VRA Pro Sprints - Niemela Makes History As First Finnish Sprint Car Winner

Santa Barbara, Oct. 17, 2011: The Markus Niemela Experience produced a historic VRA/USAC Sprint Car milestone when the Finnish hotshoe produced his first win at Ventura last weekend. Driving his familiar #69 Steve Watt Enterprises car, Niemela generated a P2 in the heat, then promptly blitzed the field in the main, after an aggressive second lap pass.

"I started 3rd, and after the pass, I held the lead all the way to the green. Whenever the race was on, I was able to pull a gap to the others but there were numerous cautions towards the end, and that kept the race exciting, since we were all together at every restart. With ten laps to go, Brent Camarillo managed to pass me briefly after one of the restarts, but I got the lead back at turn 2. At the end, I was pulling a gap on the rest of the field again, as the car was totally hooked up."

"Now, I'm the first Finnish Sprint Car, or dirt track winner, and someone in the paddock even said that I'm the first European Sprint Car winner. Regardless of how you look at it, the whole deal is pretty cool. It's great knowing that I met my goal of winning a first main in Sprint Cars. The Steve Watt crew have done a great job for me all season-long. Now we're going to see if we can win another round before the winter races begin."

Next up, more Pro Sprint events and Midget testing in preparation for the Chili Bowl. So stay tuned!