7/4/2016
IRA Interstate Racing Association
KERTSCHER COMPLETES HIS RETURN TO BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINTS WITH THRILLING VICTORY AT SEYMOUR RACEWAY PARK!
KERTSCHER COMPLETES HIS RETURN TO BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINTS WITH THRILLING VICTORY AT SEYMOUR RACEWAY PARK!
KERTSCHER EDGES BALOG FOR VICTORY AS BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINTS VISIT SEYMOUR RACEWAY PARK!
July 3, 2016; Sun Prairie, WI – Some of the most intense on track battles over the years have taken place between the hard charging Mike Kertscher and multi-time IRA champion Bill Balog. They’ve battled to the wire in many events.
For the past several seasons fans have not had opportunity to witness those battles as Kertscher took some time away from the sport as other obligations placed a premium on his time.
Off season rumors indicated he would return to action in 2016 and it hasn’t taken long to return to the hard driving nature that has earned him many A-main victories over the year.
With ideal weather conditions Seymour Raceway Park hosted the return of the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints as the last two scheduled events at the track had fallen to weather.
This evening Kertscher and Balog renewed their old rivalry as they did battle in the closing laps for supremacy on a track that favored a narrow high line around the banked third-mile clay oval.
Coming off the final turn Balog dove to the bottom of the track and moved alongside Kertscher but Kertscher maintained his momentum with a flawless drive off the high line to score the win by a car length.
It was Kertscher’s first win since back-to-back victories at the beginning of the 2013 season.
“This feels really good”, Kertscher exclaimed as his victory interview began with series announcer Ray Underwood.
“I mean to run with the likes of a guy that wins a World of Outlaws feature this last week. This is fantastic. That makes the IRA look good I’m just happy to run with these guys”, Kertscher stated giving acknowledgement to Balog on his recent World of Outlaws victory at Beaver Dam.
Kertscher was well aware that Balog would make a bid for the win in the closing laps. “I knew he was back there somewhere. Normally I’m chasing him”, Kertscher stated of the late race challenge for the victory.
Kertscher got the call during the offseason to drive for his new team. “I want to thank the team and Cab Construction. They’ve given me a shot to drive this car it’s been nothing but a pleasure, all they guys that work on the car all week so I can go out and have some fun”, said Kertscher appreciative of the opportunity.
Kertscher also indicated he may be able to run more events as the season progresses as his work schedule at Road America gets a bit lighter. “June is a really aggressive month for me at Road America, Indy car was last weekend now I can start getting some time away to have some fun here”, he concluded.
For Balog he would wind up just short of his fifth win of the 2016 season and while he had to settle for second he was pleased with the performance of his car.
“We were pretty good there, better than we have been. It’s the third night in this car”, noted Balog of his recent offer to drive the Rhine Auto Motorsports machine. “Congratulations to Mike ( Kertscher ) he did a great job. Especially running up there in one and two with the limited amount of seat time he’s had, he’s done a really good job.
Balog indicated he was holding nothing back in going for the win. “I was running as hard as I could, in one and two it was just hard to really gain much. Your were pretty much touching the wall to get a bit of grip there. I was just trying to be as smooth as possible. When the white came out I just tried to throw a big slider on him but I lifted a bit and he drove by and got the win”, noted Balog.
“I want to thank everyone for coming out and we’ll get em next time”, Balog concluded.
Steve Meyer who finished third joined Kertscher and Balog on the podium. Meyer had perhaps the fastest car on the track throughout the contest and was especially quick in the closing laps. He had spun on the first lap of the race and had to restart the contest dead last in the 22 car field. He brilliantly worked traffic and made a final lap pass of Jeremy Schultz to earn the position.
22 drivers took to the track for the 30 lap A-main.
A tire was knocked onto the racing surface at the initial start and a second effort to get the race underway also went awry as drivers fought to get to the narrow preferred line on the high side of the track. Meyer went spun around and was avoided by the field but had to give up his sixth place starting spot for a position outside the top 20 when the race finally began.
Outside front row starter Joey Moughan shot into the opening lead while polesitter Kyle Marten fought on the low groove only to find it difficult to maintain the pace on the bottom.
Kertscher who had started fourth placed himself in the second spot by the end of lap two, with Jeremy Schultz following.
Moughan was blistering wound the track steadily increasing his gap on Kertscher. His pace was so quick that by lap six he already began to encounter lapped traffic.
The race changed drastically on lap nine for the race leader. Heading into turn two Kurt Davis had a mechanical failure that caused him to spin in turn two. Moughan was unable to avoid contact and the pair became tangled resulting in a caution.
Neither driver was able to continue the race, turning the lead over to Kertscher.
On the restart Kertscher maintained the top spot with Schultz following in his tire tracks. Scotty Neitzel, the winner of the most recent IRA race, which was held at Manitowoc Speedway two nights ago, filed into the third positions and began to challenge Schultz for runner-up honors.
Balog meanwhile had worked into the fourth spot after starting tenth. He would continue his charge annexing third at Neitzel’s expense on lap 14 and he then began to try and run down Schultz.
