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“BIG WHEEL” SCOTTY THIEL KING OF THE HILL IN STURGEON BAY IRA SPRINT CAR GO
Posted on: Monday September 7, 2026
ATTENTION SPORTS/MOTORSPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“BIG WHEEL” SCOTTY THIEL KING OF THE HILL IN STURGEON BAY IRA SPRINT CAR GO by Joe Orsini
(STURGEON BAY, WI) SEPT. 6 – 57 cars and stars rolled into the pits for the third annual Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car Hill Shootout. 22 of the fire breathing 410 winged sprint cars checked in to do battle around the third mile clay oval in picturesque Door County Wisconsin. They were joined by 12 of the Wisconsin Wingless Sprint cars and 23 of the Millie’s Pub and Grub Unified Dirt Street Stocks.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Cars kicked off the night with qualifying and they were looking to set a new track record that was held by “The Lone Wolf” Danny Schlafer who set a track record fast time in 2025 with a 12.097 second lap. “The Iron Man” Scotty Neitzel would not set a new track record but did grab the fast time for the night with a 13.197 second lap time in qualifying. A track farming session before heat races saw fourth place points runner, Logan Julien, turn the fastest lap in the heats with a 12.312 lap time.
When the sprint car feature rolled around it was “The Big Wheel” Scotty Thiel starting on the pole by winning his dash earlier in the night. The first attempt at a start ended with contact that resulted in a flip by TJ Haddy as Clayton Rossmann also suffered damage. Will Armitage also was involved but managed to escape unscathed. Eric Wilke was able to go down pit lane and his crew was able to make repairs and get the 24X back out after the winged warrior incurred front end damage in the opening lap melee as well. The second attempt at a start saw Thiel grab the lead but the race stopped with five laps complete as Rob Pribnow went for a violent ride off turn three and came to a rest on top of the tractor tires before the pit lane retaining wall off turns three and four.
Thiel led Thomas Schinderle, Logan Julien, Paul Nienhiser, and Danny Schlafer back to racing speeds. Caution flew with 23 laps in as Logan Julien cut a right rear tire and went to the work area after running in the top five. Thiel continued to hold court on the restart with Schinderle in 2nd, Nienhiser 3rd, Jake Blackhurst 4th, and Travis Arenz in 5th. At the checkers it was Thiel leading every lap on his way to victory lane, Nienhiser grabbed sole possession of the points lead with a 2nd place finish, last year’s winner Blackhurst was 3rd, Arenz 4th, and Schinderle was 5th.
The Wisconsin Wingless Sprint cars took to the track for their feature, earlier in the night Tim Cox set the fast time during qualifying with a 17.627 second lap time. The young gun, Collin Sivia, grabbed the lead at the drop of the green from the outside front row and led every lap on the way to capturing the win and the points lead. Tim Cox came home second, Rusty Egan third, Preston Ruh fourth, and Allen Hafford completed the top five.
The Millie’s Pub and Grub Unified Dirt Street Stock feature brought their fendered action right in between the sprint cars and put on a show worth the price of admission. Austin Steinke shot to the opening lap lead from the outside front row but caution slowed the pace with just three laps in. Travis Zirbel took full advantage of the restart and wrestled away the lead from Steinke. Zirbel continued to lead through the halfway mark but freshly minted 2026 division champ, Dave “The Hammer” DeGrave, took his turn in the top spot on lap 11. As Degrave looked to grab the win it was Steinke making the late race pass back to the point on lap 15. Steinke survived one more restart with three laps remaining to grab the checkers. DeGrave was second, “The Muscles From Brussels” Garrett Geyer third, Zirbel fourth, and Dan “The Mullet” Van Pay rounded out the top five.
Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Sprint Car 30 Lap Feature:
1. 31-Scotty Thiel[1]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[5]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst[10]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz[7]; 5. 41-Thomas Schinderle[2]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer[4]; 7. 7A-Will Armitage[16]; 8. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[13]; 9. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 10. 85J-Logan Julien[3]
Heat 1:
1. 85J-Logan Julien[1]; 2. 31-Scotty Thiel[3]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[6]; 5. 21-Rob Pribnow[2]
Heat 2:
1. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[2]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst[3]; 4. 87A-Austin Hartmann[4]; 5. 09-Clayton Rossmann[6]
Heat 3:
1. 25-Danny Schlafer[3]; 2. P1-Carter Chevalier[1]; 3. 41-Thomas Schinderle[4]; 4. 21H-TJ Haddy[2]; 5. 24-Scott Conger[7]
Dash 1:
1. 31-Scotty Thiel[1]; 2. 85J-Logan Julien[2]; 3. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[4]; 4. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann[5]
Dash 2:
1. 41-Thomas Schinderle[2]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[5]; 4. 21-Rob Pribnow[4]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst[3]
Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car 20 Lap Feature:
1. 11S-Colin Sivia[2]; 2. 14-Tim Cox[4]; 3. 50-Rusty Egan[6]; 4. 26-Preston Ruh[3]; 5. 38-Allen Hafford[5]; 6. 0-John Fahl[7]; 7. 4G-George Gaertner III[10]; 8. 29J-Ralph Johnson[11]; 9. 29OG-Tom Eller[1]; 10. 7-Trinity Uttech[8]
Heat 1:
1. 50-Rusty Egan[1]; 2. 26-Preston Ruh[3]; 3. 14-Tim Cox[4]; 4. 29OG-Tom Eller[2]; 5. 4G-George Gaertner III[5]
Heat 2:
1. 0-John Fahl[1]; 2. 11S-Colin Sivia[3]; 3. 38-Allen Hafford[2]; 4. 7-Trinity Uttech[5]; 5. 41-Dennis Spitz[4]
Millie’s Pub and Grub Unified Dirt Street Stock 20 Lap Feature:
1. 24S-Austin Steinke[2]; 2. 40D-Dave DeGrave[4]; 3. 3G-Garrett Geyer[14]; 4. 18Z-Travis Zirbel[5]; 5. 3V-Dan Van Pay[10]; 6. 914-Tyler Nettekoven[13]; 7. 87-Parker Derks[6]; 8. 1K-Derek Kaye[9]; 9. 28V-John Vetting[18]; 10. 13-Alvin McFeely[1]
Heat 1:
1. 18Z-Travis Zirbel[2]; 2. 3V-Dan Van Pay[8]; 3. 11-Bernie Reinhardt[4]; 4. 87-Parker Derks[5]; 5. 914-Tyler Nettekoven[3]
Heat 2:
40D-Dave DeGrave[6]; 2. 10-Matt Hanson[2]; 3. 24S-Austin Steinke[4]; 4. 13-Alvin McFeely[5]; 5. 3G-Garrett Geyer[7]
Heat 3:
1. 1K-Derek Kaye[1]; 2. 9-Corey Haen[7]; 3. A1-Geno Sternard[3]; 4. 35-Cole Delwiche[8]; 5. 73L-Landon Anderson[5]