec." late models and has been very helpful by supplying input.

Where is all this headed? Kossow admits that he would like to see more tracks eventually adopt the Millennium car so that there could be a run-off at the end of the year to name a grand champion. "I'd like to eventually see a scenario where we get the best of the best, where the skill of the driver and the knowledge of his pit crew really shows up...and truly the best team wins, not the guy with the most money!"