From Bill Wright
July 21, 2015 – Brandon Wimmer is proud to announce his partnership with the famous Mertz/Jenkins #55XM for Southern Iowa Sprintweek in August. The team will tackle the 25th Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals August 6-8 and the August 9 Capitani Classic at Knoxville. They will be competing at the $20,000 to win Front Row Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, before returning for the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores August 12-15.
The Fairmount, Indiana driver is looking forward to getting back to Knoxville. “I’m really excited to go out there with the 55XM team,” says Brandon. “We’ll have Maxim chassis, which obviously, I’m familiar with. It will be good to get back to Iowa in August!”
The team will have Charlie Garrett engines for the 410 Nationals. “Our 360 is actually a Morrison/Garrett,” says Mertz. “This is the first time we’ve run the 360 Nationals with our car. I think running all week will give us a little extra track time. We started coming out to the Nationals in 1994 when Steve Smith leased my motors. I don’t think we’ve missed but two or three of those since.”
The #55 has a deep history. “We’re excited about teaming with Brandon,” says Mertz. “I think it’s the right combination for us to come out and have a little fun. I busted Brandon a little bit. We’ve had three guys that won the first night in: (Tim) Shaffer, (Billy) Pauch and (Daryn) Pittman. Blaney should have at Skyline, but it was so dusty he couldn’t see. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any pressure on him! (laughs)”
The list of drivers with the team is a ‘Who’s Who’ of sprint car racing. “This is going to be driver 46 or 47 for us over the years,” says Mertz. “We started with Ted Young back in 1974, and it’s gone from there.”
The next couple of weeks, Brandon will be racing for John Shewbrook in his #A97 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio. This week will feature weekly competition, before the All Stars visit July 31 and August 1.
The #55XM team would like to thank the following for their support: Charlie Garrett, Brian Morrison, Ben Cook Racing, Century 21 Mertz (www.Century21Mertz.com), Intense Fabrication and Maxim Racing.
(Mike Campbell Photo)