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Winters Wheels to First UMSS Win at Cedar Lake Speedway on Opening Night of Masters

New Richmond, WI

By: Greg Parent (6-18-09)

Scott Winters has enjoyed success over the past several years racing at the Cedar Lake Speedway, so in his first appearance of the 2009 season it came as no surprise to see his #23w sprinter sitting in Victory Lane at the end of a night that saw him record a clean sweep. It was also Scott's first UMSS sprint race of the season, and he snapped Jerry Richert Jr's four race winning streak in UMSS action on a very well-prepared track to kick off the 11th Annual Masters weekend at the famed western Wisconsin oval on Thursday June 18. Following his victory, Winters immediately headed to the scales before returning to celebrate his win in Victory Lane. Winters commented afterwards on how good the track was. "The track was in great shape tonight. I hope it is just like this for the next two nights for the IRA shows." Winters earned $1,000 for his first UMSS victory at CLS with additional sponsorship from GRP Motorsports helping to increase the first place payout.

A field of 15 UMSS 360 sprints signed into the pits on a very warm and muggy summer night. With Dave Becker and rookie Mike Luks unable to get their cars ready for the A Main, 13 sprint cars lined up for 20 laps of fast-paced feature race action. Billy Balog, driving the Ronnie Wuiff #1 UMSS spec engine sprinter, and rookie Cody Hahn brought the field to the green. Hahn got sideways exiting turn two on the opening lap while several cars managed to miss him. Hahn was sent to the tail for the restart. This moved Winters up to the outside of the front row. When the race restarted, Winters blasted into the lead with Balog a close second. The race was under red when eastern Wisconsin driver Lance Fassbender looped his sprinter in turn three with four laps in the books. The red was necessary when Jerry Richert Jr got upside down in turn three while at the same time Kevin Nickel tipped on his side on the backstretch. An eventful lap for sure. All driver were okay. Fassbender changed a tire as did Jason Tostenson under the red while Richert was pushed to the pits. Nickel pulled off the track on the restart. The race would then run 16 laps nonstop to the finish.

When the green replaced the red, Winters once again powered into the lead running on the cushion. Balog was able to stay within striking distance but was unable to make a serious bid for the lead. Chris Graf got by Leigh Thomas for third on the restart and held that spot until lap 12 when Brad Barickman ducked underneath. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 14, Sye Anderson began challenging Graf for the fourth spot while Thomas had faded to sixth. Winters was flawless up front and raced to the victory over Balog with some lightning flashing in the western sky. Barickman placed a solid third. On the final lap Anderson was able to get past Graf for fourth. Completing the top ten were Thomas, Joseph Kouba, Jennifer Ericksen, Cody Hahn and Lance Fassbender. Ultimate Sprint Races were won by Barickman, Winters and Graf. The UMSS Challenge Races were topped by Thomas and Winters. As high point driver, Winters redrew the #4 pill so the first two rows of the feature were inverted by points from the double round of qualifying races.

The UMSS series returns to action at the Kopellah Speedway on Friday night June 26 and then again on July 3 before heading to North Central Speedway near Brainerd for the Earl Kouba Memorial on Saturday night July 4. The first race at North Central fell victim to the weather on June 13, so the July 4th race will be the first of the season at Brainerd and is slated to pay $1,500 to win and $1,000 for second. So far in 2009 UMSS race action, Jerry Richert Jr has four victories while Tony Norem, Lou Kennedy Jr and Scott Winters have one each. Richert continues to lead the point standings.

June 18, 2009 Cedar Lake Speedway UMSS Results (Race #7 for the season):

Feature (20 laps): Scott Winters, Billy Balog, Brad Barickman, Sye Anderson, Chris Graf, Leigh Thomas, Joseph Kouba, Jennifer Ericksen, Cody Hahn, Lance Fassbender, Jason Tostenson, Kevin Nickel, Jerry Richert Jr. DNS: Dave Becker, Mike Luks.

Lap Leader: Winters 1-20

Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (5 laps): Barickman, Balog, Becker, Hahn, Ericksen.

Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (5 laps): Winters, Fassbender, Nickel, Anderson, Luks.

Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (5 laps): Graf, Thomas, Tostenson, Kouba, Richert.

Challenge Race #1 (7 laps): Thomas, Balog, Anderson, Graf, Barickman, Ericksen, Nickel.

Challenge Race #2 (7 laps): Winters, Hahn, Kouba, Tostenson, Richert, Fassbender, Becker.

