Brandon and the team in Victory Lane at Atomic (Stephen Wright/Atomic Speedway Photo)
(Bill W) May 16, 2017 – Brandon Wimmer had two big reasons to celebrate last weekend. Not only did he emerge victorious in OSCS vs. FAST sprint car action at Atomic Speedway Saturday night, he and wife Chantel welcome their second child, Kaden, into the world! The Fairmount, Indiana native gave car owner John Shewbrooks his first win in sprint cars, and the team plans to head to Kokomo Speedway in Indiana Friday night to compete with the All Stars.
Brandon and the Shewbrooks #A67 team started the weekend Friday and Eldora with the World of Outlaws. “We were able to qualify well, which gave us a good start,” he says. “We kind of got lucky in the heat race, but we got through, finishing fifth.”
The main event was fast and furious as always on the high banks. “The feature was tough,” says Brandon. “We ended up 20th, but with 35 tough cars in the pits, that’s o.k. We haven’t raced that much this year…I think two or three times. I don’t think there were any other teams towing a flatbed trailer with an Astro van like we are. We have a new Maxim and a new Kistler engine, and John provides me with a great racecar. We are working as hard as anyone and I think it shows.”
That would prove to be the case at Atomic on Saturday with another 35-car “North vs. South” field pitting the Ohio Sprint Car Series with the Fremont/Attica Sprints. “They didn’t qualify,” says Brandon. “We ran second in the heat and that put us in the Dash. We drew the four and ran third.”
Starting inside row two, Brandon would keep pace with leader Danny Smith early on. “The first half of the race, we were able to keep up with them,” he says. “The second half of the race, the setup really kicked in, and we took off.”
A slide-fest ensued with the leader. “We had a really good race with Danny Smith for the lead,” says Brandon. “I think we slid each other a few times. We were finally able to get John a sprint car win. He used to race speedboats for years. He got into sprint cars about five years ago living close to Chillicothe, so it was nice to get him his first sprint car win. Scott Cool turns the wrenches for us. He’s from down there, and used to work with me in the mid-2000’s too. It was good to get a win for all of them. They’re a team that just likes to have fun.”