8/27/2016
Lee Grosz Masters Madison Speedway UMSS Show
Making their first-ever appearance at the Madison Speedway located in Madison, Minnesota, the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series encountered a large, enthusiastic crowd as winged sprint car racing returned to Madison Speedway for the first time since 2005. The weather was great and so was Lee Grosz. Grosz took command on the opening lap of the 25 lap feature race from his outside front row starting spot and never looked back. For Grosz, it was his third UMSS win of the season and ninth career UMSS victory. Of interest, when Madison last held a sprint car race back in 2005, Lee Grosz was just in his rookie season behind the wheel of a winged sprint car. As he typically does, Lee gave his trophy to a young race fan in Rock Auto Victory Lane.
Despite being down a bit on quantity, the quality of the (13) car field was very strong. The UMSS ran their usual double-round of qualifying races with heat wins going to current UMSS point leader Ryan Bowers and Jackson Motorplex weekly racer Skylar Prochaska. Challenge races were won by Jamey Ogston and Grosz. The top four drivers in passing points drew for the first two rows of the feature race. Prochaska and Grosz would sit on the front row with three time UMSS champion Jerry Richert, Jr. and Derrik Lusk in row two.
As the cars were called to the feature, several drivers reported they could hear the roar of the crowd as Madison Speedway fans were excited to have winged sprint car racing back at their track. Soon the roar of the powerful engines would fill the night air. Grosz immediately blasted into the lead up on the cushion with Prochaska in second. An unlucky break 13 laps into the race saw Prochaska suffer a flat tire while running second. This brought out the lone caution of the race. Prochaska went to the work area, changed the tire, and tagged the tail of the field. Twelve quick laps later it was Lee Grosz mastering the Madison Speedway, as he was first to the finish line. Lusk ran strong in second following by Eric Lutz (making his first UMSS appearance of the season), Bowers and Graf in the top five. Richert, 2009 UMSS Champion Leigh Thomas, Prochaska, Reed Allex and Ogston completed the top ten. Dean Brown and Jim Smith finished in the next two spots while Jason Tostenson was unable to start the feature due to mechanical issues.
The UMSS winged sprints take the Labor Day weekend off before returning to action for the final weekend of the 2016 racing season. The 5th Annual Davey Tabor Memorial will take place at the Princeton Speedway on Friday night September 9. The following night the 16th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial will be contested at the Cedar Lake Speedway. Not only will these two shows be the final races of the season for the UMSS winged sprints, they will also be the final two races in the five-race Midwest Power Series and will see each one pay a minimum of $2,000 to win. Bowers leads Graf by a mere three points in the Midwest Power Series standings. Bowers has a 48 point lead over Richert in the 2016 GRP Motorsports High Five UMSS Championship Bonus standings. Check out the news, results and other information on the UMSS website at www.umsprints.com or visit us on our Facebook page where several additional posts related to the points can be found.
UMSS Race Results - Madison Speedway August 27, 2016 (Race #11)
Midwest Power Equipment A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[2]; 2. 2L-Derrik Lusk[4]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[6]; 4. 199-Ryan Bowers[8]; 5. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 6. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[3]; 7. 29-Leigh Thomas[9]; 8. 35-Skylar Prochaska[1]; 9. 91A-Reed Allex[10]; 10. 03-Jamey Ogston[7]; 11. 1D-Dean Brown[11]; 12. 77-Jim Smith[12]; (DNS) 85-Jason Tostenson.
Lap Leader: Grosz 1-25. Cautions; (1) yellow with 13 laps scored for 35 flat tire while running second.
Midwest Power Equipment Challenge Race 1 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Jamey Ogston[1]; 2. 2L-Derrik Lusk[4]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[3]; 4. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[5]; 5. 199-Ryan Bowers[6]; 6. 1D-Dean Brown[2]; 7. (DNF) 85-Jason Tostenson[7].
Lap Leader: Ogston 1-8. No cautions.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[2]; 2. 91A-Reed Allex[1]; 3. 35-Skylar Prochaska[5]; 4. 20G-Chris Graf[4]; 5. 29-Leigh Thomas[3]; 6. 77-Jim Smith[6].
Lap Leader: Grosz 1-8. No cautions.
Track Rat Photos Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 199-Ryan Bowers[1]; 2. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[2]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[7]; 4. 29-Leigh Thomas[4]; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz[5]; 6. 91A-Reed Allex[3]; 7. (DNF) 85-Jason Tostenson[6].
Lap Leader: Bowers 1-7. No cautions.
Meeks Video Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 35-Skylar Prochaska[2]; 2. 2L-Derrik Lusk[6]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[3]; 4. 1D-Dean Brown[1]; 5. 03-Jamey Ogston[4]; 6. 77-Jim Smith[6].
Lap Leader: Prochaska 1-6. No cautions.
Victory Lane photo courtesy of AJ Lusk Photography.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director