From Terry Lehnertz
St. Croix Falls, MN — (August 28, 2015) — In the biggest event on the St. Croix Valley Raceway calendar, excitement filled the air. And in the case of Ryan Bowers, winged sprint cars filled the air as well with a terrifying and spectacular crash. Bowers, as well as nearby spectators, all walked away completely unscathed in a crash that left the collective heartbeats of witnesses at a standstill. Justin Henderson was crowned the 2015 Open Wheel Nationals winged sprint champion while Johnny Parsons III claimed his second OWN title in the Traditional sprints. The WISSOTA Midwest Modified race was claimed by Josh Bazey for a second time and Buzzy Adams also claimed his second OWN crown in the WISSOTA Modifieds.
The UMSS Traditional Sprints started off the feature racing with their annual Traditional 40, the longest race of the season. Pole starter Johnny Parsons III squirted out to a quick lead and ran off 40 perfect laps to best the 23-car field. Parsons’ front row starting mate Jeremy Kerzman raced in a group that included James Giossi and Rob Caho Jr. A red flap on lap five for the flipped car of Brian VanMeveren stopped the action, but on the restart, Parsons stuck to his smooth, fast and successful low groove to tighten his grip on the lead. Caho, racing despite a respiratory condition diagnosed earlier in the week, was moving up and challenged Giossi for second back under green. After a few more cautions, the last 23 laps clicked off under green with Parsons staying fast down low. Giossi and Caho would continue their tussle while Jimmy Kouba and Joseph Kouba started working the pack. Joseph Kouba, after starting thirteen, cracked the top five on lap 25, while eighteenth starting Jimmy Kouba was on his tail, in sixth place by lap 27. At the double checkers it was Parsons claiming his second career Open Wheel Nationals title and fourth feature win of the summer. Giossi eventually bested Caho for second, with Joseph Kouba and Kerzman rounding out the top five.
Heat race winners Jared Boumeester and Josh Bazey paced the 24-car WISSOTA Midwest Modified field to green for their 30-lap finale with Boumeester claiming the point early. Bazey held down the runner-up spot with past event champion Jason VandeKamp , Mike Truscott, Eric Lamm and David Mastell in the mix as well. The running order shuffled throughout the field as cars swapped grooves and positions, with Boumeester steady up front. With thirteen laps in, Bazey made his move, taking over the lead, leaving Boumeester to contend with the Truscott/VandeKamp/Lamm group while Jason Miller joined that battle as well. VandeKamp slid as far back as fourth before coming to life late in the race to overtake Boumeester with about four laps remaining. Bazey went on to win his second Open Wheel Nationals crown, taking home the iconic steering wheel shaped trophy in the caution free feature. VandeKamp was shut out of victory lane for the first time ever at the Nationals, settling for second in front of Boumeester, Miller and Truscott.
Another Nationals repeat win occurred in the WISSOTA Modified portion of the show, with Buzzy Adams blasting from his outside pole starting position to grab and hold the point for 30 laps. Pole starter Steve Lavasseur was the early runner-up before Mike Anderson grabbed the spot on lap two. After a handful of laps, Ashley Anderson was up to third and the #57 of Mike Anderson and Ashley Anderson’s #81 locked horns for several laps. While Adams raced to a sizable lead, all eyes were glued to the donnybrook for runner-up. Ashley Anderson finally broke free of the battle with about ten circuits remaining but could make no headway in running down the race long leader. Adams claimed his second Steering Wheel Trophy in as many years with the flag-to-flag win over Anderson. Kevin Eder had a strong showing, after starting tenth the Ashland, Wisconsin, racer came on in the last half of the race to an impressive third place finish in front of previous event winner Jesse Glenz, while Mike Anderson rounded out the top five.
An already light field of UMSS winged sprints was made even lighter before the finale. With just thirteen of the might winged warriors checking in to do battle, the numbers were reduced by two after the dual qualifying rounds. In the second heat race, Kevin Bradwell erupted into a cockpit engulfing ball of flames exiting turn four, making for a dramatic front stretch evacuation of his racer. But the unimaginable “flight 199” incident was the one that will have fans spinning legendary yarns for generations to come. In the second Challenge race, the #199 of 2014 UMSS rookie-of-the-year and current series points leader Ryan Bowers slid his right rear into the turn two wall. While still at full throttle, the initial hit snapped the front of the car into the concrete, launching the eight-time feature winner into a virtual low earth orbit. By some estimates, the racer traversed some 200 feet between contact points with terra firma, and still photographs of the incident revealed the glow of track lights under the sprinter’s flight path. Thankfully the initial landing site was a staging area filled with aluminum bleacher planks for a planned facility upgrade – but Bowers skidded through that area and into the pit area proper – where onlookers had enough time to scramble out of harm’s way. Everyone in the vicinity as well as the driver emerged completely unhurt. In fact, just minutes after the accident, Bowers was in the grandstands handing out free t-shirts to fans and even gave a short interview – expressing relief that no one in the pit area was injured.
