Track Schedules

Brandon Wimmer – Charging With the WoO! 

(Bill W) May 5, 2011 – Charging from the back in a pair of World of Outlaw shows is not what Brandon Wimmer had in mind, but that was the reality.  On Saturday in Haubstadt, after qualifying ninth and finishing third in his heat, that he had an unapproved tire.  That set up a charge from 24^th to 17^th on the tight quarter-mile.  A trip Tuesday night to the Salina High Banks in Oklahoma saw the Fairmount, Indiana driver shoot from 20^th to 13^th.  This weekend, he’ll be back in familiar territory as the WoO spends two nights at the Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio. 

The incident at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt on Saturday was unfortunate.  Brandon timed in ninth in the stout field before running third in his heat.  That is when officials approached him.  “It was just a deal where we were good all night,” he says.  “We ran the same tire on the left and right rear for qualifying and the heat race.  After the heat, they came and said our left rear was not the World of Outlaws series Goodyear tire.  They have a D31 series, and ours was a D27 that we picked up last year.  It was still a 100 compound tire, just not the series they are running this year.” 

Brandon was forced to start scratch in the feature, and made the most of it by moving up seven spots.  “That put us in the back of the feature,” he says.  “At Haubstadt, which is a smaller track, that’s a tough proposition.  We felt we were running well.  We’re definitely passing cars right now, and not going the opposite way.” 

He proved that again on Tuesday night at the Salina Highbanks.  This time, the qualifying effort of 25^th was the reason he would have to make a surge.  “We were the 13^th quickest car in hot laps, but we were the next to last car to go out for qualifying,” says Brandon.  “That didn’t help things.  Every car there was a good car.  It was one of those good deals, and going out late ended up hurting us some.” 

The Alan Barton Motorsports Hedman Husler Hedders #7TW was a rocket in the heat race.  Starting ninth, he shot up to fifth, passing the defending WoO champion in the process.  The finish put him squarely in the feature.  “The heat went really well,” he says.  “We were able to get by four cars.  The last two were Jason Meyers and Brad Sweet, so we felt really good about how the car was working on the high banks.” 

Starting outside row ten, Brandon worked his way to threaten for a top ten finish.  However, a series of restarts set him back.  “The car just got better in the feature,” he says.  “I’m positive we could have had a top ten car, but the double-file restarts hurt us a few times.  It’s the luck of where you line up on the restarts.  Early in the race, you wanted the top, but later on, you wanted the bottom.  It seemed we ended up on the opposite side every time.” 

Is it frustrating to have so many double-file restarts?  “It works on you,” says Brandon.  “It’s challenging, because you work so hard to get by those cars under green, and then they get to start beside you on the restarts.” 

Overall, Brandon was happy with the way the car was moving forward, and he was impressed with the facility in Salina.  “It was racy all night…high, low, middle, wherever,” he says of the track.  “It’s a pretty nice racetrack.  I had never been there before.  We’re looking forward to Eldora.  We just need to qualify a tick better and start up front.”