‘Brakeless’ Ben Schmidt Equals Career Best Second Place Finish.
June 21, 2014; Oshkosh, WI. – Oshkosh Speedzone has been known for two things when the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints have come to town.
Extremely high speeds, and weather related challenges. This time those challenges were overcome with great success and a solid crowd turned out to witness the action.
After significant rain fell in the early morning hours Friday, officials of Oshkosh Speedzone rolled the dice on their plans, and decided to get to work in effort to prepare the racing surface for the evening’s race program. It would prove successful, and drivers were presented one of the tackiest tracks in recent history of the Speedzone. They raced on a surface which allowed full use of all 900 horsepower meeting the ground and the speeds responded accordingly. It was one fast track!
After 30 laps of furious action, it was six-time and defending champion Bill Balog, having the good fortune to avoid mechanical pitfalls of some of his toughest rivals, and wheel his #17b Buesser Concrete machine to its fourth straight IRA victory. Balog will now be attempting to reach win number five tomorrow night at Wilmot Raceway. A victory at Wilmot would allow Balog to tie his personal best win streak at five, an achievement he’s obtained twice in his career.
To top this evening’s action the key was twofold. Run down a hard charging rookie competitor Ben Schmidt, and find the fastest was through lapped traffic. Balog was able to check both off his list. Schmidt clearly was the man to beat for the first two-third of the contest but as the race drew towards its conclusion, it became apparent that Schmidt began to lose some speed. It was found after the contest that he had lost a significant amount to braking ability. This occurred at a time when Balog was making is trademark late race charge, and on lap 22 Balog sailed to the lead. He would prove unstoppable the final eight circuits. Victory achieved.
Balog was visibly exhausted after the contest. “I had to work for that one, it was wide open 100%. It was fast, it was intense, it was fun!”, exclaimed Balog from victory lane. “There were a couple close calls but it was a good race by everyone. When asked about his thoughts on five win in a row Balog quipped, “We’re just taking it one step at a time”.
Schmidt was also pleased with his outcome. “I have to thank Mike and Craig Urner (Schmidt’s car owners) and the crew. We weren’t short on horsepower and it was a wide open track but we lost brakes about halfway though and I couldn’t run the bottom like I had been. I knew Balog would be coming and he passed me. I’m happy with second, it’s my best finish so far!”, noted Schmidt
With a fog and light mist descending on the speedway, the A-main scheduled for 30 laps was quickly pushed off. However, the first laps proved to be especially stubborn to complete.
Schmidt, who had started on the pole, got the jump on fellow front row starter Dave Uttech to take the initial lead before Dennis Spitz came to a halt coming off turn four.
On the next restart 2013 Rookie of the Year, Jeremy Schultz avoided disaster with a bit of luck. Schultz began to tumble, and his car stood up on end while spinning, narrowly avoiding a roll over. He quickly was pushed off to the pits, but the damage was too significant to repair in time to rejoin the chase.
At the same time Phillip Mock, who had earned two victories so far this season, and who had been Balog’s chief rival in the point chase dropped from the event with mechanical ills.
Once the green flag waved again the event continue without interruption.
Schmidt shot back to the lead on the start, going flat out on the third-mile oval, and pulling away from his challengers.
Mike Reinke worked past Uttech for the second spot by lap two, and set out after Schmidt, leaving Uttech to battle with Balog for the third spot.
On lap four 2014 rookie contender, Scotty Thiel, pulled into the infield after doing battle for the fifth position.
Schmidt’s pace was impressive extending his lead on each passing lap. His pace allowed him to catch the tail of the field by the sixth lap and frantic lapping would begin to take pace with Schmidt often going three wide to maintain his pace.
Reinke followed Schmidt’s moves 10 car lengths behind, as Balog charged past Uttech for the third spot by lap 7.
Schmidt’s lead was extended further when Reinke and Balog began to tussle for the runner-up position as the race past the halfway point. The battle drew the attention of the fans as the two veteran racers started swapping the spot.
The race past the halfway point but Schmidt’s line around the track began to change. His pace was not quite up to the speeds he had been posting the first half of the contest as his brake issues began to come into play.
On lap 20 Balog dove to the bottom of turn two and powered past Reinke. He then quickly reeled in Schmidt as Schmidt’s lead evaporated.
Balog managed to move alongside Schmidt on lap 22 and after a brief battle he was able to take over the top spot. From that point on Balog began to check out on the field.
Behind Schmidt, Reinke had his hands full as Steve Meyer worked his way into contention. In the last appearance of the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints at Oshkosh, Meyer had finished runner-up to Craig Dollansky. Meyer, notable for his late race charges, rocketed past Reinke for third on lap 24.
