4/24/2016
IRA Interstate Racing Association
BALOG HUSTLES TO BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA SPRINT VICTORY AT BEAVER DAM TAKING SECOND STRAIGHT WIPPERFURTH MEMORIAL WIN!
50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON BEGINS IN WISCONSIN AS BALOG OUTRUNS REINKE FOR WIN AT BEAVER DAM RACEWAY!
April 23, 2016; Beaver Dam, WI – It was an exceptionally fast paced program that was witnessed by fans as the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series presented their Wisconsin opener at Beaver Dam Raceway. The entire show ran relatively incident free with the final checkered flag waving at 9:15pm.
The near perfect racing surface allowed drivers to showcase the horsepower of the 410 cubic inch fuel injected power plants. Of those mastering the high speed surface it was seven-time series champion Bill Balog who showcased an unmatchable pace in the later stages of the 30 A-main event. The result was Balog’s second consecutive win in the Jim Wipperfurth Memorial race, and his first trip to victory lane in IRA competition since last May at Sun Prairie.
While Balog’s pace was impressive heading into the race he was unsure if his car would have the speed to win.
“I thought we were in a little bit of trouble heading into this thing. We’ve got a different car and we’re trying to get if figured out. It’s been throwing some curve balls at us, but it was pretty good there”, noted Balog.
Balog also indicated his places for 2016 include a combination of some IRA events and some travel to outside area shows as well.
To score the win Balog had to out run Mike Reinke who is celebrating his 25th year in racing this season. Making his first Bumper to Bumper IRA sprint series appearance of the year Reinke wasn’t quite able to match Balog’s pace having to settle for runner-up honors this evening.
“The car was a little tight as the beginning but otherwise it wasn’t too bad of a night”, said Reinke of his performance. Reinke also plans to run a fair number of races close to home with monthly trips to Knoxville to fulfill sponsorship obligations.
2013 Rookie of the Year Robbie Pribnow scored a career high third place performance wheeling a car owned by Brandon Thone. Bold moves late in the race allowed the hard charging racer to pull within striking distance of Reinke in the closing laps falling a couple car lengths short of runner-up honors but earning his first career podium finish.
The evening’s high attrition due to mechanical gremlins came into play even before the drop of the green flag in the A-main as Michael Decker dropped from the contest as the field was forming up leaving 23 starters to accept the green flag.
At the drop of the green flag outside front row starter Blake Nimee got the jump on polesitter Scotty Thiel to take the initial lead of the contest. The night would prove to be a short one for Thiel who broke a right rear wheel with just two laps in the book. Thiel managed to keep the car upright and avoid contact with the wall coming to a rest in turn two drawing the caution.
On the restart Nimee shot back into the lead with Reinke, Balog, and local favorite Scotty Neitzel giving chase. Balog went on a mission finding room under Reinke for second on lap six, and then applying the pressure to Nimee who clung tenaciously to the lead.
A small bobble coming off turn four on lap 11 allowed Balog to work past Nimee into the top spot as the pair negotiated heavy lapped traffic. Fast qualifier Travis Whitney lost power coming down the front stretch on the next circuit but managed to get of the racing surface, and the race stayed under green.
On the next lap however, Scotty Biertzer was not as fortunate as his car came to a halt in turn one forcing the caution to appear.
The event restarted again with Balog showing the way, his lead bolstered by a handful of lapped cars between himself, and second running Reinke. Pribnow made the boldest move as the field came up to speed. He was able to surge past both Jeremy Schultz, and Nimee to place himself in the third spot.
As the race moved to the final ten laps Balog had stretched his lead to several seconds over Reinke, but just when it appeared the race was in hand a final caution flew for Bill Wirth who dropped off pace forcing the caution with five laps to go. Wirth became the ninth car to drop from the event leaving 15 cars to accept the final green flag.
Lapped cars were moved to the tail of the field per series rules leaving Reinke in direct contact with race leader Balog. While this appeared to give Reinke a shot at stealing the win, Balog was able to respond with an excellent restart never giving Reinke a shot to challenge for the lead. Over the final circuits Balog looked comfortable out front pulling away to the finish with the checkered flag falling at 9:15pm. Reinke had to settle for second fending off the pressure from Pribnow who reached the line in third.
Schultz nailed down the fourth spot just ahead of Jordan Goldesberry who earned his first top five finish of 2016. Neitzel earned sixth followed by Matt Vandervere who ran solidly in seventh. Kyle Marten who started dead last worked his way up to an eighth place showing after being the final car to transfer from the B-main.
Early race leader Nimee faded to ninth by the finish having handling issues in the second half of the event. B-main winner Russel Borland completed the top ten finishers.
