7/21/2014
IRA Interstate Racing Association
AN AMAZING FINISH ON A HISTORIC NIGHT PUTS SHELDON HAUDENSCHILD IN VICTORY LANE AT ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY!
MULTIPLE DRIVERS LEAD THE FINAL TWO LAPS OF THE A-MAIN IN THE FIRST ANNUAL NORM NELSON CLASSIC AT ANGELL PARK!
July 20, 2014; Sun Prairie, WI. – It had been 29 years since the last appearance of winged outlaw 410 sprints at the Angell Park Speedway. The Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints rolled into town to do battle on the legendary oval, and fans were treated to not only a new track record but also to an amazing finish where the lead ping ponged between multiple drivers over the final two laps. During a green, white checker finish setup when six-time champion Bill Balog nearly flipped in turn two while trying to steal the lead from Jordan Goldesberry.
When the dust settled it was Sheldon Haudenschild sitting in victory lane after putting on a passing clinic on the final two laps. The son of sprint car legend Jac Haudenschild, Shedlon of Wooten, OH, surged from first to fourth during those two quick circuits of the third-mile clay oval. To do so he had to work past veteran race Steve Meyer for the lead and then fend off IRA series standout Mike Reinke to collect the win.
The last lap pass of Meyer resulted in Haudenschild’s first trip to victory lane with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints. Less than a month ago he scored his first career with the All-Star Circuit of Champions. It was also worth noting that Haudenschild was not even born with the IRA Sprints last competed at Angell Park, and now today he’s the triumphant winner of the first annual Norm Nelson Classic.
An elated Haudenschild greeted the approving fans from victory lane. “I was glad the yellow came out. I actually thought I was like fourth or fifth. When I saw the yellow come out, and realized I was running third I knew I had a chance. I had been battling with the #02 the whole race, and the leader was long gone”, noted Haudenschild. “I can’t thank Chris Hartnell enough for letting me drive his car. Chris had a great car and it was easy to adapt to. It was challenging to get used to two tracks I had never been too. Hopefully we can get back here again someday”, exclaimed Haudenschild during post-race ceremonies.
It also marked the first IRA victory for the Hartnell Motorsports team who had put Sheldon in the car at Wilmot Raceway the night before. With just two starts behind wheel with the team,Haudenschild’s performance was even more impressive as he turned in the fastest qualifying time of the night establishing a new track record with a lap of 12.388 seconds. The old record set 1985 by Darrell Dodd had been 13.792 seconds. 28 of the 29 drivers on hand had eclipsed the old mark a testament to the change in technology which greatly elevated speeds.
The 30 lap A-main rolled trackside with 22 starters taking the green flag. Before the initial circuit was complete, rookie of the year contender Scotty Thiel clipped a tire in turn two coming to a halt. It brought out just one of the three cautions which would wave in the event.
Action resumed in earnest with Jordan Goldesberry getting the upper hand on fellow front row starter Blake Nimee on the D-shaped third-mile oval. Goldesberry, setting a blistering pace took command, pulled away from the field leaving the pack in his wake.
Goldesberry had pulled out to a huge lead over Dave Uttech with Nimee following in third. He had just began to lap cars when Patrick Hayes did a slow spin coming off turn two on lap eight. Hayes was skillfully missed by the field, and the incident drew the second caution of the contest.
The race resumed and Goldesberry once again demonstrated the speed of his #65 machine, opening up an impressive lead on Uttech and Nimee.
Further back, both Balog, and Haudenschild were making progress toward the lead positions. Balog, pulling double duty tonight, finished second in a midget earlier in the show, and was seeking his second podium of the program. He sailed into third on lap 13 as Nimee faded, and motored past Uttech for second on the next circuit.
Clear of lapped traffic the challenge for Balog was to reach Goldesberry whose lead stood at nearly a half-lap.
At the halfway point, Goldesberry, Balog, Uttech, Mike Reinke and Haudenschild comprised the top five. Moments later Uttech began to fade elevating Reinke into the third spot.
As the race reached the final ten laps, lapped traffic was intense for Goldesberry, but Balog was only closing the gap slightly. Goldesberry speed began to wane was the race wound down as it appeared the handling of his car was starting to go away. Nearly clipping the wall on lap 25, Balog moved within six car lengths, and in another lap had moved within striking distance.
The lead duo was well ahead of Reinke and Haudenschild looking to settle the win among themselves. Like some many times before Balog waited for the final laps to try and steal the victory, this time however the pass for the top spot misfired and he jumped the cushion off turn two, tagging the wall and nearly overturning. The resulting yellow flag would bunch the field on Goldesberry’s tail tank, while Balog retired from the contest with too much damaged and was credited with 18th.
This setup a green, white and checker finish. The final laps would be ones for the history books. Goldesberry, Reinke, Haudenschild and Meyer occupied the top four as the green flag waved. Goldesberry, whose car had run flawlessly all evening, stumbled at the start with Reinke dodging his slowing machine. Meyer dove all the way to the bottom of the track and suddenly found himself with the lead.
Both Reinke and Haudenschild shot past Goldesberry with Haudenschild going three wide making his way to second as Goldesberry fell back.
The white flag flew and Meyer had his hands full with Haudenschild who threw his car deep into turn two. Meyer, fighting to stay out front tagged the wall and came to a stop as the field raced past with Haudenschild now in the lead.
Reinke, who had now inherited second, attempted one final pass powering into the final two turns. His efforts came up a car length short recording runner-up honors. While disappointed with the second place Reinke was pleased with his car and the track.
