It is ironic that the only car on the track with the most significant damage after 100 laps of caution-free racing was the winner of the Cabin Fever 100 at State Park Speedway in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Andrew Morrissey held off a late charge from Casey Johnson to win the second event of the season in the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment.
The Deforest, Wisconsin driver picked up his fourth ARCAMT victory in a race that kept fans wondering if he could hold on over the last 36 laps to take the checkered flag.
Morrissey was in lap traffic on lap 64 when two lapped cars touched in turns three and four causing Morrissey to drive in the back of one of them causing right front damage. The collision nor the damage didn’t slow him down as he got past the lapped cars and held off a late charge by Johnson, who was trying to chase him down over the final 36 circuits.
“I was just hoping and praying that I could hold him (Johnson) off,” a smiling Morrissey said after the race. “The hood was popped up so high that I couldn’t see the bottom of the track. So, I actually using the lapped cars to see where I am going, and it worked out.”
Johnson was hoping to challenge for the win the late going but Morrissey was able to keep a car length on Johnson at the finish.
“I thought I could have gotten him,” Johnson said. “It was hard to set a guy up when lap traffic was so heavy. You go high and they go high. I didn’t want to knock Morrissey out of there, that was the main thing. Andrew is a veteran and doesn’t need to be raced that way. I will settle for second.”
Dalton Zehr came through to finish third.
“I feel like the experience pulled us out with a third-place finish,” Zehr said. “We had a fast car, but it was fast in all of the wrong places. I thought I was the strongest in three and four, but it is so hard to do anything in the middle of the corner like that. It is a tough track to finish a pass on, and there are great drivers here which made it double tough. I would gladly love to come back and redo this race. I would risk third for a better finish if we could come back and do it again.”
Dan Fredrickson led four laps in the early going until giving the lead over to Morrissey on lap six. He went on to finish fourth.
Justin Mondeik earned his best finish so far in the ARCA Midwest Tour with a fifth-place finish.
Morrissey led the final 94 laps in the caution-free race.
The ARCA Midwest Tour presented by SCAG Power Equipment will be back in action on Saturday, May 30th for the Salute the Troops 100 at Jefferson Speedway, located between Jefferson and Cambridge, Wiscosnin.
Visit midwesttour.racing for a full schedule and be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@MidwestTour).