9/12/2015
Jake Kouba With Exciting TSCS Win At Richert Memorial
On the final points night of the 2015 season, the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series put on a entertaining show for the fans as they were part of the annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial at the Cedar Lake Speedway. Jake Kouba picked up his first win of the season and second of his TSCS career, as swapped the lead with 2015 champion Rob Caho, Jr. on four occasions before finally leading the final four laps for the victory. Jake Kouba thanked his dad Jimmy for showing him the line up top following a lap 18 restart. The two Koubas ended up swapping running grooves after that, and on lap 22 Jake regained the lead from Caho exiting turn two in the outside lane. Jake Kouba celebrated in Rock Auto Victory Lane with his mother and crew chief Jamie Kouba.
Returning to the Richert Memorial for the first time since 2011, the Traditional sprints drew a solid 22 car field. In fact, a total of 80 sprint cars signed into the CLS pit area which included the IRA Outlaw 410 sprints and the UMSS winged 360 sprints. The 80 car mark is a record for sprint cars at Cedar Lake. And the non-winged Traditional sprints certainly turned some heads with yet another thrilling feature race during the 2015 season.
Back to their usual three heat race format, winners of the heat races included Jimmy Kouba, Blake Anderson, and Caho. Caho's margin of victory in the third heat over Johnny Parsons III was .011 seconds on the transponder scoring system! Jake Kouba and his dad Jimmy drew the front row for the 25 lap feature with Parsons and Caho comprising the second row. Jake took then early lead on the bottom with Caho quickly working his way forward. On lap six, Caho took the top spot from Jake and led three laps before Jake took it back on lap nine. Caho returned to the point on lap ten. The first caution blinked on with 13 laps scored when rookie Tony Klose slammed into the inside concrete retaining wall on the front stretch. Klose's front end was pushed in significantly and his night was done. Caho continued to lead when the race got underway again.
With 17 laps in the books, the second caution slowed the pace when Blake Anderson and James Giossi had contact exiting turn four. Anderson's car slammed hard into the outside concrete wall on the front stretch and required wrecker assistance to the pit area. Giossi went to the work area and returned on the tail end of the field. One lap after the race went green, it was under the red flag when Parsons got crossed up exiting turn four, contacted Mike Mueller's car, and ended up taking a wild ride down the front stretch. Parsons was okay, but his badly damaged sprinter was out of action. Following this red flag, the race ran the remaining seven laps nonstop and things got real interesting once again up front.
As Caho continued to run the low lane with Jake Kouba looking for an opening, Jimmy Kouba suddenly got going up top and was making his way towards the front. A few laps later, Jake saw his dad to the outside and decided to move up before he could get past. This proved to be a very good decision, as Jake found the outside lane to his liking. A couple of unsuccessful attempts to regain the lead from Caho finally met with success on lap 22 coming off turn four. With the crowd energized by the tremendous racing for the lead, Jake bolted past Caho to lead for the third and what would be the final time. Jake Kouba held off Caho for the remaining laps for an exciting win. Caho finished second. Chase Viebrock and Mike Mueller were also able to get by Jimmy Kouba in the waning laps for third and fourth. Jimmy Kouba held off Joseph Kouba for fifth. Cam Schafer, Brian VanMeveren, Jeremy Kerzman and Mike Walters completed the top ten. Joseph Kouba earned the GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Award, advancing nine positions in the feature. Mike Walters also gained nine spots, but the tie-breaker goes to the highest finisher.
Although it was the final point race for the Traditional sprints, one event remains on the schedule as they are slated to return to the Cedar Lake Speedway for a complete show on Thursday night September 17 for the opening night of the 10th Annual Legendary 100. With his victory at the Richert Memorial, Jake Kouba was able to move past Chase Viebrock for fourth place in the final season point standings by just five points. The top five in the GRP Motorsports High Five TSCS Championship Point Standings were Caho, Jimmy Kouba, Mike Mueller, Jake Kouba and Viebrock.
UMSS TSCS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway September 12, 2015 (Race #24)
15th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial
GRP Motorsports Richert Memorial Feature (25 Laps): 1. 6-Jake Kouba[1]; 2. 78-Rob Caho Jr[4]; 3. 50-Chase Viebrock[9]; 4. 87-Mike Mueller[6]; 5. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[2]; 6. 55-Joseph Kouba[15]; 7. 14-Cam Schafer[12]; 8. 24-Brian VanMeveren[5]; 9. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[14]; 10. 27-Mike Walters[19]; 11. 7B-Scott Brandt[13]; 12. 81-Dan Peper[20]; 13. N1-Ty Sampair[11]; 14. 11-James Giossi[8]; 15. 95-Kevin Bradwell[16]; 16. 69S-Jon Lewerer[10]; 17. 21J-Jori Hughes[17]; 18. 13K-Katrina Sautbine[21]; 19. 73-Sid Denzer[18]; 20. (DNF) 12-Johnny Parsons III[3]; 21. (DNF) KA1-Blake Anderson[7]; 22. (DNF) 90-Tony Klose[22].
Lap Leaders: Jake Kouba 1-5, Caho 6-8, Jake Kouba 9, Caho 10-21, Jake Kouba 22-25. Cautions: (3) first yellow for 90 into inside front stretch wall hard (on hook to pits); second yellow for KA1 contact on outside front stretch wall (on hook to pits); red flag for 12 wild flip into turn 1 after contact with 87.
Meeks Video Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2K-Jimmy Kouba; 2. 11-James Giossi; 3. 24-Brian VanMeveren; 4. 50-Chase Viebrock; 5. 55-Joseph Kouba; 6. 7B-Scott Brandt; 7. 81-Dan Peper; 8. 90-Tony Klose.
Mora Motorworks Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. KA1-Blake Anderson; 2. 6-Jake Kouba; 3. 87-Mike Mueller; 4. 69S-Jon Lewerer; 5. 95-Kevin Bradwell; 6. 73-Sid Denzer; 7. 13K-Katrina Sautbine.
Mastell Brothers Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 78-Rob Caho Jr; 2. 12-Johnny Parsons III; 3. N1-Ty Sampair; 4. 14-Cam Schafer; 5. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman; 6. 21J-Jori Hughes; 7. 27-Mike Walters.
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
