By Brendon Bauman
Lincoln, Illinois – 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 7th career Morrow Brothers Ford
MOWA Sprint Car Series victory at the Lincoln (Ill.) 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.
Brendon Bauman Photo
Nienhiser inherited the lead in Friday’s 25-Lap A-Main after Logan Julien slowed in turn
three with mechanical issues to his #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 ¼-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 #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. Seeing the #7A to his inside, Nienhiser
knew he had only one chance to capitalize and pull ahead.
Never contested as the field raced to the checkers, Paul 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.
By virtue of a second place finish, WIll Armitage was the evening’s hard charger, having
moved forward four positions. Adding another victory to his total, Paul Nienhiser has
now earned 34 series victories with the Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series.
“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 in Victory Lane.
Reigning series champion Will Armitage was thankful to end his night on the podium
after last-minute repairs to his #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 #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.
The finish: 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]