REINKE ROCKETS TO RUNNER-UP HONORS! WHITNEY OVERCOMES MECHANICAL ILLS TO GAIN PODIUM FINISH!
July 27, 2014; Jim Falls, WI – The chill in the air was perhaps fitting, as the “North Pole Nightmare”, Bill Balog, completed a sweep of the three event “Northwoods Tour” with a victory at Eagle Valley Raceway. On an unseasonably cool evening, a solid showing of fans gathered at the three-eight’s mile banked oval to see the only event of the year for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints at the venue.
A very shallow redraw, placed the fastest four drivers at the start of the field for what would prove to be a very fast paced contest. Balog, who started on the pole, was fresh off two victories on the three-event weekend, having already captured wins at Langlade County Speedway and ABC Raceway the prior two nights. He came into the program at Eagle Valley as the defending event winner becoming an odds-on favorite to complete the sweep this evening.
Still the outcome of the event was never assured as Mike Reinke had managed to overtake Balog in traffic, and he stayed within striking distance throughout the contest. When the event reached it’s conclusion at the end of 25 laps it was Balog’s, Buesser Concrete sponsored machine, out front as the checker flag waved. Reinke would lay claim to his fourth runner-up performance of the year. Travis Whitney, who had suffered misfortune at the previous event while leading the race, overcame any pitfalls tonight with a solid third place showing.
22 starters accepted the green flag on a very fast racing surface. The track’s high-banked turns allow the Winged 410 sprints to surpass 120 mph. Balog, utilized every ounce of horsepower in his ride to shoot out front with Reinke applying the pressure darting both inside and outside of Balog in his efforts to reach the front.
Whitney scrambled into the third spot ahead of Brooke Tatnell. Tatnell, a native of Australia, spends his summers in the United States chasing sprint car events around the country. Last year Tatnell had the lead in the Eagle Valley main event eventually having to settle for second to Balog after a last lap pass.
With the wide racing surface the leaders had plenty of different lines to work past lapped machines, and on several occasions Reinke managed to slip past Balog briefly for the top spot.
The only slowdown of the event occurred on lap 12, when Rookie of the Year contender Ben Schmidt looped his car in turn two. The field skillfully avoided him and he was able to rejoin the contest.
The last half of the A-main continued without interruption, and again Reinke found the speed to slip past Balog on occasion, only to be overtaken by Balog as the pair would reach the next set of turns. The duel waged into the final laps when Balog managed to move out to a slim two-car length advantage. Reinke continued to wait for any miscue by Balog but the opportunity never came, and Balog scored the win by a couple car lengths. Reinke netted second as he was able to fend off Whitney for the position. Whitney completed the podium finished with third.
Tatnell ran in the fourth spot for the majority of the contest with Bill Rose earning a fifth place run.
Rookie Scotty Thiel, fresh off a runner-up performance the prior evening at ABC Raceway had a solid sixth place run this evening. Tommy Sexton, Steve Meyer, Scotty Neitzel and Blake Nimee comprised the top ten runners.
Schmidt recovered fro his earlier spin to finish 11th and was the final driver on the lead lap.
21 of the 22 starters were still on the track at the checker flag as only Wayne Modjeski had dropped from the contest.
A solid showing of 25 cars resulted in a B-main tonight, with Meyer, Scott Uttech, Kris Spitz, Brandon Thone, Wayne Modjeski, Byron Walters and Dennis Weisner making the cut to transfer to the main event. Walters however had mechanical issues, which placed Chad Tessman into the main event as an alternate.
Earlier in the night Balog, Russel Borland and Thiel captured wins during the heat race events.
The three-day race weekend continued the unfortunate luck of engine failures as Lance Fassbender expired and engine in his heat race. Wayne Modjeski had lost an engine at Antigo, and Dave Uttech expired a motor at ABC Raceway. An unusual number of engine failures this season have already sidelined several teams including Phillip Mock who had a pair of early season victories.
After the challenging three-event weekend, a single race is on the schedule for next week.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints are set to appear at their Northern home track of Beaver Dam Raceway. The banked third-mile oval saw both prior events held this season captured by Phillip Mock, while rain had claimed the other scheduled contest.
The show will take place on Saturday night August 2nd. The series then takes the following weekend off to allow teams a break in the frantic schedule, or to participate in the Knoxville Nationals.
IRA proudly moves continues it’s 2014 season backed by its long time supporting series partners led by title sponsor Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, and associate series partners Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Hoosier Tire, Cedar Creek Motorsports, Cummins Onan, and Carriage Auto Body.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints are a featured member of Racetext.net a website dedicated to bringing fans the best possible coverage of local short track racing.
For more information on the IRA Outlaw Sprints check out the tour website at www.irasprints.com or by logging onto the series Facebook page at www.facebook.com/irasprints the series is also on twitter at #IRA_sprints.
IRA Sprint Cars - IRA Interstate Racing Association
Event #13 – Eagle Valley Speedway – Jim Falls, WI – July 27, 2014
IRA Sprint Cars | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17b-Bill Balog; 2. 02-Mike Reinke; 3. 16-Travis Whitney; 4. 55-Brooke Tatnell; 5. 6r-Bill Rose; 6. 64-Scotty Thiel; 7. 83-Tommy Sexton; 8. 85m-Steve Meyer; 9. 2w-Scott Neitzel; 10. 79-Blake Nimee; 11. 35-Ben Schmidt; 12. 65-Jordan Goldesberry; 13. 4b-Scott Biertzer; 14. 95a-Ken Jay Fiedler; 15. 23-Russel Borland; 16. 7-Scott Uttech; 17. 4k-Kris Spitz; 18. 94-Brandon Thone; 19. 41-Dennis Spitz; 20. 73-Dennis Weisner; 21. 71-Chad Tessman; 22. 95b-Wayne Modjeski
Behling Circle Track B Feature (8 Laps): 1. 85m Steve Meyer; 2. 7-Scott Uttech; 3. 4k-Kris Spitz; 4. 94-Brandon Thone; 5. 95b-Wayne Modjeski; 6. 5w-Byron Walters; 7. 73-Dennis Weisner; 8. 71-Chad Tessman; 9. 19-Ryan Wilson-DNS
Weld Racing Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17b-Bill Balog; 2. 4b-Scott Biertzer; 3. 55-Brooke Tatnell; 4. 83-Timmy Sexton; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt; 7. 7-Scott Uttech; 8. 19-Ryan Wilson; 9. 95b-Wayne Modjeski
Diversified Machine Inc. Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Russel Borland; 2. 6r-Bill Rose; 3. 16-Travis Whitney; 4. 2w-Scotty Neitzel; 5. 79-Blake Nimee; 6. 4k-Kris Spitz; 7. 5w-Byron Walter; 8. 73-Dennis Weisner
All Star Performance Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 64-Scotty Thiel; 2. 41-Dennis Spitz; 3. 02-Mike Reinke; 4. 95a-Ken Jay Fiedler; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry; 6. 85-Steve Meyer; 7. 94-Brandon Thone; 8. 71-Chad Tessman
Osborn & Son Qualifying (Top 12) 1. 55-Brooke Tatnell; 2. 16-Travis Whitney; 3. 02-Mike Reinke; 4. 17b-Bill Balog; 5. 2w-Scotty Neitzel; 6. 85-Steve Meyer; 7. 4b-Scott Biertzer; 8. 6r-Bill Rose; 9. 64-Scotty Thiel; 10. 83-Tommy Sexton; 11. 79-Blake Nimee; 12. 65-Jordan Goldesberry
- Jeffrey Sachse on Jul 28, 2014
- Article Date: 7/28/2014 by Jeffrey Sachse