7/2/2018
Geoff Dodge Steals the Show in Granite City
Sauk Rapids, MN (June 29, 2018)
The final stage of the North/South Challenge for the POWRi Lucas Oil Traditional sprint cars took place Friday night just east of St. Cloud, MN, under sultry conditions. With the northern swing contested in fall-like conditions the previous weekend, the final southern leg of the challenge series was a true sweat box as the mercury still tickled ninety degrees at the show’s conclusion. With the final night of the challenge cancelled due to weather, the rubber match for the inaugural latitude clash was decided at the venerable 3/8 mile oval, Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids.
The UMSS 360 winged sprints joined the Traditional gang for the finale’, with the wingless racers taking to the clay first. Local favorite Neal Matuska of Foley, MN, impressed his fans with a dominant win in the Pirtek Fluid Handling Solutions heat race. Cam Schafer nabbed the Rock Auto heat win and Jimmy Kouba snared a win in the GRP Motorsports heat. Colorado Springs transplant Geoff Dodge claimed the Pirtek heat win in the winged division.
After the heat races, the Traditionals ran a quick six-lap Rock Auto Dash in memory of Barb Brandt with Jake Kouba pocketing the cash. The 360s then hosted a four-round “Wing-of-the-Hill” eliminator to determine the feature line-up, with Dodge again emerging in the top spot.
The Traditional feature field was set with Bryan Roach and Neal Matuska setting the pace for the 18-car, twenty-five lapper. In what is becoming ho-hum for the Traditionals, they completed yet another green-white-checkered caution-free feature. Matuska induced gasps throughout the grandstands with a bicycle ride in turn four before wrestling his #48 mount back to terra-firma. Schafer quickly worked from his fourth starting position to the lead, while Matuska and Jake Kouba wrangled for the runner-up spot. Schafer opened up a sizable lead while the bulk of the field tussled in two, three and four-car skirmishes. Kouba cleared Matuska for second around midway, and set sail for Schafer. Further back, seventeenth starting Jeremy Kerman was methodically working his way forward. Although it appeared Kouba was reeling in Schafer, the lead was too great and the laps too few for Kouba to mount a challenge as Schafer cruised to a dominant win, his fifth of the season. Kouba, despite a bent front axle, finished a strong second ahead of Matuska, Brad Peterson and four-time GCS winner Mike Mueller, while Kerzman’s charge to the front got him up to sixth.
In what turned out to be the Geoff Dodge show, the pole starter quickly established himself at the point in the winged main event ahead of Chase Viebrock, with two-time series champion Ryan Bowers an early factor as well. The action stopped only once for the rolled #03 of Jamey Ogston. Although Ogston emerged unhurt from his tumble, the same could not be said for his sprinter, which needed an assist back to the hauler. On the restart, Dodge picked up right where he left off and once again stretched his lead over Bowers and North Dakota’s Dave Glennon. The remainder of the 20-lapper saw the field slowly spread out and finished without any other stoppages. Dodge claimed his first ever UMSS main event in clean-sweep fashion, with his bride of two weeks literally running to celebrate with him in Rock Auto victory lane. The rest of the finishing order was Bowers, Glennon and Viebrock.
The UMSS is back in action at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wisconsin, this weekend, June 6 and 7. The Traditionals will accompany the World of Outlaws on Friday while the Wings take part in the 2nd annual Gale Patterson memorial in support of the Outlaws on Saturday.
RACE RESULTS:
POWRi Lucas Oil UMSS 360 Winged sprints
Feature – Geoff Dodge, Ryan Bowers, Dave Glennon, Chase Viebrock, Jamey Ogston (DNF).
PIRTEK Fluid Transfer Solutions Heat #1 – Geoff Dodge, Chase Viebrock, Dave Glennon, Ryan Bowers, Jamey Ogston
POWRi Lucas Oil UMSS Traditional sprints, North/South challenge race #3
Feature – Cam Schafer, Jake Kouba, Neal Matuska, Brad Peterson, Mike Mueller, Jeremy Kerzman, Bryan Roach, Jon Lewerer, Anna Hippe, Jimmy Kouba, Scott Brandt, John Lowe, Kevin Lear, Troy Gessner, Tyler Wass, Cody Emmans (DNF), Al Stettner (DNF), Joseph Kouba (DNF), Josh Braford (DNS).
Rock Auto Traditional Dash in memory of Barb Brandt
Jake Kouba, Cam Schafer, Jimmy Kouba, Bryan Roach, Neal Matuska, Brad Peterson
PIRTEK Fluid Transfer Solutions Heat #1 – Neal Matuska, Brad Peterson, Anna Hippe, Mike Mueller, Troy Gessner, Kevin Lear, Josh Braford (DNF)
Rock Auto Heat #2 – Cam Schafer, Jake Kouba, Scott Brandt, Joseph Kouba, Al Stettner, Cody Emmans
GRP Motorsports Heat #3 – Jimmy Kouba, Bryan Roach, Jon Lewerer, John Lowe, Tyler Wass, Jeremy Kerzman (DNF)
Article Credit: Terry Lehnertz