Winters, Duellman, Bishop and Rihn Post Wins on Opening Night of 11th Annual Masters

New Richmond, WI

by Greg Parent (6-18-09)

The 11th Annual Masters weekend got underway on Thursday June 18 on a warm and muggy summer evening at the Cedar Lake Speedway. Making his first UMSS sprint car appearance of the season, Scott Winters returned to Victory Lane at CLS after leading all the way in their 20 lap $1,000-to-win feature event. The Winged Outlaw Modifieds were making their second appearance in 2009, and Les Duellman passed race leader Scott Gilbertson at the halfway mark enroute to his first CLS triumph in more than two decades. The NASCAR Pro Stock feature race saw four different leaders, and when the final checkers waved it was Rich Bishop racing for just the second time in 2009 riding home with the win. Slowed by numerous yellows, the NASCAR Midwest Modified main event saw misfortune hit a couple of leaders before Ronnie Rihn drove to a solid victory in his first appearance of the season.

Following preliminary action, the first feature race of the evening to roll trackside was the 25 car NASCAR Midwest Modified 20 lap main event. Paced by Andy Jones and Ronnie Rihn, the field roared to life under flagman Jeff Stacken's green. Jones jumped out to an early lead looking for his third CLS win of the season. Jason Vandekamp and Ronnie Rihn trailed Jones. The first of seven cautions was unfurled with five laps scored when Nick Donahue rolled to a stop in turn three. On the restart, Jones' car sputtered and did not come up to speed. This briefly gave the lead to Vandekamp, but the yellow was right back on again when A J Roschen went up in smoke entering turn three. Jones went to the work area, returned, but he soon dropped out of the race with apparent ignition problems. Vandekamp brought the field back to the green, but Ronnie Rihn got past him to lead lap 6. With 7 laps in, Mike Gibson and Bryan Siercks tangled exiting turn four to bring out another caution. Second running Jason Vandekamp pulled off the track with a trail of white smoke. With Gibson relegated to the rear of the field for the restart, Rihn began to put some distance on second when the green light blinked on. Young Josh Bazey and 2008 track champion Shawn Phillips had a good battle for second for a few laps with Phillips gaining the upper hand. The race was under caution again at the halfway mark when Vince Corbin and Tony Schill got together in turn four. Corbin drove off the track while Schill returned to his fifth running spot in the order.

No sooner had the race got underway, it was right back under caution again when Mike Gibson broke a driveshaft entering turn one. Over the course of the next several laps, Josh Bazey and Dan Wheeler waged a very good back and forth battle for the third spot. Rihn held a comfortable lead over Phillips when the race was slowed with two laps to go when Ryan Nieters slowed on the frontstretch and David Swearingen launched in the air momentarily. Both cars were out. This set the stage for a two lap dash to the checkers. Not so quick, as Robbie Franklin spun in turn three on the restart and retired from the race with a flat tire.. It would then be green-white-checkers to the finish. Ronnie Rihn led the final two circuits to earn his first NASCAR Midwest Modified feature win of the season at CLS in his first appearance. Shawn Phillips, Dan Wheeler, Josh Bazey and Tony Schill completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Bryan Siercks, Michael Truscott, 25th starter Ryan Johnson, Patrick McCarthy, and Jeremy Penman. Heat race victories went to Bazey, Jones and Truscott.

With two cars unable to make the call for the NASCAR Pro Stock 20 lap feature race, Mike Loomis and Ryan Wiome brought the field to the green. Loomis grabbed the early lead over Wiome. Jim Gullikson and rookie Tyler Boumeester battled for third. An early caution with two laps in for a spin by Adam Ayotte kept the field bunched up. Loomis held the top spot until lap six when Boumeester went from third to first in a tremendous three car battle for the lead. Boumeester raced ahead of the field for the next several laps. Wiome got around Loomis for second on lap 9 with Greg Nippoldt and Rich Bishop in the top five. Nippoldt moved past Loomis on lap 11 and then got by Wiome for second on lap 12. Just when it appeared as though rookie Tyler Boumeester might pull off an upset, he lost the handle on his car in turn three with 14 laps in the books. With nowhere to go, Nippoldt slammed into Boumeester while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the accident. The top two cars rode the hook to the pits, thus ending their chances for victory. When the race restarted, Wiome found himself up front. Bishop moved by Loomis for second. A seven car melee in turn four one lap later slowed the pace for the final time with all cars able to continue. Wiome led Bishop on the restart. On lap 18, Wiome skated a bit in some fluid that was dumped on the track by another car. This allowed Bishop to grab the lead. Wiome recovered to hold second with Shawn Kammerud on the move to third ahead of Mike Bruggeman and Gullikson. Bishop was able to hold off Wiome over the next couple of circuits and recorded his first NASCAR Pro Stock victory in just his second race of the season. Wiome, Kammerud, Bruggeman and Ryan Olson completed the top five. Lyle Archambeau, Marcel Hoaglan, Kevin Ayotte, Jim Gullikson and Mike Loomis completed the top ten. Gullikson had a left front tire go flat on the final lap while Loomis suffered a flat tire the lap before. Mike Loomis and Justin Dodge were the heat race winners.

