NIMEE CHARGES THROUGH FIELD, BESTS THIEL AFTER LATE RACE RESTART!
August 1, 2015; Plymouth, WI – Blake Nimee capped off a late race charge by diving under Scotty Thiel on the thigh quarter-mile Plymouth Dirt Track with two laps to go in the 30 lap headliner. After starting in the 14th starting spot Nimee put on a passing clinic, and took advantage of a late race restart to earn his second career victory with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints taking the win in the 19th Annual Frank Filskov Memorial race.
He took the victory by passing both race leader Thiel, and second running Mike Reinke over the final five laps and in doing so Nimee put his name in the record books as the man who broke a streak of different winners in the past nine events.
Nimee had helped start that no repeat winner streak back on June 6th. On that night Nimee made a final turn pass on Ben Schmidt for the victory at Wilmot Raceway.
It appears Nimee likes to collect his checkered flags in dramatic style.
Nimee explained his move to the front. “The car worked great, I was patient and waited on cars when I had too. The crew chief had the car setup to an absolute tee, and it was easy to drive,” claimed Nimee.
“It’s unreal coming back from fourteenth, I never though I could come back from that far. A top ten was what I was hoping for, as the result exceeded Nimee’s expectations.
Hats off to Mike Reinke, and Thiel racing me clean, it was fun! I haven’t had a lot of success here so I guess this counts as some success”, exclaimed Nimee.
My first feature win was for my grandpa, this one if for my team here. It means a lot, they stuck with me though a lot of stuff. This one won’t sink in for a couple weeks yet, I’m exited,” concluded Nimee.
The streak of nine different winners in the past nine events showcased the largest number of no repeat winners since the 2009 season when a streak of 11 events produced non repeat winners from late July until the middle of September. Seven-time IRA champion Bill Balog broke that streak.
On the opposite side of the coin in Scotty Thiel who is chasing his first win of the 2015 season. Having won his first career A-main with a victory at Beaver Dam Raceway on August 2nd of last year, Thiel has been in position to win on several occasions in recent weeks.
He paced all but the final three circuits at the Dodge County Fairgrounds when his car ran out of fuel, and tonight he led until the final two circuits when Nimee executed a well timed pass for the win. Still, the recent performance for Thiel bodes well for a victory yet during the 2015 racing season.
Thiel was obviously letdown having been so close to the win. “We got beat fair and square. Earlier I didn’t even know we were in the lead, I was trying to race (Steve) Meyer I thought he was in the lead. I got around Reinke there and apparently I was in the lead,” Thiel said of his run to the front before the caution.
“We didn’t need that caution, last night it helped a little bit. Tonight that restart didn’t help us. I was quick on the bottom early on getting around guys. I saw him down there (Nimee) and jumped the cushion a little bit in two,” Thiel said of Nimee’s late race pass.
“Second place is good, it don’t want to points race anymore I’m going out for wins,” Thiel concluded.
A somewhat slick racing surface greeted the drivers for the start of the 30 lap Frank Filskov Memorial main event. Two distinct grooves had developed, one on the bottom side of the track, and the other very high in the banked turns of the third-mile bullring.
Wayne Modjeski, who had captured heat race wins in both the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints and the local 360 sprint series this evening, started on the pole for the contest. Modjeski led briefly before being overtaken by fellow front row starter Mike Reinke who rim rode his way to the lead, officially pacing the first lap.
Modjeski held onto the number two slot until lap four when Dave Uttech used the high side to slip into second position.
Reinke quickly started to build a gap on the field, and had a full straightaway advantage on Uttech by the time he reached lapped traffic on lap eight.
Bill Rose, who is currently locked in an epic point battle with Ben Schmidt, and Scotty Neitzel took his turn in the runner-up role nabbing second at Uttech’s expense on lap 12. Thiel followed Rose past Uttech to reach the third spot after having started in the eighth position.
It took just two more laps before Thiel to slip by Rose to become the next driver to hold runner-up honors.
Out front Reinke found himself in heavy lapped traffic at the halfway point of the contest, allowing Thiel, who is very familiar with the Plymouth Dirt Track racing surface where the competed many seasons in a 360 sprint to close the gap.
Further back Nimee was slicing through the pack having reached the seventh position after starting in the 14th spot.
On lap 18, Modjeski’s fortunes took a turn for the worse as a fire erupted under the hood of his machine. He expertly guided the car to the infield, and the rapidly responding safety crew extinguished the flames so quickly that a caution was not needed for the incident.
