Scott Wimmer Quotes:
Scott, you like running at Phoenix. Why is that?
“Phoenix International Raceway is just a fun track to run on. It reminds me of some of the tracks I ran on back home. I also have a lot of friends and family in the area. When I was younger, my family and I took in a lot of good racing in that whole area, so it is a bit nostalgic for me every time we go there to race.”

Going into the off-season, do you have any special plans?
“Aside from tending to business, I hope to take in some hunting in Arkansas and ice fishing back home in Wisconsin. I just finished building a cabin back home, so I hope to make it up there at least once or twice to enjoy it with my friends and family. I also will be taking my son on his first trip to Wisconsin, so that will be fun to get to introduce him to the rest of the family and my buddies back home.”

What about the race this weekend, any thoughts?
“I am hoping we will get to go finish what we started at Phoenix earlier this year. We had such a strong run going there in the spring and were running inside the top 15 when I got tossed into the wall. It was a tough hit, mentally and physically, because we were having such a promising run.

“We practiced really well all weekend long, and we thought we had a good qualifying run, but other teams went out and picked up more than we did so we didn’t get the start we were hoping for. Come race time, the guys had just done a great job getting the car ready to go. It was a little free up off the corner, but that was about it. That’s another reason I am looking forward to this weekend. We’re taking the same car that we raced in April and that is good because the car was strong. It was really good on long runs and was one of the fastest cars on the track at times.

“We also had a good hand on the pit strategy. My crew chief, Derrick Finley, did a great job making the calls. I know there in the beginning of the race, we opted to stay out during the first caution and gained a lot of track position because of it. We moved from running outside the top 35 to inside the top 25 by lap 15.

“Then, it was a little later on when it just got crazy. Earlier in the season, we had a few weeks there where it was like the Caterpillar car was a moving target. We got taken out at Texas and then the following weekend at PIR, there we were working on breaking into the top 10, and I got trapped. I was unable to escape the wrecking cars around me and was blindsided by another car. There just wasn’t any way to escape the hit. The guys did a good job repairing the car and got me back on track, but we had to continue to make several stops after that to tend to a badly damaged exhaust system. Needless to say, in some ways, I do not wish for history to repeat itself this weekend.”