BALOG’S LATE RACE CHARGE NEGATES MOCK'S VICTORY EFFORTS IN YELLOW CHECKERED FINISH!
June 11, 2016; Beaver Dam, WI – Just four weeks ago Bill Balog stood in victory lane at Beaver Dam Raceway. During the post race interview a brief snow shower fell as chilled fans watched the festivities. This evening with temperatures reaching the low 90’s at the start of the race program snow showers were the furthest thing from anyone’s thoughts. Balog didn’t seem to mind the sweltering evening, as the end result was the same, a trip to victory lane.
Tonight’s victory was the fourth of the season for Balog in Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint series competition but in the early portion of the A-main it didn’t appear that the seven-time IRA champ had the speed to finish first tonight.
After a couple cautions Balog found himself chasing down Phillip Mock who had led from the opening lap. A final yellow with six laps to go placed Balog squarely on Mock’s tail and once racing resumed Balog used the high line to power past Mock who was seeking his third career IRA victory.
With the race well in hand Balog crossed over the finish line just as the caution flag waved, receiving the checkered flag simultaneously. Ben Schmidt had spun the backstretch while running in the top five. The resulting caution reverted the field back to their last completed lap for scoring. While Balog and Mock had remained first and second, the third position was awarded to Scotty Neitzel who had held the spot prior to the caution. Steve Meyer had passed Neitzel on the final circuit but the yellow negated the pass and gave Neitzel the final podium spot.
Balog’s mastery of the high side in the closing laps made the victory possible. “That was a good race, congratulations to Phillip (Mock) there. I got running around the top there trying to blow it off I knew a couple other guys would be”, noted Balog. “The bottom seemed a little better early on We just got up there, kept the momentum going and got the wing where we needed it to be. What a race man, that was awesome. It was everything we could do to get that one”, Balog exclaimed.
Mock was also satisfied with his efforts this evening.
“I’m not ashamed at all, we’ve been struggling this year with just about everything and falling out of races. Finally tonight everything came together, so this was a good deal for this whole team”, said Mock. Mock clearly had the fastest car throughout the first half of the race using the bottom line but toward the end Balog matched his pace. “I felt the track was fading away a little bit in three and four. Billy ( Balog ) just capitalized and found where the track was a little quicker, he had nothing to lose taking the chance and trying the high side to run me down,” noted Mock. “Great job to that team”, Mock said in congratulating his fellow competitor.
The 24 car starting field rolled trackside with Mock starting on the pole and last season’s Rookie of the Year Kyle Marten to his outside. Todd King debuting a new car sporting the #22 lined up inside the second row with Neitzel to his outside.
The first attempt to get the race underway was negated Josh Walter spun and Michael Decker stalled on the backstretch.
Mock outran Marten off the green flag bolting to the lead. King also surpassed Marten who drifted back in the outside line to run second. By lap three Balog had reached the third position at Marten’s expense. Balog traded the third position to Neitzel on the sixth circuit.
Mock was comfortably out front when the next caution flew on lap eight as Blake Nimee slowed on the front stretch coming to a stop with mechanical ills.
Mock again shot into the lead as the field got back to speed. Balog meanwhile started to experiment with the high line, working his way past Neitzel and then King to place himself in the second spot. King’s solid showing suffered a setback at the halfway point as he spun his car while running in the fourth spot brining out the third yellow of the contest.
As he had done on the previous restarts Mock again set the pace as the green flag returned. Hugging the inside line around the track Mock continued to defend the lead Balog, opting for the high groove began to pressure Mock as they reached lapped traffic. Mock found himself trapped on the low side of the track having to muscle past lapped machines. With six laps to go Dennis Spitz had gone low in turn one splashing some water into the low groove.
The resulting yellow again stacked the field. On this restart Mock was unable to shake Balog, who managed to roll alongside Mock down the straights. With four laps to go Balog completed a sweeping pass on the high side. Mock switched his strategy and began to run a higher groove but Balog was already increasing his lead.
Balog reached the checkered flag with six car lengths on Mock. As Balog and Mock were crossing the stripe, Ben Schmidt looped his car on the backstretech. A caution was immediately thrown and the balance of the field was scored in their running order the prior lap.
