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Cody Hahn Earns 2010 UMSS Championship Title

By: Greg Parent

Ogilvie MN (10-2-10)

Coming off a very successful 2009 rookie season which saw young Minneapolis driver Cody Hahn earn the 2009 GRP Motorsports Rookie of the Year honors with the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series, Hahn turned in an incredible 2010 sophmore season behind the wheel of his winged 360 sprint car to earn the 2010 UMSS Championship title. Commenting on his accomplishment following his only DNF of the season at the final UMSS race at Ogilvie Raceway, Hahn stated "this has been a great season for our team." I guess if I had to have a DNF it might as well come after I locked up the championship. I'm proud of what we accomplished this year. It was great to get my first win and now a championship to go along with it. It's been fun!"

Hahn only needed to show up and start a heat race in order to lock up the point title. Hahn won the first Ultimate Sprint Heat, so he knew right then that the championship was his. Hahn's 2010 season included his first career victory during the opening night of the Mighty Axe Nationals at Brainerd, as he accomplished one of the goals he set prior to the season. He exceeded his second goal when he earned the 2010 UMSS championship, as Hahn had hoped to earn a top three point finish before the season got underway. Hahn turned in nine top five finishes enroute to his championship. A couple of very strong contenders finished behind Hahn in the final points standings with Brad Barickman and Jerry Richert Jr rounding out the top three. Hahn also earned the third place spot in the GRP Motorsports Sweet Sixteen Bonus which took the top sixteen (16) point shows during the season.

Congrats to Cody Hahn on becoming the second UMSS champion in just his second year behind the wheel of a sprint car. Hahn will have his name etched on the Barry Kettering Memorial UMSS Championship Trophy underneath inaugural champion Leigh Thomas. Trophies and bonus monies will be presented at the UMSS banquet. Details on the banquet will be released soon.

2 Brad Barickman #34, Richfield MN.......... 4145

3 Jerry Richert Jr. #63, Forest Lake MN..... 4081

4 Brandon Allen #77, St. Peter MN............ 3600

5 Kevin Nickel #10, Chisago City MN....... 3110

6 Jared Goerges #9, Brainerd MN............. 2824

7 Ronnie Erickson #62, Forest Lake MN... 2817

8 Sye Anderson #37, Brainerd MN............ 2690

9 Chris Graf #20G, Glencoe MN................ 2621

10 Joseph Kouba #55, North Branch MN.. 2522

Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series 2010 Season Race Winner Summary

Stillwater, MN

By: Greg Parent (10-3-10)

With the conclusion of the 2010 Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series season this past Saturday night at the Ogilvie Raceway, the UMSS is providing a season-ending race winner summary to the various media outlets. A total of nineteen (19) UMSS racing events were contested during the 2010 season. This represented an increase over 2009 of three shows. A total of seven races were cancelled due to weather or other issues. The most noteworthy cancellation was the Billy Anderson Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway on April 24. That event was rained out and not made up. A review of the season feature winners shows Brad Barickman and Chris Graf each earned a total of four feature victories. Brooke Tatnell and Tony Norem raced to two wins each during the season. Earning single victories were Dave Becker, Jimmy Kouba, Bill Johnson, Jerry Richert Jr, Scotty Thiel, Brandon Allen and Cody Hahn.

In the season-ending final point standings, 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn was the only driver to race in all nineteen feature events. Several drivers including Brad Barickman and Jerry Richert, Jr. only missed one or two shows. Jared Goerges earned the 2010 UMSS Rookie of the Year honors. Brad Barickman bested Jerry Richert, Jr. and Cody Hahn to earn the top spot in the GRP Motorsports Sweet Sixteen Bonus. In all, a total of 62 different 360 sprint car drivers participated in one or more UMSS events held during the 2010 season. The alliance formed with the IMCA prior to the beginning of the 2010 season seemed to work well, as several Arlington IMCA cars helped support various UMSS events held at other tracks during the season while the UMSS sent several cars south to Arlington for the four UMSS vs IMCA Challenge races.

The UMSS is looking forward to its third season in 2011. After a couple of meetings scheduled for this fall, the UMSS banquet will be held in the latter part of January or early February 2011. Details on the banquet will be released soon. UMSS President Ron Bernhagen is busy putting together a tentative schedule for the 2011 season. Work on the schedule will continue throughout the off-season with several new tracks expressing an interest in holding a UMSS event in 2011. The UMSS is also looking to establish a special event unique to the series at one of the participating tracks which will pay a larger purse and become one of the marque events each season on the schedule. Stay tuned to the UMSS website, Facebook page and the various media outlets for more details on the 2011 UMSS season. For those who have questions regarding the UMSS sprint car and micro sprint series, please contact Ron Bernhagen at 612-363-5302.

UMSS Feature Winner Summary (2010 Season):

April 23 - Kopellah Speedway - Dave Becker

April 24 - Cedar Lake Speedway - Rained Out (Billy Anderson Memorial)

May 28 - Kopellah Speedway - Brad Barickman

May 29 - Arlington Raceway - Chris Graf (UMSS vs IMCA Challenge)

July 2 - Kopellah Speedway - Jimmy Kouba

July 9 - Elko Speedway - Bill Johnson (Elko Dirt Nationals)

July 10 - Elko Speedway - Jerry Richert, Jr. (Elko Dirt Nationals)

July 16 - Elko Speedway - Brad Barickman (Elko Dirt Nationals)

July 17 - Elko Speedway - Brad Barickman (Elko Dirt Nationals)

July 24 - North Central Speedway - Brad Barickman (Kouba Memorial)

July 24 - North Central Speedway - Scotty Thiel

July 30 - Kopellah Speedway - Brooke Tatnell

July 31 - Arlington Raceway - Chris Graf (UMSS vs IMCA Challenge)

August 14 - Arlington Raceway - Chris Graf (UMSS vs IMCA Challenge)

August 28 - Rice Lake Speedway - Brandon Allen

September 4 - North Central Speedway - Cody Hahn (Mighty Axe Nationals)

September 5 - North Central Speedway - Chris Graf (Mighty Axe Nationals)

September 11 - Cedar Lake Speedway - Brooke Tatnell (Richert Memorial)

September 26 - Arlington Raceway - Tony Norem (Dave Heskin Memorial)

October 2 - Ogilvie Raceway - Tony Norem (Big "O" Fall Showdown)

UMSS Champions:

2009 - Leigh Thomas, Duluth MN

2010 - Cody Hahn, Minneapolis MN

UMSS GRP/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Year:

2009 - Cody Hahn, Minneapolis MN

2010 - Jared Goerges, Brainerd MN