9/3/2016
IRA Interstate Racing Association
SCHULTZ DENIES MC CARL, COLLECTS CHECKERED IN BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINT ACTION AT PLYMOUTH DIRT TRACK!
CHAMPIONSHIP CHASE CONTINUES AS SCHULTZ, THEIL AND NEITZEL BATTLE FOR 2016 BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINT CAR CROWN!
September 2, 2016; Plymouth, WI – The surest way to winning a championship in the closing weeks of the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car season is scoring victories.
To that end, point leader Jeremy Schultz took a solid step in the direction of the 2016 season title after surviving a late race restart and a spirited battle with Austin McCarl. McCarl had been running seventh until a pair of late race cautions and he made an impressive drive over the final laps to take a shot as Schultz for the lead.
Once Schultz was able to repel McCarl’s challenge he slowly pulled away over the final three laps scoring the win by six car lengths.
Schultz who is in the thick of a point battle with Scotty Thiel and Scotty Neitzel had strung together a formidable string of ten straight top five finishes from mid-June until mid-August to take the point lead from Thiel but recent events had been challenging for Schultz. He was finally able to get back onto the podium last week with a second-place finish at Angell Park Speedway.
This evening Schultz was back on track, setting a blistering pace in the closing laps to earn his second win of the season and laying claim to two of the three events contested at the Plymouth Dirt Track this year.
The victory adds to his point lead and throws down the gauntlet on Thiel and Neitzel to try and follow suit in the remaining five events of the season.
The 30 lap A-main showcased a 24 car starting grid with Ryan Bowers starting on the pole in a machine prepared by Ozzie Weisner. The car has been fast with several different drivers behind the wheel and Bowers, making his second start in the car outran fellow front row starter Wayne Modjeski to pace the opening circuits.
Bowers, the 2015 UMSS Winged Sprint Car Champion from Ham Lake, MN has adapted quickly to the 410 sprints and during the early laps he appeared to be the man to beat.
While Bowers was setting the pace out front Mike Reinke and Schultz were working forward. Reinke overhauled Modjeski on lap three for the second spot. Schultz annexed third from Modjeski on lap six. Just as the lap completed, Kurt Davis, who was piloting Modjeski’s backup car came to a halt in turn three drawing the first caution.
Once action resumed it was Schultz who was on the move. Schultz powered past Reinke and then caught Bowers. Schultz was able to sweep past Bowers on the high side and once out front he began to check out on the field.
Bowers began to lose some of his formidable early pace and would spend the rest of the contest slowly falling back in the field.
By lap 11 Reinke had filtered into the second spot and Modjeski surged back into the third spot.
The well-groomed track allowed cars to run three wide which proved dramatic as the leaders had reached the tail of the field by the halfway point.
Schultz methodically worked lapped cars though Reinke began to close the gap. The caution flew on lap 21 when Kyle Marten came to a stop on the backstretch with a broken front end just as Reinke began to pressure Schultz for the lead spot.
The field realigned with Schultz showing the way and Reinke giving chase. Fellow point contender Thiel had reached the third spot as the race resumed.
Attention for focused further back in the field as Austin McCarl made an impressive charge. Austin son sprint car legend Terry McCarl showcased a daring driving style which propelled him toward the front. The Altoona, IA native cracked the top five with five laps to go and rim rode around the track continuing to pick off positions.
McCarl slipped by Thiel for the third spot just prior to the final yellow flag of the night when Tim Vandervere had mechanical ills and came to a halt just off the racing surface in turn two.
The field realigned for a four-lap dash to the finish with Schultz leading Reinke and McCarl back to the green flag.
McCarl immediately pulled off a well time slide job on Reinke to gain the second spot and he then set out for Schultz.
On lap 27 McCarl made his attempt to take the lead in turn two but Schultz was able to fend off the challenge and over the final circuits slowly drive away from McCarl to thwart any further challenges to his lead.
McCarl held on for second with Reinke following to the line in third.
Modjeski drove an impressive race, moving back by Thiel in the closing laps to earn his best finish of the 2016 season with a fourth place run. Thiel claimed fifth keeping him in contention for the season title.
Todd Hepfner made a rare showing this evening and came away with a sixth-place run. Hepfner who is running a limited schedule had ran near the top five throughout much of the contest.
Bill Balog earned the seventh spot after earlier shattering the track record in qualifying by three tenths of a second. His night became a struggle after that point as his car refused to stay running in his heat race. As a result he had to start in the 19th place starting spot. Balog advanced the most positions of any driver in the field picking up 12 places during the contest.
Mike Kertscher finished in the eighth spot after doing battle with Balog over the final circuits.
Blake Nimee earned a ninth place finish and Neitzel completed the top ten.
