9/1/2013
Thiel With Exciting Last Lap Pass For Axe Win
Scotty Thiel With Exciting Last Lap Pass For Second Mighty Axe Win
Brainerd, MN
Two features in one day made for an interesting 2013 edition of the Mighty Axe Nationals at North Central Speedway. After a long rain delay on the opening night pushed the feature race back to early Sunday morning, later on in the day much improved weather allowed the second night to run off in much better fashion for the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS). An exciting last lap pass by Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan, Wisconsin over Lou Kennedy, Jr. of Winnipeg netted Thiel his second Mighty Axe trophy in the 25 lap feature. Thiel got his first "axe" last year on the second night, and one year later he earned his second unique trophy after following Kennedy for a little more than 24 laps before making the winning move in turns 1-2 on the final circuit for the $1,000 top prize. The motor in the winning car was provided by Mastell Brothers Racing, as Thiel blew his own powerplant up at the Kouba Memorial a few weeks ago.
Under sunny skies for the late afternoon start, the UMSS was able to utilize their usual double round of qualiying races on Sunday night. Ultimate Sprint Heat wins for the 24 cars on hand went to Jason Tostenson, Thomas Kennedy and Lou Kennedy, Jr. In Challenge race action, Wade Nygaard and Tony Norem raced to the top spots. Passing and finishing points were calculated following the two rounds, and Lee Grosz topped the points. Grosz pulled the #4 pill for the feature race invert. Three cars were unable to start the feature. Brooke Tatnell had a broken rocker arm in the engine of his sprinter, Leigh Thomas crashed in his heat race after taking the checkers, and Jennifer Eriksen withdrew her car with handling problems after her heat race. Twenty one cars were able to make the call for the UMSS feature race.
Unlike the night before, well early Sunday morning actually, this race only saw one yellow flag slow the pace with 15 laps in the books. Lou Kennedy, Jr. grabbed the early lead from his pole starting position with Thiel close behind. The fast way around was on the cushion, and the laps clicked off quickly until Jared Goerges and Neal Matuska tangled in turn two. Goerges changed a flat tire under the yellow while Matuska was out of the race. This erased Lou Kennedy's lead and put Thiel right on his bumper for the restart. Kennedy maintained the top spot for several more laps.
Thiel closed in a bit in lapped traffic. With four laps to go, Thiel made a bid for the lead in turn one but could not get by Kennedy. This allowed Kennedy to open up several car lengths on Thiel again. With two laps to go, Kennedy slipped a bit high in turn 3 in what he later described as the loon $#!% and quickly felt Thiel's presence. Thiel measured him up entering turn one on the final lap, made a charge to the low side, and slid up in front of Kennedy for the lead. Kennedy was not able to regain the top spot in the final corner, as Thiel raced to an exciting final lap victory. Kennedy was a close second ahead of his son Thomas Kennedy. Thomas had started eighth, was running in fifth at the lone caution, and advanced two more positions in the final ten laps for third behind his dad. Grosz and Tostenson completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Nygaard, Norem, Jerry Richert Jr, current UMSS point leader Chris Graf and opening night winner Cody Hahn. Only two cars dropped out of the race.
To complete their three-race Labor Day weekend, the UMSS sprints headed down the highway to the Granite City Speedway on Monday for their only appearance of the 2013 season and their second-ever race at the Sauk Rapids track.
UMSS Race Results - North Central Speedway September 1, 2013 (Race #14)
Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (8 laps): 36 Jason Tostenson, 91 Davey Heskin, 4J Lee Grosz, 3TK Tony Kaus, 63 Jerry Richert Jr, 34TW Gunner Cummings, 10x Jennifer Eriksen, 21 Jordan Wilmes.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (8 laps): 20k Thomas Kennedy, 29 Leigh Thomas, 9N Wade Nygaard, 9 Jared Goerges, 95 Kevin Bradwell, 5 Katrina Sautbine, 91A Reed Allex, 25 Brooke Tatnell DNS.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (8 laps): 21k Lou Kennedy Jr, 64 Scotty Thiel, 23 Cody Hahn, 7 Dave Becker, 48 Neal Matuska, B1st Tony Norem, 20G Chris Graf DNF, 7 N Brad Nelson DNF.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #1 (10 laps): Nygaard, Thiel, L. Kennedy, Tostenson, Bradwell, Kaus, Graf, Becker, Cummings, Sautbine, Allex, Eriksen DNS.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race #2 (10 laps): Norem, Grosz, Hahn. Richert, T. Kennedy, Heskin, Goerges, Matuska, Wilmes, Nelson, Tatnell DNS, Thomas DNS.
GRP Motorsports Feature (25 laps): Thiel, L. Kennedy, T. Kennedy, Grosz, Tostenson, Nygaard, Norem, Richert, Graf, Hahn, Heskin, Becker, Kaus, Goerges, Bradwell, Wilmes, Sautbine, Allex, Nelson, Cummings DNF, Matuska DNF, Eriksen DNS, Tatnell DNS, Thomas DNS.
Lap Leaders: L. Kennedy 1-24, Thiel 25.
Cautions: (1)
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Jacy Norgaard Photography.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
