by Jana Wimmer
Sep 30, 2014 – Jason Weinkauf’s 2014 ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment campaign has seen its fair share of ups and downs. With a brand new car and motor program, hopes were high for a strong season, but mechanical issues plagued Weinkauf throughout the entire year. From motor problems to bent shocks, it seemed he experienced it all and some of those issues definitely put a damper on what looked to be a successful day.
“We have shown good speed in a lot of races,” said Jason Weinkauf, “At Kaukauna we were looking at our first top-five of the season going into the white flag lap and then experienced motor problems that dropped us back to the last car on the lead lap. Then at Elko we were fastest in practice for the first time in my ARCA career and had a good run until we had a flat tire on the restart. We were able to drive back up to seventh, but I felt we had a very good shot at a top-five.”
Despite the disappointment that ensued throughout the year, Weinkauf sits seventh in Midwest Tour points with six top-ten finishes and credits those around him for supporting him through a trying season. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck this season, but we haven’t given up,” said Weinkauf, “I receive amazing support from my wife, crew and team owner, Jay VanDerGeest, who have had my back to continue to run the series even though it has been very tough.”
Weinkauf’s outlook on the final race of the 2014 season remains positive. He has an average finish of 11th at Oktoberfest over the last three years and thinks his best moment of the year might be coming this weekend. “We’ve always ran pretty well at the fest and I feel that there has been a lot of times this season where our car has stayed strong on the long run,” said Weinkauf, “And that could play into our hands at this year’s fest where the race is doubled in length to 200 laps.”
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.
