9/12/2015
Justin Henderson Wins Richert Memorial, Stays Perfect in UMSS Competition
Ryan Bowers Earns First UMSS Championship!
Championship night arrived with a full field of sprint cars in the pits at the Cedar Lake Speedway. Featuring the IRA/NSL 410 sprints, the UMSS 360 sprints, and the UMSS Traditional non-winged sprints, a track-record of 80 sprint cars were on hand in the three divisions. For the UMSS winged sprints, the season championship had come down to a battle between Ryan Bowers and Chris Graf with Jerry Richert, Jr. having an outside chance at the title during the running of the 15th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial. Justin Henderson was also looking to extend his UMSS win streak to four. Mission accomplished, as the Tea, South Dakota racer led all 25 laps of the UMSS feature race and once again sat in Rock Auto Victory Lane. During four late season appearances with the UMSS, Henderson batted a perfect 100% by winning all four races and picked up nearly $12,000 in winnings in the process!
A strong field of nineteen UMSS winged sprints were on hand with the usual race format of heats and Challenge races in place on a great evening for sprint car racing at the 3/8 mile high-banked dirt oval located in western Wisconsin. Henderson, Austin Johnson and Bill Balog picked up heat race wins. Ryan Bowers and Richert topped the Challenge races. The top four in passing and finishing points from the double round of qualifiers redrew for the first two rows in the main event. Henderson and Richert occupied the front row with Balog and Brooke Tatnell in row two. Henderson got the hole shot at the drop of the green and never looked back, as he lead the entire 25 lap distance. The race was slowed twice under caution. The first yellow waved with one lap in when Jamie Ball spun in turn four after contact with Austin Johnson. The second caution slowed the pace 10 laps into the race when Johnson stopped in turn two and required wrecker assistance to the pits.
Henderson stayed perfect in UMSS competition by finishing ahead of Tatnell, Richert, GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Scotty Thiel, and Balog in the top five. Rounding out the top ten was Lee Grosz, Ball, Bowers, Chris Graf and Chris Martin. Ryan Bowers wrapped up the 2015 UMSS Championship by defeating Graf in the feature race. Congrats to Bowers and the Mastell Racing Team on a tremendous 2015 season! Graf ended up 27 points behind Bowers in the final point standings with Richert 52 markers back of Bowers. In determining the 2015 GRP Motorsports UMSS Championship, a driver was able to throw out their two lowest point scores which meant the top three drivers tallied up their best 17 races. Jake Lempelius was officially crowed the 2015 GRP Motorsports UMSS Rookie of the Year as well. Bowers and his crew celebrated their championship as Henderson and his crew sat in CLS Victory Lane.
The UMSS wishes to thank all of the drivers, crews, fans, sponsors and everyone else involved in helping make the seventh UMSS season a success. Look for upcoming announcements regarding the Fall Rules Meeting and the 2015 UMSS banquet in the weeks and months to come. Although it seems like a long ways off right now, the 2016 UMSS season will roll around next spring and we will once again be enjoying the sights and sounds of sprint car racing action!
UMSS Race Results - Cedar Lake Speedway September 12, 2015 (Race #19)
15th Annual Jerry Richert, Sr. Memorial
Midwest Power Equip & GRP Motorsports 15th Annual Jerry Richert Sr Memorial Feature (25 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Henderson[1]; 2. 14-Brooke Tatnell[4]; 3. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[2]; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel[9]; 5. 34D-Bill Balog[3]; 6. 4J-Lee Grosz[8]; 7. 5J-Jamie Ball[5]; 8. 199-Ryan Bowers[10]; 9. 20G-Chris Graf[7]; 10. 44-Chris Martin[15]; 11. 1D-Dean Brown[12]; 12. 91A-Reed Allex[13]; 13. 7M-Bob McVitty[16]; 14. (DNF) 52-Jake Lempelius[11]; 15. (DNF) 81-Austin Johnson[6]; 16. (DNF) 15-Chad Patterson[14]; DNS 5M-Troy Manteufel; DNS 5-Anna Kouba; DNS 29H-Russ Hall
Lap Leader: Henderson 1-25. Cautions: (2) for 5J spin turn 4 after contact with 81 one lap into the race. 81 stopped in turn 2 10 laps into the race (on the hook to the pits).
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race 1 (9 Laps): 1. 199-Ryan Bowers[1]; 2. 1-Justin Henderson[6]; 3. 34D-Bill Balog[5]; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel[3]; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]; 6. 1D-Dean Brown[7]; 7. 5M-Troy Manteufel[9]; 8. 7M-Bob McVitty[8]; 9. (DNF) 44-Chris Martin[2]; DNS 29H-Russ Hall
Lap Leader: Bowers 1-9. Cautions: (1) yellow for 5M spin on opening lap.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 2 (9 Laps): 1. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[2]; 2. 5J-Jamie Ball[3]; 3. 14-Brooke Tatnell[4]; 4. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 5. 81-Austin Johnson[6]; 6. 91A-Reed Allex[7]; 7. 15-Chad Patterson[1]; 8. 52-Jake Lempelius[8]; DNS 5-Anna Kouba
Lap Leader: Richert 1-9. Cautions: (1) for debris on front stretch after 1 lap scored.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Henderson[4]; 2. 20G-Chris Graf[2]; 3. 4J-Lee Grosz[7]; 4. 63-Jerry Richert Jr[6]; 5. 199-Ryan Bowers[5]; 6. 91A-Reed Allex[1]; 7. 5M-Troy Manteufel[3]
Lap Leaders: Graf 1-4, Henderson 5-7. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 81-Austin Johnson[2]; 2. 29H-Russ Hall[1]; 3. 5J-Jamie Ball[3]; 4. 44-Chris Martin[6]; 5. 1D-Dean Brown[5]; 6. 52-Jake Lempelius[4]
Lap Leader: Johnson 1-6. No cautions. Note: Hall had engine failure on final lap and was scratched for the remainder of the evening.
Sprintsource.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 34D-Bill Balog[2]; 2. 14-Brooke Tatnell[4]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel[5]; 4. 15-Chad Patterson[3]; 5. 5-Anna Kouba[6]; 6. 7M-Bob McVitty[1]
Lap Leader: Balog 1-6. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
