From Peterson Media
Friday night was a memorable one for Paul Nienhiser. Chasing after the MOWA all time wins lead since 2019, COVID and then his stint with USAC delayed his progress but it made the achievement that much sweeter. In front of his hometown crowd, Nienhiser raced to the win at Jacksonville Speedway and broke a tie with Jerrod Hull as he now sits atop the series’ all time wins list with 23 trips to victory lane.
After a strong weekend at Jacksonville Speedway over the Labor Day Weekend holiday, Nienhiser and his team came out strong on Friday night as the Chapin, IL driver charged from fifth to third in his heat race aboard the CAM2 Lubricants/Buffalo Wild Wings/Innovative Design backed No. 9x.
Making a steering box change prior to the feature, Nienhiser’s crew-member, Caleb Wankel had the hot hand for the redraw as he pulled the one and put the No. 9x entry on the pole for the feature event.
“I was in the pits helping make a steering box change, and sent Caleb to the redraw,” Nienhiser said. “I have been terrible all year, and he had all the luck on his side, and it worked out for us.”
From the onset of the feature, Nienhiser was large and in charge out front as he worked around the racy bullring. Out front, Nienhiser focused on hitting his marks and limiting his mistakes as he spent much of the race picking his way through traffic.
While much of the race he was unchallenged for the lead, Nienhiser felt a little pressure on the final lap, but was able to lay down two great sets of corners and race to his record setting 23rd career feature event win with MOWA.
Saturday night the scene shifted to Spoon River Speedway, and early in the night problems ensued for the team as the car would not fire.
After a feverish effort by the Paul Nienhiser Racing crew, a mag switch was successful, but the team unfortunately missed hot laps.
“Scott, Caleb, CJ, and Weston all busted their tails trying to figure out why we couldn’t get the car to fire,” Nienhiser said. “They worked so hard and changed mags and even though we missed hot laps, we were in business.”
Unsure of what to do with their car prior to the heat, Nienhiser was able to advance from fifth to fourth in his heat and lock into the feature event where he took the green flag from the 11th starting position.
With his elbows up from the sixth row, Nienhiser was a man possessed when the feature went green. Carving his way around Spoon River Speedway, Nienhiser would become a major player in the ‘A’ as he worked his way up to second and looked for more.
As fate would have it, a broken wheel center with eight to go would nearly see Nienhiser get upside down. Though he was able to keep it on all fours, the issues were terminal for the race and Nienhiser’s night was over.
“It was a good weekend for us, and we had a ton of speed at both tracks,” Nienhiser said. “Again, I really want to thank, Scott, Caleb, CJ and Weston for all of their hard work, because I really would not be able to do this without them.”
Nienhiser would like to thank CAM2 Lubricants, Buffalo Wild Wings, Innovative Design, Mason Sound, Bradshaw Custom Pumping, Signature Signs & Design, Sunstoppers Window Tinting, American Rental Center, Fierce Herbicide, Guse’s Pub & Eatery, Wessler Bros Agency, Willhite Mowing, T&K Tree Services, Engler Machine and Tool, FK Indy, Rider Racing Engines, Midland Performance, Simpson Race Products, Smith Titanium, and Premier Powder Coating for their continued support.
Nienhiser would also like to thank Midland Performance, Kinney Racing Engines, Rockstar Wraps, Heartland Trailer Manufacturing, Robert’s Tire Center, and Stronghurst Collision for their support of the No. 50 car.
BY THE NUMBERS: Races-26, Wins-6, Top 5’s-16, Top 10’s-20
ON TAP: Nienhiser will now turn his attention to Sprint Invaders action this weekend as he will be at Lee County Speedway on Friday, 34 Raceway on Saturday, and Quincy Raceway on Sunday.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Paul Nienhiser by following him on Twitter @Paul_Nienhiser or by clicking over to www.paulnienhiser.com.