9/21/2012
Bradwell and Caho Enter Final Race Tied For Championship
The battle for the 2012 Traditional Sprint Car Series season championship title will come down to the final race of the season, as Kevin Bradwell defeated Rob Caho, Jr. on the opening night of the Badger State Championships on September 21 at the St. Croix Valley Raceway to pull into a tie for first-place in the season point standings. Caho came into the night with a slim one point lead over Bradwell, but "The Rocketman" erased that margin with his seventh TSCS victory of the season while Caho finished one spot behind him in the feature event.
A person could not have written a better script for a Hollywood-type production than to have the title be decided during the final feature race of the season with the top two contenders tied atop the standings. Stated UMSS series sponsor Greg Parent from GRP Motorsports, "This is the ultimate chase for the championship with two well-deserving drivers battling each other during the final race of the season. It doesn't get any better than that." The most feature wins tie-breaker likely will not be neccesary unless both drivers have very low finishes on the final night. There are numerous scenarios that could play out, and Johnny Parsons III who sits third in the point standings still has a slight chance to grab the top spot, but it would take an unlikely set of circumstances to fall in his favor. Parsons is seven points behind the two leaders.
The season-long championship race for the title took shape last winter when the competitors voted to throw out their five lowest point scores during the season. Entering the final race of the season, Bradwell is the only of the three title contenders to have competed in all 20 races so far. Bradwell's lowest score that he is counting is a six point tally. Caho on the other hand has competed in 15 out of the 20 races, so his lowest score he is counting is a one point marker. Parsons has raced in 18 of the 20 possible shows with his lowest score in his total a four point performance. The number of possible scenarios on how the final standings could play out are numerous, but the bottom line will most likely come down to a classic battle between Caho and Bradwell with the true hope that both drivers will be running up near the front near the end of the race.
Following his Friday night victory, Bradwell talked about the Chase for the Championship. "I want to win the championship on the track racing against Robby and Johnny. I hope it comes down to the final lap with Rob and myself in a drag race to the checkers, and I can beat him by a slim margin to claim the title." Caho on the other hand was very concerned about his right wrist and hand after the Friday night feature race. "When I nearly wrecked in turn one later in the race, I jammed my right wrist and hand in the steering wheel. It hurts pretty bad right now, and I hope nothing is broken. No matter what, I will be ready to race hard for the championship come Saturday night!"
On Friday night of the Badger State Championships, a season-high and series-high turnout of 14 TSCS sprints were on hand. Parsons and Jack Clark picked up heat race wins. The redraw for the scheduled 20 lap feature race saw rookie Ryan Olson on the pole with the three title contenders of Caho, Bradwell and Parsons in the two through four starting positions. Olson bolted into the early lead ahead of Caho, but his bid for his first sprint car win came to an end after six laps when the rear-end in his sprinter broke and he coasted to a stop on the back stretch to bring out the first caution. On the restart, Parsons made an incredible charge on the bottom and went from third to first. A second yellow for a spin in turn four slowed the pace once again. Parsons led laps 7-8 before Caho took the top spot on lap nine. Seeing what Parsons had done a few laps earlier, Bradwell used the low line to get by Parsons on lap nine. The third yellow waved for a spin in turn two with nine laps in the books, and on the restart Bradwell blasted under Caho in turn four to lead lap 10. The final yellow blinked on when Tom Porter lost the left rear tire on his sprinter with ten laps scored. At this point, the number of laps was reduced with the time limit of the race and the threat of rain approaching. Bradwell went on to lead the final six laps while Caho rode home in second ahead of Parsons in third. Clark and Jeff Pellersels completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were rookies Lucas Milz, Denny Stordahl and Katrina Sautbine. Adam Taubert was ninth and then another rookie Mike Huesmann finished tenth.
Jake Kouba, son of Jimmy Kouba, was making his sprint car racing debut in Jeff Pellersels' second car and he finished 11th one lap down. Tom Porter, Ryan Olson and Brad Nelson did not finish. Denny Stordahl locked up the GRP Motorsports TSCS Rookie of the Year title with his seventh place finish, as his closest competitor Lucas Milz cannot catch him in the final race of the season.
Stay tuned to see how the drama for the GRP Motorsports 2012 TSCS Championship race turns out during the final night of the Badger State Championships at St. Croix Valley Raceway on Saturday night September 22.
September 21 UMSS Feature Race Summary (Race #20): Bradwell, Caho, Parsons, Clark, Pellersels, Milz, Stordahl, Sautbine, Taubert, Huesmann, Kouba, Porter, Olson, Nelson.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
