This message was edited on
March 13, 2013 at
05:32:01 PM by Bill W
Brandon Wimmer – Allard Tribute at Silver Cup!
(Bill W) March 12, 2013 – For the first time since 2011, Brandon Wimmer was back home in the seat of a sprint car. He is back to 100% health after undergoing back surgery last year. The return at the Silver Cup in Chico, California was special, as he was behind the wheel of the Stephen Allard #4sa tribute car owned by Dale Miller.
Brandon was proud to be driving in honor of one of his friends. "Stephen was a good friend and it was just an honor to drive this car," he says. "Dale Miller and Lee Lindgren were good friends with him as well. We're looking at running about fifteen shows for Dale. We'll be out there for the bigger 360 shows. I'd like to thank him for the opportunity for sure. Also, I'd like to thank Lee Lindgren for helping me."
Being chosen to drive the tribute car to Allard is not lost on Brandon. "I want to thank Dale and Lee for the opportunity to drive the car in tribute to him," he says. "In a couple of weeks, there will be t-shirts, and all the proceeds will go to the Allard family. It is really a special opportunity to get to do this."
When Wimmer arrived in California, it was time to put things together for the weekend. "It's actually Dale Miller's first time owning a car," says Brandon. "He's always owned a motor and been a sponsor. We had to finish putting everything together, and we just couldn't ever get the brakes to bleed right."
The brakes continued to be a problem at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico at Friday's preliminary. "We changed everything Friday night in relation to the brakes," says Brandon. "The last thing we changed was the master cylinder for the brakes, and that's what the issue was. So we had a new master cylinder on there for Saturday."
The typically rough quarter-mile doesn't smile on those with no brakes and the night ended in the B. "We really didn't get to work with the car at all on Friday," says Brandon. "It was all about the brakes. It was a heavy, rough racetrack…one that you really needed brakes to settle the car down."
The Fairmount, Indiana native was ready for Saturday's finale. "Saturday was much better," he says. "I think we went out 29th out of 31 cars. The track slowed a little, but I think we still qualified 11th."
Brandon drove to a third place finish in his heat. "We got going pretty well in the heat," he says. "I hadn't run an A.R.T. chassis before and it took me awhile to get going and adjust, but I did."
Starting 9th in the main event, Brandon started his charge forward. After handling issues, he checkered seventh. "I was up a bit and we had a yellow," he says. "I had a good restart, and was up to fifth or sixth. I got into the corner in the middle of the race, and the car started hopping like something broke. I may have been passed by a guy or two after that and ended up seventh."
The problem was found in the pits. "I could tell something was wrong," says Brandon. "We ended up losing both right side shocks. Overall, it was a rough weekend, but for a new team, we were getting things worked out. We know what the car needs going into the future."
Brandon in action at Chico (Steven Cox – SprintCarPhotos.com)
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