9/2/2013
Richert Wins At Granite City
Richert Races To First 2013 Win At Granite City On Labor Day
(Graf locks up championship title)
Sauk Rapids, MN
The third and final night of the long three race UMSS Labor Day Weekend was contested at the Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids on Labor Day, as the series made their second ever appearance at the 1/3 mile dirt oval located on Golden Spike Road. It was a golden night for 2011-2012 UMSS Champion Jerry Richert, Jr. of Forest Lake, as he picked up his first win of the season and thirteenth career UMSS victory. With his family's big memorial race slated for the following weekend, Richert tuned up for that event with his strongest performance of the season in leading all 25 laps of the feature race at Granite City. The veteran driver did a wing dance in Victory Lane following his win.
The long weekend took its toll on cars and drivers, but a very strong field of 15 UMSS sprints were on hand at Granite City. The UMSS ran their typical double round of qualifiers. Ultimate sprint heats went to Jason Tostenson, Lee Grosz and Lou Kennedy, Jr. Current UMSS point leader Chris Graf won the first Challenge race while Cody Hahn, fresh off a Mighty Axe win at Brainerd, won the second Challenge race. Kennedy was high in points and drew the #4 pill for the feature race invert. This put Richert and Lou's son Thomas Kennedy on the front row.
Immediately racing to the lead at the drop of the green flag, Richert left little doubt in anyone's mind that the two-time UMSS champion was going to be the car to beat. The fast pace was only slowed twice under caution at the halfway mark. Richert was strong on each restart and maintained his lead running up on the cushion. Thomas Kennedy ran second until his dad Lou was able to slip by him on lap 13. Tony Norem got by Thomas Kennedy two laps later for third. Graf ran in fifth until lap 18 when Lee Grosz get by. As the laps peeled off, the checkers were soon waving for Richert followed by Lou Kennedy, Norem, Thomas Kennedy and Grosz in the top five. A solid sixth place finish for Chris Graf locked up the 2013 UMSS Championship title for the Glencoe driver, as none of his closest competitors will be able to overtake him in the point standings at the last race of the season. Congrats to Chris Graf and the entire 20G team for a superb effort in securing the UMSS championship. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Jason Tostenson, Cody Hahn, Rick Kobs and Jared Goerges. Also locking up the 2013 GRP Motorsports Rookie of the Year title was Reed Allex of St. Cloud. Congrats to Reed on being the 2013 Rookie of the Year!
The point battle for positions two through six in the UMSS standings remains very tight coming into the Richert Memorial. Tostenson holds a 23 point lead over Hahn and Norem. Richert is another 23 points back and only one marker ahead of Grosz. A myriad of possible scenarios could play out in the final race of the season, but Tostenson could lock up the runner-up spot in the standings by finishing sixth or better at Cedar Lake Speedway. Hahn and Norem should break their tie while Richert and Grosz could potentially finish as high as third in the final rundown.
The 13th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial will be the final event of the 2013 UMSS season. Elko Speedway is NOT putting the dirt down this fall, so there will be no dirt racing at all for any divisions at Elko in October. Race fans will certainly want to be on hand at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday September 7 for the Richert Memorial, as the IRA Outlaw 410 sprint cars will highlight the program along with the season finale for the UMSS sprints. This annual September gathering for sprint car racing fans is always one of the premier nights on both the IRA and UMSS schedules each season. Fans can keep tabs on the UMSS by visiting our website at www.umsprints.com or by following us on our Facebook page.
UMSS Race Results - Granite City Speedway September 2, 2013 (Race #15)
Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (6 laps): 36 Jason Tostenson, 9 Jared Goerges, 34 Rick Kobs, 91 Davey Heskin, B1st Tony Norem.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (6 laps): 4J Lee Grosz, 20G Chris Graf, 63 Jerry Richert Jr, 23 Cody Hahn, 5 Katrina Sautbine.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (6 laps): 21k Lou Kennedy Jr, 20k Thomas Kennedy, 10x Jennifer Eriksen, 48 Neal Matuska, 91A Reed Allex.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #1 (8 laps): Graf, L. Kennedy, Norem, Kobs, Tostenson, Matuska, Allex, Heskin DNF.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Hahn, Richert, T. Kennedy, Goerges, Grosz, Eriksen, Sautbine.
GRP Motorsports Feature (25 laps): Richert, L. Kennedy, Norem, T. Kennedy, Grosz, Graf, Tostenson, Hahn, Kobs, Georges, Sautbine, Eriksen, Matuska, Allex, Heskin DNF.
Lap Leader: Richert 1-25
Cautions: (2)
Victory Lane photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
