Chicagoland Speedway July 13-14, 2002
Second Career Winston Cup Start
Scott Wimmer, driver of the No. 27 Siemens Dodge in the Winston Cup Series and driver of the No. 23 unsponsored Bill Davis Racing Pontiac in the Busch Series, will attempt to qualify for his second Winston Cup event at Chicago this weekend. Wimmer’s first career start came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2000, where he qualified 31st and finished 22nd.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity this weekend,” said Wimmer. “It won’t be my first Cup race, but it kind of feels like it. This weekend will be a different situation than my first Cup race. It was at Atlanta in 2000 and we weren’t planning on running the Cup race. We were attempting to make the ARCA race, but qualifying got rained out, so we took that car and attempted to make the Cup race, which we did. It was an awesome experience and we had a good run on our first outing, so I feel like we can run well this weekend.”
“Obviously, our first goal is to make the show and I’m very optimistic about doing that,” said Wimmer. “The stakes are a little higher with the Cup races because we don’t have the luxury of falling back on a provisional. We have to earn our way in the show, but I know with all the resources and information we can fall back on with the other two Cup teams, I know we’ll have a great shot at it.”
Bill Davis decided not to quit running the Busch Series with Wimmer after the team’s success over the past month. He has extended their Busch schedule to run four more races, through IRP, to see if they can pick up a sponsor to continue running for the remainder of the season.
Chicago will be the first time Wimmer attempts to run both the Winston Cup race and Busch race in the same weekend.
“Robert Barker will serve as crew chief for both cars,” said Wimmer. “We’ll bring extra personnel to work on both the cars. I’ll still have the same pit crew for both days, so it won’t be like I’m working with two separate teams. Most of the key players will be the same. We’ve got such a great outfit at Bill Davis Racing that I feel like we’ll be able to take care of both teams effectively.”
Wimmer makes his second Busch start and first Cup start at Chicago.
“Chicago is a really fast track,” said Wimmer. “Last year, it was a one groove race track. It will probably be the same this year for the Busch race, but I think the Busch race will possibly bring in a second groove for the Cup race. The bottom groove is the fastest way around the track. You can run the car wide open like Atlanta and Texas, so a good handling car is important and having a lot of horsepower is key there.”
Wimmer and his Winston Cup car tested at Chicagoland Speedway on June 18th & 19th.
The Siemens Racing Team is taking one of Hut Stricklin’s Dodges to Chicago this weekend. The car was last raced at the Winston Open and No Bull Five Sprint where it finished fourth in both those events.
The Bill Davis Racing Team is taking a Pontiac to Chicago this weekend. The car was last run at Kentucky, where it started eighth and finished fifth.