17 of the 24 starters we on the lead lap at the finish. With 21 drivers accepting the checkered flag.
Earlier in the program heat race wins were taken this evening by Kertscher, Ben Schmidt and Thiel.
Balog blistered the quarter-mile bullring setting a time of 11.324 seconds establishing the new standard in qualifying. 2015 IRA champion Bill Rose had held the old mark at 11.644 seconds during the season finale last year.
Hepfner had run a lap of 11.687 seconds earning the second fastest time of the evening and Kyle Marten was third fast as 11.801 seconds.
The series wraps up the double-header weekend with a Sunday evening show at the 141 Speedway.
After this weekend four events will remain on the 2016 schedule.
September 10th and 11th takes the series on their longest road trip of the season as group heads to the northwest corner of WI for a pair of traditional dates rich in history.
It begins on Friday night September 9th with the Northern Nationals at Superior's Amsoil Speedway, followed by one of IRA's crown jewels on Saturday the 10th with Jerry Richert Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway.
The Beaver Dam area hosts the final two events of the campaign as Sept 17th is the 2nd annual Scott Semmelman Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway, followed by the October 1st season finale Checkered Classic at the Dodge County Fairgrounds.
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.
The IRA Sprints are presented by its long time supporting series partners. The series support is led by title sponsor Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, and associate series partners Hoosier Tire, Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Cummins Onan, and Twin Lakes Marine.
Remaining 2016 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Events:
9/4/2016 – 141 Speedway – Francis Creek, WI
9/9/2016 – Amsoil Speedway – Superior, WI
9/10/2016 – Cedar Lake Speedway – New Richmond, WI
9/17/2016 – Beaver Dam Raceway – Beaver Dam, WI
10/1/2016 – Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
410 Sprints | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[4]; 2. 17A-Austin McCarl[12]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke[3]; 4. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[2]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[7]; 6. 1HRP-Todd Hepfner[6]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[19]; 8. 80K-Mike Kertscher[9]; 9. 79-Blake Nimee[10]; 10. 2W-Scott Neitzel[11]; 11. 85M-Steve Meyer[15]; 12. 73-Ryan Bowers[1]; 13. 12-Michael Decker[20]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz[13]; 15. 53W-Bill Wirth[21]; 16. 10V-Matt Vandevere[16]; 17. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[14]; 18. 11-Todd King[24]; 19. 59-Ben Schmidt[8]; 20. 41-Dennis Spitz[18]; 21. 7-Scott Uttech[22]; 22. (DNF) 7V-Tim Vandervere[23]; 23. (DNF) 6K-Kurt Davis[17]; 24. (DNF) 99-Kyle Marten[5]; (DNS) 23-Russel Borland
Real Wheels Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 80K-Mike Kertscher[2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[5]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl[3]; 4. 73-Ryan Bowers[4]; 5. 6K-Kurt Davis[7]; 6. 41-Dennis Spitz[6]; 7. 12-Michael Decker[1]; (DNS) 17B-Bill Balog; (DNS) 23-Russel Borland
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 59-Ben Schmidt[2]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer[1]; 4. 1HRP-Todd Hepfner[6]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[3]; 6. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 7. 53W-Bill Wirth[7]; 8. 7V-Tim Vandervere[8]
All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 64-Scotty Thiel[2]; 2. 10V-Matt Vandevere[1]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 4. 99-Kyle Marten[6]; 5. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[3]; 6. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[5]; 7. 7-Scott Uttech[7]; 8. 11-Todd King[8]
Osborn & Son Qualifying 1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.324[7]; 2. 1HRP-Todd Hepfner, 11.687[10]; 3. 99-Kyle Marten, 11.801[11]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 11.809[8]; 5. 02-Mike Reinke, 11.827[13]; 6. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 11.869[12]; 7. 73-Ryan Bowers, 11.887[24]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.898[21]; 9. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.915[22]; 10. 17A-Austin McCarl, 11.969[20]; 11. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.054[14]; 12. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler, 12.056[16]; 13. 80K-Mike Kertscher, 12.060[4]; 14. 59-Ben Schmidt, 12.071[2]; 15. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.072[25]; 16. 12-Michael Decker, 12.077[5]; 17. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.180[3]; 18. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 12.315[18]; 19. 6K-Kurt Davis, 12.448[17]; 20. 53W-Bill Wirth, 12.451[23]; 21. 7-Scott Uttech, 12.480[6]; 22. 41-Dennis Spitz, 12.531[1]; 23. 11-Todd King, 13.993[9]; 24. 7V-Tim Vandervere, 15.660[19]; (DNS) 23-Russel Borland
Article Credit: Jeffrey Sachse
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
