7/2/2016
IRA Interstate Racing Association
NEITZEL OUT-DUELS WIMMER TO GO INTO RECORD BOOKS AS FINAL EVER BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINT WINNER AT MANITOWOC SPEEDWAY!
NEITZEL TURNS TABLES ON WIMMER, TAKES CLOSEST A-MAIN WIN OF THE 2016 SEASON!
July 1, 2016, Manitowoc, WI – When the question is asked, who won the final 410 Sprint race at Manitowoc Speedway, anyone in attendance in the standing room crowd will be able to answer.
Scotty Neitzel.
It was his first victory in just over a year as he last won at Angell Park Speedway in June of 2015. Since that time he recorded five runner-up performances.
Not only was the victory popular but in a great gesture of sportsmanship Neitzel donated his bonus winnings this evening to local racer Shane Wenninger who was injured in nearby sprint car show.
“It’s been a long time coming”, exclaimed Neitzel from victory lane. “It was nice for me to win the last one up here. We used to come up here with a small 355 and run against the 410’s when if was a big half-mile. The fans up here have always been great It’s really sad to see this one go”, Neitzel reflected on the impending closing of the track.
The third-mile semi-banked clay oval will be demolished to make way for a food store at the conclusion of the 2016 season. Friday night’s program was a celebration and a sendoff as the final Bumper to Bumper 410 Sprint program ever to be held at the track provided amazing drama in the closing laps.
Two months ago, two-time IRA champion Scotty Neitzel had paced the A-main event at the same raceway until the closing laps only to fall to Brandon Wimmer’s charge. He had forfeited the the lead with two laps to go and watched as Wimmer took the win.
This evening it was Neitzel on the charge. Running the low groove with impressive power off the turns, Neitzel ran down Wimmer who had used the cushion to power into the lead early in the contest.
Over the final two laps Neitzel traded the lead with Wimmer and in a drag race off the final turn, Neitzel would emerge victorious reaching the finish line with the lead by less than a car length for his first victory of 2016. Wimmer had to settle for runner-up honors this evening.
Wimmer was surprised by Neitzel’s ambush in the closing laps.
“It’s kind of reversed from last time were were here. It’s better to be in second because you never know what the second place guy is going to do. We still should have had him, but we’ll take second and move on to tomorrow night”, noted Wimmer.
Wimmer was pleased with the track and his ability to run anywhere on the surface and aware of the significance of the nights events.
“It’s a sad day because this track is awesome, you could run the bottom and the top. We need to do something as fans and drivers to stop this kind of thing from happening. It’s happening too much these days”, Wimmer concluded.
The 30 lap A-main pushed off with fireworks going off in the background as a salute to the fans for packing the stands this evening.
Brian Kristan sat on the pole of the contest, but it was outside front row starter Jeremy Schultz bolting into the lead from his outside front row starting berth.
Wimmer wasted little time working his way past Kristan for second before the third lap began.
Schultz kept his car on the high side of the track while Wimmer experimented in finding the fast line, working both high and low on the racing surface.
On lap five Wimmer dove to the bottom of the track and shot past Schultz for the lead.
Further back Neitzel was hugging the inside of the track and making steady progress moving forward. He had worked into the fourth spot when the caution flag flew when Kris Spitz came to a halt in turn two.
Under the caution Scott Biertzer had his throttle stick and he rolled onto his side while trying to reign in errant ride creating the rare situation where the red flag actually came out during a caution period.
Biertzer was unhurt in the incident but unable to continue while Spitz was able to rejoin the contest.
Back underway Wimmer continued to set the pace with Schultz in tow. Neitzel was able to slip past Kristan for third prior to the next caution which flew when Mike Reinke tagged the wall in turn four. Reinke was able to rejoin the contest which quickly went back to green.
Neitzel again got a good restart and quickly annexed the second spot, now having only the high flying Wimmer ahead of him.
The complexion for the race changed dramatically on lap 21. Scotty Thiel, who was seeking his third straight Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint series victory and been working into contention when he lost grip of the racing surface in turn two. Thiel spun and while several cars were able to avoid him seven-time IRA champ and recent World of Outlaws winner Bill Balog was unable to avoid contact. The incident also collected Robbie Pribnow who was running just outside the top five.
Due to the challenge of removing cars from the racing surface officials elected to throw the red flag to expedite the cleanup process.
The final nine laps would go without any further interruption.
As soon as the green flag flew Wimmer went right to the cushion while Neitzel hugged the low line around the track. Schultz followed in third with Josh Walter, having perhaps the strongest run of his short career in IRA competition was challenging from the fourth spot.
Walter’s fine run ended with four laps to go as he pulled into the infield while running fourth.
Fans attention was focused on the lead as Neitzel edged ahead with two laps to go, only to see Wimmer rally and retake the top spot as the white flag flew. Wimmer drifted up the track slightly allowing Neitzel one last opportunity to seek out the top spot.
It was the only break he needed. Neitzel rolled back alongside Wimmer and charging off the final turn he gained the momentum to steal the win. Wimmer and Schultz joined Neitzel in victory lane as podium finishers.
