4/20/2015
IRA Interstate Racing Association
IRA’S KING HOLDS COURT – BALOG TOPS THE BEST FROM IRA AND MOWA TO CAPTURE SEASON OPENER AT LASALLE!
IRA’S KING HOLDS COURT – BALOG TOPS THE BEST FROM IRA AND MOWA TO CAPTURE SEASON OPENER AT LASALLE!
BALOG LEADS WIRE TO WIRE IN SEASON OPENING WINNING EFFORT!
April 18, 2015; LaSalle, IL – There has been plenty of talk during the off-season, as seven time, and defending IRA king Bill Balog, plans on testing the waters in the newly formed National Sprint League. His planned schedule currently indicates that it is unlikely Balog will win his eight title this year.
When a king falls, the is a succession of power, and just which driver gets to wear the crown at the end of the 2015 season is open for speculation and many are making the effort to do so.
However, during the season opening show at LaSalle Speedway, Balog was in attendance, and he has proven should his plans change that crown will be difficult to take.
Balog was thrilled with the outcome since the early potion of his night didn’t go as planned. “Earlier in the night we weren’t very good, but we got to start up front which was awesome”, noted Balog. For the main event Balog was able to change his line to find additional speed, which kept him out front of the event. “The car just got tight up there on the cushion, I thought maybe we had problems with one of the tires. When the track started to rubber up I moved to the bottom and put some lapped car in there ( between himself and second place Rose). “It’s great to be here”, (in victory lane), exclaimed Balog.
With heavy hitters from IRA, MOWA, and beyond in attendance, a bit of good fortune fell Balog’s way. In spite of a qualifying effort hampered by a late run in qualifying, Balog was the benefactor of a redraw, which put him on the pole of the 30 lap main event.
Once the green flag fell Balog demonstrated the speed of his 17b machine, quickly outpacing fellow IRA competitor Russel Borland to snag the lead. Indiana native, and last season’s IRA point runner-up Bill Rose, who had started inside the second row, also dispatched Borland to run second by the completion of the opening circuit.
Borland soon became locked in a battle with MOWA regular Joey Moughan for the third spot, Brad Loyet, a native of Sunset Hills, Missouri who is currently on the national tour with the American Sprint Car Series a three time national Poweri Midget champion vaulted into fifth.
On lap four the caution flag flew for Kody Kinser, a second cousin to 20 time World of Outlaw champion Steve Kinser, as he did a quick spin and came to a halt in turn two.
When racing resumed Balog sprinted away from the field with Rose in tow. Moughan was able to get the jump on Borland to gain third, while Borland became locked in battle with Loyet for the fourth spot.
Balog shows his proficiency on working lapped traffic by maintaining the top spot in spite of pressure from Rose. At the halfway point Balog, Rose, Moughan, Loyet and Jordan Goldesberry held down the top five slots.
On several occasions Rose was able to move within striking distance but Balog began to stretch out a six car length lead that the race neared the final stages. Loyet, who had surpassed Moughan for the third spot was ready to capitalize on any mistakes from the lead pair.
With just two laps to go Brett Triplett, and Corey Bruns locked horns while doing battle just outside the top five. Both continued when action briefly resumed before the caution quickly appeared again when Blake Nimee lost speed, slowing on the backstretch.
This setup a green, white, checkered finish with Balog leading the 20 drivers still on the track, back to the green flag. Balog bolted out to the lead with Rose in second trying to reel in Balog while fending off Loyet.
Balog flashed in the twin-checkered flags from IRA started Jim Barr to claim the victory with Rose and Loyet in tow. Goldesberry held fast to the fourth spot just ahead of Moughan who completed the top five.
Tripplett, and MOWA regular Chris Urish finished sixth, and seventh respectively. Borland stayed solid through out the contest representing IRA with an eighth place showing. A.J. Bruns, and Jim Moughan completed the top ten finishers.
In earlier action a pair of B-main were needed to set the field as an impressive list of 40 drivers had checked in to do battle this evening.
In the first contest A.J. Bruns topped Logan Faucon for the win with both drivers advancing to the feature. Third place finisher Scott Uttech was bumped into the main event when Kris Spitz, who had earned his way into the show in his heat race, was unable to fire off for the feature contest.
In the second B-main Korey Weyant took the victory over Kody Kinser, but the charge of the race was made by IRA rookie of the year contender Kyle Marten who had sailed back to the front of the field field after a spin early in the contest which had placed him at the tail. His efforts came up just short with a third place performance.
Heat race victories were captured by Cory Bruns, Paul Nienheiser, Chris Urish, and Scotty Neitzel.
40 cars made qualifying attempts with Loyet clocking in at 11.055 seconds for the fastest lap. Goldesberry was second quick with a trip of 11.377 seconds around the high-banked quarter-mile oval. Joey Moughan was third fast with a 11.441 second effort.
The season is now in full swing for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints. The series now head to Beaver Dam Raceway for their next stop on Saturday Night, April 25th.
Event information can be found on the Beaver Dam Raceway website at www.wismotorsports.net or by calling the track at (920) 887-1600. Beaver Dam Raceway is located on Racetrack Road just east of the intersection of Hwy 151 and 33 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
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.
The IRA Sprints are presented by its long time supporting series partners. The series support is 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.
