7/10/2015
Thomas Kennedy Kicks Off Big Cedar Lake Weekend With UMSS Victory
Although his dad led the first 21 laps of the feature, it was Thomas Kennedy of Winnipeg sitting in Rock Auto Victory Lane following his lap 22 pass for the lead coming off turn four while the top four cars worked through lapped traffic in the 25 lap UMSS feature race to kick off a big racing weekend at the Cedar Lake Speedway on July 10. For Thomas Kennedy, it was his third UMSS win of the season. His dad Lou Kennedy Jr. finished second. Commenting after the race, Thomas who had dropped back to third at one point, indicated it was a very good four car battle in the latter stages of the race. "I could see my dad up front, but I needed to get back around Jake Martens and then keep Lee Grosz behind me as we worked lapped traffic. That was fun, and I managed to get to the lead for the win over my dad."
The Kennedy clan, Lou and Thomas, occupied the front row for the feature race after they drew one and two respectively. The top four cars in passing and finishing points following the heats and challenge races earned the right to redraw. Jake Martens and Lee Grosz started in row two. Lou Kennedy immediately bolted to the early lead, but the race was only one lap old when Tony Norem stopped in turn three with a flat right rear tire and no brakes. He retired from the race. Three laps later, the race was under the red flag when 2013 UMSS Champion Chris Graf flipped in turn 4. The race then ran 21 laps nonstop to the finish! The battle up front got very interesting as the leaders worked lapped traffic past the halfway mark. Martens from Fairview, OK was making his UMSS debut, and it was an impressive one. Martens worked his way to second and briefly challenged Lou Kennedy for the lead. Thomas Kennedy meanwhile was trying to keep Lee Grosz behind him. Both of them managed to work past Martens in lapped traffic, as the racing just behind Lou Kennedy was intense. Suddenly the top four cars were close together in lapped traffic with Thomas making the winning move on Lou coming off turn four for the lead to complete lap 22. Following the Kennedys in the top two spots was Grosz, Martens, and Jerry Richert, Jr. who wasn't far behind the top four cars. Jared Goerges, Cody Hahn, current UMSS point leader Ryan Bowers, Rick Kobs and Dave Glennon completed the top ten. Seventeen of the 22 starters were still running at the finish.
Ultimate Sprint Heats were won by Lou Kennedy, Rick Kobs and Thomas Kennedy. The track was fast and hard to pass on during the heats. The CLS track crew kept after it during the course of the evening, as five inches of rain had fallen earlier in the week and practically flooded the track. Jake Martens came from sixth to win the first Challenge Race with a late pass of Jamey Ogston. Lee Grosz came from fourth to overtake Dean Brown midway through the second Challenge Race for the win. GRP Motorsports bonus money went to Jerry Richert, Jr. earning $100 for the highest finishing Past Champion/Rookie in the feature race while Leigh Thomas earned $100 for being the Hard Charger in the feature with a plus six. Thomas Kennedy picked up the $1,000 victory with some help from GRP Motorsports. Thomas will be gunning for the $1,000 GRP Motorsports Clean Sweep Bonus IF he can with the feature on Saturday night. The UMSS winged and Traditional sprints will join with the World of Outlaws sprint cars on Saturday for the big open wheel show!
UMSS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway July 10, 2015 (Race #9)
GRP Motorsports A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[2]; 2. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[1]; 3. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]; 4. 48-Jake Martens[3]; 5. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[5]; 6. 9-Jared Goerges[7]; 7. 23-Cody Hahn[9]; 8. 199-Ryan Bowers[6]; 9. 34-Rick Kobs[10]; 10. 5G-Dave Glennon[13]; 11. 03-Jamey Ogston[11]; 12. 1-Jeff Pellersels[16]; 13. 29-Leigh Thomas[19]; 14. 1D-Dean Brown[8]; 15. 5-Anna Kouba[17]; 16. 95-Kevin Bradwell[18]; 17. 91A-Reed Allex[21]; 18. (DNF) 7M-Bob McVitty[20]; 19. (DNF) 52-Jake Lempelius[22]; 20. (DNF) 20G-Chris Graf[14]; 21. (DNF) 15-Chad Patterson[15]; 22. (DNF) B1ST-Tony Norem[12]
Lap Leaders: L Kennedy 1-21, T Kennedy 22-25. Cautions: (2)...one yellow with 1 lap scored for B1st flat RR and no brakes and 1 red with 4 laps scored for 20G flip in turn 4. Race then ran 21 laps nonstop to the checkers.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race 1 (11 Laps): 1. 48-Jake Martens[6]; 2. 03-Jamey Ogston[1]; 3. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[4]; 4. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[8]; 5. B1ST-Tony Norem[2]; 6. 199-Ryan Bowers[7]; 7. 1-Jeff Pellersels[3]; 8. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 9. 29-Leigh Thomas[10]; 10. 95-Kevin Bradwell[9]; 11. (DNF) 7M-Bob McVitty[11]
Lap Leaders: Ogston 1-8, Martens 9-11. Cautions: (1) for 7M slowing off turn 4 with 7 laps scored.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 2 (11 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]; 2. 1D-Dean Brown[1]; 3. 9-Jared Goerges[3]; 4. 23-Cody Hahn[2]; 5. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[7]; 6. 5G-Dave Glennon[6]; 7. 34-Rick Kobs[8]; 8. 15-Chad Patterson[5]; 9. 5-Anna Kouba[9]; 10. 91A-Reed Allex[10]; DNS 52-Jake Lempelius
Lap Leaders: Brown 1-5, Grosz 6-11. No cautions.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[1]; 2. 199-Ryan Bowers[5]; 3. 15-Chad Patterson[2]; 4. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[6]; 5. 23-Cody Hahn[8]; 6. 03-Jamey Ogston[7]; 7. 29-Leigh Thomas[4]; 8. 91A-Reed Allex[3]
Lap Leader: Kennedy 1-8. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 34-Rick Kobs[1]; 2. 5G-Dave Glennon[2]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[4]; 4. 9-Jared Goerges[5]; 5. B1ST-Tony Norem[6]; 6. 95-Kevin Bradwell[3]; 7. 52-Jake Lempelius[7]
Lap Leader: Kobs 1-7. No cautions.
Sprintsource.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[1]; 2. 48-Jake Martens[2]; 3. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]; 4. 1-Jeff Pellersels[3]; 5. 1D-Dean Brown[6]; 6. 5-Anna Kouba[5]; 7. 7M-Bob McVitty[7]
Lap Leader: Kennedy 1-7. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Scott Swenson.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
