1/10/2016
UMSS Celebrates 2015 Season at Banquet
The Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) celebrated their 2015 season and honored the top drivers at its annual awards banquet held at the Hampton Inn in Shoreview, Minnesota on Saturday night January 9. Several drivers were honored with various awards in the winged, Traditional (non-winged) and the micro sprint divisions, as over 120 people attended the gala event.
Earning his first title in the UMSS winged sprint car division, Ryan Bowers from Ham Lake, Minnesota took home the 2015 championship hardware. Bowers put together a solid effort in 2015 with 10 top five finishes along with five feature wins. The 2014 UMSS Rookie of the Year added his name to the Barry Kettering Memorial travelling trophy for the UMSS winged sprint car division champion in just his second season behind the wheel of a winged sprint driving for the Mastell Brothers Racing team. Other previous UMSS champions include Leigh Thomas (2009), Cody Hahn (2010), Jerry Richert, Jr. (2011,2012,2014) and Chris Graf (2013).
Picking up his third championship title in the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series non-winged division, Rob Caho, Jr. of Wyoming, Minnesota became the second driver in UMSS history to earn three championships with his counterpart over in the winged division, Jerry Richert, Jr. of Forest Lake. Caho rode to victory on seven occasions, as he increased his career and series-leading TSCS feature win total to 27. Caho finished in the top ten 23 times out of 25 shows with an incredible 21 top five finishes bolstering his run to the championship. Adding his name to his 2012-2013 titles, Caho earned the right to hold the John Stevenson Memorial travelling trophy for UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series Champion another year. Previous champions also include Kevin Bradwell (2011) and Cam Schafer (2014).
The UMSS micro sprint division saw young Jack Berger of Lake Elmo, Minnesota earn his second consecutive title, as the championship battle came down to the final night of the season. Berger topped two-time champion Ty Sampair (2012-2013) while newcomer Jeremy Kasik picked up the most series feature wins with six. Berger won twice while Sampair picked up three wins. In 2016, the micro sprints will have a new home track on Friday nights at the Princeton Speedway and will also race a couple of times at different tracks.
Meeks Video cycled a 2015 season-in-review DVD on the three large screens prior to the awards presentation. Vince Peterson from Track Rat Photos presented a fine three division photo tribute during the awards ceremony and gave the always-popular champion and rookie banners away at the end of the evening. The top five drivers in the winged and Traditional divisions along with the top three in the micro sprints received trophies. The top five in the winged (Ryan Bowers, Chris Graf, Jerry Richert Jr, Reed Allex & Jamey Ogston) and Traditional sprints (Rob Caho Jr, Jimmy Kouba, Mike Mueller, Jake Kouba & Chase Viebrock)were presented with point fund checks from GRP Motorsports. The 2015 GRP Motorsports Rookie of the Year Awards were presented to Jake Lempelius in the winged sprints and James Giossi in the Traditional sprints along with a check. Each division champion and rookie received Hoosier Racing Tire racing jackets commemorating their accomplishments.
Chad Patterson was presented the 2015 UMSS Sportsmanship Award for his dedication to the sport. Previous winners include Greg Gunderson, Kevin Nickel, Jack Clark, Jeff Pellersels, Mark Daniels and Jim & Reed Allex of this distinguished award.
With seven solid seasons in the books for the winged division, five for the non-winged Traditional sprint cars, and four for the micro sprint division, the UMSS has a strong foundation in place. Schedules are coming together for all three divisions and can be found on the website in the Schedule section for each division or in the Rules/Forms section for a colorful PDF file version. Schedule and Rules updates are on-going, as the UMSS is eagerly looking forward to a another successful 2016 campaign. The series will visit some new tracks during the upcoming racing season as well. To view the tentative schedule for 2016 or obtain more information on the UMSS, please visit our website at www.umsprints.com or check out the UMSS Facebook page.
Banquet photos courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
