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BALOG SWEEPS THE WEEKEND

On Saturday, August 19th, 41 Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Cars checked in at Wilmot Raceway for the Kenosha County Fair & Roger Iles Memorial race. Bill Balog would claim our Competition Specialist Quick Time Award, laying down the time of 12.874 seconds. Heat races were won by Joel Myers Jr, Tylar Rankin, Jeremy Schultz, and Jake Neuman. This would set up the draw for the dash later that night. Joel Myers Jr. and Mike Reinke would win their dash, setting the front row of the 30 lap feature.

Myers Jr. and Reinke would lead the field to the green as Myers Jr. would lead lap one. After a five lap battle, Balog would get past the 2W of Scotty Neitzel for fourth with 25 laps to go. The 16C of Tylar Rankin was still running in third, but was quickly challenged on lap 6 by Balog. Rankin shuts the door on Balog as he attempts to go high, Balog quickly slides Rankin for third going out of turn 4. With 22 laps to go, Balog would get past Reinke for second.

Hunting down Myers Jr, Balog starts to weave through lap traffic in an attempt to take the lead from the Santa Rosa, California native. The two would battle through lap traffic for 5 laps, until the yellow flew. Dave Uttech in the 68 car would get backwards in turn 4. Uttech rejoined the field from the tail, Arenz would follow behind him after stopping on the front stretch. Myers Jr. and Balog would lead the pack to green with 12 laps to go on the restart.

Balog would go up high on the restart to get past Myers Jr. in turn 2. Russel Borland and Mike Reinke followed behind, creating a tight battle for third. Brenham Crouch sneaks his way into the top 5 with 3 laps to go. Crouch and Reinke exchanged the third and fourth position a few times before crossing the checkered.

Balog crosses the checkered to win the Roger Iles Tribute race and take home the Wilmot Raceway 410 championship.

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The voyage continued the next day when the teams traveled west to Angell Park Speedway for the annual Cornfest race. 34 cars checked in to battle on a toasty hot day in Sun Prairie. The North Pole Nightmare, Bill Balog, would take home the night's Competition Specialists quick time award with a 12.425 second lap. Kyle Schuett, Jake Neuman, Scotty Thiel, and Travis Arenz would each take home a heat race win for the night. The next 6 fastest would join the heat winners for our A-Main Apparel draw for the dash. Dash one was won by The North Pole Nightmare Bill Balog, and dash two was won by The Big Wheel Scotty Thiel.

Balog and Thiel would make up the front row of the 30 lap feature. Balog would take the early lead from the green as Thiel followed behind. A battle for fourth started early on between Neuman in the 3N and Arenz in the 25T. Five laps in, the 17B approaches lap traffic with the 73 following closely behind.

Yellow flag flies with 23 laps to go, the 2W of Scotty Neitzel slows in turn 2 and pulls into the work area with a broken radius rod. Neitzel would push out in time, rejoining the back of the pack. Balog, Thiel, and Schuett take the restart on the podium. The North Pole Nightmare would lead the first lap on the restart. Following behind, The Big Wheel would be challenged by The Philo Phenom for second. Thiel pulls away from Schuett coming out of turn 4.

The only red flag of the night would fly for Scotty Thiel, as Thiel and Schuett made contact while going down the back stretch, leaving Thiel on his side. Scotty walks away from the accident, and immediately pushes into the work area in hopes of pushing back out for the restart. After work from multiple teams, Thiel would rejoin the tail end of the field, moving Schuett up to second and Arenz up to third while Balog continued his lead.

Green flag dropped for the restart. Balog continued his lead while Arenz and Schuett would battle for second. Arenz and Schuett continually threw sliders at one another for a lap until Arenz secured second with 17 laps to go. Mike Reinke in the 10W and Blake Nimee crept their way into the top five after the restart as well. 15 done and 15 to go, the yellow flies for Thiel. The Gibbsville Cheese 73 would retire for the evening after spinning in turn four with car complications.

Halfway done, the green flag flies. Reinke goes to the bottom to grab third from Schuett. Entering the front stretch, Schuett makes an attempt to take back the third position, but Reinke quickly takes it back. Nimee comes flying behind Schuett for fourth, but Schuett takes it back after a strong battle on lap 18. Balog continues to weave through lap traffic with a strong lead on Arenz.

Balog crosses the checkered to win the 30 lap cornfest feature at Angell Park Speedway. Bill would take home his third Angell Park Speedway feature win this year, meaning he won every visit the IRA had at the speedway in 2023.

The Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints will be back in action TOMORROW at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. We will round out our doubleheader weekend at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri.

Photos by Emily Schwanke

Results for 8/19/2023 at Wilmot Raceway - Wilmot, WI
410 Sprints - Winged 41 Entries
A Feature 30 Laps | 00:17:19.357

1. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 2. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[1]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke[2]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[13]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 6. 23-Russel Borland[7]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[10]; 8. 73-Scotty Thiel[11]; 9. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[8]; 10. 96-Jake Blackhurst[5]; 11. 25T-Travis Arenz[22]; 12. 4K-Kris Spitz[18]; 13. 16C-Tylar Rankin[3]; 14. 47-Todd King[14]; 15. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[17]; 16. 25-Danny Schlafer[21]; 17. 68-Dave Uttech[9]; 18. 19J-Jett Mann[12]; 19. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[15]; 20. 49-Josh Schneiderman[19]; 21. 70-Chris Klemko[20]; 22. 16-Anthony Knierim[23]; 23. 37-Bryce Norris[24]; 24. 13-Van Gurley Jr[16]

B Feature 12 Laps | 00:15:09.868

1. 25-Danny Schlafer[2]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[5]; 3. 16-Anthony Knierim[1]; 4. 37-Bryce Norris[4]; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett[3]; 6. 79-Blake Nimee[11]; 7. 19CW-Ion Stear[9]; 8. U2-Jack Vanderboom[8]; 9. 55-Austin Deblauw[7]; 10. 87-Austin Hartmann[10]; 11. 99-Tyler Brabant[6]; 12. 24-Scott Conger[15]; 13. 26R-Preston Ruh[13]; 14. 21-Will Gerrits[12]; 15. 39D-Michael Decker[14]; 16. 43-Jereme Schroeder[20]; 17. 38-Allen Hafford[18]; 18. 65X-Russell Deblauw[19]; 19. (DNF) 19-Todd Daun[16]; 20. (DNF) 83-Tommy Sexton[17]

Dash 1 4 Laps | 00:04:28.284

1. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[2]; 2. 16C-Tylar Rankin[1]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst[4]; 4. 23-Russel Borland[5]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech[3]

Dash 2 4 Laps | 00:01:43.657

1. 10W-Mike Reinke[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[1]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[4]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:17.000

1. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[2]; 2. 23-Russel Borland[3]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[4]; 4. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[5]; 5. 49-Josh Schneiderman[6]; 6. 16-Anthony Knierim[1]; 7. 25T-Travis Arenz[7]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee[9]; 9. 26R-Preston Ruh[8]; 10. 83-Tommy Sexton[10]; 11. (DNS) 92-Kevin Seidler

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:13.000

1. 16C-Tylar Rankin[1]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel[2]; 3. 1-Brenham Crouch[3]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst[4]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[5]; 6. 9K-Kyle Schuett[6]; 7. 55-Austin Deblauw[7]; 8. 19CW-Ion Stear[8]; 9. 24-Scott Conger[9]; 10. 65X-Russell Deblauw[10]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:04:56.000

1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke[3]; 4. 47-Todd King[2]; 5. 70-Chris Klemko[7]; 6. 37-Bryce Norris[5]; 7. U2-Jack Vanderboom[6]; 8. 21-Will Gerrits[8]; 9. 38-Allen Hafford[10]; 10. (DNS) 43-Jereme Schroeder

Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:09:16.000

1. 3N-Jake Neuman[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 3. 19J-Jett Mann[1]; 4. 13-Van Gurley Jr[5]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz[6]; 6. 99-Tyler Brabant[9]; 7. 87-Austin Hartmann[8]; 8. 25-Danny Schlafer[4]; 9. 39D-Michael Decker[10]; 10. (DNF) 19-Todd Daun[7]

Qualifying A | 00:11:36.000

1. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:13.160[21]; 2. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 00:13.228[17]; 3. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.258[7]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.311[19]; 5. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr, 00:13.366[20]; 6. 73-Scotty Thiel, 00:13.368[15]; 7. 16-Anthony Knierim, 00:13.399[18]; 8. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 00:13.458[11]; 9. 26-Tyler Tischendorf, 00:13.471[13]; 10. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:13.482[9]; 11. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 00:13.528[1]; 12. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 00:13.570[4]; 13. 25T-Travis Arenz, 00:13.602[3]; 14. 55-Austin Deblauw, 00:13.616[6]; 15. 26R-Preston Ruh, 00:13.713[2]; 16. 19CW-Ion Stear, 00:13.879[14]; 17. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:13.911[5]; 18. 24-Scott Conger, 00:14.044[10]; 19. 83-Tommy Sexton, 00:14.338[12]; 20. 65X-Russell Deblauw, 00:14.563[16]; 21. 92-Kevin Seidler, 00:16.270[8]

