7/8/2016
Jeremy Kerzman Wins Ethel Kouba Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway
Although the weather caused a 40 minute delay to the start of racing action, the sun shone brightly following the light rain shower and a comfortable evening followed during the running of the 24th Annual Kouba Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway on the opening night of the big two-day World of Outlaws weekend. A series record 27 UMSS Traditional sprint cars signed into the pits for the Ethel Kouba Memorial portion of this prestigious event. Racing to his second Traditional sprint car victory of the season and also second at CLS, Grey Eagle, Minnesota racer Jeremy Kerzman stopped Rick Kobs' CLS win streak at two and also earned a series record $1,100 for his feature race win thanks to tremendous support from several sponsors including the Kouba family. Kerzman was running his 4 barrel, 602 GM crate motor and the car and driver were certainly in fine form en route to Rock Auto Victory Lane. For Kerzman, it was his third career UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series feature win.
With the all-time series record (27) Traditional sprint cars on hand, three heats utilizing the typical passing and finishing points were in order. The ten lap heat races would see Jimmy Kouba, Rick Kobs and three-time series Champion Rob Caho, Jr. earn top finishes. The top four drivers in points following the heats redrew for the first four starting spots in the feature. Kobs was the top point earner and drew the outside front row. Jimmy Kouba drew the pole. Row two would see Brain VanMeveren and 2014 TSCS Champion Cam Schafer. A wild flip entering turn one in the third heat would sideline Joseph Kouba for the remainder of the evening following contact with his cousin Jake. Joseph was okay but his car was destroyed. This meant 26 cars would start the feature, as CLS opted not to run a B Main.
The Ethel Kouba Memorial 25 lap feature was the first main event on track for the evening. Jimmy Kouba bolted into the lead when the green flag dropped. The race was only one lap old when rookie Joe Lallier bumped the front stretch wall and tipped over to bring out the red flag. Lallier's car was quickly up-righted and pushed to the pits. Jimmy Kouba led the next four laps with Rick Kobs, Brian VanMeveren and Cam Schafer racing for positions immediately behind the leader. Just as it looked like Kobs was going to make a bid for the top spot, his car jumped the cushion in turn three. Kobs made a spectacular recovery but in the process his left rear tire went flat and the yellow blinked on with five laps officially scored. Kobs went to the work area, got a new Hoosier, and rejoined the field at the tail which was 24th at the time.
VanMeveren got by Jimmy Kouba on lap 6 following the restart and led three laps before Schafer drove to the front. Schafer then led three laps. On lap 12 while attempting to put Tony Klose a lap down, Schafer hopped the right rear tire of Klose's car entering turn three and flipped over to bring out the second red flag and final caution of the race. Schafer's night and bid for his first win of the season was over. VanMeveren was slated to restart as the leader, but while sitting in turn two under the red flag, his temp gauge spiked. His car was pushed to the pits with overheating issues and also out of the race. This handed the lead over to Jeremy Kerzman for the restart. With nary a caution the rest of the way, Kerzman drove to a comfortable and was never seriously challenged for the top spot during the 14 lap green flag dash to the checkers. A fine performance from James Giossi saw the young driver from New Richmond race forward to finish second from his 12th starting spot. Mike Mueller also had a nice drive forward from 11th to third. Jimmy Kouba held off rookie driver Ty Sampair to complete the top five. Earning the Meeks Video Hard Charger Award was Anna Hippe. Anna started deep in the field inside row ten and advanced 13 positions to finish sixth! Kobs recovered from his flat tire and drove all the way back up to seventh from the back of pack. Jake Kouba, John Lewerer and Caho completed the top ten. Eighteen of the 26 starters finished with most of the cars on the lead lap at the end. Like the UMSS winged sprints, all previous TSCS champions were on hand including Kevin Bradwell, Schafer and Caho.
The UMSS Traditional sprint cars return to the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday July 9 to complete their weekend at the all sprint car event. The Saturday winner will earn $500 thanks to some help from GRP Motorsports. Check out the schedule, results, points and other news for the Traditional Sprint Car Series on our website at www.umsprints.com by clicking on the blue logo or follow us on Facebook.
UMSS TSCS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway July 8, 2016 (Race #12)
Ethel Kouba Memorial
D&D Motorsports Ethel Kouba Memorial Feature (25 Laps): 1. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[6]; 2. 11-James Giossi[12]; 3. 87-Mike Mueller[11]; 4. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[1]; 5. N1-Ty Sampair[10]; 6. 16-Anna Hippe[19]; 7. 81-Rick Kobs[2]; 8. 6-Jake Kouba[15]; 9. 69S-Jon Lewerer[7]; 10. 78-Rob Caho Jr[5]; 11. 7B-Scott Brandt[16]; 12. 99-Bryan Roach[13]; 13. 12X-Blake Anderson[14]; 14. 29-Hunter Custer[21]; 15. 21J-Jori Hughes[9]; 16. 22-Jason Schill[23]; 17. 27-Mike Walters[17]; 18. 12W-Kyle Wehking[18]; 19. (DNF) 90-Tony Klose[25]; 20. (DNF) 24-Brian VanMeveren[3]; 21. (DNF) 14-Cam Schafer[4]; 22. (DNF) 12-Johnny Parsons III[8]; 23. (DNF) 34-Denny Stordahl[22]; 24. (DNF) 95-Kevin Bradwell[20]; 25. (DNF) 00-Kyle Finnegan[26]; 26. (DNF) 6L-Joe Lallier[24]; (DNS) 55-Joseph Kouba.
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Kouba 1-5, VanMeveren 6-8, Schafer 9-11, Kerzman 12-25. Cautions: (3) red flag flew after 1 lap for rollover by 6L on front stretch. Yellow with 5 laps scored for 81 flat left rear tire. Red with 12 laps in when leader 14 hopped over rear tire of 90 and flipped turn 3.
Gillund Enterprises/JB Distributing Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[2]; 2. 14-Cam Schafer[5]; 3. 12-Johnny Parsons III[4]; 4. 12X-Blake Anderson[1]; 5. 7B-Scott Brandt[3]; 6. 27-Mike Walters[6]; 7. 16-Anna Hippe[7]; 8. 90-Tony Klose[8]; (DNS) 22-Jason Schill.
Lap Leader: Kouba 1-10. No cautions.
Meeks Video Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Rick Kobs[8]; 2. 69S-Jon Lewerer[1]; 3. 21J-Jori Hughes[2]; 4. N1-Ty Sampair[5]; 5. 87-Mike Mueller[7]; 6. 12W-Kyle Wehking[3]; 7. 29-Hunter Custer[6]; 8. 34-Denny Stordahl[4]; 9. 6L-Joe Lallier[9].
Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-7, Kobs 8-10. No cautions.
Track Rat Photos Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 78-Rob Caho Jr[1]; 2. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[2]; 3. 24-Brian VanMeveren[6]; 4. 11-James Giossi[4]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba[5]; 6. 99-Bryan Roach[8]; 7. 95-Kevin Bradwell[7]; 8. (DNF) 55-Joseph Kouba[3]; (DNS) 00-Kyle Finnegan.
Lap Leader: Caho 1-10. Cautions: (1) red flag for wild flip into turn 1 by 55 after contact with 6. 55 done for the night.
Rock Auto Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