On lap 19 the red flag flew for a scary incident involving Robbie Pribnow who jumped the cushion slamming into the track exit tire barrier. Pribnow who had been doing battle in the top five was unhurt in the incident but was done for the evening.
The final 11 laps ran without interruption.
As the green flag flew Kertscher got a good jump on Schultz who had his hand full as Balog. Balog wasted no time in maneuvering past Schultz and he now set his sights on Kertscher.
As Kertscher and Balog drew away from the field attention focused on Meyer who was carving his way toward the front.
Meyer cracked the top five with just five laps to go in the contest and outdrove his competition as he wheeled forward. After making quick work of point leader Scotty Thiel to reach fourth he quickly narrowed the gap on third running Schultz.
Out front Kertscher and Balog ran in tandem as the white flag flew.
In the final turns Balog attempted one last ditch effort to replace Kertscher in the lead but the effort fell short with Kertscher taking the win. In similar fashion Meyer attempted the pass on Schultz for third. In this case the pass would prove successful with Meyer earning the position.
Schultz took fourth after being knocked off the podium on the final lap. Thiel claimed fifth and as a result continues to lead the point standings.
Blake Nimee advanced from his eleventh place starting berth and spent much of the time working on a top five finish before eventually having to settle for the sixth spot. Neitzel earned seventh followed by a solid showing for Kris Spitz in eighth. Bill Wirth and Matt Vandervere completed the top ten finishers.
14 of the 22 starters were still on the track at the finish as attrition took its toll in the contest.
Earlier in the program heat race wins were collected by Wayne Modjeski, Brian Kristan and Kyle Marten. Oddly none of the heat winners has much success in the featured event with only Marten finishing the contest taking 11th.
The evening began with Balog establishing a new track record rocketing around the banked third-mile clay oval at 12.191 seconds with the average speed just shy of 100mph.
Neitzel turned in the second quickest lap at 12.474 seconds and Meyer was third fast with a 12.566 second effort.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints now head to the Dodge County Fairgrounds for a Friday Night program on the big-half mile oval. The July 8th program will also have the MSA 360 sprints and IMCA type modifieds on the card. Qualifying is set to get underway at 6:30pm with racing thereafter.
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.
Upcoming 2016 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Events:
7/8/2016 - Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
7/16/2016 – Wilmot Raceway – Wilmot, WI
7/17/2016 – Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI
7/22/2016 – Oshkosh Speedzone – Oshkosh, WI
7/23/2016 – Eagle Valley Speedway – Jim Falls, WI
410 Sprints | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 80K-Mike Kertscher[4]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer[6]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[5]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[12]; 6. 79-Blake Nimee[11]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel[7]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz[14]; 9. 53W-Bill Wirth[13]; 10. 10V-Matt Vandevere[15]; 11. 99-Kyle Marten[1]; 12. 41-Dennis Spitz[19]; 13. 0-John Fahl[16]; 14. 33R-Douglas Pietz[20]; 15. (DNF) 94R-Rob Pribnow[3]; 16. (DNF) 21H-Tim Haddy[17]; 17. (DNF) 29-Joey Moughan[2]; 18. (DNF) 6-Kurt Davis[18]; 19. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[10]; 20. (DNF) 6K-Alex Bleisner[21]; 21. (DNF) 14AJX-Darren Struve; 22. (DNF) 5K-Brian Kristan[9]; (DNS) 7-Scott Uttech
Real Wheels Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[1]; 2. 10V-Matt Vandevere[2]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 4. 29-Joey Moughan[4]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[3]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[5]; 7. 33R-Douglas Pietz[7]; (DNS) 14AJX-Darren Struve
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5K-Brian Kristan[1]; 2. 53W-Bill Wirth[3]; 3. 80K-Mike Kertscher[5]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 6. 6-Kurt Davis[7]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz[2]; (DNS) 7-Scott Uttech
All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 99-Kyle Marten[4]; 2. 94R-Rob Pribnow[5]; 3. 21H-Tim Haddy[1]; 4. 85M-Steve Meyer[6]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[3]; 6. 0-John Fahl[2]; 7. (DNF) 6K-Alex Bleisner[7]
Osborn & Son Qualifying 1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog[16]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[12]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer[3]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[21]; 5. 80K-Mike Kertscher[19]; 6. 94R-Rob Pribnow[10]; 7. 29-Joey Moughan[7]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee[15]; 9. 99-Kyle Marten[8]; 10. 64-Scotty Thiel[11]; 11. 53W-Bill Wirth[20]; 12. 4K-Kris Spitz[4]; 13. 10V-Matt Vandevere[23]; 14. 41-Dennis Spitz[13]; 15. 0-John Fahl[1]; 16. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[17]; 17. 5K-Brian Kristan[22]; 18. 21H-Tim Haddy[18]; 19. 33R-Douglas Pietz[6]; 20. 6-Kurt Davis[5]; 21. 6K-Alex Bleisner[2]; 22. 14AJX-Darren Struve[14]; (DNS) 7-Scott Uttech
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
