By: Kevin Ramsell
NEWTON, IA (Saturday, May 16, 2009) - 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 in front of 22,095 fans.
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.
The ASAMT will compete next Saturday night at Elko Speedway in Elko, MN for the Elko 125.
For more information, please visit www.asamidwesttour.com
This article was posted to the website on May 17th, 2009