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Reinke Receives First IRA Win of 2012 at CLS Triple Crown
By: Justin Zoch (6-2-12)
Even Mike Reinke would tell you he got a $3,000 gift at Cedar Lake Speedway’s inaugural Triple Crown on Saturday night June 2. As the field saw the white flag, despite Reinke’s great run and best efforts, it appeared that Bill Balog had worked the lapped traffic just well enough to keep the lead and win his fourth IRA show of the season. Then, just before the red came out for a Scott Broty flip, Balog slowed dramatically in turn two.
As the field came to a safe stop, it was a apparent that Balog had troubles. Big troubles. The four-time champ was eventually pushed to the pit area with an apparent blown engine, handing the lead to Reinke for a green-white-checkered dash to the finish. Reinke did his part and held off Jimmy Moughan and Scott Neitzel to take his third career IRA win at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin.
The feature went green with Phillip Mock on the pole alongside Moughan. Moughan jumped out to the early lead and quickly tried to put distance between himself and a hard-charging Bill Balog. On lap 8, Brooke Tatnell spun unassisted in turn one to bring out the race’s first yellow. Tatnell was running second at the time, but the talented Aussie had to restart tail-end.
On the restart, Moughan, Balog and Reinke distanced themselves from the field and eventually Balog overtook Moughan with a slide job in turn two on lap 15. Balog made a daring move on lap 18 in lapped traffic and made contact with the left front wheel of Kris Spitz while going three-wide through lapped traffic entering turn one. Balog emerged unscathed but Spitz was done for the night. From then on, it was a dash to the finish as Balog lead Reinke, Moughan and Scott Neitzel until the final red flag came out for Broty’s crash in turn four. When Balog pulled pitside under the stoppage, Reinke found himself out front.
Reinke successfully capitalized on Balog’s last lap misfortune to take the win over Moughan, Neitzel, Tommy Sexton Jr. and rookie IRA racer Robbie Pribnow. Heat races were won by Balog, Pribnow and Kaley Gharst while Travis Whitney set quick time for the 23 car field with a lap of 11.759.
30-lap, $3,000-to-win Triple Crown A-main: 1. Mike Reinke, 2. Jim Moughan, 3. Scott Neitzel, 4. Tommy Sexton Jr., 5. Robbie Pribnow, 6. Bill Wirth, 7. Kaley Gharst, 8. Phillip Mock, 9. Brooke Tatnell, 10. Travis Whitney, 11. Scott Uttech, 12. Dave Uttech, 13. Jared Goerges, 14. Todd King, 15. John Sernett, 16. Brandon Thone, 17. Tony Kaus, 18. Dennis Spitz, 19. Bill Balog (DNF), 20. Russel Borland (DNF), 21. Scott Broty (DNF), 22. Kris Spitz (DNF) 23. Chad Tessman (DNF)
Osborne and Sons Trucking Qualifications: Travis Whitney (11.759)
Weld Racing Heat 1: 1. Balog, 2. S. Uttech, 3. Mock, 4. Thone, 5. Sexton Jr., 6. Whitney, 7. K. Spitz, 8. Kaus
Lane Automotive Heat 2: 1. Pribnow, 2. Neitzel, 3. Sernett, 4. Reinke, 5. Wirth, 6. King, 7. Broty, 8. Tessman
DMI/King Racing Heat 3: 1. Gharst, 2. Tatnell, 3. D. Uttech, 4. Moughan, 5. Borland, 6. D. Spitz, 7. Goerges
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This message was edited on
June 03, 2012 at
01:10:44 PM by grp
Inaugural Triple Crown Titles To Larson, Mars and Reinke at CLS
New Richmond, WI (6-2-12)
By: Greg Parent
With fantastic weather and a large crowd on hand to enjoy an entertaining evening of racing, the Cedar Lake Speedway presented the inaugural Triple Crown event on Saturday night June 2. First-time champions for this event etched their names into the record book, as Brent Larson bested a strong and talented field of NASCAR Modifieds, Jimmy Mars mastered another quality field of NASCAR Late Models, and Mike Reinke picked up a dramatic win in the IRA 410 Outlaw sprint car feature. Each winner earned $3,000 for their efforts.
