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Jerry Richert Jr. Races to His First Win of the Season

By: Greg Parent (7-10-10)

Another warm summer evening greeted drivers and fans on the second night of the AMSOIL Elko Dirt Nationals on Saturday July 10. A fine field of 25 UMSS-IMCA sprint cars signed into the pits for the sixth show of the UMSS season. What a difference one night made for Jerry Richert Jr. After getting knocked out on the opening lap of the feature race on Friday, the veteran Forest Lake racer finally shed some of the misfortune that has plagued his season efforts so far and earned his first feature victory of the season on Saturday. Commenting afterwards on his victory, Richert stated “Alan Gilbertson had a real strong car, and without his misfortune it would have been a real battle to get back around him. I’m really happy though to finally get my first win of the season.” Richert became the sixth different winner in as many races so far during the 2010 UMSS season.

On an improved racing surface from the previous night, 20 cars lined up for 20 racing laps on the temporary dirt 3/8 mile oval. Richert grabbed the early lead at the drop of the green flag and held off a charge by Gilbertson before a rollover by Luke Nagel on lap four brought out the red flag. On the restart, Gilbertson was able to get around Richert for the top spot, but Richert was persistent and kept the pressure on Gilbertson. On lap 14, Gilbertson once again felt the pressure, as Richert looked to work by on the inside in lapped traffic. Gilbertson touched wheels with Shannon Eriksen sending both cars over and ending what had been a fine run for Gilbertson up to that point. Gilbertson was making just his third start of the season, but he vowed to return next weekend at Elko in search of a victory.

On the final restart, Richert and Chris Graf briefly swapped the lead before Richert finally asserted himself in the late going to earn the win. Graf finished second ahead of Johnny Parsons and Brandon Allen. Leading rookie contender Andy Jones turned in his season-best performance with a fifth place finish. Completing the top ten finishers were Jessie Smith, Dave Becker, Friday night winner Bill Johnson, 2009 Rookie of the Year Cody Hahn, and current UMSS point leader Brad Barickman.

On Saturday, the standard UMSS racing format was used. Fans got to see all sprint car competitors on the track twice prior to their main event, compiling passing and finishing points in both the Ultimate Sprint and Challenge Races. Gilbertson, Smith and Graf raced to heat victories while Johnson and Richert topped the Challenge races. Several drivers made strong charges forward in the Challenge races. In the second Challenge race, rookie Andy Jones led a good share of the race before Richert edged by.

Racing action continues next weekend at Elko Speedway for the UMSS-IMCA sprint cars with another double-header planned for Friday and Saturday July 16-17. The exciting and sometimes wild action of sprint car racing is popular with many fans. Come on out to one of Minnesota’s premier racing facilities and enjoy an evening of fast-paced, high flying winged 360 sprint car racing UMSS-IMCA style!

UMSS Race Results – Elko Speedway July 10, 2010 (Race #6):

Metro Air Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (8 laps): Alan Gilbertson, Johnny Parsons, Cody Han, Mike Luks, Jordan Wilmes, Bruce Allen, Shannon Eriksen, Sye Anderson, Dwain Wilmes.

Sprintsource.com Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (8 laps): Jessie Smith, Jennifer Eriksen, Leigh Thomas, Bill Johnson, Andy Jones, Brad Barickman, Greg Gunderson, Dan Menk.

Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (8 laps): Chris Graf, Jerry Richert Jr, Brandon Allen, Dave Becker, Danny Lee, Luke Nagel, Kevin Nickel, Jared Goerges.

Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems Challenge Race #1 (12 laps): Johnson, Barickman, Graf, Gilbertson, Brandon Allen, Lee, J Eriksen, S Eriksen, Menk, Nickel, Hahn, J Wilmes, D Wilmes.

Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (12 laps): Richert, Jones, Parsons, Becker, Goerges, Thomas, Smith, Bruce Allen, Gunderson, Nagel, Anderson, Luks.

US Air Force UMSS-IMCA A Main (20 laps): Richert, Graf, Parsons, Brandon Allen, Jones, Smith, Becker, Johnson, Hahn, Barickman, Goerges, Lee, Thomas, J Eriksen, Gilbertson, Menk, S Eriksen, Gunderson, Bruce Allen, Nagel.

Lap Leaders: Richert 1-4, Gilbertson 5-14, Richert 15-20.

GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Race: Andy Jones 5th

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