5/19/2014
IRA Interstate Racing Association
MOCK OUTGUNS FIELD FOR SECOND BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA OUTLAW SPRINT SERIES WIN OF SEASON AT BEAVER DAM RACEWAY
Reinke and Balog Duel to Checkers for Runner-up Honors
May 17, 2014; Beaver Dam, WI. – It may have taken Phillip Mock the first five years of his career to score his first Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series A-main victory, but now that he’s got the hang of it, he’s wasted little time in making a repeat visit to the winner’s circle. Chalk up just three weeks total to reach win number two.
At the site of his first career series win, Mock survived a late race restart outdistancing a pair of the series hardest chargers as Mike Reinke and Bill Balog had opportunity to steal the win in the green, white, checker finish. Surely Beaver Dam Raceway’s banked third-mile clay oval is now among Mock’s favorite tracks
Mock was able to withstand the challenges of his rivals repelling Reinke’s efforts to steal the top spot and he scored the victory by two car lengths.
“We kept the car pretty close to the same setup as last time and just concentrated on the driving a bit more”, noted Mock on his second win. “Without Dean and Sandy Osborn of Osborn & Son Trucking none of this would be possible. “Without my sponsors I wouldn’t be able to stand up here on the front straightaway like I am right now,” said an elated Mock.
I just knew I had to get a good start and get a jump on these guys behind me because I knew they could eat me up on the restart. I had a good run coming out of the hole and got to the cushion and it just stuck lap after lap”, exclaimed Mock who is quickly becoming the hottest driver on the circuit in 2014.
Reinke’s second place effort was his best run of the season and he knew what groove he needed to try and score the win, but Mock was able to keep himself in that groove.
“I just had to try and pick a line where he wasn’t at. The top line was preferred of course. We couldn’t quite roll around the bottom as good as we should. The car was just a little too free,” said Reinke.
“I set the wing back but it didn’t make a difference. He did exactly what he was supposed to do and it was a good race”, noted Reinke who indicated he’s getting the handle on the new car and plans to continue to run races on the schedule as long as finances permit.
With a third place performance in hand, Balog was thrilled to get back to the podium after back to back of fourth place finishes in the first two events of the season.
“We’re just trying some stuff and the track threw us a little curve ball tonight. We were off a little but I’m happy”, said Balog on his first podium finish of 2014. “Congratulations to Phillip, it was a great race, and those guys work hard. Let’s face it he’s going to win more of them. We have to get a little better and tame this thing down a little bit (his car) and get some wins here.” stated Balog of his evening’s efforts.
Though he is still seeking his first win of the season Balog has now secured the top of the point list. Balog came into the night tied with Bill Rose of Plainfield, IN for point lead but Rose finished the contest back in the 9th position allowing Balog to secure the top spot.
The 30 lap A-main contest rolled trackside with Mock sitting on the pole. Two-time Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series champion Travis Whitney sat outside the second row, while Reinke and Balog made up the second row.
By luck of the draw the fastest four cars in qualifying were the invert for the program tonight. When the green flag waved the quartet of drivers immediately began a furious tussle for the top spot.
Mock who favored the bottom of the track shot out to the initial lead with Reinke following in his tire tracks to surpass Whitney for the second position.
The lead pair of Mock and Reinke began to gain a slight advantage, while Whitney, Balog, and Meyer all began to clash for the third spot.
Meyer appeared to have an extremely fast ride, He moved under Balog for fourth, and soon thereafter reeled in Whitney briefly gaining the third position as his brake rotor began to glow bright red as he hugged the low groove.
Meyer’s charge soon began to falter as his brakes began to fade soon losing the positions he had gained and giving Whitney back the third spot.
Out front Mock continued to set the pace picking his was through lapped traffic as the race reached the halfway point.
Whitney was still holding tight to third place when he suddenly slowed on lap 19 coming to a stop in turn two forcing the first caution of the contest. He would head to the work area and though he was able to return to the event he would no longer be a factor after restarting at the tail of the field. He would eventually be scored in 14th spot at the finish.
With the green flag waving again, Mock was able to get a solid restart leaving Reinke in his wake, while Balog gave chase from third spot. Further back Meyer had his hand full with 2013 Rookie of the Year titlist Jeremy Schultz as the pair diced for fourth.
Mock began to gain a small lead as the laps wound down, but a final yellow flew just before the white flag when rookie Ben Schmidt suddenly slowed with driveline difficulties while running 7th ending a solid top ten showing.
As the field reset Mock now had both Reinke and Balog on his rear nerf bar. Flagman Jim Barr waved the green flag to resume the contest and Mock opted for the high line. Reinke briefly pulled alongside Mock hugging the inside of the track, but Mock won the drag race down the back stretch and had the lead in had at the white flag.
Over the final lap Reinke was unable to mount another challenge and would take second, a car length behind Mock. Balog earned his first podium of the 2014 season by grabbing third. Meyer held onto fourth, even with his brake issues, while Schultz completed the top five.
Scotty Neitzel broke a string of DNF’s with a solid sixth place showing. Seventh place went to Scott Thiel who was the hard charger of the contest advancing from 19th position after coming out of the B-main where he had finished fifth. Lance Fassbender, Bill Rose and Blake Nimee comprised the top ten finishers.
18 cars were still on the track at the finish with 13 drivers still on the lead lap.
