8/17/2013
Different Car, Same Result...Tatnell Sweeps UMSS
Different Car, Same Result...Tatnell Sweeps UMSS Tour & Kouba Memorial
St. Croix Falls, WI
Switching to the Nelson Motorsports #14 sprint car from his own winning ride the previous two nights did not change the results, as the "Awesome Aussie" from Sans Souci, New South Whales continued his mastery of the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series triple play and the 21st Annual Kouba Memorial. Tatnell had driven his own 25th Anniversary in Racing sprint car to victories at Willmar and Princeton. By virtue of winning the Ethel Kouba Memorial feature on Friday night, Tatnell put himself into the Raleigh Sandberg Memorial Dash on Saturday. The wording was feature winner only and did not specify the car, so Tatnell, who had made a commitment earlier in the season to drive the powerful Nelson sprinter at the Memorial on Saturday night, simply switched rides. Even a two position penalty following a lap 17 restart for firing before the orange start cone in turn four only fueled his determination to race back to the front. Working lapped traffic, Tatnell ducked under leader Chris Graf entering turn three on lap 26 and drove to his third straight win in as many nights in taking home the $2,100 top prize in the 30 lap Earl Kouba Memorial feature.
Although Tatnell did not necessarily agree with what had occurred on the lap 17 restart, he stated in Victory Lane that different series have their rules and it just made my job a bit tougher. Mission accomplished with a big exclamation mark! Tatnell became only the second driver in the 21 year history of this prestigious race to win it twice. With the new format in place this year, one could say that Tatnell has won it three times. However, the 21st edition will show Tatnell as the champion over the course of the two nights.
Following the Ultimate Sprint Heats on Saturday which were won by Jerry Richert Jr, Lee Grosz and Rick Kobs, the passing and finishing points from the heats were added to the Friday night feature race points to determine the other four starters that would join Tatnell and Tony Norem in the Raleigh Sandberg Memorial Dash. The three heat winners plus current UMSS point leader Chris Graf earned those four coveted spots. The remainder of the 25 cars on hand would need to run in the Challenge Races.
Tatnell defeated Graf, Norem, Grosz, Richert and Kobs in the dash while Donovan Peterson and Davey Heskin drove to Challenge Race wins. The finish of the dash set the first three rows of the Earl Kouba Memorial feature with the remainder of the 22 car starting grid starting straight up behind the dash cars based on heat and challenge race points earned.
Tatnell quickly took command of the 30 lap feature race at the drop of the green. Four cautions for a couple of breakdowns and two spins slowed the pace in the first 17 laps with Graf and Lee Grosz running behind Tatnell on each restart. On the lap 17 restart, UMSS officials called Tatnell for firing before the orange restart cone in turn four. The yellow blinked on when Jennifer Eriksen stopped exiting turn two with a breakdown. The drama then began when the "Voice of the Valley" track announcer Terry Lehnertz told the crowd that Tatnell was being penalized two spots for jumping the restart. This stirred up some conversation amongst race fans. Chris Graf was now the leader. One final caution one lap later for a stalled car set the stage for the last 12 lap sprint to the checkers. On lap 20, Tatnell took second from Grosz. Graf had opened up a somewhat comfortable lead by then, but lapped traffic soon saw the lead shrink. When a failed attempt to pass a lapped car in turns 1 & 2 on lap 26 caused Graf to lose his momentum, Tatnell closed in. Tatnell dove low in turn three and slid up in front of Graf and behind the lapped car in turn 4 to retake the lead. Tatnell put the exclamation mark on his victory when he led the remainder of the race for his three race and Kouba Memorial sweep. It was Tatnell's fifth win of the season and 23rd career UMSS victory. Grosz got by Graf on lap 27 to ride home in second. Graf held on to third in front of Jason Tostenson and Heskin. Completing the top ten finishers were Cody Hahn, Kobs, Richert, Dave Becker and Leigh Thomas.
