Bad Luck Bites Win-Tron Racing Again At Winchester

Topics:  Matt Merrell, Winchester ARCA 200

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Win-Tron Racing
June 27, 2011

WINCHESTER, Indiana (June 27, 2011) - - Lakeville, Minnesota-based Win-Tron Racing would do anything for a break right now. After showing great potential during practice and qualifying Saturday afternoon at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, a parts failure in the early stages of the Winchester ARCA 200 left the team literally speechless.

Portland, Texas native Matt Merrell returned to the wheel of the No. 32 Champion Brands Dodge Charger for the ninth race of the 2011 season. And while the 26-year old had never seen the track before Saturday’s activities, you never would have known it.

In practice, Merrell grabbed the fifth spot overall – giving the team a much welcomed boost. In time trials, Merrell qualified a solid 10th in the stoutest short track field of the season thus far.

From the drop of the green flag, it wasn’t a surprise to see the No. 32 Champion Oil Dodge begin to make his march towards the front. But the team’s night would end abruptly on lap 10 when the lower control arm failed which shot the car hard into the turn four wall.

Merrell was able to drive his mangled No. 32 Champion Brands Dodge Charger back to pit road where he made the turn to the garage where upon review from the team, the damaged was deemed terminal.

The Win-Tron Racing team would be credited with a 25th place finish.

“We’re going through some bad luck right now and I would do anything to get rid of it,” said Merrell. “The car was going to be really good in race runs, but we never really got the chance to get there. Our night was over pretty quick and there are no words to describe how miserable that feels.”

He added, “I sincerely appreciate Win-Tron and Champion Brands for standing behind me. We’ve been fast all season-long, we’re just experiencing more than our fair share of bad luck right now.”

Co-car owner Nate Thiesse commented on Saturday night’s outcome. “We all had high hopes in our return to Winchester. Matt did a good job as always, it was something that was completely out of his control. I know he feels bad about it, but it’s the down part to racing. We’ll pick up the pieces and try and bounce back with a vengeance at Berlin here in a couple weeks.”

Merrell sits seventh in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards standings after nine races. Just 10 points separate Merrell from sixth place held by Tim George Jr.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is their final stop in the Great Lakes state with a stop at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway for the running of the Hantz Group 200 set for Saturday, July 9th. The Marne, Michigan-based track is the home of Merrell’s career-best finish in ARCA of second in 2009.

Merrell made his 22nd career start in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards at Winchester Speedway. In those 22 outings, Merrell has eight top-fives including runner-up finishes of second at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (August) in 2009 and 11 top-10s. His best start position for Win-Tron Racing occurred at the tricky triangle of Pocono (Pa.) Raceway where he qualified his No. 32 CollinsHope.org Dodge Charger second in June of 2009.

Further information including driver opportunities with Win-Tron Racing is available by visiting win-tronracing.com or contacting Nate Thiesse at 952.469.1839.

For more on Champion Oil, Champion Brands LLC and their products, please logon to championbrands.com or championsusechampion.com.

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TEAM COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com / knight849@aol.com