(Bill W) September 22, 2010 – An eighth place run at Fremont Speedway with the All Star Circuit of Champions for Brandon Wimmer was a solid finish. Considering the race was 50 laps and he was operating without a right rear shock, it was all the more impressive. The Fairmount, Indiana driver and his car owner, Rick Ferkel, will head west this weekend, as they compete in the “Shaheen’s Blast from the Past” race at Jacksonville (IL) Speedway on Friday night and the Queen’s Royale at the St. Francois County Raceway near Farmington, Missouri on Saturday.
The first night of the two-day show at Fremont was one to forget, but it was a fresh start on Saturday. Brandon qualified eighth in the 35-car field. Then, a late move in his heat put him in position for a transfer to the main event. “We qualified well, and that put us in better position on Saturday,” he says. “The heat had a really good ending for us. We were running sixth behind Jamie Miller and (Dale) Blaney. Blaney got a little bottled up behind Miller on the last lap and I was able to drive around both of them. That move put me up front in the feature.”
An early red flag period revealed a problem. “I was running second there around the bottom, but I could tell there was something wrong with the car,” says Brandon. “Rick told me it was fine and to run the bottom. What he didn’t tell me was that the right rear shock mount had broken. There was nothing he could do about it. We would have had to go to the rear if he fixed it.”
Brandon held his own in the runner-up spot, running the bottom of the track. “We were in second there for awhile, and (Tim) Shaffer was able to get by us,” he says. “From there, we rode it out in third for a long time.”
The 50-lap race became a challenge of endurance, and there were plenty of cautions slowing things down and making things harder on the handling in the #0. Still he held on for another top ten finish. “All the restarts pretty much killed us,” says Brandon. “I was losing a spot or two on each one, and the shock problem wasn’t helping. We were able to hold onto eighth. I think that was about as good as we were going to do in that situation.”
Brandon looks ahead to this weekend, as the team heads to Illinois and Missouri. “I’m looking forward to going to those shows in Rick’s car,” he says. “Last year, they put on a good event at Jacksonville, and I’m looking forward to getting back to Farmington where we’ve had some success too.”
Team Mannatech
Brandon has realized that a driver not only needs good equipment on the racetrack, but needs to also be in the best physical shape to be a success. That's why Brandon has added a wellness program to his daily routine, which includes adding a line of scientifically validated nutritional products from Mannatech. Mannatech, Incorporation is a leading developer and provider of proprietary nutritional supplements, weight management products and skin care solutions. Athletes around the world rely on Mannatech products because they are formulated from high quality, natural plant sources and are formulated without any substances banned by major worldwide anti-doping agencies.
Brandon has been invited to serve on an elite team of athletes called Team Mannatech because of the results he has had with the products and will be working to share his experience with drivers, crews and fans. With more than 200 athletes representing countries around the globe, Team Mannatech members have been drawn from the exclusive ranks of sports legends, the everyday athlete and young enthusiasts destined to become superstars. They inspire action and attract passionate wellness champions and are all role models for their sport, committed to helping people of all ages lead a healthy, active lifestyle.
[i Brandon throws up clay at Fremont (Jim Collum Jr. - Action Photo)]
- Bill Wright on Sep 22, 2010
- Article Date: 9/22/2010