5/7/2011
Tatnell Tops Opener at Ogilvie Raceway
"Awesome Aussie" Tatnell Tops UMSS Opener at Ogilvie Raceway
Ogilvie, MN
When the Nelson Motorsports sprinter signed into the Ogilvie Raceway pits on Saturday night May 7 with driver Brooke Tatnell, the already talent-laden field of Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) drivers knew that the competition just became that much stronger and the task of winning the season opening feature race would be a real challenge. Brooke Tatnell was up to the task and held off a determined late race bid by his brother-in-law Jerry Richert, Jr. to earn the $1,000 top prize on a beautiful spring evening. Following his victory, Tatnell thanked his car owners for the opportunity to race and commented on defeating a fellow family member. "I knew Jerry would be coming after me on the bottom following that last caution, but I had strong car and was able to keep good momentum up in the corners. This is a fun track and I enjoyed racing against a strong field of UMSS drivers." The Awesome Aussie, now residing in Forest Lake, earned his fourth career UMSS feature victory.
Following the double round of qualifying races, high point driver Brooke Tatnell drew the #4 pill for the feature invert. This put a pair of 2010 rookie drivers on the front row for the feature race. Andy Jones, fresh off his first-ever sprint car win in the first Challenge Race, and 2010 UMSS Rookie of the Year Jared Goerges brought the field to the green for the 20 lap feature event. On the opening lap, cars were three wide exiting turn two with Jones up top, Goerges in the middle, and Jerry Richert, Jr. on the bottom. As they entered turn three, Goerges made a bid for the lead but looped his sprinter. All cars avoided him, and the race restarted with Tatnell moving up to the outside front row starting spot and Goerges tagging the tail.
After a quick yellow for a caution light malfunction, the race was under green with Tatnell blasting into the lead. Jones ran a very strong second behind Tatnell for the first 11 laps. On lap 12, Richert ducked under Jones for second. One lap later, 10th starter Chris Graf moved past Jones for third. Graf had cracked the top five in just a couple of laps and steadily continued to work his way forward. The final caution blinked on with 15 laps in the books when 2011 rookie contender, Anna Kouba, spun in turn one. Tatnell's lead was erased with Richert now immediately behind him.
During the final five lap shootout, Richert worked down low while Tatnell remained up top on the cushion. Meanwhile, Joseph Kouba slipped by Jones for fourth on lap 16. Richert edged ahead of Tatnell briefly and then pulled alongside him again entering turn one with two to go and got by down the backstretch, but Tatnell held strong in the top spot to power back to the lead off turn four. On the final lap, Graf was able to dart under Richert in turn one and took the second position exiting turn two. Tatnell crossed the finish line several car lengths ahead of Graf with Richert a close third. Joseph Kouba finished fourth with Jones rounding out the top five for his best finish in his brief sprint car racing career.
Goerges recovered from his opening lap mishap to post a strong sixth place finish right behind Jones. Scott Broty, making his return to sprint car racing after sitting out since 2007, rode home in seventh ahead of 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn. Brad Barickman finished ninth with Jesse Smith completing the top ten on a black, smooth track with a cushion up top.
In the battle for the 2011 GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Year Award, Charly Cropp bested Anna Kouba and Chad Patterson. Cropp finished 11th, Anna Kouba was 12th, and Chad Patterson dropped out early with power steering problems for a 14th place finish. Defending 2010 Big "O" Fall Showdown winner Tony Norem was unable to start the feature race when his #45 sprinter suffered a driveline failure in the second Challenge Race.
The Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 saw Brooke Tatnell take top honors. Jared Goerges won the Driverwebsites.com second Ultimate Sprint Race while Brad Barickman finished first in the Sprint Source.com Ultimate Sprint Race #3. Andy Jones held off Tatnell in the M&M Video Productions 8-lap Challenge Race #1 with Jerry Richert, Jr. topping the Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2. Earning bonus money from GRP Motorsports, Tatnell took home an extra $200 bonus for his win in the 20-lap main event. Chris Graf earned the $100 bonus for the GRP Motorsports Hardcharger Award, coming from 10th to finish 2nd in the feature race. Cody Hahn pocketed the $100 GRP Motorsports Past Champions Bonus while Andy Jones also received a $100 GRP Motorsports Retro Rookie Bonus, as Jones bested fellow 2010 rookie contender and ultimate UMSS Rookie of the Year Jared Goerges by one position in the feature race.
Now that the UMSS season is underway, the next event on the schedule is the series first-ever appearance at the Chateau Raceway on Friday night May 13. Sprint cars have not circled the Chateau Raceway, located near Lansing, MN just north of Austin, since 1975. A strong field of UMSS sprint cars is expected, as several more teams will make their 2011 debut. Sprint car fans can follow the UMSS on their recently updated UMSS website at www.umsprints.com, become a friend of the UMSS on their Facebook page, keep tabs on series action with the free UMSS Report newsletter available at each event, or check out the UMSS on various other media outlets including results on Speednet. Catch the excitement of sprint car racing at a track near you!
UMSS Race Results - Ogilvie Raceway May 7, 2011 Season Opener (Race #1):
Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (6 laps): Brooke Tatnell, Tony Norem, Andy Jones, Chris Graf, Scott Broty.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (6 laps): Jared Goerges, Cody Hahn, Joseph Kouba, Charly Cropp, Sye Anderson.
Sprintsource.com Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (6 laps): Brad Barickman, Jerry Richert Jr, Jesse Smith, Anna Kouba, Chad Patterson DNF.
M&M Video Productions Challenge Race #1 (8 laps): Jones, Tatnell, Smith, Barickman, Hahn, Cropp, Broty, Patterson DNS.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Richert, Georges, J Kouba, Anderson, Graf, A Kouba, Norem DNF.
GRP Motorsports A Main (20 laps): Tatnell, Graf, Richert, J Kouba, Jones, Goerges, Broty, Hahn, Barickman, Smith, Cropp, A Kouba DNF, Anderson DNF, Patterson DNF, Norem DNS.
Lap Leader: Tatnell 1-20
(3) cautions.
Very entertaining final five laps!