IRA Sprint Cars | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Event #1: LaSalle Speedway – LaSalle, IL – April 18, 2015
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 2. 6-Bill Rose[3]; 3. O5-Brad Loyet[6]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 5. 17M-Joey Moughan[4]; 6. 22-Bret Tripplett[16]; 7. 77U-Chris Urish[9]; 8. 23-Russell Borland[2]; 9. 2-A.J. Bruns[11]; 10. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr[12]; 11. 25B-Jake Blackhurst[15]; 12. 64-Scotty Thiel[20]; 13. 2W-Scott Neitzel[7]; 14. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[19]; 15. 9-Paul Nienhiser[10]; 16. 35-Ben Schmidt[21]; 17. 99W-Korey Weyant[13]; 18. 52F-Logan Faucon[22]; 19. 7-Scott Uttech[24]; 20. 68-Dave Uttech[18]; 21. (DNF) 79-Blake Nimee[14]; 22. (DNF) 42-Cory Bruns[8]; 23. (DNF) 4KK-Kody Kinser[23]; 24. (DNF) 1M-Phillip Mock[17]
Behling Racing Equipment B Feature (10 Laps): 1. 2-A.J. Bruns[1]; 2. 52F-Logan Faucon[3]; 3. 7-Scott Uttech[2]; 4. 31-John Dines[6]; 5. 44-Jason Johnson[8]; 6. 43-Jereme Schroeder[7]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz[5]; 8. 25-Steve Muth[9]; 9. (DNF) 23D-Trey Datweiler[4]; DNS 94-Brandon Thone
Behling Racing Equipment B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 99W-Korey Weyant[1]; 2. 4KK-Kody Kinser[4]; 3. 99-Kyle Marten[2]; 4. 44M-Chris Martin[3]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[9]; 6. 12W-Josh Walter[7]; 7. 11K-Rick Kelsey[5]; 8. 10S-Jeremy Standridge[6]; 9. 47-Brett Samonds; DNS 99M-Austin McCarl
Weld Racing Products Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 42-Cory Bruns[2]; 2. O5-Brad Loyet[6]; 3. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr[4]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock[1]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[8]; 6. 2-A.J. Bruns[5]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler[7]; 8. 44-Jason Johnson[9]; 9. 7-Scott Uttech[3]; DNS 94-Brandon Thone
DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 9-Paul Nienhiser[1]; 2. 25B-Jake Blackhurst[3]; 3. 6-Bill Rose[5]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[6]; 5. 35-Ben Schmidt[9]; 6. 99W-Korey Weyant[4]; 7. 4KK-Kody Kinser[7]; 8. 11K-Rick Kelsey[8]; 9. 47-Brett Samonds[10]; 10. 52F-Logan Faucon[2]
All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 2W-Scott Neitzel[2]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee[4]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[1]; 4. 23-Russell Borland[5]; 5. 17M-Joey Moughan[6]; 6. 31-John Dines[8]; 7. 99-Kyle Marten[3]; 8. 43-Jereme Schroeder[9]; 9. (DNF) 25-Steve Muth[10]; 10. (DNF) 41-Dennis Spitz[7]
R & H Enterprises Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 77U-Chris Urish[4]; 2. 22-Bret Tripplett[3]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz[1]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[7]; 6. 10S-Jeremy Standridge[8]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[10]; 8. 12W-Josh Walter[9]; 9. 44M-Chris Martin[2]; 10. (DNF) 99M-Austin McCarl[6]
Osborn & Son Trucking Qualifying: 1. O5-Brad Loyet, 11.055[5]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.377[7]; 3. 17M-Joey Moughan, 11.441[14]; 4. 99M-Austin McCarl, 11.496[1]; 5. 2-A.J. Bruns, 11.511[9]; 6. 6-Bill Rose, 11.517[8]; 7. 23-Russell Borland, 11.651[4]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.661[38]; 9. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr, 11.665[6]; 10. 99W-Korey Weyant, 11.793[3]; 11. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.795[15]; 12. 77U-Chris Urish, 11.883[19]; 13. 7-Scott Uttech, 11.884[2]; 14. 25B-Jake Blackhurst, 11.902[24]; 15. 99-Kyle Marten, 11.922[10]; 16. 22-Bret Tripplett, 11.937[13]; 17. 42-Cory Bruns, 11.969[36]; 18. 52F-Logan Faucon, 12.037[12]; 19. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.108[32]; 20. 44M-Chris Martin, 12.124[34]; 21. 1M-Phillip Mock, 12.130[20]; 22. 9-Paul Nienhiser, 12.271[27]; 23. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.282[16]; 24. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.324[25]; 25. 23D-Trey Datweiler, 12.376[26]; 26. 4KK-Kody Kinser, 12.424[28]; 27. 41-Dennis Spitz, 12.487[21]; 28. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.491[39]; 29. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.556[33]; 30. 11K-Rick Kelsey, 12.620[17]; 31. 31-John Dines, 12.627[22]; 32. 10S-Jeremy Standridge, 12.669[29]; 33. 94-Brandon Thone, 12.683[11]; 34. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.686[30]; 35. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 12.895[35]; 36. 12W-Josh Walter, 13.027[40]; 37. 44-Jason Johnson, 13.062[18]; 38. 47-Brett Samonds, 13.107[31]; 39. 25-Steve Muth, 13.727[37]; 40. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 57.443[23]
Submitted By: Jeffrey Sachse
