Sauk Rapids, MN — (September 23, 2012) — Chris Graf of Glencoe left little doubt as to who would be the car to beat in the first-ever appearance by the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) race at the Granite City Speedway on Sunday night September 23 when he turned in a very strong performance leading flag to flag in the feature event. After a dominating run in his Challenge Race, Graf found himself starting on the pole position for the 20 lap main when top point driver Jason Tostenson redrew the #4 pill for the feature race invert. Graf wasted no time in gaining the lead and distanced himself from the field on his way to picking up his third UMSS win of the season and tenth of his career. Graf now sits solidly in second place in the current championship point standings following his $1,000 victory.
For the first time in twelve years, the winged sprints returned to the Sauk Rapids track and a strong field of 17 UMSS cars sigend into the pits on a cool but clear fall evening. Following Ultimate Sprint Heat wins by Tony Norem, 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn, and sprint car rookie Rick Kobs, the two Challenge Races were won by a pair of Glencoe drivers, Jason Tostenson and Graf. With Graf and Kobs on the front row for the feature and Norem and Tostenson in row two, flagman Shaun Cimfl waved the green for the 20 lap feature. Graf bolted to the cushion in turn one and began to slowly pull away. The lone caution with six laps scored came for third place runner Rick Kobs who coasted to a stop exiting turn two with a flat tire and apparently some other damage to the right rear of his car.
On the restart, Graf was gone. With a full straightaway lead still growing, Graf began working lapped traffic at the halfway point while fifth starter Cody Hahn took second from Tony Norem. As Graf continued to work lapped traffic, his lead shrunk a little bit but he still maintained a comfortable margin with Hahn a distant second. The final 14 laps of the race ran nonstop. On the final lap exiting turn four, Graf slapped the turn four concrete wall a bit but it only slowed his pace slightly. Hahn rode home to the checkers in second followed by eighth starter and current UMSS point leader Jerry Richert, Jr. Tony Norem finished fourth with 2009 UMSS Champion Leigh Thomas rounding out the top five. Tostenson was sixth ahead of Mark Toews of Spirit Lake, Iowa. Toews was driving the Valentine sprinter. The top seven cars finished on the lead lap. Rounding out the top ten finishers was Sye Anderson, Jared Goerges and Tony Kaus. Sixteen of the seventeen starters finished.
Defending UMSS Champion Jerry Richert, Jr. continues to lead the 2012 GRP Motorsports High Five UMSS Championship Point Standings with two races remaining. Chris Graf is second in points followed by Sye Anderson, Tony Kaus and Anna Kouba. Anna was unable to be on hand at Granite City, but she still held on to the fifth place position in the standings with a drivers two lowest scores being thrown out. Joe Kouba had the #5 car on hand with his brother Jimmy Kouba’s son Jake making his winged sprint car debut. Jake Kouba had just made his non-winged sprint car debut on Friday night at St. Croix Valley Raceway. It’s not often that a young driver gets to make their first lap in both divisions on the same weekend. Also of interest at Granite City, it was the first time this season that all three past UMSS Champions were on hand at a UMSS race in 2012.
The UMSS takes one weekend off before the grand finale to the season takes place at the Elko Speedway on Friday and Saturday October 5-6 for the 2nd Annual Fall Dirt Nationals. The October UMSS races last year at Elko were two of the best nights of racing seen around the area in quite some time, and the UMSS is looking forward to another strong field of competitors this year. The Friday night feature pays $1,000 to win while the Saturday winner will go home with $2,000. Be sure and join us for the final two UMSS races of the season at Elko Speedway, as we will crown the 2012 UMSS Champion on Saturday night October 6. Fans can follow the UMSS on their website at www.umsprints.com or become a friend of the UMSS on their Facebook page.
UMSS Race Results – Granite City Speedway September 23, 2012 (Race #18)
Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Heat #1 (6 laps): Tony Norem 45, Jason Tostenson 36, Chris Graf 20G, Jerry Richert Jr. 63, Mark Toews 32, Lucas Milz 60.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Heat #2 (6 laps): Cody Hahn 23, Sye Anderson 37, Tony Kaus 3TK, Jared Goerges 9, Chad Patterson 15, Reed Allex 91A.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Heat #3 (6 laps): Rick Kobs 34, Leigh Thomas 29, Cam Schafer 54, Dan Grams 13, Jake Kouba 5.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #1 (9 laps): Tostenson, Richert, Norem, Thomas, Toews, Kaus, Grams, Kouba, Allex.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Graf, Goerges, Kobs, Hahn, Schafer, Patterson, Milz, Anderson DQ (did not scale).
GRP Motorsports A Main (20 laps): Graf, Hahn, Richert, Norem, Thomas, Tostenson, Toews, Anderson, Goerges, Kaus, Kouba, Patterson, Schafer, Grams, Milz, Allex, Kobs DNF.
Lap Leader: Graf 1-20
Cautions: (1)