9/3/2014
Scotty Thiel
Scotty Thiel - Labor Day Weekend Racing Recap
After coming off of a second place podium finish two weeks ago and a weekend rainout last week, the Scott Thiel Motorsports team headed out to the Plymouth Dirt Track on Friday night for the start of the Labor Day racing weekend. Scotty would start on the pole of the main and led a few laps but would battle for the lead and settle for another close second place podium.
Friday night led the team for the first night of IRA Sprint car action at the Plymouth Dirt Track for the Sheboygan County Fair racing excitement. After drawing a 14 pill, Thiel went out for qualifying and laid down a 12.319 lap time after jumping the cushion but was still 5th quick overall of the 28 cars in attendance. The heat race had Scotty to start in the fifth spot and a tacky track made for difficult passing early on. He was stuck on the bottom side of the track and could not get the momentum needed to move forward. With only a few laps to go, he finally charged his way into the fifth and final transfer position but because he had qualified inside the top seven, he was automatically locked into A-main invert. After the invert was drawn, Thiel would start on the pole for the nights 30 lap A-main event.
The A-main started as Scotty brought the field into turn three and four. The green flag flew and they charged into turn one. Thiel lost some ground off of the start and settled into the second spot. A few laps later the leader jumped the cushion and Scotty utilized the opportunity and took the lead away. Several laps later, Scotty did the same thing by jumping the cushion in turn four and gave the lead away. He charged back and the field began to get into lap traffic before a caution would come out on lap 18. After going back to green flag action, Thiel followed the leader on the top side of turn one and two and shot down low coming into turn three. He came out side by side with the leader but was unable to capture the lead back and gave the leader the knowledge of the low groove in turn three and four. Lap traffic was quickly approaching once again and the top three cars were literally nose to tail for several laps straight. One car would make a mistake and the rest would capitalize but no passing for position occurred. After 30 laps of green flag action, Thiel would cross the line in the second spot once again for the second race in a row. Thiel was pleased with his second place effort but noted there is not as much of a home track advantage as some may think due to the changes in the track. “The track is a little bit different than how we used to do it back in the day. It was a fun race track tonight.” During this past off-season the raceway was lengthened 60 feet and the third and fourth turns had a fair amount of banking added. Thiel also noted the lapped cars had presented the opportunity to make an attempt on Balog (the leader). “The lapped traffic makes things a bit dicey, I really wanted to put the car up in there but….Bill drove a good race he got up there right away and we fought back”, he noted on the run. “The car was working well tonight. As long as you get a podium and qualify well it’s fun. If you’re having fun the results will come”, concluded Thiel on the nights effort.
Sunday night was the next round of racing action for the STM team at the 141 Speedway in Francis Creek, WI. Scotty was noticing issues with the engine in hot laps and the team went to work to figure out the problem. They made Scotty qualify the car after changing out spark plugs but the issue still did not seem correct. Thiel qualified 21st which placed him on the front row of the heat race event. After leading the heat for over six laps, the engine expired and he pulled it into the infield. The crew thrashed to get the backup car down and began to prepare that for the 12 lap B-main event where Scotty would have to come from the tail due to a car change. The B-main would field 15 cars and Scotty would have to charge his way from 15th to at least the sixth position in order to transfer into the nights A-main event. The field went green and Scotty did not hesitate one bit. He charged to the top side of the track and began to make passes for position. He was inside the top 10 within one lap and was in the transfer spot after 5 laps were completed. On a mission he worked his way up to the third position after 12 laps of green flag action took place. The crew went back to work to prepare for the A-main event where Scotty would yet again have to come from the rear of the field.
22 cars set the pass on a foggy night at 141. The IRA officials asked each driver their thoughts on the race track due to how heavy the fog condition was. The drivers agreed it was safe to race and they prepared to take the green flag. Coming out of turn four, the field roared down the front stretch. Scotty began to do what he did exactly in the B-main by going to the high side of the track and charging forward. He made several passes for position early on. With a little over halfway in the books, Scotty found himself battling for the tenth position and had a good run to capture the top ten before a red flag few with only a few laps to go. After returning back to green, Scotty charged the high side in turn one and moved up to the seventh position. With only two laps to go he jumped the cushion in turn three and fell back two spots to ninth and would not be able to fight back as the white flag few. After the 30 laps were complete, Thiel would cross the line in the ninth position and captured what some would consider a respectable top ten finish. “We overcame a lot tonight. Engine issues struck again but our team worked hard and I drove the hardest I could to rebound back. Ninth tonight was really respectable considering starting out in 22nd and having to come from the B. Overall the engine issues are bad but our weekend was pretty good.” Stated Thiel after the night’s action.
Up next on the STM schedule is this coming weekend for the final Northern swing for the IRA in 2014, starting out Friday night at the Amsoil Speedway in Superior, WI and Saturday the team drives south to Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI for the Richert Memorial paying $7,000 to win!
Scott Thiel Motorsports would like to thank all of their 2014 marketing partners and encourages everyone to check out these fine companies!
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Article Credit: SixFour Promotions
Submitted By: Scotty Thiel