Nienhiser scores 30th career MOWA
victory with Lincoln Speedway win
[June 02, 2025]
Less than 12 hours before the race, Paul Nienhiser was
sitting in Cancun. Following a day filled with travel, the three
time Morrow Brothers Ford, Inc. MOWA Sprint Car Series champion
ended his night in ME Realty Victory Lane at Lincoln Speedway.
Nienhiser started from the inside of row three, quickly found his
way to the front, moving past polesitter Jake Blackhurst in turns
three and four on the second lap. After taking over the top spot,
Nienhiser put his #9X machine on the top side of the speedway and
raced towards the checkered flag while action continued to heat up
behind him. Blackhurst and third-starting Jake Neuman fought for the
runner up spot through the remainder of the race after a mid-race
caution slowed the field after John Barnard made contact with a mine
tire on the outside of the frontstretch.
Nienhiser led the field back to the green flag, with no pressure
behind him as he cruised to victory for his 30th-career victory and
sixth at Lincoln Speedway. Jake Blackhurst crossed the line in
second with Jake Neuman, Mario Clouser and Colton Fisher rounding
out the top five. Glenpool, Oklahoma racer Brandon Anderson was the
night’s hard charger advancing 12 positions to finish 9th at the end
of the 25 Lap A-Main. Mario Clouser, Nienhiser and Jake Blackhurst
were the evening’s heat race winners.
In the DIRTcar Pro Late Model 20-lap feature event, Williamsville,
IL driver Colby Sheppard made his return to the division, a
triumphant one, claiming the convincing win. Deland, IL driver,
Chris Dick, rallied late and started to close the gap but ran out of
time in the closing laps. Former champion, Braden Johnson, Chase
Wilson, and Ryan Miller closed out the top five.
The DIRTcar Modified division put on arguably the best race of the
night, with side-by-side racing throughout the field. Brandon
Roberts of Ashland, IL, and Brian Diveley, of Springfield, IL were
locked in a heated battle for the top spot. Diveley was running the
top, while Roberts worked the bottom. Lap-after-lap, each were
looking for the edge. Eventually, Roberts, a former champion, got by
with Diveley fending off Austin Lynn for second. At the checkered,
Roberts was followed by Diveley, Lynn, Carter Sinkhorn, and Collin
Alexander.
Friday night’s MARA Midget feature was a special one as Mukwonago,
WI driver Brian Peterson won his first career Midget feature.
Peterson started third in the event and led the most laps, however,
Chatham, IL veteran Mario Clouser was closing quickly at the end,
running the topside. Peterson was followed to his popular win by
Clouser, Mark McMahill, Jace Sparks, and Tyler Roth in the top five.
The Crown Vic class had a much-improved car count and put on a great
show. Lane Arcaro and Shawn Awe were racing up front in the 15-lap
A-main. Arcaro, coming all the way from Metamora, IN to race,
crossed the line first at lap 15, followed by Awe, Alex Hatfield,
Brian Kaylor, and Aidan Crowell.
It’s a short turnaround for Lincoln Speedway drivers as race #5 of
the season is set for this Friday, June 6, featuring the Ed Cain
Trucking Hornet Challenge, paying up to $1,000 to win. In addition
to the Hornets, the DIRTcar Pro Late Models, DIRTcar Modifieds,
Sportsman, and MARA Midgets will race.
Pits open at 4, grandstands at 5, hotlaps are at 6, and racing will
take the green at 7. Grandstand admission will be $15, while kids 11
and under are free.
[to top of second column] |
Paul Nienhiser claims the win. Photo by Brendan Bauman.
About Lincoln Speedway:
For more information on the track, follow Lincoln Speedway online at
www.lincolnspeedwayil.com,
on Facebook,
and Twitter (@LincolnILSpdwy). Updates are also available by calling
the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200.
Lincoln Speedway is located at the Logan County
Fairgrounds, in Lincoln, IL. The physical address is 1408 Short 11th
St., Lincoln, IL 62656. Lincoln Speedway races a number of DIRTcar
UMP classes as well as specials on a near bi-weekly schedule of
Friday and Sunday evenings. The track is also home to the DIRTcar
Fall Nationals.
FEATURE RUNDOWNS
MOWA Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[5]; 2. 96-Jake
Blackhurst[1]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 4. 6-Mario Clouser[7]; 5.
5H-Colton Fisher[6]; 6. 77-Jack Wagner[13]; 7. 73-Samuel Wagner[8];
8. 12-Corbin Gurley[11]; 9. 2-Brandon Anderson[21]; 10. 52F-Logan
Faucon[12]; 11. 29X-Brayton Lynch[16]; 12. 10S-Jeremy
Standridge[20]; 13. 3B-Shelby Bosie[9]; 14. 9-Tyler Duff[18]; 15.
01-Justin Standridge[14]; 16. 28K-Korbin Keith[19]; 17. 70-Eric
Shelton[23]; 18. B8-John Barnard[4]; 19. 44-Cory Bruns[17]; 20. (DNF)
7A-Will Armitage[2]; 21. (DNF) 1JR-Steven Russell[10]; 22. (DNF)
2A-Austin Archdale[22]; 23. (DNF) 31-Joey Moughan[15]
Pro Late Model A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 27-Colby Sheppard[1]; 2.
22-Chris Dick[3]; 3. 14-Braden Johnson[4]; 4. 16-Chase Wilson[2]; 5.
11-Ryan Miller[6]; 6. 5B-Brandon Sweitzer[5]; 7. 56-Jacob Doolen[7];
8. 93-Carson Reed[8]; 9. 72-Landon Arcaro[9]; 10. 7H-Jacob
Hillyer[12]; 11. (DNF) 19-Quynten Lewis[13]; 12. (DNF) 7Z-Michael
Maestas[11]; 13. (DNF) 16C-Tristan Coleman[10]; 14. (DNS)
16A-Augustine Punke
Modified A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 35-Brandon Roberts[1]; 2.
11D-Brian Diveley[2]; 3. 72A-Austin Lynn[5]; 4. 19C-Carter
Sinkhorn[3]; 5. 150-Collin Alexander[4]; 6. 242-Degan Dozard[7]; 7.
71-Jeff Graham[6]; 8. 5P-Nicholas Porter[9]; 9. J13-Justin
Coffey[11]; 10. (DNF) 14-Brian Lynn[10]; 11. (DNF) 32-Mason
Duncan[8]
MARA Midget - Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7-Brian Peterson[3]; 2. 75-Mario
Clouser[6]; 3. 11K-Mark McMahill[5]; 4. 21-Jace Sparks[11]; 5.
18-Tyler Roth[8]; 6. 51R-Patrick Bruns[4]; 7. 12C-Dominic Bruns[9];
8. 97N-Nolan Kiefer[10]; 9. 97-Jim Jones[12]; 10. (DNF) 7M-Cole
Morgan[7]; 11. (DNF) 7X-Korey Weyant[2]; 12. (DNF) 49P-Carl Peterson
IV[1]; 13. (DNS) 19E-Daltyn England; 14. (DNS) 4K-Charles Kunz; 15.
(DNS) 51-Chris Young
Crown Vic A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 73-Lane
Arcaro[1]; 2. 45-Shawn Awe[4]; 3. 10-Alex Hatfield[2]; 4. 72-Brian
Kaylor[3]; 5. 24-Aidan Crowell[8]; 6. 77-Dakota Damron[5]; 7.
87-Justin Miller[10]; 8. 17-Chris Tackett[7]; 9. 248-Shane
McDermith[6]; 10. (DNF) 4KK-Tom Eskew[9]
[Adam Mackey] |
