5/14/2016
Number Three for Rick Kobs at CLS in Front of Huge School Bus Night Crowd
Despite temperatures and windy conditions that felt much more like March weather than May, a huge crowd descended upon the Cedar Lake Speedway for the 12th Annual School Bus Night at the popular western Wisconsin dirt oval. For the first time at this event, the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series was part of the program and drew a field of 19 cars. For the third time this season at CLS and the fourth time already during the early stages of the 2016 campaign, veteran racer Rick Kobs from Deer Park found his way to Rock Auto Victory Lane at the conclusion of the feature race. Kobs passed race leader Mike Mueller just past the halfway mark and went on to lead the second half of the race. Nobody in the history of the track has won feature races in eight different racing divisions other than Kobs, and his versatility and competitive nature as a driver continues to standout over 30 years from when he first started in the sport at a young age.
The distance in the Traditional sprint main event was cut down to 20 laps from the usual 25 laps due in part to a long red flag period just four laps into the race when young Chase Viebrock of New Richmond flipped wildly down the backstretch after contact with the outside concrete wall exiting turn two. Viebrock was taken by ambulance to New Richmond and later transferred to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with what was reported, on his Facebook page, to be five broken bones in his back. Viebrock will be out of action for several months as he recovers.
When the feature returned to green flag racing, Mike Mueller continued to lead with a group of cars close behind. A caution two laps later for Hunter Custer in turn two slowed the pace. Fifth starter Rick Kobs was slowly working his way to the front. Five green flag laps later while exiting turn four on lap 11 Kobs got by Mueller for the top spot. A couple of cautions on laps 15 and 16 for spins once again slowed the pace, and following the third yellow series officials decided to cut the distance to 20 laps with the large crowd anxiously awaiting the Battle of the Busses feature event. Following the four lap dash to the checkers, another veteran racer, Jimmy Kouba ended up in second behind Kobs. Young James Giossi, Brian VanMeveren and 14th starter Anne Hippe rounded out the top five. Hippe was clearly one of the fastest cars on the track during the latter stages of the race and very likely would have continued her march forward should the race have run the full distance.
In order to save some time on the race program, the Traditional sprint cars ran two heat races with the usual passing and finishing points in play. The 10 lap heats were won by Mueller and Kobs. The top four drivers in points after the heats redrew for starting spots in the first two rows of the feature event. Besides first heat winner Mueller, three drivers had advanced several positions in their heats. VanMeveren was the high point car and drew the number four pill. Mueller drew two while third place point earner Jimmy Kouba had the good fortune of pulling the pole position. Giossi would start third. An incident in heat two sidelined rookie driver Kyle Wehking for the remainder of the evening with left rear damage on his car. Making his season debut was Elk Mound racer Blake Anderson.
The UMSS Traditional sprints return to action next weekend on May 20-21 with another scheduled double header. The exciting series will make its lone appearance of the season at the Granite City Speedway on Friday night May 20. The sixth race of the season at the Cedar Lake Speedway follows the next night. GRP Motorsports decided to move some bonus money to this weekend instead of what usually is a hectic night at CLS for the bus races, so there will be some Hard Charger Awards and past champion/rookie bonuses in effect for May 20-21. Check out the schedule, results, points and other news for the Traditional Sprint Car Series on our website at www.umsprints.com by clicking on the blue logo or follow us on Facebook.
UMSS TSCS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway May 14, 2016 (Race #6)
GRP Motorsports A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 81-Rick Kobs[5]; 2. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[1]; 3. 11-James Giossi[3]; 4. 24-Brian VanMeveren[4]; 5. 16-Anna Hippe[14]; 6. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[12]; 7. 6-Jake Kouba[8]; 8. 87-Mike Mueller[2]; 9. 95-Kevin Bradwell[6]; 10. 7B-Scott Brandt[13]; 11. 69S-Jon Lewerer[10]; 12. N1-Ty Sampair[15]; 13. 99-Bryan Roach[16]; 14. (DNF) 12X-Blake Anderson[11]; 15. (DNF) 14-Cam Schafer[7]; 16. (DNF) 29-Hunter Custer[18]; 17. (DNF) 50-Chase Viebrock[9]; 18. (DNF) 21J-Jori Hughes[17]; (DNS) 12W-Kyle Wehking.
Lap Leaders: Mueller 1-10, Kobs 11-20. Cautions: (1) red & (3) yellows Red flag with 4 laps scored for 50 flip on backstretch. Yellow #1 for 29 stopped turn 2 6 laps in. Yellow #2 for 12x sideways turn 4 15 laps in. Yellow #3 for 69s spun turn 1 16 laps in. Race reduced to 20 laps at this point due to long red flag for 50 flip + 3 cautions.
Track Rat Photos Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Mike Mueller[3]; 2. 14-Cam Schafer[1]; 3. 11-James Giossi[6]; 4. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[9]; 5. 69S-Jon Lewerer[4]; 6. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[5]; 7. 7B-Scott Brandt[8]; 8. 99-Bryan Roach[2]; 9. 21J-Jori Hughes[7].
Lap Leaders: Schafer 1, Mueller 2-10. No cautions.
Meeks Video Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Rick Kobs[1]; 2. 24-Brian VanMeveren[8]; 3. 50-Chase Viebrock[2]; 4. 6-Jake Kouba[6]; 5. 95-Kevin Bradwell[9]; 6. 12X-Blake Anderson[10]; 7. 16-Anna Hippe[4]; 8. N1-Ty Sampair[7]; 9. 29-Hunter Custer[3]; 10. (DNF) 12W-Kyle Wehking[5].
Lap Leader: Kobs 1-10. Cautions: (1) yellow for 29 & 12w turn 3. 12w on hook with left rear damage, done for the night.
Rock Auto Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
