From Jeffrey Sachse
Jim Falls, WI — (June 2, 2013) — A combination of luck, skill and some flawless driving placed defending Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Car champion Bill Balog in victory lane after a thrilling finish in the feature contest at Eagle Valley Speedway.
History will look back on events like Sunday evenings A-main event and leave fans to debate “what if”…. “What if” that red flag which flew with two laps to go when Alan Gilbertson flipped in turn two didn’t happen would Balog have caught Brooke Tatnell? “What if” Tatnell’s machine didn’t overheat showing obvious signs of distress while stopped on the front stretch before the race resumed?
The answers we do know is that when Balog, known as the “North pole Nightmare” is presented with an opportunity to win a race he’s methodical in his efforts to reach the checkered flag first and those opportunities are exploited to their fullest.
The end result was a last lap pass on Tatnell for the victory as Balog would flash a crossed the finish line first with Tatnell in tow, earning his third straight Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Car victory and continuing his lock on victory lane at Eagle Valley Speedway’s banked three-eighth’s mile clay oval.
The win was far from easy.
The 30 lap A-main rolled out with 22 starters accepting the green flag with pole sitter Bill Wirth getting the jump on fellow front row starter Scott Uttech to lead the field into turn one. Before the lap was completed Tatnell, who had started in the third spot powered past Wirth to officially pace lap one.
Tatnell who was making his first appearance of the 2013 racing season with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints would make the most of it quickly pulling away from the field.
Scott Neitzel, the evenings second quick qualifier worked past Wirth for second while Wirth found himself falling into the clutches of Balog and the evening’s fast qualifier Travis Whitney.
Out front Neitzel continued to hound Tatnell as the leaders began to reach lapped traffic by lap seven. Balog would rumble past Wirth for the third spot and soon became engage in a side by side duel with Neitzel for the second position.
The battle between Neitzel and Balog allowed Tatnell to extend his lead to a dozen car lengths before Balog would finally surpass Neitzel for second after the pair had brought fans to their feet with a great wing to wing battle.
Tatnell now found himself with a straight away lead and half the race remaining as Balog sought to close the gap. Balog would slowly reel in Tatnell reaching his rear nerf bar with ten laps to go. Tatnell appeared up for the challenge making all the correct moves through lapped traffic to keep Balog behind him.
The battle intensified as the leaders performed three wide passes though back markers with Tatnell showing the way and Balog waiting for a mistake. Tatnell was about to accept the white flag when Alan Gilbertson who had been running in the top ten slammed the wall in turn two executing a quick flip resulting in the red flag being displayed. Gilbertson emerged from his ride unhurt, but the incident negated a solid top ten showing from the visiting driver from Kasson, MN who often competes in the ASCS 360 sprint series and was testing the waters with the 410 sprints this evening.
Under the red flag period steam began to pour from Tatnell’s ride, obviously overheating from the torrid pace.
Tatnell’s ride re-fired without any issues and he would perform a great restart with a green, white, checkered finish underway. Tatnell would choose the high line to keep his momentum while Balog would slide to the bottom of the track as the green flag unfurled. The pair were dead even heading down the backstretch before Balog nosed ahead into turns three and four gaining the advantage as he crossed under the white flag.
Balog would fend off Tatnell the final lap to record his fourth victory of the season. Tatnell’s effort resulted in runner-up honors. His performance drawing a round of applause from the fans in post-race ceremonies. The evening’s quick qualifier Travis Whitney had made his way past Neitzel for the third place effort matching his finish from the event at Cedar Lake Speedway 24 hours earlier.
Neitzel held off a hard charging Jim Moughan to secure fourth. Moughan’s run to fifth came from deep in the field giving the Springfield, Illinois native a pair of top five finishes for the weekend. Moughan had finished second to Balog at Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday evening.
Tommy Sexton claimed sixth just ahead of Russel Borland who spent the main event moving forward from a fifteenth place starting spot. Current series point leader Jeremy Schultz finished eighth and has now finished in the top ten in every event held so far in 2013. Phillip Mock and Rookie of the Year contender Lance Fassbender comprised the top ten finishers.
