Speed Demon Photo
PETERSEN MEDIA: Spending his weekend with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour a podium finish on Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO would highlight the weekend for Paul Nienhiser.
“It was a pretty solid weekend overall,” Paul Nienhiser said. “Thanks to Scott Bonar of the opportunity to work with his team again, and thanks to my guys for working so hard. Really pleased with how we did at Lake Ozarks running on pretty completely different types of surfaces.”
Competing at 34-Raceway on Friday night in the Midland Performance No. 50 entry, a seventh place starting position in heat race action would give Nienhiser ample opportunity to earn passing points. Seizing the chance, the Chapin, IL driver would work up to finish fourth and looked to be in a good spot to make the redraw.
With a big field on hand, Nienhiser would just miss out on a redraw position and instead found himself in the 12th starting position for the feature event. Getting off to a great start, Nienhiser would flex some muscle as he carved his way through the Top-10 and got up as high as the sixth position at one point during the feature.
After getting up to sixth, unbeknownst to anyone, Nienhiser’s right rear would start to lose air and it would result in him unable to work the cushion and really make grip. Hanging on, Nienhiser would cap the night with a 12th place finish.
“I didn’t know what happened at first on Friday, but all of the sudden we couldn’t do anything after getting off to such a good start,” Nienhiser added. “We had a way better car than what the result says and we are so close to getting a win the those guys.”
Moving into his car for two nights of action in Missouri, Saturday night Nienhiser would charge from seventh to third in heat race action aboard the CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil/Mason Sound/Innovative Design entry. Moving into a qualifier, a fourth place finish put him sixth in points and in the third row of the feature event.
From his sixth place starting position, Nienhiser would battle hard with the stars and cars of the ASCS National Tour as he was able to work his way into third, where he would finish, but chased after second running Sam Hafertepe coming to the line.
Sunday night marked the end of the three-night stretch and Nienhiser would start third in his heat and get to the lead before one lap was completed. Grabbing the win, Nienhiser’s seventh place finish in the qualifier would put him 15th in points and in the eighth row of the feature event.
Able to work his way up to 11th, rubber would come into play on this night and it would put an end to anymore passing. Hanging in the rubber, Nienhiser would cap his weekend off with an 11th place finish.
“I was really pleased we were able to run well on a really heavy and hooked up surface, and come back to still run well when it was extremely slick,” he added. “Good barometer for our team to run well against such a deep field of cars.”
Nienhiser would like to thank CAM2 Blue Blood Racing Oil, Mason Sound, Innovative Design, Bradshaw Custom Pumping, Wessler Bros. Agency, Bob Hawks Auto Body, Littleton Storm & Timber, Fierce Herbicide, Sunstoppers Window Tinting, Engler Machine and Tool, FK Indy, Rider Racing Engines, Kaeding Performance, Smith Titanium Products, Vortex Wings, Signature Signs and Design, and Team Simpson for their continued support.
2019 BY THE NUMBERS: Races-38, Wins-11, Top 5’s-18, Top 10’s-21
ON TAP: Nienhiser will be Jacksonville Speedway on Friday night and Spoon River Speedway on Saturday.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Paul Nienhiser by following him on Twitter @Paul_Nienhiser or by clicking over to www.paulnienhiser.com.
- Paul Nienhiser on Sep 05, 2019
- Article Date: 9/5/2019