This message was edited on
April 25, 2009 at
01:12:06 PM by grp
Norem Notches Inaugural UMSS Sprint Series Win at Kopellah Speedway
St. Croix Falls, WI
By: Greg Parent
On a day that went from summer-like to winter-like in a matter of hours, the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) made its debut at the Kopellah Speedway on Friday night April 24. A field of sixteen 360 sprint cars were on hand for the series lid lifter at the 1/4 mile western Wisconsin oval, as the start of racing action was delayed by a brief rain shower followed by plummeting temps and a bitingly cold wind. Veteran racer Tony Norem etched his name in the record books by becoming the first-ever UMSS feature winner in a race that was halted twice for hard crashes.
The UMSS run a double round of qualifying events prior to their feature race. Drivers earn points based on their finishes in these preliminary races. Earning Ultimate Sprint Race victories were Tony Norem, Kenny Melanson, and Jason Tostenson. In the second round, Ultimate Challenge Races were won by John Nelson and Brad Barickman. Joseph Kouba and Rik Sanberg got upside down in the Ultimate Challenges races. Sandberg was done for the night while Kouba would borrow a top wing and tag the tail of the feature. When the points had been tallied, it was Jason Tostenson as the high point driver. Tostenson pulled the #4 pill for the feature invert. This put Tony Norem and John Nelson on the front row of the scheduled 20 lap main event.
At the drop of the green, Tony Norem blasted into the lead over John Nelson. The race was just two laps old when the first caution flew for a spin by rookie sprint car driver Jack Zweber in turn four. On the restart, it was again Norem battling with Nelson and Jason Tostenson for the top spot. As Norem began to stretch his lead just a bit, the red light blinked on for a hard crash in turn one by Dave Becker. Becker rolled his sprinter a couple of times, sustaining significant damage to the rear of the car. Becker was not hurt. One lap after the race returned to green, Zweber looped his car again in turn four and was done for the night. The restart proved to be the end of Alan Gilbertson's night as well as his sprint car. Gilbertson's sprinter shot head-on at full speed into the large tractor tire protecting the concrete wall at the exit to the pits in turn one. The impact was fierce, tipping his car on its side and bringing out the second red of the event. Gilbertson was uninjured.
With Norem in the lead, the race resumed with Nelson and Tostenson mixing it up for second. The final caution flew 13 laps into the race for a spin in turn 4 by Sioux Falls, SD youngster Robby Wolfgang. This set the stage for a two lap dash to the checkers, as the time limit for the race had been reached. Norem once again shot into the lead and never looked back enroute to the win in the first UMSS feature event held for the upstart series. Tostenson, Nelson, Jerry Richert Jr, and Brad Barickman completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were 15th starter Joseph Kouba, Leigh Thomas, rookie Cody Hahn, Kenny Melanson, and Robby Wolfgang. Hahn and Melanson made contact at the finish line with Melanson going for a long slide into turn one. Fortunately both cars were okay. Norem earned $1,000 for his efforts with some sponsorship help from GRP Motorsports in boosting the first place pay.
The next scheduled race for the UMSS sprint cars is slated for Saturday night April 25 at the Cedar Lake Speedway. CLS will be hosting the 7th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial. The sprint car feature winner will earn $1,000 which includes sponsorship money from GRP Motorsports. Former Billy Anderson Memorial champions include Tony Norem, Bill Boles, Jerry Richert Jr, Loren Langerud, Jake Peters, and Chuck Swenson. Racing action is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM for what will be the second race of the 2009 UMSS initial season.
UMSS Feature Finish: Norem, Tostenson, Nelson, Richert, Barickman, Kouba, Thomas, Hahn, Melanson, Wolfgang, Nickel, Gilbertson, Sargent, Zweber, Becker. DNS: Sandberg
Lap Leader: Norem 1-15
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WISSOTA class feature winners:
Midwest Mods - Jason Vandekamp
Street Stocks - Jimmy Randall
Super Stocks - Dan Gullikson
Modifieds - Kevin "Buzzy" Adams
I believe there were around 86 cars on hand with the UMSS sprint cars topping the list with 16. The coldest opener I have attended in recent years. Not since the snowmobile suit opener at CLS has it been so cold. Amazingly mega drop in temps! I left Stillwater around 4:00 PM, and it was a pleasant 76 degrees. When I arrived at the track, the temp was 62. It continued to plunge throughout the evening with a chilly 44 when I left. A strong and brutally cold wind made it feel like 24. Windchill at the races in April. Now that really bites!
The program got underway later than usual, then had to endure a brief rain delay, and numerous wheel packing laps to get the track rolled back into racing condition. The feature races did not start until around 10:30 PM and ended close to 12:30 AM. Many fans elected to sit in their vehicles and watch the races while a number of fans in the stands watched the heat races and then headed for home. Just too chilly to sit there and freeze unless you are a diehard.
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