9/16/2018
Tatnell Sweeps Spencer, Lusk Locks Up Midwest Power Series Title
A very warm late summer evening saw the all-time leading UMSS POWRi Lucas Oil feature winner add another victory, as Brooke Tatnell executed a clean sweep at the Midwest Power Series event at the Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa on Friday September 14. "The Awesome Aussie" made the trek down from his U.S. residence in Forest Lake, MN to do double duty in the Protofab #63 sprint car in UMSS 360 winged sprint car action and the Vermeer #55 car in the IRA 410 portion of the program. Tatnell was fresh off a big win at the Richert Memorial the previous Saturday night in IRA competition and a tough loss in the 360 UMSS Midwest Power Series portion of that event. Tatnell left little doubt that he would be the car to beat on this night though in the 360 winged sprint car part of the Clay County Fair event, as won his heat, the dash and the feature. The win was worth $1,500 to Tatnell. It was his 35th career UMSS feature win.
A field of nineteen cars signed into the pits for the Midwest Power Series event, the tenth show of the season for this series within a series. Derrick Lusk of Jackson, MN came into the event with a healthy lead over Chris Graf of Glencoe, and Lusk was able to secure his second title with a sixth place finish. Coming into the final night of the season at the Deer Creek Speedway the following night, no driver was in a position to overtake Lusk in the standings. Congrats to Derrick Lusk on his second title. Graf also has two Midwest Power Series championships to his credit.
Heat race wins went to Tatnell and Chase Viebrock. Each driver earned $100 from Factory Direct Mattress. Tatnell took home another $200 from Factory Direct Mattress for his dash win which meant he would start the 20 lap feature from the pole. Ryan Bickett would roll off alongside Tatnell.
Bickett got a strong start for the 20 lap feature and led the opening lap. Tatnell stormed back to take the lead on the next lap and would not be denied the win. The race was slowed twice under caution. With six laps scored, UMSS rookie contender Carter Chevalier looped his car in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. Bickett stayed close to Tatnell, but did not seriously challenge him for the top spot. Tatnell eventually opened up a more comfortable margin, as he began to lap cars running near the back of the field. Roger Crockett did a 360 spin in turn 2 with 14 laps in the books to bring out the final caution. Although the field had closed up behind Tatnell, he once again edged away during the final six lap dash to the checkers. A very good battle developed for the 2-5 positions over the final laps, as Bickett had held that spot until Jon Agan got by him on lap 17. Eleventh starter Chris Graf was on the move forward and was up to third at the white flag, as Bickett had actually dropped back to fourth with Chris Martin close behind. On the final lap in turn 4, Graf clipped an infield tire in his bid for second and spun into the infield while Bickett came back to edge out Agan at the line for second. Martin was fourth with Justin Henderson completing the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers was Lusk, Geoff Dodge, James Broty, Tasker Phillips and Viebrock. Only three cars failed to finish, one of them being Graf after moving up eight spots.
James Broty earned the GRP Motorsports/Minnesota Mafia $200 Hard Charger Award, as Broty advanced six positions from 14th to 8th. Mark Toews from nearby Spirit Lake also moved up six spots in the feature, but Broty broke the tie by virtue of being the highest finisher of the two drivers. Toews finished eleventh. In non-winged action at Spencer, Bret Mellenberndt made his season debut and picked up the victory over an 11 car field.
As this was not a full point show for the UMSS, their championship title will come down to the Deer Creek Speedway the following night September 15. It will be the final race of the season for the UMSS POWRi Lucas Oil 360 Sprint Car Series as well as for the Midwest Power Series. A strong field of cars is expected at Deer Creek, as once again the IRA 410 sprints and the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series will join the program at the popular southern Minnesota track.
UMSS POWRi Lucas Oil Race Results - Clay County Fair Speedway Sept. 14, 2018 (Race #14) - Midwest Power Series Event
Midwest Power Equip/GRP Motorsports A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 63-Brooke Tatnell, [1]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [2]; 3. 4-Jon Agan, [8]; 4. 44-Chris Martin, [7]; 5. 75-Justin Henderson, [6]; 6. 2-Derrik Lusk, [4]; 7. 64-Geoff Dodge, [3]; 8. 33-James Broty, [14]; 9. 7W-Tasker Phillips, [9]; 10. 50-Chase Viebrock, [5]; 11. 5T-Mark Toews, [17]; 12. 11-Roger Crockett, [10]; 13. 13-Brayden Gaylord, [16]; 14. 03-Jamey Ogston, [12]; 15. 15C-Carter Chevalier, [15]; 16. 1A-John Anderson, [13]; 17. (DNF) 20G-Chris Graf, [11]; 18. (DNF) 91A-Reed Allex, [18]; 19. (DNF) 2B-Bill Balog, [19]
Lap Leaders: Bickett 1, Tatnell 2-20. (2) cautions. 15C spin turn 3 with 6 laps scored. 11 spin turn 2 with 14 laps in.
Factory Direct Mattress Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 63-Brooke Tatnell, [2]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [1]; 3. 64-Geoff Dodge, [4]; 4. 2-Derrik Lusk, [6]; 5. 50-Chase Viebrock, [3]; 6. (DNF) 75-Justin Henderson, [5]
Lap Leader: Tatnell 1-6. No cautions.
Factory Direct Mattress Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Brooke Tatnell, [2]; 2. 64-Geoff Dodge, [10]; 3. 75-Justin Henderson, [6]; 4. 7W-Tasker Phillips, [4]; 5. 20G-Chris Graf, [5]; 6. 1A-John Anderson, [1]; 7. 03-Jamey Ogston, [8]; 8. 15C-Carter Chevalier, [7]; 9. 91A-Reed Allex, [9]; 10. (DNF) 2B-Bill Balog, [3]
Lap Leader: Tatnell 1-8. No cautions.
Factory Direct Mattress Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 50-Chase Viebrock, [2]; 2. 2-Derrik Lusk, [1]; 3. 17B-Ryan Bickett, [6]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett, [3]; 5. 44-Chris Martin, [7]; 6. 4-Jon Agan, [9]; 7. 33-James Broty, [5]; 8. 13-Brayden Gaylord, [4]; 9. 5T-Mark Toews, [8]
Lap Leader: Viebrock 1-8. No cautions.
Photo courtesy of GRP Motorsports.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
