The 2009 inaugural season of the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS) will go down in history as one that exceeded the expectations of many involved in the sport. The formation of the series was announced in September 2008 with the hope of securing 5-8 races at area tracks and attracting 10 cars for each of those races. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think the UMSS would have a first year like it did," said Joe Kouba, UMSS Board member. "We surprised a lot of people this year."
In its first season, the UMSS scheduled 18 races at Kopellah Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, and North Central Speedway. A total of 16 race nights were contested during the season as two nights were cancelled due to weather. The series averaged just over 14 cars per night with the highest car count of 20 occurring at the Billy Anderson Memorial in April.
A total of 47 drivers and 43 teams competed with the UMSS with eight different drivers taking home feature wins. Jerry Richert, Jr. led the list with seven feature wins while Brad Barickman and Sye Anderson each took home a pair of feature victories. Tony Norem, Lou Kennedy, Jr., Scott Winters, Brooke Tatnell and Rob Kubli all took home one feature victory.
Looking ahead to 2010, the future of the UMSS is bright. All three tracks that scheduled races in 2009 want to schedule races again in 2010, new teams are already being developed, current teams are updating their equipment, and new race tracks are showing interest in scheduling a UMSS show at their track. "The UMSS is here to stay," stated Ron Bernhagen. "We have started a solid foundation from which to build from in the coming years for sprint car racing in our area."
The UMSS is a value-based racing organization that offers reasonable and cost-effective rules for the participants, a purse structure that is sustainable for the race tracks, and a fan-friendly program with double rounds of qualifying races for the race fan. To learn more, go to www.umsprints.com or call Ron Bernhagen at 612-363-5302.
