8/21/2015
Viebrock In Exciting Finish Over Mueller At Princeton Kouba Memorial
Competitive racing and exciting finishes have been a mainstay in the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series races. Such was the case once again when the popular non-winged series visited the Princeton Speedway as part of the Ethel Kouba Memorial on Friday August 21. A pair of former TSCS Rookie of the Year drivers, Chase Viebrock and Mike Mueller, put on a classic show for the fans. Viebrock and Mueller officially swapped the lead on four occasions with Viebrock pulling off a pass for the victory coming out of turn four on the final lap! The 25 lap feature race was only slowed once under caution. Viebrock and his crew celebrated the win in Rock Auto Victory Lane following yet another thrilling battle.
Heat races for the 21 car field were won by Jake Kouba, Joseph Kouba and Viebrock. Viebrock was high points following the heats and had the good fortune of drawing the pole starting position for the feature. Jake Kouba, Mueller and 2015 Rookie of the Year James Giossi would start in the 2-4 spots. Viebrock grabbed the early lead up on the cushion, but Mueller, who can usually be found in his patented bottom lane, moved from third to first in the opening laps and took command for the next four laps. Viebrock snuck past Mueller to lead lap eight only to have Mueller return the favor. With Viebrock close behind, Mueller held the top spot until the lone caution waved when Scott Brandt and Jon Lewerer made contact exiting turn two resulting in Brandt's car spinning. On the restart, Viebrock once again narrowly led Mueller at the line on lap 17. Mueller regained the lead the following lap and looked like a winner, as he slowly stretched the margin to several car lengths during the next several laps. On the final lap, Mueller had some trouble exiting turn two which allowed Viebrock to close in. In the final turn, Mueller missed his mark while Viebrock flew around the top. Coming off the final corner, Viebrock blasted by Mueller for the win at the checkers, bringing the crowd to their feet. Giossi finished third ahead of a pair of Koubas, Joseph and Jake. Series point leader Rob Caho, Jr. rode home in sixth followed by GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Award winner Jeremy Kerzman. 2014 TSCS Champion Cam Schafer was eighth with Lewerer and Johnny Parsons III rounding out the top ten. Only one car did not start the feature race (Kevin Bradwell) and all twenty that took the green flag were still running at the end, as the 1/4 mile bullring had plenty of traffic throughout the 25 lap distance.
Viebrock earned $555 for his victory thanks to sponsorship help from the Kouba family and GRP Motorsports. This was the second consecutive year the TSCS sprints ran at the Ethel Kouba Memorial event which featured a $4,000 purse for the non-winged division. Mueller won the Ethel Kouba Memorial last year, so it was only fitting that these two talented drivers would battle for the top spot this year. The following night, the Traditional sprints were scheduled to race at the Ogilvie Raceway, but that event fell victim to the weather and ended up being rained out. Next stop is the Open Wheel Nationals at St. Croix Valley Raceway on August 28.
TSCS Race Results - Princeton Speedway, August 21, 2015 (Race #20)
Ethel Kouba Memorial:
GRP Motorsports & Kouba Family Ethel Kouba Memorial Feature (25 Laps): 1. 50-Chase Viebrock[1]; 2. 87-Mike Mueller[3]; 3. 11-James Giossi[4]; 4. 55-Joseph Kouba[6]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba[2]; 6. 78-Rob Caho Jr[7]; 7. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[14]; 8. 14-Cam Schafer[8]; 9. 69S-Jon Lewerer[10]; 10. 12-Johnny Parsons III[5]; 11. 27-Mike Walters[16]; 12. 7B-Scott Brandt[13]; 13. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[9]; 14. KA1-Blake Anderson[11]; 15. 24-Brian VanMeveren[20]; 16. N1-Tony Duran[12]; 17. 21J-Jori Hughes[17]; 18. 81-Alex Peper[15]; 19. 73-Sid Denzer[18]; 20. 23-Josh Hendrickson[19]; DNS 95-Kevin Bradwell.
Lap Leaders: Viebrock 1-3, Mueller 4-7, Viebrock 8, Mueller 9-16, Viebrock 17, Mueller 18-24, Viebrock 25. Cautions: (1) with 16 laps scored for 7B spin turn 2. Outstanding Feature Race! $100 Kouba Family Hard Luck Award: Kevin Bradwell (DNS) $100 GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Award: Jeremy Kerzman (+7)
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Jake Kouba[3]; 2. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[1]; 3. 87-Mike Mueller[6]; 4. KA1-Blake Anderson[2]; 5. 7B-Scott Brandt[5]; 6. 21J-Jori Hughes[4]; 7. 73-Sid Denzer[7].
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Kouba 1-5, Jake Kouba 6-10. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 55-Joseph Kouba[1]; 2. 78-Rob Caho Jr[3]; 3. 14-Cam Schafer[5]; 4. N1-Tony Duran[2]; 5. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[4]; DNS 95-Kevin Bradwell; DNS 24-Brian VanMeveren.
Lap Leader: Joseph Kouba 1-10. No cautions.
Meeks Video Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 50-Chase Viebrock[2]; 2. 11-James Giossi[7]; 3. 12-Johnny Parsons III[6]; 4. 69S-Jon Lewerer[3]; 5. 81-Alex Peper[1]; 6. 27-Mike Walters[5]; 7. 23-Josh Hendrickson[4].
Lap Leader: Viebrock 1-10. No cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Scott Swenson.
Article Credit: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