Qualifying B | 00:11:55.000

1. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.874[10]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer, 00:12.969[2]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke, 00:13.031[13]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:13.166[14]; 5. 47-Todd King, 00:13.393[11]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:13.438[12]; 7. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:13.457[5]; 8. 19J-Jett Mann, 00:13.614[7]; 9. 37-Bryce Norris, 00:13.620[18]; 10. 13-Van Gurley Jr, 00:13.654[20]; 11. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 00:13.655[9]; 12. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:13.661[8]; 13. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:13.664[17]; 14. 19-Todd Daun, 00:13.801[19]; 15. 21-Will Gerrits, 00:13.880[4]; 16. 87-Austin Hartmann, 00:13.910[16]; 17. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:13.950[3]; 18. 99-Tyler Brabant, 00:13.975[1]; 19. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:14.057[15]; 20. 39D-Michael Decker, 00:14.400[6]

Hot Laps | 00:16:57.000

1. 17B-Bill Balog[31]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer[23]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[35]; 4. 3N-Jake Neuman[33]; 5. 10W-Mike Reinke[34]; 6. 37-Bryce Norris[39]; 7. 73-Scotty Thiel[15]; 8. 70-Chris Klemko[38]; 9. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[20]; 10. 47-Todd King[32]; 11. 1-Brenham Crouch[19]; 12. 13-Van Gurley Jr[41]; 13. 19-Todd Daun[40]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz[29]; 15. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[26]; 16. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 17. 16-Anthony Knierim[18]; 18. U2-Jack Vanderboom[30]; 19. 96-Jake Blackhurst[17]; 20. 87-Austin Hartmann[37]; 21. 38-Allen Hafford[36]; 22. 19J-Jett Mann[28]; 23. 9K-Kyle Schuett[4]; 24. 68-Dave Uttech[21]; 25. 49-Josh Schneiderman[1]; 26. 99-Tyler Brabant[22]; 27. 43-Jereme Schroeder[24]; 28. 16C-Tylar Rankin[11]; 29. 26R-Preston Ruh[2]; 30. 23-Russel Borland[7]; 31. 21-Will Gerrits[25]; 32. 39D-Michael Decker[27]; 33. 19CW-Ion Stear[14]; 34. 26-Tyler Tischendorf[13]; 35. 65X-Russell Deblauw[16]; 36. 55-Austin Deblauw[6]; 37. 83-Tommy Sexton[12]; 38. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[9]; 39. 24-Scott Conger[10]; 40. 92-Kevin Seidler[8]; 41. 79-Blake Nimee[5]

8/20/2023 at Angell Park Speedway - Sun Prairie, WI
410 Sprints - Winged 34 Entries
A Feature 30 Laps | 00:26:33.026

1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[6]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke[16]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[9]; 5. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[20]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch[7]; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett[3]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[14]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[18]; 10. 16C-Tylar Rankin[23]; 11. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]; 12. 22-Riley Goodno[13]; 13. 3B-Shelby Bosie[17]; 14. 87A-Austin Hartmann[4]; 15. 2W-Scott Neitzel[15]; 16. 23-Russel Borland[21]; 17. 13-Van Gurley Jr[19]; 18. 49-Josh Schneiderman[12]; 19. 19J-Jett Mann[10]; 20. 25-Danny Schlafer[11]; 21. 96-Jake Blackhurst[8]; 22. 7N-Darin Naida[24]; 23. 73-Scotty Thiel[2]; 24. (DNF) 85M-Steve Meyer[22]

B Feature 12 Laps | 00:06:55.483

1. 23-Russel Borland[4]; 2. 85M-Steve Meyer[1]; 3. 16C-Tylar Rankin[8]; 4. 7N-Darin Naida[2]; 5. 26R-Preston Ruh[5]; 6. U2-Jack Vanderboom[6]; 7. 21-Will Gerrits[12]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 9. 38-Allen Hafford[9]; 10. 99-Tyler Brabant[10]; 11. 85J-Logan Julien[14]; 12. 88-Christopher Flick[11]; 13. 68-Dave Uttech[3]; 14. (DNS) 39V-William Huck

