If Tim Schendel could have turned his head and looked directly behind him in his race car, he probably would have. He could use his mirror to see the competition, but there just had to be some gremlins in his car somewhere.

How else could you explain all of the bad luck that has seemingly followed the Sparta, Wis., driver this summer?

Tim Schendel

“We have had some good runs and some bad runs. We have been up and down all year,” Schendel said. “Little things, goofy things, have happened.”

Not on Sunday. Not at an ASA Midwest Tour race called the Rasmussen Group Twin 75s, which was held at the seven-eighths-mile Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Not before nearly 15,000 fans.

This time, Schendel finished the deal, and finished off a pair of Sprint Cup stars — Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth — in the process as he won the 150-lap race. Jonathan Eilen of Hampton, Minn., was second, while Kenseth settled for third. Busch led the race at the 75-lap break, then took the lead for the next four laps until mechanical problems forced him out of the race.

It didn’t matter, Schendel said, as his car was “perfect.”

“The car was perfect. That doesn’t happen very often,” said Schendel, who collected a $5,500 paycheck for his win. “We finally got one (car) that was spot-on for the entire race. I knew we had a good qualifying car and good car for the race. That doesn’t happen very often when you get both.”

Teams typically set up a race car for qualifying, then make adjustments for the race. This car, Schendel said, needed a few minor adjustments, but that was it. All of the pre-race work the team, which includes crew chief Chris Bires and his dad, Ron Schendel, did finally paid off.

“We unloaded the car and it was really good in practice. We didn’t change a lot, scuffed all of our tires, then qualified it,” Schendel said. “We made a long lap run in practice and it held up. We knew we had a really good race car.”

Schendel proved it in the race. He was running second to Busch at the halfway break, then made his move shortly after.

“Eilen and Busch were

fighting for the lead and I followed Eilen. They raced for a bit, and he tucked down low and I drove by both of them,” Schendel said. “With five to 10 laps left, you always wonder. When you have so much bad luck you start wondering.”

Not this time.

Schendel would win the race by more than 30 car lengths, and gave himself and his team a big boost of confidence.

“We won a couple of weeks ago at the Dells (Motorpark Speedway). It was good getting back in the winner’s circle. This was a lot bigger.”

Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com

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