(Photo by TeeJay Crawford Photography)
GRANITE CITY, Ill. – On what has arguably been his best track this season, Hunter Schuerenberg scored his fourth top-five finish in four attempts at Tri-City Speedway over the weekend. With the Midwest Open Wheel Association being the undercard for the USAC National Midgets for the Seventh Annual Gold Crown Midget Nationals, Schuerenberg earned a third-place finish on Friday night before taking fourth the next evening.
With 23 sprint cars present on both nights of action, three heat races would help align the field for the main events. In night one’s heat three, Schuerenberg started from the outside of row two, and gained two positions to finish second. The effort just squeezed him into the dash for the front three rows of the main event. Starting that six-lap race in sixth, he again moved forward two spots en route to finishing fourth.
The main event proved to be similar to Schuerenberg’s past two appearances at the 3/8-mile oval this season, in which the track laid rubber before the completion of the feature race. The Roof Bolt Express/Nolen Racing entry took over third on lap three, but the lone caution flag of the event negated the move and forced Schuerenberg back to fourth. Regardless, he used a slidejob on the restart to take the position for good. When Paul Nienhiser, who led the majority of the race, hit the turn three wall and slowed, he fell to second and Schuerenberg gathered a run on him but was unable to make the pass ahead of the checkered. A third-place result earned him his second podium finish at the speedway this season.
Saturday night, Schuerenberg’s pill draw put him on the pole of heat two. Ultimately, he would drop one spot and repeat the finish from the previous night’s heat. With the ninth-highest passing point total, he wouldn’t make the dash and was set to start inside row five for the 25-lap feature race. A much more favorable surface for side-by-side action helped Schuerenberg pick up five spots to match his fourth-place July 24 finish at the track during MOWA Speedweek action.
Schuerenberg is next scheduled to compete on September 12 at Spoon River Speedway in Lewistown, Ill. with the Midwest Open Wheel Association in the No. 20N 410ci winged sprint entry.
Schuerenberg would like to thank Roof Bolt Express, Nolen Racing, Mach 1 Chassis, Competition Suspension Inc., AFCO Racing, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Hinchman Racewear, Keizer Wheels, High Side Design, and Ron Gorby’s Howard Johnson, as well as all of his fans for their continued support.
Quick Results
September 4 – Granite City, IL – 410ci Winged Sprint – Heat: 2nd (4); Dash: 4th (6); Feature: 3rd (4)
September 5 – Granite City, IL – 410ci Winged Sprint – Heat: 2nd (1); Feature: 4th (9)
2015 Stats
44 races, 32 features, 1 win, 11 top fives, 16 top tens, 13 DNFs
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Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions