6/10/2017
IRA Interstate Racing Association
Kertscher Nets Thone Motorsports First Victory in Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints Competition
27 teams pulled into the Oshkosh Speedzone for night 2 of the Hopf Farms Bullring Showdown for the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association. In qualifying defending champion Jeremy Schultz set quick time, over Jordan Goldsberry. Matt Vandervere in the Grandstand Video 10v was 3rd followed by Kyle Marten and Scotty Neitzel.
Heat race one saw Seattle, Washington’s Tayler Malsam jump out to the early lead ahead of Schultz. Schultz would try to reel in the Rudeen Racing 26 but as the checkered flag dropped Malsam was victorious over Schultz and Marten. Wayne Modjeski in the Fatfro 14aj came home in 4th ahead of Scott Uttech in 5th.
In heat 2, Bill Balog was able to utilize a 2nd place starting position to take the early lead and drive away from the pack, eventually claiming the win. Behind Balog, Scotty Thiel drove from a 7th place starting position into 2nd place but would find himself unable to catch the Rhine Auto 17b, and would be forced to settle for 2nd at the finish. Ben Schmidt would bring the 73 car home in 3rd followed by Goldesberry and Steve Meyer in 4th and 5th respectively.
Heat race three saw Mike Kertscher behind the wheel of the Thone Motorsports 80k take the lead at the start followed by Mike Reinke and Neitzel. With a few laps to go Neitzel looped his Bob Hood 2w machine around and would be forced to the tail. Kertscher kept his lead on the restart, but a second caution with two laps to go for a spinning Rusty Egan would bunch the field back up and give Reinke the chance he needed. Going into turn three Reinke was able to power by the 80k and bring home the checkered flag, followed by Kertscher in 2nd and Todd King in 3rd. Jereme Schroeder brought his Bumper to Bumper of Paddock Lake 43 across the line in 4th with Mike Decker in 5th.
In the B main Neitzel utilized his pole starting position to bring home the win. Blake Nimee in the Woodcrafters 79 came home 2nd with Josh Walters in 3rd. Dave Uttech brought his Blue and Black 68 machine across in 4th and Kris Spitz rounded out the top 5.
The A main treated fans to a great show. Mike Reinke was able to power past the Thone 80k on the opening lap but Kertscher never let the yellow 02 out of his sight. Balog drove around Kertscher for 2nd but lap traffic would pay off for the Thone team as Kertscher maneuvered through lapped traffic better than anyone and was able to sneak around both the 17b and the 02, bringing home the first ever victory for the Thone Motorsports Team. Balog and Reinke would finish 2nd and 3rd. 4th place would be claimed by Scotty Thiel who drove his Scott Thiel Builders 64 from 11th place, and Schultz would finish in the 5th position.
A Feature 1
- 80K-Mike Kertscher, [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, [5]; 3. 02-Mike Reinke, [2]; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel, [11]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [6]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, [9]; 7. 99-Kyle Marten, [4]; 8. 26-Tayler Malsam, [3]; 9. 22-Todd King, [13]; 10. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [19]; 11. 53W-Bill Wirth, [7]; 12. 73-Ben Schmidt, [12]; 13. 79-Blake Nimee, [20]; 14. 85M-Steve Meyer, [18]; 15. 10V-Matt Vandevere, [10]; 16. 23-Russel Borland, [17]; 17. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [14]; 18. 12W-Josh Walter, [21]; 19. 7-Scott Uttech, [15]; 20. 4K-Kris Spitz, [23]; 21. 68-Dave Uttech, [22]; 22. 12-Michael Decker, [16]; 23. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [8]; 24. 41-Dennis Spitz, [24]
B Feature 1 - 2W-Scott Neitzel, [1]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee, [3]; 3. 12W-Josh Walter, [4]; 4. 68-Dave Uttech, [2]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz, [6]; 6. 41-Dennis Spitz, [8]; 7. 14AJX-Alex Bliesner, [5]; 8. 18-Keith Fellner, [9]; 9. 50-Rusty Egan, [7]
Heat 1 - 26-Tayler Malsam, [2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [4]; 3. 99-Kyle Marten, [3]; 4. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [1]; 5. 7-Scott Uttech, [6]; 6. 23-Russel Borland, [5]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee, [8]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz, [7]; 9. 41-Dennis Spitz, [9]
Heat 2 - 17B-Bill Balog, [2]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel, [7]; 3. 73-Ben Schmidt, [6]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, [4]; 5. 53W-Bill Wirth, [1]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer, [5]; 7. 12W-Josh Walter, [8]; 8. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [3]; 9. 18-Keith Fellner, [9]
Heat 3 - 02-Mike Reinke, [1]; 2. 80K-Mike Kertscher, [2]; 3. 22-Todd King, [6]; 4. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [7]; 5. 12-Michael Decker, [9]; 6. 10V-Matt Vandevere, [4]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech, [3]; 8. 14AJX-Alex Bliesner, [5]; 9. 50-Rusty Egan, [8]
Qualifying 1 - 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:14.914[1]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:15.014[12]; 3. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 00:15.044[2]; 4. 99-Kyle Marten, 00:15.175[18]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:15.202[10]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:15.222[4]; 7. 26-Tayler Malsam, 00:15.308[23]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:15.447[26]; 9. 80K-Mike Kertscher, 00:15.451[8]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:15.471[15]; 11. 53W-Bill Wirth, 00:15.532[14]; 12. 02-Mike Reinke, 00:15.537[20]; 13. 23-Russel Borland, 00:15.577[5]; 14. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:15.582[24]; 15. 14AJX-Alex Bliesner, 00:15.601[6]; 16. 7-Scott Uttech, 00:15.652[16]; 17. 73-Ben Schmidt, 00:15.665[19]; 18. 22-Todd King, 00:15.699[25]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:15.710[11]; 20. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:15.714[17]; 21. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:15.745[13]; 22. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:15.749[21]; 23. 12W-Josh Walter, 00:15.757[7]; 24. 50-Rusty Egan, 00:15.842[9]; 25. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:16.100[22]; 26. 18-Keith Fellner, 00:16.505[3]; 27. 12-Michael Decker, 00:16.789[27]
Submitted By: Kim Tennyson
