10/17/2017
Scotty Thiel
Scotty Thiel – Closes out 2017 with Podium Run at Jacksonville!
Scotty Thiel thought his 2017 racing campaign was completed after the final night of IRA action at Plymouth a few weeks back but that quickly changed when he received a call to come and race one more time. Scott Bonar from Midland Performance gave Thiel a call on Thursday to come and race the #50 car at the double header weekend event at Jacksonville Speedway with the Midwest Open Wheel Association.
28 cars checked into Jacksonville on Friday night. A draw would line up heat races and a passing point format was utilized to set the field for the main event. Thiel started 5th in his heat race event and would battle his way up to the third position before falling back later in the race to a fourth place finish. That would lock Thiel into the 25 lap A-main event with a 13th place starting position based on points from the heats. A rougher style track made for 25 laps of intense racing action. Thiel gained a few positions early in the event but as lap cars became a factor it really made for some close racing. A few cautions along the way helped the field get bunched back up and ultimately allowed Thiel to have a clean track to race with the lead cars for several laps. After 25 laps were complete, Thiel would finish in the 6th position. “It was the first night in this car. Some things are a little different so I just need to get use to that. Tonight was a good test session for us. I just need to thank Scott and his team for allowing me to race his stuff this weekend. Hopefully we will have better results tomorrow night.” Thiel stated after the event.
25 cars were checked into the track on Saturday night. On this night, qualifying would be utilized to set up the heat race events. Scotty drew a 57 pill which placed him to go out 23rd in the qualifying order. Going out late did not affect Thiel too much as he was sixth quick overall. That would place him to start 5th in the heat race event. Thiel worked the low line early in the heat race but would jump up to the top side and try to gain some ground. The track had some rough spots and Thiel would become a victim midway through the event as the car bounced off the rough cushion and he spun around. After the field went back to green, Thiel worked his way back to the sixth finishing position which would force him to come through the B-main event. Thiel would start on the outside front row of the B main. The top two cars would get their qualifying time back and be eligible to start 11th and 12th if they were quicker than the previous eligible cars. Thiel held the second spot for all 12 laps of the B main and would end up getting into the 12th starting position for the nights 25 lap A-main event. Thiel knew he would have his work cut out for him in the feature and the team went to work to prepare the best car possible. The green flag flew and Thiel began his charge forward. He launched around the top side of the track and made a few early moves for position. He was up into the top ten very early on and took advantage of lap traffic to move up further. The race went green until a late race red flag came out with only a few laps to go. Thiel found himself in the fifth position after the field went back to green. He charged around the cushion once again and made his move into the third position. A caution would come out shortly after and set the field up for a green white checkered finish. On the restart, Thiel pulled a slider but wasn’t able to complete it for the second position and settled back into third. He tried to rebuild his momentum but fell short and would cross the finish line in the third position, earning his 20th top five of the season and a podium with the MOWA series. “We rebounded tonight. I got a little upset with myself in the heat race after looping it around. We had set ourselves up well to get into the dash tonight but after spinning those chances fell fast. The B main wasn’t too bad as we got our time back and started 12th in the main. We learned a lot in the B and that helped us out a lot for the feature. The car was a rocket ship and we just needed a 30 lapper and maybe we would have set ourselves up better for a win. A podium finish after struggling early on feels pretty good. Thank you to Scott and team for the opportunity and all of their great sponsors on board this #50 machine!” Scotty expressed after the show.
That now completes the 2017 season for Scotty Thiel. It was a pretty successful year after competing in 35 events, earning five wins, 20 top 5 finishes and 27 top 10 finishes!
Keep up to date with Scotty and the team throughout the off season as they prepare to create plans for 2018. For more information on how to be a part of Scott Thiel Motorsports in 2018, please email scotty@sixfourpromotions.com.
Photo Credit: Turn 4 Photos
Article Credit: SixFour Promotions
Submitted By: Scotty Thiel