Central Wisconsin 40 is “Oh So Neisius” at Golden Sands Speedway

Topics:  Central Wisconsin 40, Paul Neisius

Matt Panure
Mid American Stock Car Series
May 22, 2009

Plover, Wis. (May 22, 2009) – When the front row rolled trackside for the start of the Mid-American Stock Car Series’ Central Wisconsin 40 at Golden Sands Speedway, an instant favorite was identified. No one knew, however, that favorite would be starting on the inside of the front row, not the outside. Paul Neisius wrestled the lead away from former GSS super stock champion Brian Back on lap one, broke away from the field and led every lap of a green to checkered event en route to his first ever MASCS victory.

Neisius, a Midwest Super Truck veteran, and his cousin Justin decided this past winter it was best to hit the road and do some traveling with their Mid-American racers. The decision has ultimately led Paul to the first checkered flag of Mid-American’s 17th season.

“We’ve raced Mid-American before and it was a lot of fun,” said the Hastings, MN resident in victory lane. “When we decided to do some traveling this seemed like the right way to do it.”

What was also said in the post-race interview may be indicative of the type of competition Neisius will bring in 2009. “All I had to do was hang on and get it to the end. The car was getting better and better,” he said.

As Neisius trotted past lap traffic, a sensational battle was brewing behind him. Tim Schmitt started on the inside of the second row and was given all he could handle in the early going battling Back for the second spot. On lap three Back began to back track and was overtaken by Schmitt.

With Schmitt jaunting into second, defending race winner Lyle Nowak and three-time MASCS champion Bill Prietzel were making their moves to the front. Nowak was able to dispense of Back for third on lap four while Prietzel was locked in battle with Back for position until lap 15.

Having moved past Back, Prietzel and Nowak began to battle amongst themselves behind Schmitt. Nowak began peeking to the high side of Schmitt while Prietzel was content to keep his left side tires as low as they could go. As Nowak was held up on the outside, Prietzel scooted past and into the third spot.

Prietzel then was able to try his hand at surpassing Schmitt. With seven laps remaining Prietzel was able to get to the bottom of the track and squirm past Schmitt into second. Unfortunatley for Prietzel, he was not afforded a chance to duel with Neisius.

“I’d like to think we would have had something for Neisus,” said Preitzel. “But that doesn’t make you better than him to get around. It would have been interesting if we would have got there, but it didn’t happen.”

Nowak followed suit three laps later and left the door open for Tom McClintock who spent the entire race with his ARP “Next Generation Body” Cadillac CTS in the top five. McClintock snuck into fourth in the final laps and Brian Back was able to recover and put his machine into the top five.

Earlier in the evening Mike Lichtfeld was able to transfer his way into the Central Wisconsin 40 by winning the 15 lap last chance race. Dave Obermeyer and Jake Finney also grabbed transfer spots.

Ryan Gutknecht was awarded a certificate for the Wehrs Machine Hard Luck Award. Gutknecht lost control in practice and set his car on the backstretch berm, damaging several key suspension components. He was able to qualify, run his heat race and accepted a provisional into the feature event while struggling with an ailing machine all evening long.

In his MASCS debut, Matt Pyburn set fast time with a blistering lap of 13.329 seconds.

The next event for the Mid-American Stock Car Series is the Dells Duel Part One next Saturday, May 30 at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, WI. Mid-American will be running in conjunction with the American Speed Association Midwest Tour’s Bronze Race. Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. with the first green flag scheduled to fall at 6:30.

Dells Raceway Park is located on Smith Road just outside of Wisconsin Dells, WI. For more information visit www.dellsracewaypark.com

For more information about the Mid-American Stock Car Series including results, the current 2009 standings, the 2009 schedule and driver info please visit www.midamericanracing.com.