With ten laps to go in the race Reinke’s lead had evaporated. Then Thiel, making a well timed dive to the bottom of the track in turn four, managed to work past Reinke for the lead, and quickly scrambled away darting through back markers.
Fans began to notice Nimee who had been picking off cars at an increasing pace making his way by Rose for the third spot on lap 22, and then closing the gap on Reinke.
Out front Thiel was extending his lead putting cars down at a rapid pace. Unfortunately for Thiel that pace was halted on lap 25 when Bill Wirth jumped the cushion in turn four coming to a halt. At the same time Dave Uttech’s tire shredded in the same turn drawing the only caution of the event.
By Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint rules, lapped traffic is moved to the tail of the field leaving the win decided among the leaders. As such Thiel had both Reinke, and Nimee on his back nerf bar for the restart.
When the green flag fell, Thiel bolted back into the lead while Nimee sliced his way under Reinke to battle for second. Thiel managed to build a six car length lead before Nimee secured the runner-up spot and he quickly closed the gap on Thiel.
With two laps to go Thiel got into the cushion in turn four allowing Nimee to work underneath, and the battle was on. With amazing forward bite Nimee was able to surge ahead to take the lead as the white flag waved.
Thiel tried one last charge on the outside but the maneuver fell short as Nimee flew past flagman Jim Barr’s twin-checkered flags with a three-car length advantage. Thiel had to settle for runner-up honors for his efforts.
The final podium spot came down to the final laps with former 360 champion, and IRA rookie of the year Jeremy Schultz making his way past Reinke to earn the third spot. Schultz had started in the seventh spot, and found extra speed after the final restart.
Reinke earned his second straight top five run finishing fourth this evening. Kris Spitz patiently worked his way up to fifth by the finish for his best performance of the 2015 season.
Rose earned the sixth spot, the highest among the point leaders followed by Phillip Mock in seventh. Eighth went to Russel Borland the highest placing driver of those transferring from the B-main. Borland had started in the 21st position.
Kyle Marten was the top Rookie of the Year contender this evening making his way to a ninth place finish. Johnny Fahl finished tenth, earning his first top ten performance since recently appearing in the series just over a month ago.
All but a single car in the 24-car starting field crossed the finish line at the end of the contest.
With Rose finishing sixth he made up ground on point leader Ben Schmidt who finished 13th this evening, and fellow title chaser Scotty Neitzel earned a 16th place performance.
Schmidt maintains a 13 point lead over Rose, with Neitzel 77 markers behind. Schultz has clawed his was back into the title chase and sits 86 points from the lead.
Earlier in the evening fast qualifier Jason Johnson ran away with the victory in the B-main. Rick Kelsey, Borland, Robbie Pribnow, Johnny Fahl, and Brian Kristan chased him to the finish as the top six as transfer cars earned transfer spots. Kristan was withdrawn from the main event giving the final transfer spot to Trey Datweiler who had finished seventh.
Heat race victories were captured by Modjeski, Schmidt and Spitz.
Johnson had the fastest lap of the evening in qualifying with a lap of 12.877 seconds. Thiel was second quick with a 12.931 second effort with Schultz earning third fast on a lap of 13.040 seconds.
Travis Whitney who had won the A-main last evening was sidelined this evening with an oil lead that developed in hot laps.
The series now heads to Seymour Speedway on Sunday evening to complete a triple-header weekend. Seymour Speedway is located at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour, Wisconsin. It is just west of Green Bay and a short distance north of Appleton, the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints made a return trip to the track after a multi-year absence last season.
In that event Bill Balog outran a determined Scotty Thiel for the victory in a non-stop contest. The wide, moderately banked third-mile clay oval is a momentum track and favors a driver with a heavy right foot. Balog, the seven-time series champion is expected to be on hand for the show.
The title chase between point leaders Schmidt, Rose and Neitzel continues on the moderately banked third-mile oval.
It will be a full evening of action with over two-dozen IRA Sprints in the pit area in addition to five weekly divisions participating in the show. IMCA Modifieds, Sport Modifieds and Stock Cars will join Street Stocks and 4 cylinders in addition to the Sprint Cars.
Adult admission is $20, students ages 13 to 18 and seniors ages 55 plus pay only $15.
Qualifying is set for 5:30pm with racing set to take place at 6:00pm.