After those two spectacular incidents, just eleven cars remained to start the $2000 to win headline event, with Russ Hall and Justin Henderson on the front row. Henderson, in just his second series start, blasted to the point with Hall tucked in behind. Tony Norem, Chris Graf, Jerry Richert Jr. and Rick Kobs all jockeyed for position aft of the lead duo until lap seven when Richert flipped his #34DD ride over the wall in turn four. Back under green Kobs pressured Norem for third while Graf slid back to fifth before the top group started to spread out. At the end of the 25-lapper it was Henderson picking up his second series win in as many tries to take home the 2015 Open Wheel Nationals title in front of Hall, Norem, Kobs and Graf.
St. Croix Valley Raceway is back in action on Friday night, September 4th, with the WISSOTA Late Models taking center stage for the Russ and Brent Laursen Classic. The annual visit by the Late Models to the bullring will also include WISSOTA Street Stocks and WISSOTA Modifieds, who will join the five regular weekly divisions at the Valley – WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, SCVR Minivans/Future Four and Purestocks, and UMSS Traditional and Micro sprints. The season wraps up at the 23rd annual Kouba memorial on September 11. More information regarding future SCVR events can be found on the track’s website, www.SCVRaceway.com, or on their Facebook page.
Race Results (unofficial) – August 28, 2015
WISSOTA Modified Feature: Kevin Adams, Ashley Anderson, Kevin Eder, Jesse Glenz, Mike Anderson, Brandon Jensen, Justin Oestreich, JB Stortz, Doug Gustafson, Steve Lavasseur, Adam Ayotte, Kyle Steffen, Chet Atkinson, Bob Houston, Jason Mueller, Scott Splittstoesser, Nikki Wrazildlo, Dustin Nelson, Matt Leer, Jason Gross, Jake Miller
Heat 1: Oestreich, Lavasseur, M Anderson, Eder, Glenz, Jason Miller, Splittstoesser
Heat 2: Adams, Stortz, Leer, Ayotte, Steffen, Wrazildlo, Gross
Heat 3: Gustafson, A Anderson, Jensen, Jake Miller, Atkinson, Nelson, Houston
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature: Josh Bazey, Jason VandeKamp, Jared Boumeester, Jason Miller, Mike Truscott, Eric Lamm, Grant Southworth, Nick Koehler, Mitch Weiss, Dan Wheeler, Robbie Franklin, Jeff Born, David Mastell, Tony Schill, Justin Froemming, Kevin Eder, Jason Haugerud, Tyler Vernon, Eric Gadach, Jacob Toepper, Travis Anderson, Elizabeth Toepper, Mike Mueller, Kevin Marlett
Heat 1: Boumeester, Koehler, Haugerud, Born, E Toepper, Franklin, Gorka, Fremming
Heat 2: Miller, Mastell, Southworth, Schill, Hallin, Krause, Mueller (DNS)
Heat 3: Bazey, Truscott, Weiss, Eder, Wheeler, Vernon, Lee
Heat 4: Lamm, VandaKamp, Anderson, J Toepper, Remington, Gadach, Marlett, Ayotte, Berg, Arnt (DNF)
B-Feature: Dan Wheeler, Robbie Franklin, Justin Froemming, Tyler Vernon, Elizabeth Toepper, Eric Gadach, Mike Mueller, Kevin Marlett, Kyle Hallin, Jared Gorka, Nick Ayotte, Greg Arnt, Derrick Berg, John Remington, Haley Lee, Jesse Krause
UMSS Sprints | Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series
Mastell Brothers & GRP Motorsports A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Henderson[2]; 2. 29H-Russ Hall[1]; 3. B1ST-Tony Norem[3]; 4. 34-Rick Kobs[7]; 5. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 6. 03-Jamey Ogston[6]; 7. 91A-Reed Allex[9]; 8. 52-Jake Lempelius[10]; 9. 7M-Roger McVitty[11]; 10. (DNF) 5-Anna Kouba[8]; 11. (DNF) 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[4]; DNS 199-Ryan Bowers; DNS 95-Kevin BradwellLap Leader: Henderson 1-25. Cautions: (4) – 03 spin turn 1 with 2 laps in; 5 spin turn 4 with 6 laps in; 34D flipped over turn 4 wall with 7 laps in (red); 5 spin turn 2 with 20 laps in.