A nonstop 15 lap feature race zoomed by quickly for the Winged Outlaw Modifieds. Scott Gilbertson grabbed the early lead from his pole starting spot with Lonnie Louschke in second. Les Duellman quickly moved past Louschke on lap two and began to slowly close in on Gilbertson. Jason Miller moved to third on lap three with Rick Kobs up to fourth a lap later. Duellman worked on Gilbertson for a few laps, and on lap 8 was able to get underneath him for the lead. Kobs also got by Miller on the same lap only to see Miller return the favor the next time by. Kobs was back in third on lap 10 with Miller a close fourth. The laps continued to roll by under green, as Kobs and Miller closed in on Gilbertson. At the checkers, Les Duellman took his first CLS feature win in many years. Gilbertson had to hold off Kobs and Miller on the final lap for second with Jason Gross in fifth. Dave Siercks, the 1991 Winged Outlaw Modified track point champion, rode home in sixth ahead of Terry Hanson, Lonnie Louschke, and the Lepinski #87L car. It was revealed after the race that Andy Jones drove the 87L car in the feature race, as they had reported the driver change to a track official ahead of time. Mike Kelley Jr had a motor go up in smoke during hot laps and was done for the night. Miller and Kobs won the heats.

A field of 15 UMSS 360 sprint cars signed into the pits for their second show at CLS in 2009. With Dave Becker and rookie Mike Luks unable to get their cars ready for the A Main, 13 sprints lined up for 20 laps of fast-paced feature race action. Billy Balog, driving the Ronnie Wuiff #1 UMSS spec engine sprinter, and rookie Cody Hahn brought the field to the green. Hahn got sideways exiting turn two on the opening lap while several cars managed to miss him. Hahn was sent to the tail for the restart. This moved Winters up to the outside of the front row. When the race restarted, Winters blasted into the lead with Balog a close second. The race was under red when eastern Wisconsin driver Lance Fassbender looped his sprinter in turn three with four laps in the books. The red was necessary when Jerry Richert Jr got upside down in turn three while at the same time Kevin Nickel tipped on his side on the backstretch. An eventful lap for sure. All drivers were okay. Fassbender changed a tire as did Jason Tostenson under the red while Richert was pushed to the pits. Nickel pulled off the track on the restart. The race would then run 16 laps nonstop to the finish. When the green replaced the red, Winters once again powered into the lead running on the cushion. Balog was able to hang within striking distance but was unable to make any kind of a serious bid for the lead. Chris Graf got by Leigh Thomas for third on the restart and held that spot until lap 12 when Brad Barickman ducked underneath. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 14, Sye Anderson began challenging Graf for the fourth spot while Thomas had faded to sixth. Winters was flawless up front and raced to the victory over Balog with some lightning flashing in the western sky. Barickman placed a solid third. On the final lap Anderson was able to get past Graf for fourth. Completing the top ten were Thomas, Joseph Kouba, Jennifer Ericksen, Cody Hahn and Lance Fassbender. Ultimate Sprint Races were won by Barickman, Winters and Graf. The UMSS Challenge Races were topped by Thomas and Winters. Winters was a perfect three for three on the night.

Racing action continues during the 11th Annual Masters on Friday and Saturday June 19-20 with complete programs each night for the WDRL Late Models and IRA 410 Outlaw Winged Sprints. Scott Winters will be looking for a repeat of his 2008 two night sweep in IRA action while a talented field of WDRL drivers will vie for top honors in their $5,000 to win feature races each night. The IRA Sprints will time trial one night while the WDRL Late Models will time trial the other night with each group drawing for heat race starting spots on the night they do not time trial. Racing action gets underway at 7:00 PM each night at the popular western Wisconsin speedplant.