For additional information check out www.seymoursuperspeedway.net
For more information on the IRA Outlaw Sprints check out the tour website at www.irasprints.com or by logging onto the series Facebook page at www.facebook.com/irasprints the series is also on twitter at #IRA_sprints.
The IRA Sprints are presented by its long time supporting series partners. The series support is led by title sponsor Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, and associate series partners Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Hoosier Tire, Cedar Creek Motorsports, Cummins Onan, and Carriage Auto Body.
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[14]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[8]; 3. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[7]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke[2]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[9]; 6. 6-Bill Rose[5]; 7. 1M-Phillip Mock[13]; 8. 23-Russell Borland[21]; 9. 99-Kyle Marten[3]; 10. 0-John Fahl[23]; 11. 7-Scott Uttech[20]; 12. 44-Jason Johnson[11]; 13. 35-Ben Schmidt[10]; 14. 12W-Josh Walter[16]; 15. 73-Todd King[19]; 16. 2W-Scott Neitzel[15]; 17. 19-Todd Daun[6]; 18. 85M-Steve Meyer[18]; 19. 68-Dave Uttech[4]; 20. 11K-Rick Kelsey[12]; 21. 23D-Trey Datweiler[24]; 22. 94-Rob Pribnow[22]; 23. 53W-Bill Wirth[17]; 24. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[1]
Behling Racing Equipment B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 44-Jason Johnson[1]; 2. 11K-Rick Kelsey[2]; 3. 23-Russell Borland[4]; 4. 94-Rob Pribnow[8]; 5. 0-John Fahl[7]; 6. 5K-Brian Kristan[5]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler[3]; 8. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[10]; 9. 41-Dennis Spitz[9]; 10. 43-Jereme Schroeder[11]; 11. 5-Bryon Walters[12]; 12. 2K-Kevin Seidler[6]; DNS 16-Travis Whitney
Weld Racing Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[2]; 2. 19-Todd Daun[5]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[4]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock[3]; 5. 85M-Steve Meyer[7]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech[9]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler[1]; 8. 44-Jason Johnson[6]; 9. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[10]; 10. (DNF) 2K-Kevin Seidler[8]; DNS 16-Travis Whitney
All Star Performance Products Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Ben Schmidt[2]; 2. 12W-Josh Walter[1]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee[3]; 4. 99-Kyle Marten[4]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[6]; 6. 73-Todd King[8]; 7. 23-Russell Borland[7]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder[10]; 9. 94-Rob Pribnow[9]; 10. 11K-Rick Kelsey[5]
DMI Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 4K-Kris Spitz[2]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke[4]; 3. 53W-Bill Wirth[1]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[6]; 5. 6-Bill Rose[5]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 7. 5K-Brian Kristan[7]; 8. 41-Dennis Spitz[9]; 9. 5-Bryon Walters[10]; 10. 0-John Fahl[8]
Osborn & Son Trucking Qualifying 1: 1. 44-Jason Johnson[5]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[1]; 3. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[3]; 4. 19-Todd Daun[14]; 5. 11K-Rick Kelsey[10]; 6. 6-Bill Rose[9]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech[22]; 8. 99-Kyle Marten[31]; 9. 02-Mike Reinke[17]; 10. 1M-Phillip Mock[25]; 11. 79-Blake Nimee[7]; 12. 2W-Scott Neitzel[27]; 13. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[11]; 14. 35-Ben Schmidt[8]; 15. 4K-Kris Spitz[19]; 16. 23D-Trey Datweiler[6]; 17. 12W-Josh Walter[30]; 18. 53W-Bill Wirth[21]; 19. 85M-Steve Meyer[16]; 20. 23-Russell Borland[28]; 21. 5K-Brian Kristan[4]; 22. 2K-Kevin Seidler[2]; 23. 73-Todd King[23]; 24. 0-John Fahl[18]; 25. 7-Scott Uttech[29]; 26. 94-Rob Pribnow[20]; 27. 41-Dennis Spitz[13]; 28. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[26]; 29. 43-Jereme Schroeder[24]; 30. 5-Bryon Walters[12]; DNS 16-Travis Whitney
2015 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints Upcoming Events:
8/7/2015 Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
8/21/2015 Wilmot Raceway – Wilmot, WI
8/22/2015 Wilmot Raceway – Wilmot, WI
8/23/2015 Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI
8/29/2015 LaSalle Speedway – LaSalle, IL
- Jeffrey Sachse on Aug 02, 2015
- Article Date: 8/2/2015