“The (final) restart was kind of a mess. The #65 didn’t takeoff honestly and I did my best not to run the guy over. I don’t know what happened there and everyone was just trying to jockey for positions. I feel bad for the crew the car was really awesome”, stated Reinke.
“The rest of the race was really good. I’ve come to this track since I was seven years old I was fun to have a chance to race on it. It’s a fun racetrack. I was surprised about the bottom holding up and the side by side racing. I hope everyone had a good show”, noted Reinke.
On the final lap Scotty Neitzel worked by a fading Goldesberry to earn the final podium spot. Goldesberry held onto fourth after having paced all but the closing laps. Scott Uttech earned his third top five finish of the year with a respectable fifth place performance this evening.
Nimee, Bill Rose, Dave Uttech, Meyer and Wayne Modjeski comprised the top ten finishers.
In earlier action Modjeski was able to fend off Rick Kelsey to claim the B-main. Bill Wirth, Thiel, Ken Jay Fiedler, Russel Borland and Brandon Thone were in the transfer positions, third through seventh respectively.
Heat race victories were captured by Dave Uttech, Goldesberry and Blake Nimee.
Haudenschild’s fast time of 12.388 seconds edged out Reinke’s efforts of 12.438 seconds. Balog was third fast at 12.497 seconds. 29 cars qualified for the evening’s program.
The series now does it’s annual “Northwood’s Swing”. A three race weekend, at three different venues it marks one of the more challenging yet fun filled weekends on the 2014 schedule for teams and fans alike.
It begins at the Langlade County Fairgrounds in Antigo on Friday evening July 25th. The show run in conjunction with the Langlade County Fair will also have sport modifieds join the program. The track is the largest on the IRA circuit measuring nearly 5/8 of a mile in length.
The following day the series packs up, and heads even further north to the ABC Raceway in Ashland, Wisconsin for a Saturday evening show on July 26th. The well groomed banked third-mile oval will see the IRA Sprints approach well over 100mph.
Then it’s time to head back south a couple hours, as the series makes its lone appearance of the season at Eagle Valley Speedway in Jim Falls, WI on Sunday evening July 27th. The unique three-eighths mile raceway as a slight uphill – downhill layout making for some impressive speeds especially heading downhill into turns one and two.
Nearly two dozen teams are expected to experience the “Northwoods Swing”, and participate in all three shows.
The 2014 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series scheduled season will consist of 30 shows to be held at 15 different area tracks.
IRA proudly moves into 2014 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 #10 – Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI – July 20, 2014
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 48h-Sheldon Haudenschild; 2. 02-Mike Reinke; 3. 2w-Scotty Neitzel; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry; 5. 7-Scott Uttech; 6. Blake Nimee; 7. 6r-Bill Rose; 8. 68-Dave Uttech; 9. 85m-Steve Meyer; 10. 14aj-Wayne Modjeski; 11. 35-Ben Schmidt; 12. 94-Brandon Thone; 13. 23-Russel Borland; 14. 11k-Rick Kelsey; 15. 7f-Lance Fassbender; 16. 43-Jereme Schroesder; 17. 95a-Ken Jay Fiedler; 18. 17b-Bill Balog; 19. 5h-Patrick Hayes; 20. 53w-Bill Wirth; 21. 4k-Kris Spitz; 22. 64-Scotty Thiel
Behling Circle Track B-Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Modjeski; 2. 11k-Rick Kelsey; 3. 53w-Bill Wirth; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel; 5. 95a-Ken Jay Fiedler; 6. 23-Russel Borland; 7. 94-Brandon Thone; 8. 41-Dennis Spitz; 9. 10v-Tim Vandervere; 10. 9a-Andy Hunt; 11. 44-Jason Johnson; 12. 73-Dennis Weisner; 13. 71-Chad Tessman; 14. 5w-Byron Walters
Weld Racing Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 68-Dave Uttech; 2. 4k-Kris Spitz; 3. 2w-Scotty Neitzel; 4. 48h-Sheldon Haudenschild; 5. 85m-Steve Meyer; 6. 14aj-Wayne Modjeski; 7. 23-Russel Borland; 8. 9a-Andy Hunt; 9. 53w-Bill Wirth; 10. 5w-Byron Walters
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 65-Jordan Goldesberry; 2. 7-Scott Uttech; 3. 02-Mike Reinke; 4. 6r-Bill Rose; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt; 6. 64-Scotty Thuiel; 7. 95a-Ken Jay Fiedler; 8. 44-Jason Johnson; 9. 41-Dennis Spitz; 10. 71-Chad Tessman
All-Star Performance Parts Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee; 2. 7f-Lance Fassbender; 3. 17b-Bill Balog; 4. 43-Jereme Schroeder; 5. 5h-Patrick Hayes; 6. 11k-Rick Kelsey; 7. 94-Brandon Thone; 8. 10v-Tim Vandervere; 9. 730Dennis Weisner
Osborne & Son Qualifying (Top 10): 1. 48-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.388; 2. 02-Mike Reinke, 12.438; 3. 17b-Bill Balog, 12.478; 4. 85m-Steve Meyer, 12.546; 5. 7-Scott Uttech, 12.669; 6. 11k-Rick Kelsey, 12.685; 7. 2w-Scotty Neitzel, 12.783; 8. 6r-Bill Rose, 12.843; 9. 5h-Patrick Hayes, 12.880; 10. 14aj-Wayne Modjeski, 12.914.
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
