6/27/2015
Richert Rockets to Midwest Power Series Win at Deer Creek Speedway
The inaugural appearance of the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series at the Deer Creek Speedway proved to be a successful one with a strong field of 23 cars on hand. It was also the first race of the four race Midwest Power Outlaw Sprint Car Series, and three-time UMSS Champion Jerry Richert, Jr. of Forest Lake took home the $2,300 victory with a daring outside pass of Ryan Bowers exiting turn four to lead lap 10. Richert went on to lead the remainder of the 25 lap feature event before a large crowd. Following his first win of the season and 17th career UMSS victory, Richert participated in the Pink Out promotion that Deer Creek had going to benefit breast cancer research. Richert did 31 push-ups in Victory Lane much to the delight of the crowd, as local area businesses sponsored $20 per push-up for the race winners in each class. Richert was driving the potent Donnohue Designs #34D sprinter, as that car now has a victory and two second place finishes in the last three UMSS races. Davey Heskin typically drives the car, but Davey was racing at Knoxville Raceway so Richert decided to park his #63 car for the evening and drive for Pat Donnohue. Good decision, as Richert was a rocket all night long.
The UMSS utilized their usual double round of qualifying races which allowed fans at the Deer Creek Speedway to see the sprints race three times during the evening. Ultimate Sprint Heats were won by Russ Hall, Bowers and Austin Johnson. Challenge Race wins went to Lee Grosz and Jarrod Schneiderman. Several Iowa cars came north to participate with the UMSS at Deer Creek. Russ Hall of Pleasant Hill, Iowa was the top point driver following the qualifiers. The top four drivers had young children draw for them during the popular driver autograph session at intermission. Hall's young daughter drew the #4 pill with Bowers getting a lucky pole position draw, Lee Grosz with the third starting spot and Richert getting the last pill which put him outside front row.
Bowers blasted into the early lead from his pole starting spot followed closely by Richert. The first of three cautions blinked on when Austin Johnson spun in turn two and collected Grosz. Both cars were out of the race. Two laps later, Jake Lempelius spun in turn two for the second yellow. This set the stage for an exciting couple of laps of green flag racing culminating in the pass for the lead coming off turn four to complete lap 10. Richert withstood one final caution when Jared Goerges spun in turn four with 20 laps scored. Richert led the final five circuits for the win. Bowers earned $1,000 for his second place finish. Rick Kobs came from seventh to finish third followed by Russ Hall and 11th starter Chris Graf. Ryan Jamison, Matt Wasmund, Anna Hippe (Kouba), Jarrod Schneiderman and Leigh Thomas rounded out the top 10. A total of 12 cars finished on the lead lap with one three of the 22 starters unable to finish. Mark Toews had made a strong run forward from his 14th starting spot to fifth when the final caution flew, but he contacted the turn four wall a couple laps after the restart and drifted back to finish 12th behind Jared Goerges.
Extra money was added into the purse by Midwest Power Equipment and GRP Motorsports. Jerry Richert, Jr. bested the other three UMSS Champions to earn a $100 GRP Motorsports Bonus for being the highest finishing past champion in the feature race. A special thanks to Mike Madsen and to M&M Painting for their contributions to the base purse in order to allow Deer Creek Speedway to keep the general admission ticket price the same as a regular race night.
The UMSS was scheduled to race at the Cresco Speedway on Sunday night June 28, but a heavy thunderstorm hit the Howard County Fairgrounds a short time after the drivers meeting and forced cancellation of the event for the second year in a row. Maybe the third time will be the charm in 2016?
Following a weekend off for the July Fourth Holiday, the UMSS winged sprints are back in action twice during the World of Outlaws weekend at the Cedar Lake Speedway. The UMSS winged and Traditional sprints are on the program on Friday night July 10 along with Midwest Modifieds. The following night the UMSS winged and Traditional sprints are part of the World of Outlaws show, as it will be an all sprint car program on July 11. Several teams in both divisions are certainly looking forward to being a part of this big open wheel weekend at the legendary western Wisconsin dirt oval.
UMSS Race Results - Deer Creek Speedway June 27, 2015 (Race #8)
Race #1 of the Midwest Power Outlaw Sprint Car Series
Midwest Power Equip & GRP Motorsports A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[2]; 2. 199-Ryan Bowers[1]; 3. 34-Rick Kobs[7]; 4. 29H-Russ Hall[4]; 5. 20G-Chris Graf[11]; 6. 51J-Ryan Jamison[9]; 7. 4W-Matt Wasmund[12]; 8. 5-Anna Kouba[10]; 9. 99-Jarrod Schneiderman[5]; 10. 29-Leigh Thomas[15]; 11. 9-Jared Goerges[6]; 12. 5T-Mark Toews[14]; 13. 03-Jamey Ogston[16]; 14. 23-Cody Hahn[13]; 15. 55-Joseph Kouba[17]; 16. 1-Jeff Pellersels[20]; 17. 1D-Dean Brown[19]; 18. 91A-Reed Allex[18]; 19. 15-Chad Patterson[21]; 20. (DNF) 52-Jake Lempelius[22]; 21. (DNF) 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 22. (DNF) 81-Austin Johnson[8]; DNS 3-Tony Kaus.
Lap Leaders: Bowers 1-9, Richert 10-25. Cautions: (3)
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 1 (11 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 2. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[4]; 3. 29H-Russ Hall[8]; 4. 29-Leigh Thomas[1]; 5. 9-Jared Goerges[6]; 6. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 7. 81-Austin Johnson[7]; 8. 03-Jamey Ogston[9]; 9. 55-Joseph Kouba[2]; 10. 52-Jake Lempelius[10]; 11. 91A-Reed Allex[11]; DNS 3-Tony Kaus.
Lap Leader: Grosz 1-11. Cautions: (1)
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race 2 (11 Laps): 1. 99-Jarrod Schneiderman[2]; 2. 5-Anna Kouba[1]; 3. 199-Ryan Bowers[8]; 4. 51J-Ryan Jamison[3]; 5. 34-Rick Kobs[7]; 6. 4W-Matt Wasmund[5]; 7. 23-Cody Hahn[6]; 8. 5T-Mark Toews[4]; 9. 1-Jeff Pellersels[9]; 10. 1D-Dean Brown[10]; 11. 15-Chad Patterson[11].
Lap Leader: Schneiderman 1-11. No cautions.
Meeks Video Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 29H-Russ Hall[1]; 2. 34-Rick Kobs[2]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[4]; 4. 5T-Mark Toews[7]; 5. 55-Joseph Kouba[6]; 6. 5-Anna Kouba[5]; 7. 03-Jamey Ogston[8]; 8. (DNF) 3-Tony Kaus[3].
Lap Leader: Hall 1-8. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 199-Ryan Bowers[1]; 2. 9-Jared Goerges[3]; 3. 4W-Matt Wasmund[4]; 4. 4J-Lee Grosz[8]; 5. 99-Jarrod Schneiderman[7]; 6. 29-Leigh Thomas[5]; 7. 1-Jeff Pellersels[2]; 8. 52-Jake Lempelius[6].
Lap Leader: Bowers 1-8. No cautions.
Sprintsource.com Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 81-Austin Johnson[1]; 2. 23-Cody Hahn[2]; 3. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[3]; 4. 51J-Ryan Jamison[4]; 5. 91A-Reed Allex[5]; 6. 1D-Dean Brown[6]; DNS 15-Chad Patterson.
Lap Leader: Johnson 1-7. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Scotty Swenson.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
