NEWTON, Iowa — Chris Wimmer finally breaks into victory lane as he went from third to the lead with three laps to go and captures the Pride of Iowa 100 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. His first victory in the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment.
Wimmer was running a steady third place with five laps to go as Tim Schendel and Jonathan Eilen were putting on a great side-by-side battle for the top spot. As the two battled, Wimmer quietly caught up to the two leaders and made the pass on the inside of Eilen for second coming off of turn four with four laps to go. The next time by, he got past Schendel to take over the lead and pulled to a 2.187 second win.
“To tell you the truth I was happy to be running third and my spotter said that Landon Cassill was catching me. So I moved up the track a little and that seemed to help me and then I saw those guys battling and I was getting closer and closer and I said, man if I dig hard I can get him,” an overjoyed Wimmer said in victory lane. “This place is so hard to pass, and you can run high or low, its a great racetrack. I saw the opportunity to driver underneath both of them and I took it.
Schendel pretty much dominated the 100-lap event after he set a fast time in qualifying with a lap time of 23.425 seconds. He started tenth on the invert and found himself up to the lead by lap 14.
The event only saw two caution flags with the worst one happening on lap 24 when Dan Fredrickson slid into Jamie Iverson going into turn one. Iverson’s car backed into the SAFER barrier and he was done for the night. He was able to walk away.
There was a break at lap 60 for the teams to make adjustments and fuel for the 40-lap run to the finish.
“With ten laps to go, the right front was starting to go and the car was getting tight,” Schendel stated after the race. “When I came in after the race, the right front was flat to the rim.”
Eilen was pleased with his third place finish, “Tim and I were battling side-by-side there and I knew how to get him and I was just setting him up for the end of the race. I knew Chris was coming, and the next thing I know Chris was passing both of us. All in all a good run and I am happy we were competitive. We are happy to put it all together and put out a strong run.”
Cassill finished fourth with Jacob Goede in fifth. Thor Anderson was sixth with Joey Miller in seventh. Donny Reuvers was eighth and Nathan Haseleu was ninth. Nick Murgic rounded out the top-ten.
| Pride of Iowa |
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| FIN Strt Driver Hometown Laps Reason 1 11 Chris Wimmer (TS) Wausau, WI 100 Running 2 10 Tim Schendel (TS) Sparta, WI 100 Running 3 3 Jonathan Eilen (TS) Hampon, MN 100 Running 4 4 Landon Cassill Cedar Rapids, IA 100 Running 5 26 Jacob Goede (R) Shakopee, MN 100 Running 6 8 Thor Anderson Bondurant, IA 100 Running 7 2 Joey MIller Lakeville, MN 100 Running 8 7 Donny Reuvers (TS) Dundas, MN 100 Running 9 9 Nathan Haseleu (TS) Pardeeville, WI 100 Running 10 25 Nick Murgic (TS) Rosemount, MN 100 Running 11 20 Josh Vadnais White Bear Lake, MN 100 Running 12 13 Blake Brown (R) Crest Hill, WI 100 Running 13 19 Joel Theisen (R) Maple Grove, MN 100 Running 14 27 Russ Blakeley Whitewater,WI 100 Running 15 33 Kyle Calmes (TS) Freedom, WI 100 Running 16 1 Nick Panitzke (R) Sauk Centre, MN 100 Running 17 21 Gary LaMonte (R) Milwaukee, WI 100 Running 18 12 Dalton Zehr (R) Daytona Beach, FL 100 Running 19 30 Bryan Reffner Stevens Point, WI 99 Running 20 22 Krista Bumbera Sealy, TX 99 Running 21 14 Nick Neville (R) Mackinaw, IL 99 Running 22 31 Joey Gase Cedar Rapids, IA 98 Running 23 17 Gregg Haese (R) Manitowoc, WI 98 Running 24 39 Austin Siebert Grandview, MO 98 Running 25 36 Jim Ross Kansas City, MO 98 Running 26 23 Brad Osborn Waterloo, IA 79 mechanical 27 6 Jeff Storm (TS) East Troy, WI 60 mechanical 28 35 Dan Fredrickson (TS) Lakeville, MN 59 mechanical 29 29 Griffin McGrath Cedar Rapids, IA 49 mechanical 30 15 Todd Hansen Farmington, MN 45 mechanical 31 37 Josh Krug Omaha, NE 45 mechanical 32 28 Blake Hortsman (TS) Bangor, WI 43 mechanical 33 40 Jenny White Topeka, KS 27 mechanical 34 16 Frank Kreyer Wisconsin Dells, WI 26 mechanical 35 18 Jamie Iverson (TS) Escanaba, MN 20 accident 36 41 Curt Tillman Rockford, IL 20 mechanical 37 32 Dudley Fleck Cedar Rapids, IA 18 mechanical 38 34 Andrew Morrissey (TS) De Forest, WI 15 mechanical 39 24 Bryan Roach Goodhue, MN 11 mechanical 40 38 Joe Ross Kansas City, MO 9 mechanical 41 5 Mark Kraus Stratford, WI 2 rear-end |
