9/9/2016
Chris Graf Repeats Earlier Princeton Performance to Win Tabor Memorial
The Davey Tabor Memorial found a new home in 2016, as the fifth annual edition moved to the Princeton Speedway for the first time and also moved off of its familiar Memorial Day weekend date to the night before another big memorial race. A strong field of (21) UMSS winged sprints were on hand at the Princeton Speedway on September 9, and when the final checkered flag flew in their feature, Chris Graf of Glencoe had once again passed Brooke Tatnell in another exciting 25 lap UMSS feature to become the winner of the 5th Annual Davey Tabor Memorial. Graf celebrated with his crew in Rock Auto Victory Lane for his second consecutive Princeton win, having won the Billy Anderson Memorial back on August 19 in similar fashion. Graf won $2,334 for his effort and increased his lead in the Midwest Power Series standings coming into the final night at Cedar Lake Speedway.
The UMSS ran their usual double round of qualifiers with heat race wins going to Tatnell, Rager Phillips from Pleasantville, IA and Lee Grosz. Each driver earned $34 for their heat race victory from GRP Motorsports in honor of Dave & Margaret Tabor's car number 34TW. The Challenge races were won by John Schulz from West Burlington, IA and Graf. Margaret Tabor paid $34 to each winner. Grosz, Tatnell, Schulz and Jerry Richert, Jr. were the top four drivers in passing and finishing points. Schulz drew the pole position with Richert to his outside. Richert, a three-time UMSS champion, came into the night 48 points behind Ryan Bowers in his quest for a fourth championship. Bowers was looking for his second consecutive title. Bowers had a very rough heat race and Challenge race, as he rolled his sprint car over in each event after launching off of the top of turn three. Repairs were made and his familiar 199 Mastell Brothers Racing sprint car was able to start the feature.
The 25 lap Davey Tabor Memorial feature would see 20 of the 21 cars on hand take the green flag. Only Reed Allex, who blew his motor in hot laps, was unable to start. The feature would also see another exciting and very entertaining race play out for the fans. Richert led the opening lap by inches over his brother-in-law Tatnell. Tatnell quickly got by Richert in turns 1 & 2 and took the lead, a lead many fans figured he would not relinquish. Tatnell led six laps before Graf, who had come from his fifth starting spot, snuck by to lead lap 8. Tatnell immediately grabbed the top spot back and again led six more laps before Graf regained the lead on lap 15. The next lap saw the lone caution flag wave when Jamey Ogston came to a stop on the front stretch with front end damage on his car. Under this caution, Bowers pulled into the infield.
On the restart, Tatnell tried to take the top spot back but Graf was strong. During the final ten lap green flag run to the checkers, Graf would open up a bit of a lead only to see Tatnell close back in. Tatnell pulled alongside Graf on one occasion but could not regain the lead. At the checkers, Chris Graf had turned in another great run at Princeton for his second UMSS victory of the season as well. Tatnell had to settle for second. Lee Grosz finished third ahead of Richert and Brandon, SD racer Tommy Barber. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Schulz, Carson McCarl from 14th, Derrik Lusk, Knoxville, IA driver Jamie Ball and Dean Brown. Tatnell earned $1,234 for his runner-up finish. Every finishing position in the feature race ended with $34 thanks to Margaret Tabor and GRP. Margaret even added $34 on to Reed Allex's tow money, so his pay number would also end in 34. Midwest Power Equipment also added a nice chunk of money into the top two spots in the feature.
With Ryan Bowers' misfortune during the evening, the UMSS season championship point standings got as tight as they ever could be heading into the final event of the season, the 16th Annual Jerry Richert Sr. Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway the following night. Bowers and Richert will come to CLS tied for the top spot, meaning whom ever finishes the highest between those two drivers will win the title. A person really cannot write a better script than that race fans! Chris Graf passed Bowers in the Midwest Power Series point standings and will carry a fairly comfortable 47 point margin into the final race in that five race series. Graf won the Midwest Power Series title last year, and he put himself into a really good position to claim the $1,000 top prize once again in 2016. Check out the news, results and other information on the UMSS website at www.umsprints.com or visit us on our Facebook page.
