Catchfence

Scott Wimmer

EVENT – U.S. Cellular 250 (250 laps / 218 miles)

TRACK – Iowa Speedway (.875-mile oval)

DATE – Saturday, August 1, 2009

TV/ RADIO BROADCAST INFO – ESPN (coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 4:00 p.m. EST)

RACING WITH JRM– Wimmer’s only short-track start with JRM came last week at ORP. He finished ninth and led 39 laps, a season-high lap statistic for both Wimmer and the No. 5 Fastenal team.

WIMMER OUT FRONT: Prior to last week’s race, the last time Wimmer led 39 or more laps was at Nashville Superspeedway in 2007. There, he led 41 laps en route to a fourth-place finish. The last time the No. 5 team lead more than 39 laps dates back to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2008. The team led 81 laps before taking its first victory under the JRM banner.

CONSISTENT FINISHES – Wimmer earned a top-10 finish in two of his three races with JRM. This weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 marks Wimmer’s fourth race with Fastenal and JR Motorsports. He will race again at Richmond International Raceway and Kansas Speedway this fall.

SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS – Throughout his career, Wimmer has performed well on short tracks similar to Iowa Speedway, which include Bristol Motor Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, O’Reilly Raceway Park and Memphis Motorsports Park. He has one win (Memphis), eight top-fives and 23 top-10 finishes, with one pole (Bristol). In 37 short-track starts, Wimmer led 230 career-total laps, and has an average finish of 11.3.

CHASSIS INFO – The No. 5 Fastenal team will run chassis 299. Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove it to a 20th-place finish at Texas in the spring.

EDUCATION FOR ELI: With the effort and support of the entire NASCAR community, a college fund has been set up for Eli Ross, the 2-year-old grandson of late motorsports journalist David Poole, who passed away on April 28. Anyone interested in contributing to the “Education for Eli” fund can do so by sending donations to the following address:

Eli Samuel Ross
Bank of Stanly
Attn: Misty Nordan
P.O. Box 539
Oakboro, NC 28129
(Please make checks payable to “Eli Ross Account” at Bank of Stanly.)

For more information, please call the Bank of Stanly at 704.485.3435.

DEGREE V12 CHALLENGE – NASCAR fans can now team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the Degree V12 Challenge. The Degree V12 Driving Challenge features five road races that give players a unique and exciting online race experience. Players compete against each other for a chance to win a variety of prizes including a trip to the Degree V12 300 in Atlanta on September 6, 2009 and a chance to meet Dale Jr. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com to register for the Degree V12 Challenge and begin racing to win. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 12/27/09. Visit www.DegreeRacing.com for complete rules.)

IN SEARCH OF REAL FANS: The search continues for the Hellmann’s NASCAR Real Fan of the Year! Three contest winners have been chosen so far, but there are still four more spots on the car and fans can log on to www.RealFanOfTheYear.comto enter for their chance to win. Finalists will get to meet Dale Jr. and have their face on the hood of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet this October for the Dollar General 300 race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 8/31/09. Go to www.RealFanOfTheYear.com for complete rules.)

WIMMER (looks ahead to Iowa Speedway) – “Last week at ORP was just what this Fastenal team needed. We were able to run with the leaders for most of the night and keep ourselves in contention for a good finish. It felt good to lead some laps there, too. This week will be a little different heading to Iowa with it being a track that the series has never raced on before. Fortunately, for me, it’s another short-track and I really enjoy short-track racing. Hopefully we can pull some momentum from last week into this weekend at Iowa.”

WIMMER (on achieving success at Iowa) - “A lot of our goals from last week’s race will carry over to Iowa. Track position will again be key. You’ve got to get up front and be able to stay up front at these smaller tracks and plan a good pit strategy. You can’t overestimate the importance of a good qualifying effort, too. The leaders catch lapped traffic quickly and you don’t want to be stuck back in traffic when that happens. If we can get most of those things right come race day, we can get another good finish with this Fastenal Chevrolet.”