Wimmer finds success in NBS return with Childress

For years, Scott Wimmer just wanted to race. Then suddenly, about as fast as he got on the scene, he was gone.

But Wimmer is on the comeback trail, rebuilding his career at Richard Childress Racing. In his past five Busch Series races, he has finishes of 10th, ninth, third, fourth and third. Last week at Kentucky, he was in the mix for the victory when he raced from the rear to the top five midway through the race and finished third.

Now he's going home to Wisconsin for Saturday's AT&T 250 Busch race at The Milwaukee Mile.

"It's really exciting anytime I go back to Wisconsin for racing, especially The Milwaukee Mile," said Wimmer, a native of Wausau, in northern Wisconsin. "I've been going there since I can remember and watching a lot of great drivers racing out there."

Wimmer moved south several years ago to North Carolina to race in NASCAR. He has won five times in the Busch Series, including four races in 2002 when he finished a career-best third in the points standings.

When he moved to the Cup Series late the next year, he found the going a lot tougher.

After a surprising third-place run in his first Daytona 500 in 2004 -- his 11th Cup start -- Wimmer struggled the rest of the year and finished 27th in points. It didn't get better. He finished 32nd in 2005, his final season with Bill Davis Racing, and his move to Morgan-McClure Motorsports in 2006 didn't help, either; he finished 38th.

He landed at RCR for 2007, back in the Busch Series.

"I think it's definitely a restart for me," Wimmer said. "I had a few years that were really tough on me and tough on my family. Hopefully now at RCR, I can make back up for those.

"I've been with teams that didn't have much, and I've won there ... now I'm trying to build myself and my career back up."

Wimmer labored some early, but as the season hit spring, he has proved his talent. He has finished in the top 10 in seven of his past eight races. At Nashville two weeks ago, he led 41 laps.

Now, as he tries to join Paul Menard (2006) and Johnny Sauter ('05) as the third consecutive Wisconsin native to win at The Mile, he thinks back to last week's race at Kentucky where he raced a 20-year-old and a teenager for the win.

"I haven't been racing since I was six or seven. I didn't start until I was 15," said Wimmer, 31. "That was fun for me. I think I've got a lot of good years left racing."