8/15/2014
Brooke Tatnell Tops UMSS Portion of Kouba Memorial At Princeton Speedway
Princeton, MN
The Ethel Kouba Memorial portion of the 22nd Annual Kouba Memorial event was held at the Princeton Speedway on Friday night August 15, as the UMSS winged and Traditional non-winged sprint cars filled the pits. Brooke Tatnell became the first three-time winner of the event when he passed leader Chris Graf on lap 9 of the 25 lap feature race and went on to pick up the $1,200 first place prize money. Tatnell was driving the potent Protofab Engineering #14 sprint car, and he kept his UMSS winning streak intact with six appearances with the series in 2014 producing six trips to Anderson's Pure Maple Syrup Victory Lane.
Seventeen UMSS winged sprint cars signed into the pits on a pleasant summer evening for racing. A large crowd gathered to watch both divisions in action for the first time at Princeton. Along with their non-winged counterparts, the Princeton Speedway pits had a total of 33 sprint cars. The UMSS winged sprint utilized their usual double round of qualifying races with passing and finishing points awarded. Young female sensation Paige Polyak from Tiffin, Ohio drove to an impressive win in the first heat. 2013 UMSS Champion Chris Graf topped the second heat while Tatnell raced to an easy win in heat #3. Rookie racer Ryan Bowers and second-year sprint car driver Gunner Cummings won the Challenge Races. Tatnell was the high point earner and drew the seven pill for the feature race invert.
As luck would have it, the young Challenge Race winners would comprise the front row for the 25 lap Ethel Kouba Memorial main event. Gunner Cummings grabbed teh early lead over Ryan Bowers. The race was just one lap old when Nick lusk got upside down on the front stretch to bring out the red flag. Lusk was okay, but his car sustained heavy damage and was done for the night. Cummings continued to lead on the restart, as the high-banked 1/4 mile oval had a lot of grip and was fast. Graf got by Cummings for the top spot on lap 5, and less than a lap later the yellow blinked on when Polyak slipped over the berm in turn two. Paige restarted at the tail.
Graf held the lead over Cummings while Tatnell was already up to third in just five laps. Tatnell got by Cummings one lap later and closed in on Graf. Graf changed his line from the top to the bottom, so Tatnell moved up top and a lap later had the lead. The final 20 circuits clicked off caution-free, as Tatnell drove to his 30th career UMSS victory. Graf and Davey Heskin had a good battle for second late in the race, as the two drivers swapped the spot a couple of times. Graf was able to hold off Heskin. Bowers and Cummings completed the top five. Tony Norem, Polyak, Leigh Thomas, Cody Hahn and Jerry Richert, Jr. rounded out the top ten finishers.
The first night of the Kouba Memorial saw all four members of the Kouba racing family who are still active drivers participate in the Traditional sprint car part of the program. Anna Kouba was the only driver to do double-duty, as she also raced in the winged sprint car portion of the show. Anna got upside down on the opening lap of her heat race, but she returned to compete in the Challenge Race and feature event.
The second night of the 22nd Annual Kouba Memorial was scheduled to take place the following night at the St. Croix Valley Raceway, but persistent light rain showers finally caused the race to be postponed. Night #2 of the Kouba Memorial will now be held on Friday, September 5 at the St. Croix Valley Raceway with both divisions on the program. The Earl Kouba Memorial will pay $2,400 to win the UMSS winged sprint portion. The UMSS sprints will race the following night at the 14th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial giving them a double header weekend at two tracks located about a half drive apart from each other. Sprint car fans will certainly want to make plans to attend both shows on the weekend of September 5-6, as the battle for the UMSS Championship likely will come down to the final two races.
UMSS Race Results - Princeton Speedway August 15, 2014 (Race #17)
22nd Annual Kouba Memorial Night #1 - Ethel Kouba Memorial
Leigh Thomas Construction Heat #1 (6 laps): 19 Paige Polyak, 91 Davey Heskin, 10 Leigh Thomas, 34TW Gunner Cummings, 5T Mark Toews, 5 Anna Kouba DNF.
Bevlor Utilities Heat #2 (6 laps): 20G Chris Graf, B1st Tony Norem, 63 Jerry Richert Jr, 199 Ryan Bowers, 23 Cody Hahn, 15 Chad Patterson.
Donnohue Designs Heat #3 (6 laps): 14 Brooke Tatnell, 91A Reed Allex, 5M Troy Manteufel, 29 Nick Lus, 03 Jamey Ogston DNS.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #1 (8 laps): Bowers, Thomas, Tatnell, Toews, Polyak, Manteufel, Norem, Patterson, Ogston DNS.
Protofab Engineering Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Cummings, Heskin, Graf, Richert, Hahn, Lusk, Kouba DNF, Allex DNF.
Ethel Kouba Memorial Feature (25 laps): Tatnell, Graf, Heskin, Bowers, Cummings, Norem, Polyak, Thomas, Hahn, Richert, Manteufel, Patterson, Toews, Ogston DNF , Kouba DNF, Lusk DNF, Allex DNS.
Lap Leaders: Cummings 1-4, Graf 5-8, Tatnell 9-25.
Cautions: (3)
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
