LINCOLN, Ill. — Fourth-starting Paul Nienhiser took control of the lead on lap five following a caution for polesitter Logan Julien and went on to fend off defending series champion Will Armitage in the closing laps to score his seventh Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series victory at Lincoln Speedway.
Nienhiser’s victory on Friday night was his sixth A-Main win of the season, having won the opening event with MOWA at Jacksonville Speedway, as well as two events with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Cars and two weekly events at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park and Jacksonville Speedway.
Nienhiser inherited the lead in Friday’s 25-lap A-Main after Logan Julien slowed in turn three with mechanical issues to his No. 85J machine.
Behind Nienhiser, action picked up throughout the field with Will Armitage, Joe B. Miller and Bryce Norris fighting for position. Nienhiser was able to use lapped cars to his advantage, navigating his way around the quarter-mile oval at the Logan County Fairgrounds, by putting traffic between himself and other drivers.
Running the familiar high line around the Lincoln Speedway, Nienhiser had a comfortable lead as the laps continued to wind down, while second-running Will Armitage set his sights on the No. 9x. A lead of nearly three-tenths of a second was almost erased with two laps remaining. Armitage gained traction exiting the fourth turn and pulled alongside Nienhiser at the flagstand.
Nienhiser crossed under the flag first, ahead of Will Armitage by half of a second. Joe B. Miller, Bryce Norris and Mario Clouser rounded out the top five.
“My guys gave me a great car tonight. We had great speed in our heat race moving forward from eighth, to finish second which helped us by making tonight’s redraw. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the help from my sponsors and crew, so thanks to them for that,” said Nienhiser.
Reigning series champion Will Armitage was thankful to end his night on the podium after last-minute repairs to his No. 7a machine took him down to the 8-minute pre-race horn.
“Man, I didn’t think that we were going to get the repairs made, but big thanks to Brad, Hunter and the rest of the group who help out on the No. 7a. We had to replace the rear end in the car after our heat race and it took us up until the last possible minute to do so. I almost wasn’t in staging before our time with the pre-race horn expired,” said Armitage.
Mario Clouser won the MARA midget feature.
The finish:
Feature: 1. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[4]; 2. 7A-Will Armitage[6]; 3. 51B-Joe B Miller[5]; 4. 37-Bryce Norris[3]; 5. 5H-Mario Clouser[2]; 6. 96-Jake Blackhurst[8]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[11]; 8. 52F-Logan Faucon[7]; 9. 29-Brayton Lynch[13]; 10. 44-Cory Bruns[12]; 11. 1JR-Steven Russell[15]; 12. 23J-Jordan Welch[16]; 13. B8-John Barnard[17]; 14. 9-Tyler Duff[14]; 15. 99-Korey Weyant[19]; 16. 3B-Shelby Bosie[10]; 17. 2A-Austin Archdale[20]; 18. 16-Kevin Newton[18]; 19. (DNF) 85J-Logan Julien[1]; 20. (DNF) 8-Bryan Brewer[9]
