by Dean Reller
The ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings visited Elko Speedway for the Thunderstruck 93 and i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Andrew Morrissery turned in what may have been his strongest race ever with the Midwest Tour as he picked up his first win of the season. Nick Murgic led early on before Morrissey would take over out front on lap 11. Also moving to the front was Team i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Rich Bickle, who snatched the lead on lap 79 restart. Morrisey would regain the lead on a restart following Spiked Island Tour Star Cardell Potter’s crash on lap 93. Bickle would manage to lead a couple of more laps before Morrissey would take the lead for a final time on lap 99. DOC 360 Touring Star Chris Wimmer’s car came to life as he moved by Bickle with 21 laps remaining, but didn’t have enough to get by Morrissey’s dominant run as the DeForest WI driver led 98 of the race’s 125 laps for his second career Midwest Tour win.
Goede Takes VDL Fuel Systems Fast Time Award
Team Spiked Island Touring Star Jacob Goede finished second in last year’s Thunderstruck 93 and got the weekend rolling in the right direction as he set fast time with a lap of 13.620 seconds around the 3/8th’s mile Elko Speedway. DOC 360 Touring Star Chris Wimmer was second quick just .053 behind Goede.
Storm, Holzhausen And Potter Take Wins In Qualifying Events
Team i-gogs Touring Star Jeff Storm led everything but the first lap as he won the Hedman Hedders Qualifier race. Team Vita Ice Touring Star Skylar Holzhausen held off Dennis Prunty in the Last Chance race. Spiked Island Touring Star Cardell Potter held off local drivers Nick Murgic and Matt Goede as he hung on for the win in the JRI Shocks Fast Dash.
Local Drivers Well Represented
10 of the 28 cars in the field were non-Midwest Tour drivers that call Elko Speedway home. 2013 Elko Track Champion Adam Royle led the group of locals with a 7th place finish. Bryan Syer-Keske was the only local driver to make his first ever start with the ARCA Midwest Tour. Syer-Keske finished the race 14th.
Fredrickson Maintains Points Lead Over Wimmer
Defending Thunderstruck 93 winner and i-gogs Sunglasses Touring Star Dan Fredrickson wasn’t in contention for the win, but a solid 6th place finish helped a bit as Team DOC 360 Touring Star Chris Wimmer gained a few points with his 2nd place finish. Fredrickson leads Wimmer by 38 points headed into the season ending race at LaCrosse.
Rookie Battle Coming Down To The Wire
The battle for Rookie of the Year will come down to the final race of the year. Team Spiked Island Touring Star James Swan finished the Thunderstruck 93 in 9th place while Dennis Prunty came home in 15th. Swan leads Prunty 1481 to 1460, just a mere 21 points as they travel to the final stop of the season.
White Flag On The Year
One more event remains in the 2013 season for the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment and Lester Buildings, the Oktoberfest 100 at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem Wisconsin October 5th and 6th.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. For questions call the ARCA Midwest Tour office at (262) 729-4111 or Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or Steve Einhaus (630) 212-6022 at or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@arcamidwesttour.comor Steve Einhaus at steve@arcamidwesttour.com.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