Scott Uttech was able to repel the challenges of Kris Spitz to win a hard fought battle in the B-main. Wayne Modjeski, Brandon Thone, Thiel, Bill Wirth, Chris Dodd and Michael Decker finished third through eighth respectively and were the transfer cars.
The B-main was unusual in that eight cars transferred tonight. Dave Uttech had earned a spot in the main event through his heat but his engine was damaged forcing him to scratch from the main event thus an extra car transferred from the B-main.
The only red flag for the night occurred during the B-main when Rob Hartnell tipped onto his side.
The three heat races were captured by Fassbender, Meyer and Whitney.
28 cars checked in to qualify for tonight’s show with Balog edging Reinke for fast time by a mere .001 seconds. Balog had clocked in at 11.695 seconds to Reinke’s 11.696. Whitney was third quick with a lap of 11.793 seconds.
Next weekend is the first of two back to back double header weekends. On Saturday night May 24th the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints will visit Wilmot Raceway for the first of five IRA point shows held at the track this season. The following evening on Sunday May 25th, the series will head to the popular 141 Speedway located near Francis Creek, WI for the first of two appearances at the facility this season. The 2014 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series season will consist of 30 shows to be held at 15 different area tracks.
IRA proudly moves into 2014 backed by its long time supporting series partners led by title sponsor Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, and associate series partners Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Hoosier Tire, Cedar Creek Motorsports, Cummins Onan, and Carriage Auto Body.
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints are a featured member of Racetext.net a website dedicated to bringing fans the best possible coverage of local short track racing.
For more information on the IRA Outlaw Sprints check out the tour website at www.irasprints.com or by logging onto the series Facebook page at www.facebook.com/irasprints the series is also on twitter at #IRA_sprints.
Event # 3 – Beaver Dam Raceway – Beaver Dam, WI – May 17, 2014
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1M-Phillip Mock[1]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke[3]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 4. 85M-Steve Meyer[5]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[7]; 6. 2W-Scott Neitzel[8]; 7. 64-Scotty Thiel[19]; 8. 7F-Lance Fassbender[6]; 9. 6-Bill Rose[9]; 10. 79-Blake Nimee[12]; 11. 23-Russell Borland[15]; 12. 4K-Kris Spitz[16]; 13. 7-Scott Uttech[11]; 14. 16-Travis Whitney[2]; 15. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[17]; 16. 12-Michael Decker[22]; 17. 94-Brandon Thone[18]; 18. 43-Jereme Schroeder[14]; 19. 35-Ben Schmidt[10]; 20. 41-Dennis Spitz[13]; 21. 01-Chris Dodd[21]; 22. (DNF) 53W-Bill Wirth[20]
Behling Racing Products B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7-Scott Uttech[1]; 2. 4K-Kris Spitz[4]; 3. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[5]; 4. 94-Brandon Thone[2]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[7]; 6. 53W-Bill Wirth[6]; 7. 01-Chris Dodd[3]; 8. 12-Michael Decker[8]; 9. 38-Allen Hafford[9]; 10. (DNF) 71-Chad Tessman[12]; 11. (DNF) 47H-Rob Hartnell[11]; DNS 23Z-Zach Raidart
Weld Racing Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 7F-Lance Fassbender[1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee[3]; 3. 6-Bill Rose[4]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 5. 1M-Phillip Mock[5]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 7. 94-Brandon Thone[2]; 8. 64-Scotty Thiel[8]
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 85M-Steve Meyer[1]; 2. 68-Dave Uttech[3]; 3. 43-Jereme Schroeder[2]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 5. 02-Mike Reinke[6]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech[5]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[7]; 8. 12-Michael Decker[8]; 9. 47H-Rob Hartnell[9]; 10. 23Z-Zach Raidart[10]
All Star Performance Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 16-Travis Whitney[6]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[4]; 3. 23-Russell Borland[1]; 4. 41-Dennis Spitz[3]; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt[5]; 6. 53W-Bill Wirth[7]; 7. 01-Chris Dodd[2]; 8. 38-Allen Hafford[8]; 9. 71-Chad Tessman[9]
Osborn & Son Qualifying: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.755[12]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke, 12.425[24]; 3. 16-Travis Whitney, 11.793[9]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock, 11.961[19]; 5. 7-Scott Uttech, 11.970[14]; 6. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.040[26]; 7. 6-Bill Rose, 12.073[15]; 8. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.102[6]; 9. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.164[18]; 10. 79-Blake Nimee, 12.171[3]; 11. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.245[11]; 12. 41-Dennis Spitz, 12.292[25]; 13. 94-Brandon Thone, 12.312[23]; 14. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.344[27]; 15. 01-Chris Dodd, 12.356[21]; 16. 7F-Lance Fassbender, 12.423[5]; 17. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.425[2]; 18. 23-Russell Borland, 12.436[4]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.470[20]; 20. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 12.543[13]; 21. 53W-Bill Wirth, 12.563[10]; 22. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.579[7]; 23. 12-Michael Decker, 12.717[8]; 24. 38-Allen Hafford, 12.719[22]; 25. 23Z-Zach Raidart, 13.367[17]; 26. 47H-Rob Hartnell, 13.755[1]; 27. 71-Chad Tessman, 14.979[16]
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