UMSS Race Results - Princeton Speedway September 9, 2016 (Race #12)
5th Annual Davey Tabor Memorial
Midwest Power Equip & GRP Motorsports 5th Annual Davey Tabor Memorial Feature (25 Laps): 1. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 2. 14-Brooke Tatnell[4]; 3. 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 4. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[2]; 5. 75-Tommy Barber[6]; 6. 99-John Schulz[1]; 7. 6-Carson McCarl[14]; 8. 2L-Derrik Lusk[9]; 9. 5J-Jamie Ball[15]; 10. 1D-Dean Brown[10]; 11. 5-Devin Kline[17]; 12. 85-Jason Tostenson[7]; 13. 29-Leigh Thomas[16]; 14. F16-Tony Rustad[12]; 15. 52-Jake Lempelius[18]; 16. 85T-Adam Tough[20]; 17. (DNF) 22P-Rager Phillips[13]; 18. (DNF) 22-Jeff Pellersels[11]; 19. (DNF) 03-Jamey Ogston[8]; 20. (DNF) 199-Ryan Bowers[19]; (DNS) 91A-Reed Allex
Lap Leaders: Richert 1, Tatnell 2-7, Graf 8, Tatnell 9-14, Graf 15-25. Cautions: (1) yellow with 15 laps scored for 03 stopped on front stretch with front end damage. Very entertaining feature race once again at Princeton!
Margaret Tabor & GRP Motorsports Challenge Race 1 (10 Laps): 1. 99-John Schulz[5]; 2. 4J-Lee Grosz[7]; 3. 1D-Dean Brown[1]; 4. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[6]; 5. 22-Jeff Pellersels[3]; 6. 2L-Derrik Lusk[4]; 7. 5J-Jamie Ball[9]; 8. 5-Devin Kline[2]; 9. 52-Jake Lempelius[8]; 10. 85T-Adam Tough[10]
Lap Leaders: Brown 1-4, Schulz 5-10. Cautions: (1) yellow for 22 spin exiting turn 2 on opening lap.
Margaret Tabor & GRP Motorsports Challenge Race 2 (10 Laps): 1. 20G-Chris Graf[3]; 2. 14-Brooke Tatnell[8]; 3. 85-Jason Tostenson[2]; 4. 75-Tommy Barber[5]; 5. 03-Jamey Ogston[6]; 6. F16-Tony Rustad[9]; 7. (DNF) 29-Leigh Thomas[1]; 8. (DNF) 6-Carson McCarl[4]; 9. (DNF) 22P-Rager Phillips[7]; 10. (DNF) 199-Ryan Bowers[10]; (DNS) 91A-Reed Allex
Lap Leaders: Tostenson 1-3, Graf 4-10. Cautions: (1) red for crash in turn 3 with 1 lap in involving 29,6,22P while 199 went over berm and flipped for the second time during the evening.
Meeks Video Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 14-Brooke Tatnell[1]; 2. 75-Tommy Barber[3]; 3. 2L-Derrik Lusk[4]; 4. 85-Jason Tostenson[6]; 5. 1D-Dean Brown[2]; 6. 5J-Jamie Ball[5]; 7. 199-Ryan Bowers[7]
Lap Leader: Tatnell 1-7. Cautions: (1) red when 199 shot over turn 3 berm and flipped with one lap in the books.
Track Rat Photos Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 22P-Rager Phillips[1]; 2. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[3]; 3. 6-Carson McCarl[4]; 4. 22-Jeff Pellersels[2]; 5. 29-Leigh Thomas[6]; 6. F16-Tony Rustad[5]; (DNS) 91A-Reed Allex
Lap Leader: Phillips 1-7. No cautions. 91A scratched for the night with engine failure in hot laps.
Margaret Tabor & GRP Motorsports Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 4J-Lee Grosz[2]; 2. 03-Jamey Ogston[4]; 3. 99-John Schulz[5]; 4. 20G-Chris Graf[1]; 5. 5-Devin Kline[3]; 6. 52-Jake Lempelius[6]; 7. 85T-Adam Tough[7]
Lap Leader: Grosz 1-7. Cautions: (1) yellow when infield tire got kicked out into the lower lane in turn 2 with 6 laps in requiring a G-W-C dash to the checkers.
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
