Nowak Breaks Through with Win at MIS

Topics:  Lyle Nowak

Matt Panure
Mid American Stock Car Series
September 20, 2008

(Oregon, WI) September 20, 2008 – Lyle Nowak’s 2008 season began with a bang when he won at the Rockford Speedway this past April. Since that time, thanks largely to five DNFs, there was not much noise coming from the Wausau, WI veteran; that is, until Saturday night’s Mid-American Stock Car Series 40 lap feature event at Madison International Speedway.

“It feels good. We fell out of the points with some bad finishes but still felt like we were improving the whole time. This win is very rewarding,” said Nowak regarding his second ever victory on a half-mile.

Nowak jumped to the front of the field in a hurry from his outside row three starting spot, took the lead from pole sitter Tom McClintock on lap 15 and denied multiple attempts by McClintock and defending MIS race winner Jeremy Spoonmore in the late stages of the race.

The first challenger to McClintock was MASCS newcomer Jason Kolbe. The young driver from Oak Lawn, IL paced the initial circuit but was passed by McClintock on lap two. As Kolbe began to fade from McClintock’s rear view mirror, Nowak started to press the rookie for second.

That battle would be delayed, however, due to a multiple car incident that stemmed from a Troy Shear Jr. spin in turn one.

On the restart, Nowak glided around the outside of Kolbe with Spoonmore in hot pursuit. Noticing the pressure mounting by Spoonmore, Nowak shot to the inside of McClintock and into the lead coming to the line on lap 15. McClintock, however, did not go away. “I thought when we got around [McClintock] we would get some distance on him,” said Nowak. “But he stayed right there and I thought he was even better than me as the race went on.”

With Nowak conducting the freight train of MASCS competitors around “Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile,” the focus began to shift to Mid-American point leader James Swan and second place driver Bill Prietzel, who entered the event trailing Swan by only 15 points.

Prietzel was having a much easier time working through traffic than his counterpart. At one point he was far enough ahead of Swan to gain back the bonus points Swan had gained by being the night’s fastest qualifier. But, just after the halfway point, Prietzel’s chances for a top five at MIS went up in smoke, litteraly.

While Prietzel was working his way up into the top five, smoke slowly began to pour out of his machine. As the laps clicked off, the smoke became heavier and heavier. The smoke was then accompanied by trace amounts fluid and the black flag was displayed. Prietzel ended his night on lap 26.

The top three remained the same at the 30 lap mark, but they were losing ground to fourth place Jake Finney and fifth place Brian Back.

Coming to lap 31, Spoonmore made slight contact with McClintock coming out of turn four. The bobble by McClintock and Spoonmore’s slowing allowed Finney the inside line going into turn one. Finney lost control heading into the turn and brought out the second caution of the race.

After the restart, McClintock became very loose off of turn two and had to allow Spoonmore and Back past. A Kevin Moenck spin exiting turn two on lap 38 set up the climax between Nowak, Spoonmore and Back.

“Jeremy is always good here. I wasn’t going to give up the inside and he knew that he needed to go to the outside,” said Nowak of the green, white, checkered situation.

When the racing resumed, Spoonmore indeed tried the outside on Nowak but was unable to find the grip to mount a final challenge. He quickly went from an offensive strategy to take the lead to going on the defensive. Back pulled side by side with Spoonmore on the final lap but was unable to make the pass before the line as the checkered fell.

Spoonmore was content to pick up his third second place finish of the season. “I wish it was first but we’ll take second. The car got too loose and we got held up early on in the race,” he commented.

Swan found his way around McClintock coming back to the stripe for fourth. With that fourth place finish and fast time, Swan’s lead jumped from 15 to 59 over Prietzel, unofficially.

The next event for the Mid-American Stock Car Series is next Sunday afternoon September, 28th at the Rockford Speedway as part of the 43rd Annual National Short Track Championships. Mid-American will then round out its “Sweet 16 Season” the following Saturday, October 4th at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.

Rockford Speedway is located at 9572 Forest Hills Road seven miles north of downtown Rockford, just two miles west of Interstate 90 at the intersection of Forest Hills Road and Highway 173 in Loves Park, IL. For more information please visit www.rockfordspeedway.com

For more information about the Mid-American Series including results, current 2008 standings, the remaining 2008 schedule and driver info please visit www.midamericanracing.com