After 2 weeks of mechanical struggles, the problems continued on to Jacksonville on Friday. At Paul's home track in Jacksonville, Illinois, he broke a steering rod in his heat race, making it unable to steer. He pulled off and went to the pits to get it fixed for the B main.
After pushing off for the B, Paul was scheduled to start 11th. The top 4 cars would transfer to the A. Before the field took the green, the rear wing bolts came loose, and the wing fell forward, making it impossible for him to see.
Problems came with a little luck at 34 Raceway on Saturday. On Paul's qualifying run, he ran out of fuel coming to the end of the first lap, but still managed to nail the 3rd fastest lap of the night after 33 cars. The heat races inverted 4, so he started the 3rd heat from 4th. He couldn't make any moves and finished 4th.
Thanks to his qualifying effort, Paul started the A main from 10th on the grid next to 4-time Chili Bowl Champion Kevin Swindell. On the opening laps, he worked through the field quickly, and found himself in 5th during an early caution. He kept making moves and found himself giving chase to Terry McCarl through traffic in the closing laps, but couldn't reel him in before the checkers flew.
The top 5 finishers were Terry McCarl, Paul Nienhiser, Craig Dollansky, Kevin Swindell, and Ian Madsen.
A special thanks to the following friends and partners for making this possible: Cam2 Racing Oil, Mason Sound, Fierce Herbicide, Wessler Bros. Agency, Engler Machine & Tool, Bradshaw Custom Pumping, Maxim Chassis, Kaeding Perfomance, Bob Hawks Autobody, Arends-Awe John Deere, Steve Thomas Racing, Simpson Indy, and Butlerbuilt Seats!
- Paul Nienhiser on Apr 13, 2014
- Article Date: 4/13/2014