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Scott Biertzer Beats Brooke Tatnell for Cedar Lake Opening Night Masters Score
By Justin Zoch/Greg Parent (6-18-10)
He started outside row one and led every lap of the 25-lap feature event, but the box score does not even begin to tell how hard Scott Biertzer worked en route to his second career IRA Sprint Car win on Friday night during the Masters at Cedar Lake Speedway.
The West Bend, Wisconsin, racer blasted by pole-sitter Bill Balog down the backstretch on lap one and maintained the top spot through a lap three red flag for a series of backstretch barrel rolls by Nick
Alden, and a yellow for a spin by Phillip Mock with nine laps in . With each stoppage, Brooke Tatnell worked his way closer and closer to the lead from his eighth starting spot. During laps 8 and 9 Tatnell moved from fourth to second and then back to third again, as Balog, Tatnell and Reinke swapped positions numerous times. Tatnell got around Balog on lap ten and set his sights on the leader.
The Cedar Lake surface, beat hard by heat and wind all day, finally began to turn black towards the twenty lap mark, and as Biertzer worked his way around the lapped cars, Tatnell closed the gap with each lap. With just a handful of laps remaining, Biertzer made contact with the lapped car of Scott Uttech, who nearly careened into Tatnell. Tatnell had been seriously challenging Biertzer for the top spot, but this close call allowed Biertzer to gain a little breathing room again. Tatnell closed back in again.
The white flag flew and the large crowd, obviously rooting for the underdog Biertzer, followed the top two cars around the track and exploded when Biertzer grabbed the win, his first at CLS and second career IRA triumph. "I can't believe we just won the Masters," exclaimed Biertzer in victory lane before climbing atop the wing to soak in the cheers. Tatnell settled for second while Bill Balog, Mike Reinke and first time Cedar Lake starter Jim Moughan rounded out the fastest five.
Heats for the 29 cars went to Reinke, Tatnell and Kris Spitz while Bill Warren scored the B-feature. Osborne and Sons Trucking qualifications were not held, so drivers used a passing point system to determine lineups throughout the evening. Heat action saw Davey Heskin and Rob Kubli each make hard contact with the
concrete wall in turn two. Heskin's car remained upright while Kubli's sprinter tipped on its side. Both were uninjured but finished for the night.
The IRA Sprints return to Cedar Lake Speedway for night two of the Masters on Saturday night, June 19, 2010. Scott Biertzer will be looking for the clean sweep while many other strong contenders will be vying for a chance to grace victory lane.
IRA Outlaw 410 Sprint Car Results - Masters Weekend Night Number 1:
25-lap A-Feature:
1. Scott Biertzer, 2. Brooke Tatnell, 3. Bill Balog, 4. Mike Reinke, 5. Jim Moughan, 6. Travis Whitney, 7. John Sernett, 8. Bill Wirth, 9. John Haeni, 10. Scott Neitzel, 11. Kris Spitz, 12. Jerry Richert Jr, 13. Brad Barickman, 14. Wayne Modjeski, 15. Dave Uttech, 16. Todd King, 17. Scott Uttech, 18. Phillip Mock, 19. Andy Hunt, 20. Billy Hafemann, 21. Nick Alden, 22. Bill Warren.
Lap Leader: Biertzer 1-25
Weld Racing Heat Race #1 (10 laps): Reinke, Sernett, Haeni, S Uttech, Wirth, Mock, Russell Borland, Warren, Leigh Thomas, Davey Heskin.
Lane Automotive Heat Race #2 (10 laps): Tatnell, Whitney, Neitzel, Balog, Hafemann, Alden, King, Barickman, Rick Kelsey, Ty Bartz. DMI/King Racing Heat Race #3 (10 laps): Spitz, Biertzer, Moughan, Modjeski, Richert, Hunt, D Uttech, Brandon Thone, Rob Kubli.
Behling Racing Products B Main (12 laps): Warren, Barickman, Hafemann, King, Hunt, D Uttech, Bartz, Thomas, Borland, Kelsey, Thone, DNS: Heskin, Kubli
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