Independence IA (July 16th) - Winning for the fifth time in nine events on the 2024 schedule, it can be said that Chapin, Illinois, driver Paul Nienhiser is having a dominating season with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders. However, on Tuesday night at the Independence Motor Speedway, Paul's route to victory lane was anything but easy despite starting from the outside of the front row in the twenty-five lap main event.
Pole-sitter Colton Fisher would battle Nienhiser wheel-to-wheel down the backstretch on the opening lap before sliding up in front of the series point leader to snare the race lead. And then the third-starting Ryan Bunton would soon power under Nienhiser to move to second before taking up the chase on the leader. As the top two closed in on the back of the field on lap ten, Bunton was able to pull even with the rim riding Fisher in turn four only to have Colton ward him off and that same scenario would play out again on lap eleven with Fisher now having to deal with the soon to be lapped cars as well as the challenge from Bunton.
As Colton scored what would have been lap thirteen, he would drop his right rear wheel off the lip of the banked front stretch and that would then steer him off the track and into a wild spin that would see him get on his side before slamming into the guardrail outside of turn one. The only things that was injured on the up and coming young driver was his pride as he knew that he had let this one get away from him.
Bunton would assume the lead for the restart with the hope of getting his first career victory with the Sprint Invaders despite the fact that he is the defending series champion after finishing in the top ten of every event on the schedule in 2023. With Ryan entering the turns low and then exiting toward the top, Nienhiser would now pound the cushion on both ends bringing him ever closer to the leader as the laps counted down. And, with just six laps remaining, that high side momentum would pay off as Paul would sail around Bunton for the lead on the back stretch.
Lapped traffic would come into play again in the closing laps and when the leader made contact with the rear bumper of Tanner Gebhardt entering turn three while coming to the white flag, it would send Gebhardt for a spin with the caution setting up a two lap shootout for the win. Tasker Phillips had just taken second away from Bunton before the caution so he would make a run at the leader in turn one on the restart only to see Nienhiser drive away for the win and to have Bunton slip by him on the outside to regain second at the checkers. Terry McCarl who had won each of the two previous appearances of the Sprint Invaders here at Independence made a nice run from eleventh to fourth while two-time series champion Cody Wehrle filled out the top five.
It was an emotional victory for Nienhiser who dedicated the win to his longtime friend and supporter of his racing career, Ralph Willhite, who lost his life in an accident at the Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois just a few weeks ago.
Next up for the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders will be another Tuesday night trip, this time to the Mountain Dew Bloomfield Speedway on July 30th that will serve as an appetizer for the Knoxville 360 Nationals that will start its three day run just two nights later.
Results (Started)
Randall's Performance 1st Heat - 1. Jake Glasgow, West Burlington (1); 2. Paul Nienhiser, Chapin IL (2); 3. Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville (5); 4. Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids (3); 5. Cody Wehrle, Burlington (7); 6. Terry McCarl, Altoona (6); 7. McCain Richards, Burlington (4)
Joshua Denning & Associates 2nd Heat - 1. Dustin Clark, Agency (1); 2. Colton Fisher, Mediapolis (3); 3. Ryan Bunton, Morton IL (2); 4. Chase Richards, Burlington (4); 5. Garrett Benson, Concordia MO (6); 6. Riley Valentine, Terrill (7); 7. Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington (5)
Agriland FS Dash - 1. Fisher (1); 2. Nienhiser (3); 3. Bunton (4); 4. Clark (2); 5. Glasgow (5); 6. Phillips (6)
Shottenkirk Automotive Group A-Main - 1. Nienhiser (2); 2. Bunton (3); 3. Phillips (6); 4. McCarl (11); 5. Wehrle (7); 6. Clark (4); 7. Lee (9); 8. Glasgow (5); 9. Benson (10); 10. Gebhardt (13); 11. C. Richards (8); 12. M. Richards (12); 13. Valentine (14); 14. Fisher (1)
Contingencies
King Racing Products - Colton Fisher
DMI - Tanner Gebhardt
Saldana Racing Products - Cody Wehrle
BMRS - Jake Glasgow
KSE Hard Charger - Terry McCarl
Next Event - Thursday, July 30th, Mountain Dew Bloomfield Speedway, Bloomfield, Iowa
- administrator on Jul 17, 2024
- Article Date: 7/17/2024