18 of the 22 starters were still racing at the drop of the checkered flag.
The evening’s B-main was captured by Phillip Mock who outran Dave Uttech and Darrell Dodd for the win. Michael Decker, Wayne Modjeski, Dennis Spitz and Chad Tessman completed the top six and the transfer cars to the main event.
Heat race wins went to Tommy Sexton, Fassbender and Gilbertson. All totaled 24 cars had checked into the pit area for competition.
Next Saturday Night, June 8th the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints head to Beaver Dam Raceway for their third appearance at the banked third-mile oval in 2013. The prior two events have seen wins split between Mike Kertscher and Balog.
For more information on the IRA Outlaw Sprints check out the tour website at www.irasprints.com or logging onto the series Facebook page at www.facebook.com/irasprints
The IRA Outlaw Sprint Series is proudly supported by Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, Hoosier Tire, Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Onan, Carriage Auto Body, Polaris DEFENSE, and Mother’s Polishes and Waxes. The office of the IRA Sprints can be reached at 815-759-9269 or by e-mail at steve@irasprints.com
BOX SCORE:
Event: #6 Eagle Valley Speedway – June 2, 2013
IRA Sprint Cars
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 2. 25-Brooke Tatnell[3]; 3. 16-Travis Whitney[6]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[5]; 5. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr[13]; 6. 83-Tommy Sexton Jr[9]; 7. 23-Russell Borland[15]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[14]; 9. 1M-Phillip Mock[11]; 10. 7F-Lance Fassbender[8]; 11. 7-Scott Uttech[2]; 12. 97-Todd King[10]; 13. 68-Dave Uttech[12]; 14. 4K-Kris Spitz[16]; 15. 12-Michael Decker[19]; 16. 8A-Nick Alden[17]; 17. 41-Dennis Spitz[21]; 18. 71-Chad Tessman[22]; DNF 11-Darrell Dodd[18]; DNF 97X-Alan Gilbertson[7]; DNF 53W-Bill Wirth[1]; DNF 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[20]
B Feature (6 Laps): 1. 1M-Phillip Mock[1]; 2. 68-Dave Uttech[2]; 3. 11-Darrell Dodd[4]; 4. 12-Michael Decker[3]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[8]; 6. 41-Dennis Spitz[5]; 7. 71-Chad Tessman[6]; DNS 14X-Joe Symoens; DNS 5-Bryon Walters
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 83-Tommy Sexton Jr[2]; 2. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr[3]; 3. 53W-Bill Wirth[4]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz[1]; 5. 16-Travis Whitney[6]; 6. 1M-Phillip Mock[5]; DNF 14X-Joe Symoens[8]; DNF 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[7]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7F-Lance Fassbender[2]; 2. 25-Brooke Tatnell[5]; 3. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[3]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 5. 8A-Nick Alden[1]; 6. 41-Dennis Spitz[8]; DNF 68-Dave Uttech[4]; DNS 5-Bryon Walters
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 97X-Alan Gilbertson[2]; 2. 7-Scott Uttech[5]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 4. 97-Todd King[4]; 5. 23-Russell Borland[3]; 6. 11-Darrell Dodd[7]; 7. 12-Michael Decker[1]; 8. 71-Chad Tessman[8]
Qualifying: 1. 16-Travis Whitney[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[12]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[10]; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock[5]; 5. 25-Brooke Tatnell[20]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech[7]; 7. 53W-Bill Wirth[1]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech[8]; 9. 97-Todd King[6]; 10. 1MM-Jim Moughan Jr[22]; 11. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[21]; 12. 23-Russell Borland[23]; 13. 83-Tommy Sexton Jr[17]; 14. 7F-Lance Fassbender[15]; 15. 97X-Alan Gilbertson[3]; 16. 4K-Kris Spitz[19]; 17. 8A-Nick Alden[16]; 18. 12-Michael Decker[9]; 19. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[18]; 20. 5-Bryon Walters[4]; 21. 11-Darrell Dodd[14]; 22. 14X-Joe Symoens[24]; 23. 41-Dennis Spitz[11]; 24. 71-Chad Tessman[13]