7/11/2015
Bill Balog Bags UMSS Win At Cedar Lake Speedway
Racing for the third time in his career with the UMSS, and first since his second place finish at the 2009 Masters, Bill Balog of Greenfield, Wisconsin put on an impressive performance to dominate the 25 lap feature event on the second night of the big open wheel racing weekend at the Cedar Lake Speedway on July 11. When you're hot, you're hot. Usually that phrase is used to describe a driver on a winning streak. In this case it certainly could apply to Balog, but it also applies to the Donnohue Designs sprint car. In the last five UMSS races, the car has two first place finishes, two second place finishes and a fifth while being driven by three different drivers. Balog sat in the car on Saturday night for the first time, and not surprisingly, sat in Rock Auto Victory Lane at the conclusion of the feature race for his first UMSS win. Balog also did double duty, as he qualified for the World of Outlaws feature race in front of a huge Cedar Lake crowd on a warm, muggy summer evening at the popular Western, Wisconsin speedway.
With three sprint car divisions on the program, the all open wheel evening saw a total of 75 sprint cars sign into the pits at Cedar Lake. The UMSS winged sprints had 22 cars on hand just like they did on Friday night, although there were a few additions and deletions to the group from the previous night. The most notable additions included Balog and all-time UMSS feature win leader Brooke Tatnell. The usual double round of qualifying races saw Lou Kennedy Jr, 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn, and Friday night winner Thomas Kennedy pick up Ultimate Sprint Heat wins. The Challenge Races were won by current UMSS point leader Ryan Bowers and Thomas Kennedy. The top four drivers in passing and finishing points redrew for the first two rows of the feature, and it was Lee Grosz and Balog on the front row with 2013 UMSS Champion Chris Graf and Lou Kennedy occupying the second row.
Balog immediately blasted into the lead at the drop of the green with Grosz applying the pressure. In an attempt to wrestle the lead from Balog exiting turn two on lap 3, Grosz ended up spinning sideways on the back stretch to bring out what would be the lone caution in the feature. The race then ran 23 laps nonstop to the checkers, and Balog put on a dominating performance up front. Graf settled in nicely in the runner-up spot, as the leaders worked lapped traffic for a good share of the remaining laps. The battle for positions three through six at times was very good with the running order changing quite often. In the end, Lou Kennedy, Jake Martens and Thomas Kennedy completed the top five. Three-time UMSS Champion Jerry Richert, Jr. finished sixth with his brother-in-law Brooke Tatnell coming from 12th to finish seventh. Tony Norem, Bowers and Lee Grosz from the tail of the field following his misfortune rounded out the top ten. Nineteen of the twenty starters were still running at the end, as two cars were unable to start the feature event.
Chris Graf claimed the $100 GRP Motorsports bonus for being the highest finishing past champion in the feature race while the $100 GRP Hard Charger award went to Tatnell. With some help from GRP, Balog earned $1,000 for the win. Thomas Kennedy came up short in his bid for a clean sweep, but both he and his dad turned in solid performances in the top five both nights. Jake Martens from Fairview, OK finished fourth both nights, as he was racing with the UMSS for the first time. Regular UMSS competitors Richert and Bowers turned in top ten finishes each night.
The next UMSS race is Saturday July 18 at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd. The feature race pays $1,200 to win with added money in all positions, as it is the makeup from the May 16 rain out of the Auto Value WWE Night at NCS. There is also a $200 GRP bonus for the highest finishing Traditional sprint car that dons a wing and races at Brainerd. Fans can follow all of the UMSS action on our website at www.umsprints.com or keep track of the UMSS on our Facebook page.
UMSS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway July 11, 2015 (Race #10)
GRP Motorsports A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 34D-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 20G-Chris Graf[3]; 3. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[4]; 4. 48-Jake Martens[6]; 5. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[7]; 6. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[8]; 7. 14-Brooke Tatnell[12]; 8. B1ST-Tony Norem[11]; 9. 199-Ryan Bowers[9]; 10. 4J-Lee Grosz[1]; 11. 23-Cody Hahn[5]; 12. 1-Jeff Pellersels[13]; 13. 03-Jamey Ogston[10]; 14. 1D-Dean Brown[18]; 15. 15-Chad Patterson[16]; 16. 5-Jimmy Kouba[14]; 17. 7M-Bob McVitty[15]; 18. 95-Kevin Bradwell[17]; 19. 91A-Reed Allex[19]; 20. (DNF) 52-Jake Lempelius[20]; DNS 29-Leigh Thomas; DNS 34-Rick Kobs
Lap Leader: Balog 1-25. Cautions: (1) with 2 laps scored for 4J spin exiting turn 2. Race then ran nonstop 23 laps to the checkers.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race 1 (11 Laps): 1. 199-Ryan Bowers[1]; 2. 34D-Bill Balog[6]; 3. 03-Jamey Ogston[2]; 4. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[8]; 5. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[7]; 6. B1ST-Tony Norem[5]; 7. 5-Jimmy Kouba[11]; 8. 7M-Bob McVitty[10]; 9. 95-Kevin Bradwell[3]; 10. 52-Jake Lempelius[9]; 11. (DNF) 1D-Dean Brown[4]
Lap Leader: Bowers 1-11. Cautions: (1) yellow for 1D stopped at pit exit turn 1.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 2 (11 Laps): 1. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[2]; 2. 4J-Lee Grosz[6]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 4. 48-Jake Martens[7]; 5. 14-Brooke Tatnell[9]; 6. 23-Cody Hahn[8]; 7. 1-Jeff Pellersels[3]; 8. 15-Chad Patterson[10]; 9. 91A-Reed Allex[1]; 10. (DNF) 29-Leigh Thomas[4]; DNS 34-Rick Kobs
Lap Leader: Kennedy 1-11. No cautions.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[2]; 2. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[4]; 3. B1ST-Tony Norem[1]; 4. 29-Leigh Thomas[3]; 5. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[7]; 6. 199-Ryan Bowers[5]; 7. 15-Chad Patterson[6]; 8. 5-Jimmy Kouba[8]
Lap Leader: L Kennedy 1-8. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 23-Cody Hahn[6]; 2. 34D-Bill Balog[5]; 3. 1D-Dean Brown[3]; 4. 95-Kevin Bradwell[2]; 5. 91A-Reed Allex[1]; 6. 52-Jake Lempelius[4]; DNS 34-Rick Kobs
Lap Leader: Hahn 1-7. No cautions.
Sprintsource.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 48-Jake Martens[1]; 2. 4J-Lee Grosz[2]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[7]; 4. 1-Jeff Pellersels[4]; 5. 03-Jamey Ogston[5]; 6. 14-Brooke Tatnell[3]; 7. 7M-Bob McVitty[6]
Lap Leader: Martens 1-7. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Scott Swenson.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
