Two Straight for Richert in Kopellah Speedway UMSS Action
St. Croix Falls, WI
By: Greg Parent (5-22-09)
The first repeat winner of the inaugural UMSS season came in the fourth race when veteran driver Jerry Richert, Jr. earned his second straight victory at Kopellah Speedway on Friday evening May 22. Racing in front of a good sized crowd on a pleasant spring evening, the Forest Lake, Minnesota native knew where he wanted to run on the opening lap of the 15 lap feature race. "I was waiting for the track official to move out of the way, so I could run a couple of hot laps up above the cushion in turns one and two while we were lining up for the feature," stated Richert. Unlike the previous UMSS race at Kopellah, tonight's event saw a heavy, rough track with plenty of traction available for the 360 sprint cars. Richert made the most of his early scouting run, as he blasted from his fourth starting spot to the lead by the time he exited turn two on the opening lap enroute to his second win of the season.
The main event of the evening featured a 12 car starting grid for 15 laps of exciting sprint car feature race action on the 1/4 mile oval. The heavy track claimed one car in the opening Ultimate Sprint Race when Johnny Parsons III hooked a rut, got airborne, slammed the concrete wall exiting turn two, and flipped over. The night ended early for JP3 with a very badly bent up race car. The remaining twelve cars on hand were able to take the green flag for the feauture, and all of them were running at the finish.
After the exciting opening lap move by Richert to gain the lead from front row starters Kenny Melanson and Rik Sandberg, the race was under the first of just two cautions with two laps in the books when Sandberg spun in turn four. The restart proved to hold some good fortune for Richert, but not so good fortune for second place runner Brad Barickman. Barickman blasted under Richert entering turn one and grabbed the lead exiting turn two. The great restart for Barickman was nullified when rookie Cody Hahn spun in turn two several cars behind the leaders bringing out the final caution of the race. This put Barickman back behind Richert for the restart, and Richert would not make the mistake of letting Barickman get underneath him again. Richert stated, "I changed lines a bit on that second restart in order to prevent that from happening again." With Richert in control up front and Barickman solidly in second, the race ran 13 laps nonstop to the finish with the leaders encountering lapped traffic near the halfway mark. Barickman closed in a bit in traffic, but he was never able to get close enough to make a serious bid for the lead. Richert rode home with his second UMSS win of the season. Barickman finished second. Jason Tostenson, the UMSS point leader coming into the night, won out a spirited battle for third over Melanson. Sye Anderson came from ninth to finish fifth. Completing the top ten were Gene Kelly, Joseph Kouba, rookie Mike Luks, Sandberg, and Cody Hahn.
Ultimate Sprint Races saw Jason Tostenson top the first one while rookie Cody Hahn was impressive in winning the second one to pick up his first win in a sprint car. The second round of qualifying races featured a very good run in the first Ultimate Challenge Race by Gene Kelly. Kelly came from fourth to first in one lap, as the leaders were three wide at the line. Kelly went on to record the win. Barickman handily won the second Ultimate Challenge Race, setting the stage for feature race action.
The UMSS sprint car series returns for another night of exciting racing at the Kopellah Speedway on Friday June 5. Then it's back to Kopellah the following Friday for another show before heading to North Central Speedway near Brainerd on Saturday June 13. The series then makes a Thursday night stop at the Cedar Lake Speedway to help kick off The Masters three day race weekend before rounding out the month with another Kopellah appearance on June 26. Be sure and catch the UMSS action while keeping tabs on the series at www.umsprints.com or through numerous racing publications.
May 22, 2009 Kopellah Speedway UMSS Results;
Feature (15 laps): Jerry Richert Jr, Brad Barickman, Jason Tostenson, Kenny Melanson, Sye Anderson, Gene Kelly, Joseph Kouba, Mike Luks, Rik Sandberg, Cody Hahn, Leigh Thomas, Kevin Nickel. DNS: Johnny Parsons III
Lap Leaders: Richert 1-15
Ultimate Sprint Race #1: Tostenson, Kelly, Melanson, Thomas, Kouba, Luks, Parsons.
Ultimate Sprint Race #2: Hahn, Richert, Sandberg, Barickman, Anderson, Nickel.
Ultimate Challenge Race #1: Kelly, Kouba, Tostenson, Melanson, Thomas, Luks. DNS: Parsons
Ultimate Challenge Race #2: Barickman, Sandberg, Richert, Anderson, Hahn, Nickel.
