6/26/2015
Jimmy Kouba Overtakes Caho for Second TSCS Win at SCVR
St. Croix Valley Raceway continued its streak of great weather and great races on Friday night, and the UMSS Traditional Sprints (TSCS) completed their second consecutive week of caution free feature racing. In fact, the sprints have raced so clean all season long, race stoppages have become an anomaly in the series. In the seven TSCS feature races so far this season at The Valley, four have run sans caution. And the sprinter’s tidy ways are spilling over into the other Valley racing divisions, with the total number of cautions on Friday evening counted on the digits of a single hand.
Jimmy Kouba is having a resurgent year in the wing-less sprint cars. The veteran sprinter took over the driving duties of the #2K UMSS Traditional Sprint in 2015, the car formerly piloted by his son Jake. And within the cockpit of that car, Jimmy has discovered a fountain of youth. Prior to this summer, Jimmy Kouba had last won a sprint race in 2010, and that was of the winged variety. After breaking back into the win column two weeks ago in the Traditional Sprint, Jimmy was back at on Friday, when he nabbed his second win in the span of three events. Kouba started the feature third after winning his heat race and immediately bolted towards the front – challenging last week’s winner, pole starter Rob Caho, for the lead. Speaking of resurgence, Caho has been going gang-busters as well lately, and he spent twenty laps riding his customary high groove and primed for his second consecutive win. The majority of the race featured a high-low duel between Caho and Kouba, with Caho holding about a one car-length advantage over Kouba, who was providing steady low side pressure. Well back of that lead duo was yet another of the TSCS’s patented multi-car donnybrooks, this one involving nearly half the field. Chase Viebrock, Mike Mueller, Rick Kobs, Neal Matuska, Johnny Parsons, Jake Kouba, Kevin Bradwell and Joseph Kouba were all moving and multi-grooving for position. With just a handful of laps remaining, Caho and Kouba had caught the rear of the field and Kouba made his move to the low side of traffic to take over the top spot. Once clear of traffic, Caho was unable to retake the lead, with a slowly deflating right rear tire the primary reason. Despite being down a shoe, Caho was strong enough to take home an impressive second behind the series points leader, Jimmy Kouba. Emerging from the second group were Viebrock, Jake Kouba and Parsons to round out the top five.
Race Results - UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series 6/26/15:
GRP Motorsports A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[3]; 2. 78-Rob Caho Jr[1]; 3. 50-Chase Viebrock[5]; 4. 6-Jake Kouba[12]; 5. 12-Johnny Parsons III[6]; 6. 55-Joseph Kouba[10]; 7. 87-Mike Mueller[4]; 8. 48-Neal Matuska[7]; 9. 95-Kevin Bradwell[8]; 10. 24-Brian VanMeveren[15]; 11. 16-Anna Kouba[9]; 12. 69S-Jon Lewerer[14]; 13. 21J-Jori Hughes[13]; 14. 23-Josh Hendrickson[11]; 15. (DNF) 81-Rick Kobs[2]; 16. (DNF) K1-Blake Anderson[16]; DNS 5-Mike Haseltine; DNS 31-Doug Taubert.
Lap Leaders: Caho 1-19, Jimmy Kouba 20-25. No cautions!
Meeks Video Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Rick Kobs[3]; 2. 50-Chase Viebrock[2]; 3. 16-Anna Kouba[1]; 4. 55-Joseph Kouba[4]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba[5]; DNS 24-Brian VanMeveren.
Lap Leaders: Viebrock 1-6, Kobs 7-10. No cautions.
Track Rat Photos Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 78-Rob Caho Jr[2]; 2. 12-Johnny Parsons III[1]; 3. 48-Neal Matuska[4]; 4. 31-Doug Taubert[5]; 5. (DNF) 69S-Jon Lewerer[3]; DNS 5-Mike Haseltine.
Lap Leader: Caho 1-10. Cautions: (1)
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[1]; 2. 87-Mike Mueller[4]; 3. 95-Kevin Bradwell[3]; 4. 23-Josh Hendrickson[2]; 5. 21J-Jori Hughes[5]; DNS K1-Blake Anderson.
Lap Leader: Kouba 1-10. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Charlie Weber at Fotos By Fizzle.
Article Credit: Terry Lehnertz
