11/2/2012
Fourth UMSS Season Sets Records
Fourth UMSS Season Sets Records
Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series
Stillwater, MN
By: Greg Parent UMSS Media Director (11-2-12)
Following three successful seasons, the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) headed into their fourth season with a 25-race schedule and plenty of optimism for the Spring Dirt Nationals lid lifter at Elko Speedway in late April 2012. When the final checkers waved at the Fall Dirt Nationals in early October once again at the Elko Speedway, the season would be one for the record books. With the weather laying claim to four early season races and one cancelled due to an early track closure, the UMSS was able to complete twenty nights of racing which turned out to be the most so far in the brief four year history of the series. Several drivers enjoyed success in 2012, but two drivers from a famous Forest Lake, Minnesota racing family would lead the way.
In his bid to become the first repeat champion in UMSS history, Jerry Richert, Jr. from Forest Lake would put together another solid performance with one victory at the St. Croix Valley raceway in August and fourteen top five finishes enroute to his second consecutive title. The talented and experienced racer was usually battling amongst the leaders each night. In four seasons racing with the UMSS, Richert has earned (12) feature wins and has (56) top five finishes in (72) shows. Richert continues to add to his already impressive career racing resume, as he competes with the UMSS 360 sprint car series.
Also part of the famous Richert racing family, Jerry's brother-in-law Brooke Tatnell turned in a record-setting season as well with the UMSS. The "Awesome Aussie" who is married to Jerry's sister Amy, and also resides in Forest Lake, amassed a season record nine UMSS feature victories in fifteen starts. Although Tatnell was not able to compete in enough events to be a serious contender for the championship title, he was always a threat to win whether he was driving a car owned by his friend David Craft, driving for the Nelson Motorsports team, or driving his own car. Tatnell opened the season with a victory at the Elko Spring Dirt Nationals and closed the season with two wins at the Elko Fall Dirt Nationals where the UMSS set a car count record on the Friday night portion of the event. In between, Tatnell took home top honors at the Tabor Memorial in May at the St. Croix Valley Raceway, swept the UMSS Northern Tour weekend in early July including the Rumble on the Range at the Hibbing Raceway, and posted wins at the Chateau Raceway, Proctor Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and the first-ever UMSS show at the KRA Speedway in Willmar. Tatnell leads the UMSS with (18) wins during his three seasons racing with the series on a part-time basis.
Chris Graf of Glencoe, Minnesota turned in a strong effort to earn runner-up honors in the season point standings. With drivers able to throw out their two lowest scores in pursuit of the GRP Motorsports High Five Championship Bonus money and UMSS season point championship, Graf won three feature events and posted ten top five finishes in the process. Graf missed two races, and those two zero point nights plus some misfortune during two of the Elko races took away his chances to defeat Richert. Graf is third on the all-time UMSS win list with (10) career victories. In 2012, Graf won twice at the North Central Speedway, including the opening night of the Mighty Axe Nationals, and also took home the win during the inaugural UMSS appearance at the Granite City Speedway in St. Cloud.
With the only driver to turn in a perfect attendance record by competing in all twenty UMSS events in 2012, Sye Anderson of Brainerd finished third in the season point championship. Sye grabbed six top five finishes, but his third career UMSS victory proved elusive in 2012. Jason Tostenson of Glencoe was not able to compete in the first three UMSS shows of the season, but once his new team hit the track, they turned in several strong runs. Still looking for his first UMSS victory, Tostenson raced to seven top five finishes in garnering the fourth place spot in the point standings. Rounding out the top five point drivers, and competing with the UMSS for a full season for the first time, Tony Kaus of Bloomington earned his career-best UMSS finish with a second place run behind Tatnell at the KRA Speedway in August.
Other drivers to earn feature wins in 2012 included an impressive three wins in four nights of racing with the UMSS in late August and early September by eastern Wisconsin hot-shoe Scotty Thiel. The young Sheboygan racer headed west to compete with the UMSS on ten occasions. Other winners included 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn with the prestigious Billy Anderson Memorial victory at the Princeton Speedway, Tony Norem with an exciting win at the Ogilvie Raceway, veteran Canadian driver Lou Kennedy, Jr. with top honors at the 20th Annual Kouba Memorial at the St. Croix Valley Raceway, and Kaley Gharst with his UMSS win at the popular Jerry Richert Sr. Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway.
As another exciting UMSS season has concluded, the UMSS would like to thank all fans, drivers, pit crews, families, sponsors, track promoters and series officials for their support throughout the 2012 season. It's a team effort amongst all of these fine people in helping make the fourth UMSS season a success. Keep tabs on the UMSS during the off-season on our website at www.umsprints.com or become a friend of the UMSS on their Facebook page. The UMSS continues to work hard in bringing sprint car racing to several areas within the state of Minnesota and in western Wisconsin. See you in 2013 for some more exciting sprint car racing action...UMSS style!
2012 UMSS Season Summary:
April 20 - Elko Speedway – Brooke Tatnell (Spring Dirt Nationals)
April 21 - Elko Speedway – Rained Out (Spring Dirt Nationals)
April 30 - Cedar Lake Speedway – Rained Out
May 5 - Cedar Lake Speedway – Rained Out
May 19 - Cedar Lake Speedway – Rained Out (Spring Sprint Special)
May 25 - St. Croix Valley Raceway – Brooke Tatnell (1st Annual Davey Tabor Memorial)
May 26 - Rice Lake Speedway – Rained Out
June 1 - Princeton Speedway – Cody Hahn (11th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial)
June 9 - North Central Speedway – Chris Graf
June 16 - Ogilvie Raceway – Tony Norem
June 22 - Chateau Raceway – Brooke Tatnell
June 29 - St. Croix Valley Raceway – Lou Kennedy, Jr. (20th Annual Kouba Memorial)
July 7 - Hibbing Raceway – Brooke Tatnell (2nd Annual Rumble on the Range)
July 8 - Proctor Speedway – Brooke Tatnell
July 28 - Cedar Lake Speedway – Brooke Tatnell
Aug. 10 - St. Croix Valley Raceway – Jerry Richert, Jr.
Aug. 16 - KRA Speedway – Brooke Tatnell
Aug. 24 - St. Croix Valley Raceway – Scotty Thiel
Aug. 25 - Rice Lake Speedway – Scotty Thiel
Sept. 1 - North Central Speedway – Chris Graf (11th Annual Mighty Axe Nationals)
Sept. 2 - North Central Speedway – Scotty Thiel (11th Annual Mighty Axe Nationals)
Sept. 8 - Cedar Lake Speedway – Kaley Gharst (12th Annual Jerry Richert Memorial)
Sept 23 - Granite City Speedway – Chris Graf
Oct. 5 - Elko Speedway – Brooke Tatnell (2nd Annual Fall Dirt Nationals)
Oct. 6 - Elko Speedway – Brooke Tatnell (2nd Annual Fall Dirt Nationals)
2012 UMSS Champion: Jerry Richert, Jr. of Forest Lake, MN
2012 UMSS Rookie of the Year: James Broty of Prior Lake, MN
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