Hoosier Racing Tire Challenge Race 1 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Jamey Ogston[2]; 2. 29H-Russ Hall[5]; 3. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[4]; 4. 34-Rick Kobs[3]; 5. 91A-Reed Allex[6]; 6. 52-Jake Lempelius[1]; DNS 95-Kevin BradwellLap Leader: Ogston 1-8. No cautions.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race 2 (8 Laps): 1. B1ST-Tony Norem[2]; 2. 1-Justin Henderson[5]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[3]; 4. 5-Anna Kouba[1]; 5. 7M-Roger McVitty[6]; 6. (DNF) 199-Ryan Bowers[4]Lap Leader: Norem 1-8. Cautions: (1) red with 4 laps in for 199 spectacular-looking flip over turn 2 wall and into pit area (no injuries). 199 done for the night.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 29H-Russ Hall[1]; 2. 199-Ryan Bowers[2]; 3. 34-Rick Kobs[3]; 4. B1ST-Tony Norem[4]; 5. 52-Jake Lempelius[5]; 6. 7M-Roger McVitty[7]; 7. (DNF) 91A-Reed Allex[6]Lap Leader: Hall 1-7. No cautions.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 1-Justin Henderson[4]; 2. 34D-Jerry Richert Jr[6]; 3. 20G-Chris Graf[5]; 4. 03-Jamey Ogston[2]; 5. 5-Anna Kouba[1]; 6. (DNF) 95-Kevin Bradwell[3]Lap Leaders: Ogston 1-5, Henderson 6-7. Cautions: (1) red flag for engine fire on 95 on lap 6. G-W-C finish after that.
TSCS Sprints | Traditional Sprint Car Series
Mastell Brothers & GRP Motorsports Traditional 40 Feature (40 Laps): 1. 12-Johnny Parsons III[1]; 2. 11-James Giossi[4]; 3. 78-Rob Caho Jr[7]; 4. 55-Joseph Kouba[13]; 5. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[2]; 6. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[18]; 7. 87-Mike Mueller[22]; 8. N1-Tony Duran[19]; 9. 69S-Jon Lewerer[3]; 10. 24-Brian VanMeveren[5]; 11. 95-Kevin Bradwell[20]; 12. 50-Chase Viebrock[11]; 13. 7B-Scott Brandt[8]; 14. 27-Mike Walters[16]; 15. 21J-Jori Hughes[10]; 16. KA1-Blake Anderson[14]; 17. 14-Cam Schafer[6]; 18. 23-Josh Hendrickson[21]; 19. 73-Sid Denzer[17]; 20. (DNF) 31-Doug Taubert[23]; 21. (DNF) 34-Denny Stordahl[15]; 22. (DNF) 6-Jake Kouba[9]; 23. (DNF) 81-Dan Peper[12]Lap Leader: Parsons 1-40. Cautions: (3) – Red flag with 4 laps in for 24 rollover turn 2, collected 14,6,7B (all cars restarted tail except 6); yellow with 9 laps in for 34 blown engine turn 3; yellow with 17 laps in for KA1 spin turn 3.
Meeks Video Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14-Cam Schafer[1]; 2. 7B-Scott Brandt[3]; 3. 6-Jake Kouba[5]; 4. 78-Rob Caho Jr[8]; 5. KA1-Blake Anderson[6]; 6. 27-Mike Walters[4]; 7. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[7]; 8. 23-Josh Hendrickson[2]Lap Leader: Schafer 1-10. No cautions.
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 11-James Giossi[2]; 2. 24-Brian Vanmeveren[4]; 3. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[7]; 4. 21J-Jori Hughes[6]; 5. 34-Denny Stordahl[3]; 6. 31-Doug Taubert[8]; 7. (DNF) N1-Tony Duran[5]; 8. (DNF) 87-Mike Mueller[1]Lap Leader: Giossi 1-10. Cautions: (1) yellow on opening lap for turn 4 spin by 87, collected 34 & N1 (87 & N1 out).
Mastell Brothers Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 69S-Jon Lewerer[2]; 2. 12-Johnny Parsons III[6]; 3. 50-Chase Viebrock[3]; 4. 81-Dan Peper[5]; 5. 55-Joseph Kouba[7]; 6. 73-Sid Denzer[4]; 7. 95-Kevin Bradwell[1]Lap Leader: Lewerer 1-10. No cautions.