by Jana Wimmer
Oct 1, 2014 – No word better describes Chris Weinkauf’s 2014 ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment season than ‘perseverance’. In the first five races of the year, Weinkauf never qualified outside of the top five, but only finished one race. Marred by mechanical problems and a few wrecks, the start of the season was frustrating with the most frustrating moment coming at the Milwaukee Mile, where Weinkauf led the first 90 laps before retiring early with another mechanical problem. “My wife Wendi looked me in the eyes after our heartbreak at Milwaukee,” said Chris Weinkauf, “We sobbed, we cried, we laughed and said this is what we do.”
Weinkauf persevered and as the Tour made its next stop at Grundy County Speedway, the bad luck seemed to wash away and Weinkauf found himself in Victory Lane for the first time in his ARCA Midwest Tour career. “We got a lot of support from a lot of people to keep the whole teams’ spirit alive,” said Weinkauf, “The win at Grundy was awesome and it meant a lot to know the whole team was there.”
From there Weinkauf’s season continued to turn around and in the next five races he never finished outside of the top ten. “We have been running better all year, we’ve just had some things start to go out way,” says Weinkauf, “It’s nice to see all the work we did over the winter finally show.”
Weinkauf enters the final race of the 2014 season fourth in Midwest Tour points and just three points behind Jonathan Eilen in third, but that’s not something that’s on his mind. “We have always gone to the track to win,” said Weinkauf, “So this weekend is no different than any other.”
This weekend marks the 21st time Weinkauf has raced Oktoberfest, and the change to a 200-lap main event with pit stops is something he looks forward to. “I am excited for the race on Sunday and I give everyone involved an ‘A’ for effort to make the race more exciting for the fans,” said Weinkauf, “The Tour had the same style pit stops at Milwaukee this year and I thought it was great. We are going to see how it unfolds just like we did at Milwaukee.”
Weinkauf does hope, however, the outcome of the Oktoberfest 200 is better for him than that of the Howie Lettow Memorial at The Milwaukee Mile back in June.
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
For complete event details log on to arcamidwesttour.com.
Upcoming Event Information
What: 45th Annual Oktoberfest
Where: West Salem, WI
When: October 4th-5th, 2014
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. For questions, call Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or e-mail tim@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.
