The Wasau, Wis., native qualified the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) machine in the 19th position for the 80-lap event. Unfortunately, the team was forced to change the fuel pump Sunday morning, and by NASCAR rule, the Holiday Inn Chevy was forced to the back of the starting field

Green flag pit stops began early in the race as Wimmer quickly moved into the ninth position on lap 13. The tide changed on the following lap as Wimmer reported a flat right-front tire heading into turn one. By the time Wimmer eased his way around the eighth turn on the two-and-a-half mile road course, the field put the No. 29 a lap down. With damage to the right front fender the team went to work servicing the vehicle. Wimmer piloted the machine back on track in 37th.

The first caution of the day came on lap 22. Wimmer reported a good handling race car but continued to lock up his right front tire. Crew Chief Pat Smith called for four fresh tires and quick repair to the right front fender. Wimmer held the 37th position as the field came back to green.

At the midway point, Wimmer reported that the engine was loosing power. It soon became a race against himself to not overwork the engine in order to finish the race. Wimmer kept the No. 29 on the track and avoided on-track incidents to bring the Holiday Inn Chevy across the finish line 30th.

Juan Pablo Montoya earned the victory followed by Denny Hamlin, Boris Said, Carl Edwards and Scott Pruett. Wimmer’s RCR teammate P.J. Jones also struggled with engines woes and finished 25th.

The No. 29 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week where Jeff Burton will be behind the wheel for the March 10 Sam’s Town 300.

SCOTT WIMMER QUOTES:

“Today’s race was really mental. I locked up the right front and ended up blowing a tire. I did it going into turn one so I had to go all the way around the race track. We got ourselves a lap down and I am pretty confident that we could have made that up but we could never get the right track position. I ended up having to nurse the car there at the end. We had some sort of valve train problem and I couldn’t get on the motor real hard. Overall, we finished the race which is better than blowing up or wrecking so we can move on from here. My teammate Jeff Burton will run real well in Vegas. We had a good test out there and I am looking forward to being back in the car at Bristol.”