By Justin Zoch
The IRA Sprints gathered at Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday night for the tenth time to honor Jerry Richert and they put on a show befitting the legend. Front row starters Mark Dobmeier and Scott Winters put on a thrilling battle through lapped traffic with Winters eventually nabbing the lead and cruising to the $3,300 victory.
After a false start, Dobmeier got the jump from the pole position and set a blistering pace until a lap eight red flag for second place Davey Heskin, who tangled with the lapped car of Ty Bartz and tipped over. Both were finished for the night. On the restart, Winters was on Dobmeier’s tail with Travis Whitney, running the Dewall 16, and Bill Balog in tow. Winters caught Dobmeier in lapped traffic and they put on a thrilling show, swapping the top spot lap after lap until a lap 24 caution for a spinning Billy Hafemann.
Scott Winters lined up in front on the restart and was able to pull away from Dobmeier and Balog to take the win, his fifth career IRA score at Cedar Lake Speedway. Dobmeier was second while Balog kept his consecutive top-five IRA streak alive with his nineteenth consecutive top five finish in full IRA point shows alive. Ian Madsen was fourth in his first visit to the speedway and Scott Biertzer was fifth.
Heat races for the 36 car field were won by Dobmeier, Balog, Winters and John Haeni while Ian Madsen scored quick time with a lap of 11.238 seconds and also won the B-main. The IRA returns to action next weekend with a Friday night stop at the Oshkosh Speedzone before heading to the Sheboygan County Fair Park in Plymouth, Wisconsin, on Saturday night.
Osborne and Sons Trucking Qualifications: Ian Madsen 11.238 seconds
Weld Racing Heat Race #1:1.Dobmeier, 2. Biertzer, 3. Neitzel, 4. Zemken / 5. Madsen, 6. D. Uttech, 7. Modjeski, 8. Thomas, 9. Thone
Lane Automotive Heat Race #2: 1. Balog, 2. Davey Heskin, 3. Bartz, 4. Mock, / 5. Wilson, 6. Tatnell DNF, 7. Meyer DNF, 8. Vandevere DNF
DMI Heat Race #3: 1. Winters, 2. Spitz, 3. Sernett, 4. Hafemann / 5. Wolfgang, 6. McCarl, 7. Blandford Jr., 8. Wirth, 9. S. Uttech DNF
King Racing Products Heat Race #4: 1. Haeni, 2. Warren, 3. Whitney, 4. Borland / 5. Reinke, 6. Danny Heskin, 7. Hunt, 8. Kerzman, 9. Kaus DNF
Behling Racing Products B-main: 1. Madsen, 2. Reinke, 3. McCarl, 4. Wolfgang, 5. Tatnell, 6. Modjeski / 7. Bill Wirth, 8. Scott Uttech, 9. Dave Uttech, 10. Danny Heskin, 11. Matt Vandevere, 12. Brandon Thone, 13. Leigh Thomas, 14. Duane Olson, 15. Andy Hunt DNF, 16. Tony Kaus DNF, 17. Jeremy Kerzman DNF, 18. Sid Blandford Jr. DNF, 19. Ryan Wilson DNF, 20. Steve Meyer DNS
30-Lap A-Feature: 1. Scott Winters (2), 2. Mark Dobmeier (1), 3. Bill Balog (6), 4. Ian Madsen (11), 5. Scott Biertzer (7), 6. Scott Neitzel (9), 7. Bill Warren (15), 8. Jessica Zemken (4), 9. Brooke Tatnell (21), 10. Mike Reinke (12), 11. Travis Whitney (5), 12. Austin McCarl (19), 13. John Haeni (10), 14. Robbie Wolfgang (20), 15. Phillip Mock (13), 16. Billy Hafemann (8), 17. Kris Spitz (17), 18. Wayne Modjeski (22), 19. John Sernett (14) DNF, 20. Russel Borland (18) DNF, 21. Davey Heskin (3) DNF, 22. Ty Bartz (16) DNF