Nienhiser continues his domination of the Sprint Invaders with Sunday night win at Adams County Speedway

QUINCY — Paul Nienheiser is threatening to run away and hide from the rest of the Sprint Invaders.

Much like he did Sunday night.

Nienhiser dominated the 360 winged sprint feature — again — by churning to his fourth victory in five series starts this season, the latest coming at Adams County Speedway.

Nienhiser, who is headquartered in Chapin, Ill., overmatched the rest of the 18-car field in the main event for the exception of a brief stretch in the middle of the 25-lap feature.

Cody Wehrle, who races out of Burlington, Iowa, got past Nienhiser for a handful of laps midway through the finale, but was unable to maintain his momentum. Nienhiser quickly regrouped, ran Wehrle down and coasted to his second win of the weekend. Nienhiser won a Sprint Invaders feature Friday night at Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo.

“Cody got past me, and I didn’t know if I could (regain the lead),” Nienhiser said. “But when he slipped up a little on turn two, I was able to get by him.”

Wehrle wound up finishing third behind runner-up Terry McCarl of Altoona, Iowa, the 59-year-old National Sprint Car Hall of Famer who said he last won a race in Quincy in 1993. 

Nienhiser stretched his points advantage in the series to 40 (1,105 to 1,065) over defending Sprint Invaders champion Ryan Bunton of Morton, Ill., who finished fourth in the feature.

“We seem to be clicking pretty good right now,” said Nienhiser, who pocketed $2,000 for the victory in front of an estimated crowd of more than 1,500.

Nienhiser, Tanner Gebhardt of Burlington, Iowa, and Ryan Jamison of Mediapolis, Iowa, won heat races. McCarl won the dash.

Jamison, a three-time series champ, was taken by EMT personnel to receive medical attention following a post-heat race incident near turn three.

Colton Fisher of Mediapolis, Iowa, was the fastest qualifier among the Sprint Invaders at 11.967 seconds, or 88.74 mph.

Winners from the three weekly series that ran Sunday were Jason Perry in the crate late models, Jacob Rexing in modifieds and Steve Meyer in the Crown Vics.

Perry led from start to finish in the 25-lap late model main event, withstanding a late charge from Denny Woodworth. The feature win was Perry’s first of the season.

“We had a lot of family members here tonight,” Perry said. “It couldn’t have been a better night.”

Making Perry’s night even better was his taking the series points lead from fourth-place feature finisher Jamie Wilson (270-260). Perry is seeking his first track title since 2012.

Woodworth, who started seventh in the feature, finished runner-up. Defending series champ Tommy Elston wound up third. Woodworth is third (244) in points and Elston (238) fourth.

Perry, Elston and Darin Weisinger Jr. won late model heats.

Rexing’s victory was his first in a modified this season (he has two wins in the stock series), and feels he may have finally turned the corner in his modified. He said he took some advice from a friend, and the new set-up paid some immediate dividends.

“I’m really surprised we were able to get this win the way we’ve been struggling this year,” Rexing said. “This is such a strong division. There’s a lot of good drivers in this class with strong guys like (Austen) Becerra and (Dave) Wietholder.”

Becerra, the two-time defending series champ, finished a close runner-up in the 20-lap finale. Wietholder, who led the first eight laps before Rexing got past him, was third.

“I saw Becerra behind me and I knew I couldn’t make a mistake,” Rexing said.

Modified heat winners were Justin Reed and Wietholder.

Jared Thomas was the top modified qualifier at 14.270 seconds, or 74.42 mph.

Wietholder (308), Becerra (306) and Rexing (287) sit atop the track points.

Meyer won the track’s second Crown Vic feature (the series debuted June 2) and moved within one point (70-69) of leader Brian Kaylor. Jake Etter won the lone heat race.

Notes

• There will be no racing at the track next Sunday to allow staff to get the .295-mile site ready for its June 19 UMP DIRTCar Summer Nationals Hell Tour date. The 2024 Hell Tour kicks off Wednesday (Peoria) and Thursday (Kankakee) nights.
• Quincy will be hosting its 13th Hell Tour race. The first year the Broadway Bullring was granted a date was 2006. There have been three rainouts and one year (2011) when no was was scheduled in Quincy.
• Perry’s feature victory vaulted him to the top of the late model money earning list at $1,925. Wilson ($1,725), Woodworth ($1,575) and Elston ($1,575) are next.
• Becerra ($2,525), Wietholder ($2,325), Trevor Neville ($2,200) and Rexing ($1,950) have won the most in the modified series.
• The 24th year of Muddy River Performance Points (formerly Herald-Whig Performance Points), finds Perry (75), Wilson (64), Elston (55) and Woodworth (54) leading the crate lates. Becerra (77), Wietholder (70), Neville (70) and Rexing (58) are atop the modifieds. Points are awarded for feature (25-20-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1) and heat (3-2-1) finishes.