9/6/2014
Ryan Bowers Finishes UMSS Season With Richert Memorial Win At CLS
(Jerry Richert, Jr. Earns Third UMSS Championship)
New Richmond, WI
A person could not ask for a much better set of circumstances to close out the 2014 UMSS season. With fantastic weather, a large field of cars, a large crowd and being part of the 14th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway, the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series saw the battle for the point championship come down to the final night. For Ryan Bowers of Ham Lake, the final UMSS show of the season saw the young driver in his rookie season behind the wheel of a winged sprint car end up in Anderson's Pure Maple Syrup Victory Lane for the third time in 2014. Bowers passed Richert on lap 24 of the 25 lap feature to win the UMSS portion of this prestigious event, but it was Richert coming out on top of the season point standings for his third UMSS Championship title.
A field of 23 UMSS winged sprints and 36 IRA Outlaw sprints were signed into the pits making for a tremendous evening of sprint car racing at the legendary western Wisconsin high-banked 3/8 mile dirt oval. The UMSS ran their regular race program with two rounds of qualifying consisting of heats and challenge races. Racing in just his fourth winged sprint car show, Jeff "Racedoc" Pellersels won the first heat while Jared Goerges and rookie driver Jamey Ogston won the other heats. Richert and Davey Heskin, one of two drivers doing double duty on this night, picked up Challenge race victories. Bowers was high point driver after the two rounds and pulled the "8" pill for the feature race invert. Both the seventh and eighth place cars in passing and finishing points, Brooke Tatnell and Tony Norem, however were scratches for the feature race due to engine failures in their challenge races. This meant the invert would be six cars. Chad Patterson with mechanical issues and Troy Manteufel, who flipped in hot laps, also would not make the call to start the feature.
Pellersels led the first two laps before Ogston slipped by. The first of two cautions blinked on with three laps scored when Tony Kaus looped his car in turn 4. Richert worked his way past Ogston on the restart, but Ogston stayed close and contended for the top spot for several laps. Bowers was on the move forward and up to third in a couple of laps following the restart. The final yellow waved with 11 laps in the books for a spin in turn 4 by Bob McVitty. This set the stage for a 14 lap green flag run to the checkers. Under this caution, Pellersels dropped out with a flat tire while running sixth.
Richert, Ogston and Bowers remained the top three cars until lap 18 when Bowers got by Ogston for second in traffic. Richert had now opened up a bit of lead, but Bowers began reeling him in. With a huge contingency of Richert fans and family on hand hoping for a Richert victory, Bowers caught him with three laps to go. Coming off turn two on lap 24, Bowers made the winning pass. As the checkers waved a lap and a half later, Bowers closed out his impressive season with his third win in just his 22nd career start in a sprint car. Richert, who is still looking for his first win in this event, finished second. For the third time this season, Ogston equaled his best feature finish with a strong third place run. 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn and 10th starter Carson McCarl completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers saw 2013 UMSS Champion Chris Graf earn the GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Award coming from 12th to sixth, 2009 UMSS Champion Leigh Thomas in seventh, followed by Heskin, Mark Toews and Anna Kouba.
The UMSS wishes to thank ALL of the drivers, car owners, crews, families, fans, sponsors and everyone who helped to make the 2014 season another success for both the winged sprints and the Traditional non-winged sprints. Look for additional post-season announcements on our website at www.umsprints.com or by following us on our Facebook page. The seventh UMSS season will kick off next spring, likely in early May at the St. Croix Valley Raceway, for all three divisions.
UMSS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway September 6, 2014 (Race #21)
14th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Heat #1 (7 laps): 28 Jeff Pellersels, 199 Ryan Bowers, 15 Chad Patterson, 23 Cody Hahn, 63 Jerry Richert Jr, 7M Bob McVitty, 52 Jake Lempelius, 5M Troy Manteufel DNS.
Meeks Video Heat #2 (7 laps): 20G Chris Graf, 9 Jared Goerges, 5T Mark Toews, 5 Anna Kouba, 91A Reed Allex, 74 Roger McVitty, 64 Katrina Sautbine.
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat #3 (8 laps): 03 Jamey Ogston, 14 Brooke Tatnell, 95 Kevin Bradwell, 3TK Tony Kaus DNF, B1st Tony Norem DNF, 91 Davey Heskin DNF, 29 Leigh Thomas DNF, 27 Carson McCarl DNF.
Frattalone Companies Challenge Race #1 (11 laps): Richert, Norem, Goerges, Thomas, Ogston, Pellersels, Bradwell, Lempelius, Kouba DNF, R. McVitty DNF, Patterson DNF, Manteufel DNS.
Gillund Enterprises/JB Distributing Challenge Race #2 (11 laps): Heskin, Hahn, Bowers, McCarl, Tatnell, Kaus, Toews, Allex, Sautbine, B. McVitty, Graf DNF.
GRP Motorsports Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial Feature (25 laps): Bowers, Richert, Ogston, Hahn, McCarl, Graf, Thomas, Heskin, Toews, Kouba, Goerges, Bradwell, Lempelius, B. McVitty, Sautbine DNF, Allex DNF, Pellersels DNF, Kaus DNF, R. McVitty DNF, Tatnell DNS, Norem DNS, Patterson DNS, Manteufel DNS.
Lap Leaders: Pellersels 1-2, Ogston 3, Richert 4-23, Bowers 24-25.
Cautions: (2)
Top 5 in Final 2014 UMSS Points: Richert, Bowers, Ogston, Allex, Kouba.
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Rob Kocak Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