Over the remaining distance Balog put on a clinic passing lapped cars while extending his lead taking the win comfortably. Schmidt was able to maintain second by a couple car lengths over Meyer. Meyer’s third place effort gave him the distinction of being the only driver with two podium finishes at Oshkosh this season.
Reinke held solidly to fourth, followed by Uttech, who posted a strong showing with his first top five effort of the season.
Bill Rose, with his sixth place run, moved back into the runner-up position in the point chase. He was also the final driver on the lead lap due to the amazing pace of the race leaders.
Scotty Neitzel claimed seventh followed by Wayne Modjeski, Russel Borland and Kris Spitz who comprised the top ten finishers.
16 of the 23 starters were still on the track at the finish.
In earlier action. Heat race victories went to Thiel, Lance Fassbender and Dennis Spitz. Ironically, none of the heat race winners were able to finish the A-main event due to various mechanical difficulties.
The night started off with Balog topping the 23 drivers in attendance this evening setting a lap of 12.521 seconds. Mock was second quick with a 12.719 second effort and Reinke was third with a lap of 12.810 seconds on the third-mile oval.
Overnight the teams headed south to Wilmot Raceway which will host the “1st Annual Interstate Racing Association(IRA) Founders Night” on Saturday, June 21 featuring the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Car Series.
So far this season the Winged 410 sprints have appeared twice at the track. Balog captured the sanctioned event over the Memorial Day weekend, while Tommy Sexton, the 2012 champion at Wilmot Raceway, captured the only non-sanctioned race held there this year. Sexton along with local favorite Brian Kristan will be on hand to challenge the best of the IRA regulars.
Joining the traveling sprint car warriors as they return to their original home track and the birthplace of sprint car racing in Wisconsin are the modifieds, Wisconsin-Illinois Mini-Sprints plus the street stocks. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. with racing scheduled for 7 p.m.
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 # 7 – Oshkosh Speedzone – Oshkosh, WI – June 20, 2014
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt[1]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer[3]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke[4]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech[2]; 6. 6-Bill Rose[12]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel[16]; 8. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[21]; 9. 23-Russell Borland[9]; 10. 4K-Kris Spitz[14]; 11. 94-Brandon Thone[19]; 12. 43-Jereme Schroeder[20]; 13. 7-Scott Uttech[15]; 14. 41-Dennis Spitz[7]; 15. 9A-Andy Hunt[22]; 16. 79-Blake Nimee[17]; 17. (DNF) 64-Scotty Thiel[8]; 18. (DNF) 7F-Lance Fassbender[10]; 19. (DNF) 4B-Scott Biertzer[13]; 20. (DNF) 5-Bryon Walters[23]; 21. (DNF) 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[18]; 22. (DNF) 1M-Phillip Mock[5]; 23. (DNF) 5J-Jeremy Schultz[11]
Weld Racing Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 64-Scotty Thiel[2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[3]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 4. 7-Scott Uttech[1]; 5. 85M-Steve Meyer[5]; 6. 94-Brandon Thone[7]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 8. 9A-Andy Hunt[8]
Diversified Machine Inc. Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7F-Lance Fassbender[1]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt[4]; 3. 6-Bill Rose[3]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock[6]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[2]; 6. 43-Jereme Schroeder[7]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel[5]; 8. 5-Bryon Walters[8]
King Racing Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 41-Dennis Spitz[1]; 2. 23-Russell Borland[4]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke[6]; 4. 68-Dave Uttech[5]; 5. 4B-Scott Biertzer[3]; 6. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[2]; 7. (DNF) 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[7]
Osborn & Son Qualifying: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.521[15]; 2. 1M-Phillip Mock, 12.719[9]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke, 12.810[18]; 4. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.885[19]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.929[21]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech, 13.017[2]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee, 3.046[11]; 8. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.077[14]; 9. 23-Russell Borland, 13.128[22]; 10. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 13.167[4]; 11. 6-Bill Rose, 13.228[16]; 12. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 13.270[1]; 13. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.279[23]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz, 13.390[10]; 15. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler, 13.395[13]; 16. 7-Scott Uttech, 13.504[3]; 17. 7F-Lance Fassbender, 13.569[20]; 18. 41-Dennis Spitz, 13.649[5]; 19. 94-Brandon Thone, 13.688[17]; 20. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 13.693[6]; 21. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 13.828[8]; DNS 9A-Andy Hunt; DNS 5-Bryon Walters
- Jeffrey Sachse on Jun 21, 2014
- Article Date: 6/21/2014