By: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
St. Croix Falls, WI
(7-29-11)
In the first race at what will be their home track, Rob Caho, Jr. etched his name in the record books as the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series (TSCS) helped reopen the St. Croix Valley Raceway (formerly Kopellah Speedway) on Friday night July 29. The fantastic summer evening drew a large crowd and a field of eight nonwinged sprint cars for their two exhibition style races during the course of the program. Caho, with several years of winged sprint car racing on his resume, drove to his first victory in the TSCS division in just his second night out. Caho, from Wyoming, Minnesota, narrowly defeated defending UMSS winged sprint car champion Cody Hahn by less than a car length at the checkers. Hahn was making his inaugural start in the new division.
A smiling Caho talked about his triumph after the races. “We’re not even close to getting the car really dialed in yet, so I am very pleased with how we ran tonight in just our second race of the season. The motor got hot right near the end, so I hope everything is okay under the hood. I knew once I got up to third behind the leaders that I could win the race. Cody made it close at the checkers though.” Caho and his crew worked hard from the time they got to the track in order to solve fueling issues with his GRP Motorsports sponsored sprinter. Caho was not able to run the heat race, so he started at the tail of the field for the feature.
Polesitter Kevin Bradwell of Luck, Wisconsin, who won the very first TSCS feature back in May at the Ogilvie Raceway, blasted into the early lead when the green flag flew. Joseph Kouba of North Branch, a veteran winged sprint car driver, was also making his first start in a nonwinged sprinter this season. Kouba put one of the Reactor Racing team cars in second on the opening lap, as three-time TSCS winner Johnny Parsons III was unable to race at the 1/4 mile St. Croix Falls track. Racing in his first-ever sprint car event, modified and stock car racer Aaron Wisch from Arlington held third in Sid Denzer’s Mopar sprint car followed by the other Reactor Racing car of Tommy Kamrath from Maplewood. Caho ran fifth after one lap.
Caho moved to fourth on lap three and got by Wisch for third one lap later. With five laps in the books, Kamrath drove hard into the third turn and contacted another car, causing his #32 sprinter to roll over. Kamrath was okay and was expected to be back in action the following night at the Cedar Lake Speedway. When the green replaced the red, Bradwell held the lead but not for a complete lap. While racing into turn four on lap six, Bradwell got sideways and collected Kouba to bring out the yellow flag. Both cars were pushed to the infield. Caho inherited the lead on the restart with Wisch second and Minneapolis driver Cody Hahn in third piloting Jeff Pellersels #1 sprint car.
With two laps to go, Wisch looped his car in turn four resulting in a two lap dash to the checkers. Caho’s margin of victory was less than a car length over Hahn. Adam Taubert finished third with Wisch in fourth. Kouba, Bradwell and Kamrath failed to finish while Jack Clark experienced some driveline issues after hotlaps and had to scratch. Clark is expected to be back at CLS as well.
Traditional sprint car fans can follow the growth of the UMSS TSCS series throughout the course of its initial season on the UMSS website at www.umsprints.com by clicking on the blue logo to enter the TSCS home page. TSCS news and results will also be on the UMSS Facebook page and highlighted in the free UMSS Report newsletter available at each event. The new series, featuring an affordable means of open wheel racing, can now been seen each and every Friday night at the St. Croix Valley Raceway nestled in the countryside between St. Croix Falls and Centuria, Wisconsin. It’s great to have the 1/4 dirt oval back in action for the traditional sprint cars.
UMSS TSCS Race Results – St. Croix Valley Raceway July 29, 2011 (Race #6):
SprintSource.com Ultimate Exhibition Heat Race (10 laps): Tommy Kamrath, Maplewood MN, Cody Hahn, Minneapolis MN, Joseph Kouba, North Branch MN, Aaron Wisch, Arlington MN, Adam Taubert, Mora MN, Kevin Bradwell Luck, WI DNF, Rob Caho Jr, Wyoming MN DNS, Jack Clark, Knapp WI DNS.
Mora Motorworks Exhibition A Main (10 laps): Caho #78, Hahn #1, Taubert #8, Wisch #73, Kouba #22 DNF, Bradwell #95 DNF, Kamrath #32 DNF, Clark #41s DNS.
Lap Leaders: Bradwell 1-5, Caho 6-10.
Cautions: (3)