Neitzel had held the spot at the white flag and was awarded third followed by Meyer who turned in a solid late race charge to net fourth. Marten earned fifth taking his first top five finish of the year after a solid drive. Jordan Goldesberry overcame engine issues early in the program and earned the sixth spot after starting in sixteenth. Robbie Pribnow equaled the advancement of ten positions moving from 17th to 7th at the finish. Point leader Scotty Thiel finished eighth. Mike Reinke and Scott Biertzer completed the top ten.
22 of the 24 starters were still on the track at the finish.
Earlier in the program heat race wins were collected by Biertzer, Meyer and Schmidt.
Australian hot-shoe, James McFadden, was a surprise entry for the evening.
With two World Series Sprint Car Series Championships under his belt in the last three years, as well as numerous victories McFadden seemed to have opportunity to add a Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint series win to his resume as he turned in the fastest qualifying lap of the evening.
McFadden turned in a lap of 12.160 seconds, just a tick quicker than Mike Reinke who was second fast with a lap of 12.180 seconds. Blake Nimee was third quick with a lap of 12.285 seconds around the third mile banked oval.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints now prepare to wrap up the month of June with a double-header weekend. They will appear at Plymouth Dirt Track located at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds in Plymouth, WI on Saturday night June 18th. The following evening the series will head for Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, WI.
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:
6/18/2016- Plymouth Dirt Track - Plymouth, WI
6/19/2016 – Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI
7/1/2016 – Manitowoc Speedway – Manitowoc, WI
7/3/2016 – Seymour Speedway – Seymour, WI
7/8/2016 - Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
410 Sprints | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Bumper to Bumper A Feature (30 Laps) 1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 2. 1M-Phillip Mock[1]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 4. 85M-Steve Meyer[7]; 5. 99-Kyle Marten[2]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[16]; 7. 94R-Rob Pribnow[17]; 8. 64-Scotty Thiel[9]; 9. 02-Mike Reinke[19]; 10. 4B-Scott Biertzer[10]; 11. 23-Russel Borland[13]; 12. 19-Todd Daun[11]; 13. 10V-Matt Vandevere[15]; 14. 7-Scott Uttech[21]; 15. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[23]; 16. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[20]; 17. 12W-Josh Walter[18]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz[14]; 19. 43-Jereme Schroeder[12]; 20. 41-Dennis Spitz[24]; 21. 12-Michael Decker[22]; 22. 73-Ben Schmidt[8]; 23. 22-Todd King[3]; 24. 79-Blake Nimee[6]
R & H Enterprise Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 4B-Scott Biertzer[3]; 2. 23-Russel Borland[1]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 4. 10V-Matt Vandevere[7]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[8]; 6. 43-Jereme Schroeder[2]; 7. 02-Mike Reinke[6]; 8. 7-Scott Uttech[4]; (DNS) 3G-James McFadden
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 85M-Steve Meyer[1]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[3]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[5]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[6]; 5. 99-Kyle Marten[4]; 6. 94R-Rob Pribnow[8]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[7]; 8. 12-Michael Decker[2]
All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 73-Ben Schmidt[2]; 2. 19-Todd Daun[3]; 3. 4K-Kris Spitz[1]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock[4]; 5. 12W-Josh Walter[8]; 6. 22-Todd King[5]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz[7]; 8. (DNF) 5J-Jeremy Schultz[6]
Osborn & Son Qualifying 1: 1. 3G-James McFadden, 12.160[4]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke, 12.180[1]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.258[5]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.354[21]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.458[15]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.459[13]; 7. 22-Todd King, 12.495[19]; 8. 7-Scott Uttech, 12.509[6]; 9. 99-Kyle Marten, 12.531[7]; 10. 1M-Phillip Mock, 12.564[9]; 11. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 12.606[12]; 12. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.662[18]; 13. 19-Todd Daun, 12.680[14]; 14. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.690[3]; 15. 12-Michael Decker, 12.776[11]; 16. 73-Ben Schmidt, 12.822[17]; 17. 23-Russel Borland, 12.830[16]; 18. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.846[23]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.855[10]; 20. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 12.904[8]; 21. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 13.095[22]; 22. 41-Dennis Spitz, 13.099[20]; 23. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 13.191[2]; 24. 94R-Rob Pribnow, 13.241[24]; 25. 12W-Josh Walter, 13.437[25]
- Jeffrey Sachse on Jun 12, 2016
- Article Date: 6/12/2016 by Jeffrey Sachse