Dash 1 4 Laps | 00:03:04.065

1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee[3]

Dash 2 4 Laps | 00:02:40.308

1. 73-Scotty Thiel[2]; 2. 87A-Austin Hartmann[1]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz[3]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst[5]; 5. 19J-Jett Mann[4]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:58.058

1. 9K-Kyle Schuett[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 3. 22-Riley Goodno[5]; 4. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 5. 13-Van Gurley Jr[6]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer[3]; 7. 26R-Preston Ruh[7]; 8. 88-Christopher Flick[8]; 9. (DNS) 39V-William Huck

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:04:11.545

1. 3N-Jake Neuman[1]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer[2]; 3. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 5. 3B-Shelby Bosie[5]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech[3]; 7. 4K-Kris Spitz[8]; 8. 38-Allen Hafford[7]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:04:14.909

1. 73-Scotty Thiel[2]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman[1]; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst[4]; 4. 19J-Jett Mann[3]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[7]; 6. 7N-Darin Naida[5]; 7. 16C-Tylar Rankin[8]; 8. 21-Will Gerrits[9]; 9. 85J-Logan Julien[6]

Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:03:57.622

1. 25T-Travis Arenz[2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[1]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke[3]; 4. 87A-Austin Hartmann[4]; 5. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[7]; 6. 23-Russel Borland[6]; 7. U2-Jack Vanderboom[5]; 8. 99-Tyler Brabant[8]

Qualifying A | 00:00:41.098

1. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.425[8]; 2. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:12.517[4]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:12.721[1]; 4. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:12.793[3]; 5. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:12.836[5]; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer, 00:13.001[9]; 7. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 00:13.071[6]; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman, 00:13.114[11]; 9. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:13.385[15]; 10. 3B-Shelby Bosie, 00:13.420[13]; 11. 13-Van Gurley Jr, 00:13.436[10]; 12. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:13.532[16]; 13. 26R-Preston Ruh, 00:13.532[17]; 14. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:13.729[7]; 15. 88-Christopher Flick, 00:13.815[12]; 16. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:13.842[14]; 17. (DNS) 39V-William Huck, 00:13.842

Qualifying B | 00:05:32.056

1. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 00:13.065[8]; 2. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 00:13.139[1]; 3. 19J-Jett Mann, 00:13.219[3]; 4. 10W-Mike Reinke, 00:13.316[16]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel, 00:13.348[11]; 6. 25T-Travis Arenz, 00:13.393[14]; 7. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 00:13.418[13]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:13.471[12]; 9. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:13.557[2]; 10. U2-Jack Vanderboom, 00:13.564[6]; 11. 85J-Logan Julien, 00:13.734[5]; 12. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.742[15]; 13. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:13.819[9]; 14. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr, 00:13.850[7]; 15. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 00:13.879[17]; 16. 99-Tyler Brabant, 00:14.039[4]; 17. 21-Will Gerrits, 00:14.187[10]

Hot Laps | 00:05:36.290

1. 73-Scotty Thiel[28]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman[30]; 3. 10W-Mike Reinke[33]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 5. 22-Riley Goodno[15]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]; 7. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[29]; 8. 25T-Travis Arenz[31]; 9. 23-Russel Borland[32]; 10. 46JR-Joel Myers Jr[24]; 11. 96-Jake Blackhurst[25]; 12. 2W-Scott Neitzel[16]; 13. 16C-Tylar Rankin[34]; 14. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[26]; 15. 3N-Jake Neuman[11]; 16. 99-Tyler Brabant[21]; 17. 19J-Jett Mann[20]; 18. 85M-Steve Meyer[1]; 19. 21-Will Gerrits[27]; 20. 7N-Darin Naida[19]; 21. 87A-Austin Hartmann[18]; 22. 85J-Logan Julien[22]; 23. 26R-Preston Ruh[17]; 24. 9K-Kyle Schuett[6]; 25. 3B-Shelby Bosie[13]; 26. U2-Jack Vanderboom[23]; 27. 79-Blake Nimee[5]; 28. 4K-Kris Spitz[14]; 29. 13-Van Gurley Jr[10]; 30. 68-Dave Uttech[3]; 31. 25-Danny Schlafer[9]; 32. 38-Allen Hafford[7]; 33. 88-Christopher Flick[12]; 34. (DNS) 39V-William Huck

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