In earlier action attrition also thinned the B-main with several drivers unable to answer the starting call. When the checkered dropped Borland was victorious chased to the wire by Trey Datweiler, Kris Spitz, Michael Decker, Dennis Spitz and Marten as the top six transferred.
Hometown drivers Neitzel and Schultz captured heat race wins, while Nimee also placed his name in the record books as a heat race winner this evening.
29 cars attempted qualifications with Whitney orbiting the banked third-mile oval at an impressive 103 mph average resulting in a lap time of 11.614 seconds. Last season’s point runner-up Ben Schmidt was second quick with a lap of 11.750 seconds while Balog was third fastest in qualifying with a lap of 11.769 seconds.
8 drivers managed to crack the 12 second barrier, with all but a single car turning in times within one second of Whitney making for an very fast field.
The only red flag of the program occurred in hot laps when Steve Meyer had his throttle stick heading into turn one, he did get his car headed toward the infield, spinning and eventually flipping. He was unhurt in the incident but did no participate any further in the program.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints now have a week off before the first double header weekend of 2016. The series will return to action on Friday night May 6th for the Manitowoc Mayhem event and then head to the birthplace of the series, Wilmot Raceway, for a show the following evening Saturday May 7th.
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:
5/6/2016 - Manitowoc Co. Expo Speedway - Manitowoc, WI
5/7/2016 - Wilmot Raceway - Wilmot, WI
5/14/2016 - Beaver Dam Raceway - Beaver Dam, WI
5/21/2016 – Wilmot Raceway – Wilmot, WI
5/22/2016 – Angell Park Speedway – Sun Prairie, WI
410 Sprints | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke[4]; 3. 94R-Rob Pribnow[11]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[9]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 7. 10V-Matt Vandevere[13]; 8. 99-Kyle Marten[24]; 9. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 10. 23-Russell Borland[18]; 11. 23D-Trey Datweiler[20]; 12. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[17]; 13. 43-Jereme Schroeder[15]; 14. 12W-Josh Walter[19]; 15. 41-Dennis Spitz[23]; 16. (DNF) 53W-Bill Wirth[14]; 17. (DNF) 4B-Scott Biertzer[12]; 18. (DNF) 16-Travis Whitney[8]; 19. (DNF) 5-Dave Glennon[10]; 20. (DNF) 35-Ben Schmidt[7]; 21. (DNF) 64-Scotty Thiel[1]; 22. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech[16]; 23. (DNF) 4K-Kris Spitz[21]; 24. (DNF) 12-Michael Decker[22]
Weld Racing Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2W-Scott Neitzel; 2. 16-Travis Whitney[6]; 3. 10V-Matt Vandevere[2]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 5. 43-Jereme Schroeder[1]; 6. 5-Dave Glennon[3]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler[8]; 8. 23-Russell Borland[7]; 9. 01-Chris Dodd[9]; DNS 85M-Steve Meyer
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 2. 68-Dave Uttech[1]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt[6]; 4. 94R-Rob Pribnow[3]; 5. 53W-Bill Wirth[2]; 6. 12W-Josh Walter[7]; 7. 99-Kyle Marten[9]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz[8]; DNS 73-Todd King; DNS 1M-Phillip Mock
All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[2]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[4]; 3. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[1]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 5. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 6. 4B-Scott Biertzer[3]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz[8]; 8. 12-Michael Decker[7]; DNS 7-Scott Uttech
Osborn & Son Qualifying 1: 1. 16-Travis Whitney, 11.614[2]; 2. 35-Ben Schmidt, 11.750[23]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.769[19]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.857[8]; 5. 73-Todd King, 11.913[27]; 6. 02-Mike Reinke, 11.928[15]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 11.950[7]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.951[28]; 9. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.036[20]; 10. 5-Dave Glennon, 12.040[11]; 11. 94R-Rob Pribnow, 12.040[21]; 12. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 12.129[26]; 13. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 12.208[14]; 14. 53W-Bill Wirth, 12.215[1]; 15. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.305[5]; 16. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.338[18]; 17. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.350[4]; 18. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 12.350[9]; 19. 23-Russell Borland, 12.390[24]; 20. 12W-Josh Walter, 12.415[3]; 21. 12-Michael Decker, 12.445[13]; 22. 23D-Trey Datweiler, 12.494[12]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.541[25]; 24. 41-Dennis Spitz, 12.557[10]; 25. 01-Chris Dodd, 12.568[16]; 26. 99-Kyle Marten, 12.627[22]; 27. 7-Scott Uttech, 12.971[6]; DNS 85M-Steve Meyer; DNS 1M-Phillip Mock
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
