By Bill W
August 21, 2011 – Bill Balog emerged victorious Sunday night at LaSalle Speedway’s Bill Waite Jr. Memorial in LaSalle, Illinois. The event included the Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car Series and the Midwest Open Wheel Association’s Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series. There were 35 sprint cars on hand. Balog’s win paid him $3,000 and was his tenth in IRA competition this season.
Mike Reinke shot out to an early lead from the pole in the 20-lap main event. AJ Bruns was soon on his tail, getting by front row starter Scott Biertzer. With three laps in the books, Chris Urish flipped in turn three, bringing out the red flag.
Reinke led Bruns, Biertzer, Paul May and Jordan Goldesberry back to green flag racing. Two more laps were recorded when Biertzer spun in turn four. By that point, Balog had moved up to fourth, and Jimmy Hurley had moved into fifth from his fourth row starting spot.
Bruns pressured the leader on the low side, and passed him crossing the flagstand completing lap eight. The pass was negated as quick-timer, Scott Neitzel, flipped in turn three to bring another red flag period.
Three restarts at that point failed to get things rolling again. A Bill Wirth spin started things. Bruns jumped Reinke’s left rear tire and spun collecting sixth place Bill Warren. May took the lead from Reinke on the next restart, but that was negated when Monster point leader Jerrod Hull stopped in turn two.
Reinke still led May, Balog, Hurley and Goldesberry back to green on lap nine before the final caution was waved. May spun and collected Scott Uttech, ending both of their nights. The last eleven laps went green, and Balog shot into the lead shortly after the restart and held on to increase his IRA point lead. Hurley was able to follow him into second.
Balog talked about his win. “We had that open red and made a couple of adjustments. We really got the nose up on the starts, and we knew we couldn’t run the bottom without pretty much stopping. It was a long one, but it was fun. We got another win for the team. We’ve been at the right place at the right time this year. When we get it right, we get it right.”
Hurley rode the low side to second, ahead of Reinke. Goldesberry was fourth ahead of IRA rookie TJ Luedke who was fifth after starting in row eight. Matt Vandervere, Jim Moughan Jr., Korey Weyant, Wayne Modjeski and Kris Spitz rounded out the top ten.
Reinke, Warren, Hull and Scott Uttech won heats. Neitzel and Spitz won the B mains. It was a tough night for Neitzel, who grabbed quick time. He was part of an accident in his heat that saw heavy contact with the wall, before his flip in the feature. Joey Moughan got upside down in turns one and two in his heat, as did Tony Bures. A number of incidents made for a long night.
The IRA next hits the track this Friday night at the Oshkosh Speedzone in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, while the Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series will see its next action Friday, September 2 at the Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Illinois.
Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car Series Main Event (started), 20 laps: 1. 17B, Bill Balog, Milwaukee, WI (5) 2. 35, Jimmy Hurley, Springfield, IL (8) 3. 02, Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI (1) 4. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (6) 5. 21T, TJ Luedke, Plymouth, WI (15) 6. 10V, Matt Vandervere, Zion, IL (16) 7. 1mm, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (20) 8. 99, Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (17) 9. 14AJ, Wayne Modjeski, Oak Creek, WI (18) 10. 4K, Kris Spitz, Salem, WI (12) 11. 4B, Scott Biertzer, West Bend, WI (2) 12. 1m, Phillip Mock, Pleasant Prairie, WI (22) 13. 53w, Bill Wirth, Cudahy, WI (14) 14. 95, Bill Warren, Beaver Dam, WI (9) 15. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (19) 16. 7, Scott Uttech, New Berlin, WI (10) 17. 71M, Paul May, Terre Haute, IN (4) 18. 44, AJ Bruns, Lincoln, IL (3) 19. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (7) 20. 5H, Patrick Haynes, Bradley, IL (21) 21. 2w, Scott Neitzel, Beaver Dam, WI (11) 22. 77u, Chris Urish, Elkhart, IL (13) Lap Leaders: Reinke 1-8, Balog 9-20. Hard Charger: Jim Moughan.
Quick Qualifier: Scott Neitzel, 11.082 seconds.
Weld Racing Heat one (started, top four to A, 10 laps): 1. Mike Reinke (3) 2. Bill Balog (5) 3. Wayne Modjeski (7) 4. Scott Biertzer (4) / 5. 14, Kenny Haynes, Bourbonnais, IL (9) 6. Patrick Haynes (1) 7. 23s, Robbie Standridge, Springfield, IL (2) 8. 14x, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (8) 9. Scott Neitzel (6)
Lane Automotive Heat two (started, top four to A, 10 laps): 1. Bill Warren (2) 2. Paul May (5) 3. Jimmy Hurley (6) 4. TJ Luedke (1) / 5. Jim Moughan Jr. (7) 6. 68, Dave Uttech, Kenosha, WI (3) 7. Ben Wagoner (4) 8. 11, Mark Brucker, Elliott, IL (9) 9. 41D, Michael Decker, Silver Lake, WI (8)
DMI Heat three (started, top four to A, 10 laps): 1. Jerrod Hull (6) 2. Chris Urish (4) 3. Matt Vandervere (1) 4. Bill Wirth (2) / 5. Phillip Mock (3) 6. 3JR, Mike Martin, Yuma, AZ (9) 7. Kris Spitz (5) 8. 28, Justin Springer, Pekin, IL (7) 9. 58, Tony Bures, Bristol, IN (8)
King Racing Products Heat four (started, top four to A, 10 laps): 1. Scott Uttech (3) 2. AJ Bruns (5) 3. Jordan Goldesberry (6) 4. Korey Weyant (1) / 5. 52F, Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (7) 6. 10s, Jeremy Standridge, Springfield, IL (4) 7. 23, Russel Borland, Kewaskum, WI (2) 8. 94, Brandon Thone, Sheboygan, WI (8)
Behling Racing Products B Main one (started, top three to A, 10 laps): 1. Scott Neitzel (1) 2. Ben Wagoner (2) 3. Patrick Haynes (5) / 4. Robbie Standridge (4) 5. Dave Uttech (3) 6. Brandon Thone (8) 7. Mark Brucker (7) 8. Justin Springer (6) DNS – Joey Moughan, Tony Bures
Behling Racing Products B Main two (started, top three to A, 10 laps): 1. Kris Spitz (1) 2. Jim Moughan Jr. (5) 3. Phillip Mock (3) / 4. Logan Faucon (6) 5. Jeremy Standridge (2) 6. Kenny Haynes (8) 7. Michael Decker (7) 8. Russel Borland (4) 9. Mike Martin (9)