An interesting side story on the night played out when Glencoe racer Jason Tostenson experienced engine problems on Friday night. Tostenson and crew headed for home but discovered on Saturday that the problem was a plugged radiator requiring plenty of work to get the car race ready again. The crew worked long and hard on Saturday, headed for St. Croix Valley Raceway in the latter part of the afternoon, got stuck in the Twin Cities in traffic, and arrived just as the second heat was finishing up. Jason had his drivers suit on, and they quickly pulled the car into the pits, unloaded and with some cooperation from the track and series in holding up the start of the third heat for a few minutes, managed to tag the tail. Tostenson would receive no passing points, but the young driver raced from 8th to 2nd in the 8 lap heat! Following an impressive second place run in his challenge race from the sixth starting spot, Tostenson had earned enough points to plug himself into the 7th starting spot in the feature. His fourth place finish in the feature concluded what had been a very long, tiring 24 hours for the team, but one could see by the smile on his face after the feature that it had also been a very rewarding night at the races. Often times dramatic moments like this play out on any given race night.
The Kouba family wishes to thank the following race sponsors for their tremendous support at Princeton and SCVR for helping make the 21st Annual Kouba Memorial a success. With a strong base purse courtesy of both tracks, contributions from the Kouba family, Gillund Enterprises/JB Distributing, GRP Motorsports, Proto Fab Engineering, Bev-Lor Utilities, Precision Tool, D&D Racing, Mastell Brothers Trailer Service and Donnohue Designs and Rik & Sandy Sandberg saw a total two night Kouba Memorial payout in excess of $19,000. Thanks also for the tremendous support each night with car counts at 27 & 25 respectively along with very good fan count both at Princeton and SCVR. The Kouba family looks forward to the 22nd Annual race next year with hopes to once again have a very strong payout.
The UMSS continues in August next weekend with races at the Viking Speedway on Saturday August 24 and the Proctor Speedway on Sunday August 25. The Viking Speedway appearance will be the first-ever for the UMSS while the Proctor show is a makeup date from the fogged out July 7 show and will mark the second appearance for the series at the popular Twin Ports track. Stay tuned on the point battle, race results and other news by checking out the UMSS website at www.umsprints.com or by following the series on their Facebook page.
UMSS Race Results - St. Croix Valley Raceway August 17, 2013 (Race #10)
21st Annual Kouba Memorial Night #2:
Bevlor Utilities Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (8 laps): 63 Jerry Richert Jr, 29 Leigh Thomas, 3TK Tony Kaus, 10x Jennifer Eriksen, 20 Jordan Wilmes, 11XS Donovan Peterson, 5W Ryan Wilson, 64 Scotty Thiel DNF (blown engine).
Precision Tool Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (8 laps): 4J Lee Grosz, 20G Chris Graf, 37 Sye Anderson, 5M Troy Manteufel, 48 Neal Matuska, 7 Dave Becker, 91A Reed Allex.
D&D Racing Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (8 laps): 34 Rick Kobs, 36 Jason Tostenson, 55 Joseph Kouba, 31 James Broty, 23 Cody Hahn, 91 Davey Heskin, 5 Anna Kouba, 9 Jared Goerges DNF (flip turn two).
Raleigh Sandberg Memorial Dash (6 laps): 14 Brooke Tatnell, Graf, B1st Tony Norem, Grosz, Richert, Kobs.
Protofab Engineering Challenge Race #1 (9 laps): Peterson, Tostenson, Eriksen, Matuska, Broty, Thomas, Wilson, Anderson, Allex.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Heskin, Hahn, Becker, Wilmes, Kaus, A Kouba, J Kouba, Manteufel DNF (crash turn two).
Earl Kouba Memorial Feature (30 laps): Tatnell, Grosz, Graf, Tostenson, Heskin, Hahn, Kobs, Richert, Becker, Thomas, Broty, Anderson, J Kouba, Matuska, Allex, Wilson DNF, Eriksen DNF, Kaus DNF, Norem DNF, Peterson DNF, A Kouba DNF, Wilmes DNF.
Lap Leaders: Tatnell 1-17, Graf 18-25, Tatnell 26-30.
Cautions: (6)
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
