QUINCY, Ill. — For the second Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders feature in a row, Paul Nienhiser was victorious.
And for the second time in a row, he lost a lead and had to reclaim it in the late going. Sunday’s win came at the Adams County Speedway. It was Nienhiser’s second win in as many years on the third-mile oval, the fourth of the season with the Sprint Invaders, and the sixteenth in his career with the series, which is third all-time.
Nienhiser shot out to the early lead in the 25-lap main event from outside row one. Terry McCarl and Cody Wehrle trailed early on the dry-slick surface, before McCain Richards slowed to bring the first caution one lap in.
Wehrle worked on McCarl, using the low side to pass him for second on lap four. Tyler Lee followed him into third when McCarl got over the top of turn three a lap later.
Tasker Phillips, who returned to the feature after flipping in his heat, spun to bring another caution on lap six. Nienhiser led Wehrle, Lee, McCarl and Dugan Thye back to green. On lap nine, McCarl rode the cushion around Lee for third, and two laps later, Thye, utilizing a 305 motor, got by Lee for fourth.
A spin by Skyler Daly brought another caution on lap 13. Wehrle took off on the restart, and slid by Nienhiser to take the lead. He was cruising, until a bit of a slip-up high in turn two on lap 20. It was all Nienhiser needed to retake the lead.
One more caution for a slowing Chase Richards didn’t deter Nienhiser from his $2,000 win aboard Scott Bonar’s No. 50.
McCarl gained second late, ahead of Wehrle, a late charging Bunton and Lee.
“These guys are really making me earn it these last couple nights,” said Nienhiser of his win. “Fortunately, we’ve come out on the better side of the stick. Cody ran a really good race there. I probably made a bad decision on where I restarted. He got under me, and honestly, if it wasn’t for him making a mistake, I felt like I lost the race. We were able to readjust and get close enough that if he was going to make a mistake, we’d be able to take advantage, and that’s just what happened. The 50 car was just as good as always. Scott and I have been together for several seasons and we’re working well together.”
“I was off at the beginning,” said McCarl. “I don’t drive this car very often, and I haven’t in a few years. It takes me awhile to figure things out and get comfortable in the car. I think we dropped back as far as fifth, but I think I figured out where I was good and where I was bad. I think we had a shot to win it there when that last yellow came out, because I had taken second, but that’s not the way it worked out. We always want to win, but I feel good when I think we ‘mechanicked’ good and I did my best job of driving. As long as Jimmy’s happy, so am I. This is a fun track, and I’m glad we got to come down here.”
“I am disappointed, but I have to look at the big picture and who I’m racing with,” said Wehrle. “I think I’ll be proud of this tomorrow. Right now I’m a little dejected. It was a great track…much better than I thought after a 25-lap late model race. I hope it was fun to watch, because it was fun in the car. I had a great restart there. The bottom of four was working really well for me. I was able to stay down there a little bit better than everyone. The last restart killed me. We weren’t near as good in the latter half of that race.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (2) 2. 99, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1) 3. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (3) 4. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (7) 5. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (5) 6. 11T, Dugan Thye, Burlington, IA (6) 7. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (4) 8. 31x, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (8) 9. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (12) 10. 62, Jake Glasgow, Burlington, IA (15) 11. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (19) 12. 2B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (10) 13. 99D, Tucker Daly, Hallsville, MO (11) 14. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (13) 15. 2A, Austin Archdale, Brimfield, IL (18) 16. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (14) 17. 52D, Skyler Daly, Hallsville, MO (17) 18. 4x, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (9) 19. 17, Paul Haley, Springfield, IL (16) DNS – 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA.
