Josh Schneiderman and the Deuce Motorsports #49 team pulled off a pair of top five finishes last week. On Wednesday, the West Burlington, Iowa driver finished fifth with the Sprint Invaders at the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines. Saturday, he pulled off a career best finish of fifth with the National Sprint League at Knoxville Raceway. This weekend, Knoxville hosts a two-night NSL show, and the team is looking forward to it.
A couple of factors affected Josh even racing in Des Moines. “The heat was almost unbearable on Wednesday, and it was pretty bad in the cockpit at times,” he says. “In addition, that morning I woke up with a bad eye infection behind one of my contacts. At 8 a.m., I didn’t know whether I’d even be racing or not.”
The Sprint Invaders used their two-heat format in Des Moines. “We were o.k. in the first heat race,” says Josh. “We didn’t get the greatest of starts, but we fell in line and ran third. The second set, we had a little more trouble getting up through there. We ran fourth (from fifth), so that was enough to get us in the Dash.”
In the Dash, Josh would finish sixth after starting in the third row. His fate for a starting spot in the feature was determined by draw. “You never know how the draw is going to go,” he says. “As it was, finishing fifth put us on the inside in row two. We probably would have rather finished either fourth or sixth, which would have put us on the outside. The problem with starting third was that the cushion was the place to be heading into turn one. We got shuffled back a bit.”
He would finish fifth in the 20-lap feature. “Des Moines has been kind of tough for us,” says Josh. “To come out of there with a top five was good for us. Last year, we destroyed a car there (in the Dash), so this was a big improvement from that. We were happy about that.”
Josh would time in 11th quick Saturday night with the NSL. That would put him on the pole of the first heat. “The NSL format is cool, because racing in the heat really matters,” he says. “We were able to go out there and win the heat and get enough points to get inside that invert (eight on Saturday). That was crucial. We knew if we got an opportunity to start up front, we could run there, and we proved that Saturday.”
He would start on the pole of the main event, and ran second to Davey Heskin much of the race. “Sammy (Swindell) got us on one restart,” says Josh. “I was trying to get under Davey and he had a little better run than us. On the last restart, I burnt the tires off the car trying to maintain what we were doing and run those guys down. There wasn’t a lot left to keep up. On top of that, we were racing against some pretty tough competition there. Racing with them only makes me better. I made some mistakes that I can learn from.”
Josh’s fifth place finish was his best with the NSL. “Overall, we’re excited about where the program is heading,” he says. “We’re really happy with the improvements we’ve made. We just need to sustain it. We’re looking forward to two nights at Knoxville this week, and we’re even contemplating double-duty (with the 360) on Saturday.”
Catch Josh’s Interview on www.OpenWheel101.com!
Head over to www.OpenWheel101.com and catch the in depth interview with Josh and fellow driver Davey Heskin in the “Interviews” section!
Visit Josh at the Trailer!
Stop by the trailer at each race or contact Josh to purchase your Josh Schneiderman race apparel! Our 2016 t-shirt design is available in black, royal blue and heather gray for $25. We also have a limited selection of hoodies available!
All 2015 t-shirts on SALE for ONLY $10.00 while supplies last. Don’t miss out!
Need a koozie to keep your beverage cold on race nights? Deuce Motorsports koozies available for $2 each or 3 for $5.
- administrator on Jun 28, 2016
- Article Date: 6/28/2016