2015 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Rookie of the Year Kyle Marten earned his first top five finish since taking a victory last September at Luxemburg Speedway when he crossed the line in fourth place tonight.
Blake Nimee put recent mechanical ills behind hime by advancing up to the fifth place spot by the checkered this evening.
Kristan finished sixth followed by Phillip Mock. Russel Borland and Mike Kertscher finished eighth and ninth respectively while Reinke completed an impressive charge working back to tenth after starting at the tail of the field just nine laps earlier when he drew a caution.
19 of the 23 starters were still on the track at the finish.
Due to mechanical difficulties for Steve Meyer and Mike Decker reducing the field no B-main was needed this evening.
Heat race victories were collected by Balog, Biertzer and Nimee.
Todd King paced the 27 car field this evening in qualifying with a lap of 12.881 seconds. Neitzel was second fast at 12.951. Mock was third click turning in a 13.001 second lap.
The series now heads to Seymour Speedway for a Sunday evening contest. The show will be the only appearance for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints this season as an earlier race fell to weather and was not rescheduled.
The forecast is looking for nearly ideal conditions to present the Budweiser Summer Holiday Classic series which will feature the 50th Anniversary tour for the IRA Sprints along with the first appearance for the IMCA Modifieds. Rounding out the night will be the IMCA Sport Mods.
Qualifying will begin at 6:00pm with racing action to follow.
Admission for the program is $20 for adults, while students and seniors are admitted for $15. Children under the age of 12 are admitted FREE.
The track is location at 637 N Main St, in Seymour, Wisconsin at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds. The main gate is on Highway 55 just north of downtown Seymour.
Additional information can be found at the track website www.gosrp.net. The race day phone is 920-833-7726
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 Hoosier Tire, Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Cummins Onan, and Twin Lakes Marine.
Upcoming 2016 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Events:
7/1/2016 – Manitowoc Speedway – Manitowoc, WI
7/3/2016 – Seymour Speedway – Seymour, WI
7/8/2016 - Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
7/16/2016 – Wilmot Raceway – Wilmot, WI
7/17/2016 – Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 2W-Scott Neitzel[7]; 2. 48-Brandon Wimmer[3]; 3. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[2]; 4. 99-Kyle Marten[17]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee[9]; 6. 5K-Brian Kristan[1]; 7. 1M-Phillip Mock[6]; 8. 23-Russel Borland[14]; 9. 80K-Mike Kertscher[11]; 10. 02-Mike Reinke[4]; 11. 41-Dennis Spitz[19]; 12. 0-John Fahl[23]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 14. 53W-Bill Wirth[18]; 15. 10V-Matt Vandevere[21]; 16. 22-Todd King[8]; 17. 94R-Rob Pribnow[12]; 18. 7-Scott Uttech[22]; 19. 4-Paul Pokorski[24]; 20. (DNF) 12W-Josh Walter[15]; 21. (DNF) 64-Scotty Thiel[13]; 22. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[16]; 23. (DNF) 4K-Kris Spitz[20]; 24. (DNF) 4B-Scott Biertzer[10]
Real Wheels Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[4]; 3. 12W-Josh Walter[1]; 4. 22-Todd King[6]; 5. 80K-Mike Kertscher[3]; 6. 23-Russel Borland[2]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz[7]; 8. 10V-Matt Vandevere[8]; 9. 4-Paul Pokorski[9]
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 4B-Scott Biertzer[2]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 4. 94R-Rob Pribnow[3]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[1]; 6. 53W-Bill Wirth[7]; 7. 73-Ben Schmidt[4]; 8. (DNF) 7-Scott Uttech[8]; (DNS) 85M-Steve Meyer
DMI Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[3]; 3. 48-Brandon Wimmer[5]; 4. 99-Kyle Marten[1]; 5. 5K-Brian Kristan[4]; 6. 1M-Phillip Mock[6]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 8. 0-John Fahl[8]; (DNS) 12-Michael Decker
Osborn & Son Qualifying 1: 1. 22-Todd King, 12.881[3]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.951[1]; 3. 1M-Phillip Mock, 13.001[21]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.106[19]; 5. 02-Mike Reinke, 13.225[26]; 6. 48-Brandon Wimmer, 13.259[18]; 7. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 13.297[25]; 8. 73-Ben Schmidt, 13.302[16]; 9. 5K-Brian Kristan, 13.310[9]; 10. 80K-Mike Kertscher, 13.338[14]; 11. 94R-Rob Pribnow, 13.363[7]; 12. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.368[20]; 13. 23-Russel Borland, 13.378[2]; 14. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 13.405[12]; 15. 79-Blake Nimee, 13.427[10]; 16. 12W-Josh Walter, 13.491[5]; 17. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 13.542[4]; 18. 99-Kyle Marten, 13.561[24]; 19. 41-Dennis Spitz, 13.573[6]; 20. 53W-Bill Wirth, 13.573[22]; 21. 4K-Kris Spitz, 13.619[13]; 22. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 13.834[23]; 23. 7-Scott Uttech, 14.045[8]; 24. 0-John Fahl, 14.056[27]; 25. 4-Paul Pokorski, 14.406[15]; (DNS) 85M-Steve Meyer; (DNS) 12-Michael Decker
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