The first Triple Crown feature to roll trackside was the popular NASCAR Modified 30 lap main event. Following heat race action based on passing and finishing points, a pair of top-notch competitors comprised the front row. Joey Jensen and seven time track champion Craig Thatcher brought the field to the green. Jensen led the opening lap before Thatcher got by. Jensen returned the favor to lead laps two through five, as just one caution slowed the early pace when Steve Wetzstein was eliminated in a turn two crash. Fourth starter Mike Anderson grabbed the lead on lap six and looked strong up front with a group of drivers battling behind him for second.
Brent Larson moved by Jensen for second on lap eight and began to slowly reel in Anderson. Joey Jensen and his brother Brandon Jensen battled with Jesse Glenz and Thatcher for several laps. Fifteenth starter Dave Cain was moving forward quickly, and he soon found himself in the race for third when Mike Nutzmann slowed to bring out a caution with eleven laps scored. Anderson continued to lead Larson when the race returned to green while the Jensen brothers, Cain, Glenz and Thatcher mixed it up behind the lead duo. Cain raced to third on lap 16 with Brandon and Joey Jensen swapping fourth place back and forth for several laps.
When the final caution flew for Terry Hanson with 22 laps in the books, Larson wasted little time on the restart in gaining the lead from Anderson. Larson slowly edged away from the field in the remaining eight lap dash to the checkers to record the victory. Anderson held off Cain for second with Brandon and Joey Jensen completing the top five. Rounding out the top finishers were Thatcher, 19th starter Jason Gross, Cory Williams, Glenz and 24th starter Scott Duvall. Heat races were won by Thatcher, Anderson and Brandon Jensen.
The rumble of 24 NASCAR super late models for 40 racing laps lined up for their Triple Crown feature event. Cory Mahder and Don Shaw paced the talent-laden field. The first attempt to start the race resulted in a crash in turn four on the opening lap which eliminated Doug Herrick and A. J. Diemel. Shaw shot into the lead when the race went green followed by Cory Mahder and Justin Hirt. Hirt was up to second on lap four with Jimmy Mars moving to third. One lap later, Mars got around Hirt and closed in on Shaw. The yellow blinked on again with nine laps in when Cory Mahder got turned around in turn four.
On the restart, Mars took the lead from Shaw. A long green flag run saw Shaw, Brent Larson, Pat Doar, Rick Hanestad and Chad Mahder battle for positions behind the leader. Mars did not encounter lapped traffic until 30 laps into the race, as the pace was fast and furious around the 3/8 mile high-banked dirt oval. Larson finally got past Shaw for second on lap 33 followed by Doar, Hanestad and Chad Mahder. The final caution flew with 35 laps in when Rick Hanestad, who was running in fourth, got into the lapped car of Chris Olson and spun him around in turn two. Hanestad had to tag the tail. Doar got by Shaw for second when the race went green and stayed close to Mars. Shaw and Chad Mahder had a very spirited battle for third during the next few laps.
Doar pulled alongside Mars with two to go and brought the crowd to their feet exiting turn four for the white flag. Mars and Doar crossed side by side, but Mars was too strong on the final circuit and drove to the victory. Doar settled for second ahead of Chad Mahder, Shaw and Larson. A strong run forward for 13th starter Eric Breeschoten saw him finish sixth while Greg Nippoldt, Nick Herrick, Rick Egersdorf, and Hirt completed the top ten. Heat races were won by Hirt, Larson and Mars. Caley Emerson won the B Main.
Mike Reinke topped an exciting 30 lap IRA sprint car feature to round out the evening. A full race report from Justin Zoch appears elsewhere describing the IRA portion of the Triple Crown.
Racing action continues next Saturday night June 9 at the Cedar Lake Speedway with a full program of NASCAR Late Models, Modifieds, Pro Stocks, and Midwest Modifieds plus the Hornet division. In just two weeks, the 14th Annual Masters takes place with a regular program on Thursday night June 14 for all weekly divisions except the late models followed by full shows for the USMTS modifeds and UMP Summernationals late models on Friday and Saturday June 15-16. Race results, points, ticket information, the 2012 schedule and much more can be found on the Cedar Lake Speedway website at www.cedarlakespeedway.com or call 1-866-CLS-4FUN.
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