By Greg Parent
Tremendous summer weather on the Fourth of July weekend brought out a large crowd for the annual Firecracker Special at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday night July 2. For the first time ever, the UMSS Traditional sprint cars were part of this popular event at the western Wisconsin dirt oval. For anything but the first time, Rick Kobs of Deer Park continued his mastery of the high-banks and went on to record his fifth win of the season at Cedar Lake and sixth over all in the series this year. Kobs led all 25 laps in a race that went nonstop following an opening lap caution. In his usual low-key fashion, Kobs talked about the race and his success at Cedar Lake during his post-race victory interview with Marty Gallagher in Rock Auto Victory Lane. Kobs earned $500 for the win thanks to some help from GRP Motorsports and currently sits atop the Traditional Sprint Car Series point standings.
A very strong field of (21) Traditional sprint cars signed into the pits. That number was quickly pared down to twenty, as three-time champion Rob Caho, Jr. was not feeling well enough to race and decided to scratch for the evening. Three heat races with passing and finishing points determined the starting lineup for the 25 lap main event. The heat races, each of which ran caution-free, were won by Jimmy Kouba, Brian VanMeveren and Mike Mueller. Not only has Rick Kobs been really good on the track, but his luck at the draw has also been pretty decent this year as well. Coming from seventh to second in his heat race, Kobs earned the most points and the privilege of drawing first amongst the top four drivers in points. Kobs drew the pole position. Mike Mueller would start to his outside. Row two would have Jimmy Kouba and James Giossi. For the third time this season, Neal Matuska suffered a blown motor and was done for the night following his heat race. Two drivers were making their season debut, as 2012 Rookie of the Year Denny Stordahl and Joe Lallier were on hand. For Lallier, it was his first start ever in a Traditional sprint car.
The feature got off to a rough start, as contact on the opening lap exiting turn two between second row starters Jimmy Kouba and James Giossi resulted in Giossi’s car riding the wall down the backstretch and coming to a stop in turn three with heavy front end damage. Kouba kept going, but his car had a flat right front tire and he headed to the work area to change it. A complete restart was in order minus the original second row cars. Kouba tagged the tail in the 18th starting spot. On the restart 2014 Champion Cam Schafer was called for jumping the start, as he pulled along the inside of rookie Kyle Wehking a little too early and actually hit the cone as well. This would result in a two position penalty at the next caution; however, the race ran nonstop 25 laps to the checkers so the penalty was assessed at the end. Kobs led all the way and was never seriously challenged for the top spot, as he raced up top around the high side throughout most of the race.
Schafer had a solid run forward from his 11th starting spot and crossed the finish line in second but was officially scored fourth. This moved Mike Mueller and Brian VanMeveren up one spot in the final rundown. Jake Kouba rounded out the top five. Rookie Ty Sampair turned in a nice run to finish sixth. Jimmy Kouba came all the way back up to seventh at the end without the benefit of a caution. Johnny Parsons III, Scott Brandt and Wehking completed the top ten. Giossi and Lallier were the only two cars unable to finish. Lallier coasted to a stop about 20 yards short of the finish line after shutting his car down on the final lap with an engine that was overheating. Despite his two position penalty, Cam Schafer still earned the $100 GRP Motorsports Hard Charger Award with an official gain in positions of seven. The evening was capped off by the “traditional” and always fantastic Cedar Lake Speedway fireworks display.
The UMSS Traditional sprint cars return to the Cedar Lake Speedway next Friday and Saturday July 8-9 as part of the big World of Outlaws weekend. The Friday night July 8 show will also be the 24th Annual Kouba Memorial with the winner of the Traditional sprint car feature race (Ethel Kouba Memorial) slated to earn a record $1,100 and the winner of the UMSS winged sprint car feature (Earl Kouba Memorial) gunning for a $2,000 top prize. For the two UMSS divisions, their total purse is in excess of $16,000. With three distinct classes of the sprint cars on the program at Cedar Lake July 8-9, race fans will definitely want to make plans to be at CLS for this outstanding two-day show. Check out the schedule, results, points and other news for the Traditional Sprint Car Series on our website at
www.umsprints.com by clicking on the blue logo or follow us on Facebook. Here’s hoping for some more great weather, great racing and fun times next weekend at CLS.
UMSS – Traditional Sprint Car Series
Cedar Lake Speedway
New Richmond, WI
Saturday July 3, 2016
GRP Motorsports A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 81-Rick Kobs[1]; 2. 87-Mike Mueller[2]; 3. 24-Brian Vanmeveren[5]; 4. 14-Cam Schafer[11]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba[10]; 6. N1-Ty Sampair[7]; 7. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[3]; 8. 12-Johnny Parsons III[8]; 9. 7B-Scott Brandt[12]; 10. 12W-Kyle Wehking[9]; 11. 21J-Jori Hughes[14]; 12. 27-Mike Walters[6]; 13. 55-Joseph Kouba[15]; 14. 95-Kevin Bradwell[17]; 15. 29-Hunter Custer[13]; 16. 99-Bryan Roach[16]; 17. 34-Denny Stordahl[18]; 18. (DNF) 6L-Joe Lallier[19]; 19. (DNF) 11-James Giossi[4]; (DNS) 48-Neal Matuska; (DNS) 78-Rob Caho Jr
Track Rat Photos Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[1]; 2. 11-James Giossi[4]; 3. 6-Jake Kouba[3]; 4. 12W-Kyle Wehking[6]; 5. 7B-Scott Brandt[7]; 6. 55-Joseph Kouba[5]; 7. 34-Denny Stordahl[2]
Meeks Video Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Brian Vanmeveren[1]; 2. 81-Rick Kobs[7]; 3. 12-Johnny Parsons III[4]; 4. 14-Cam Schafer[5]; 5. 21J-Jori Hughes[3]; 6. 95-Kevin Bradwell[2]; 7. (DNF) 48-Neal Matuska[6]
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 87-Mike Mueller[2]; 2. N1-Ty Sampair[1]; 3. 27-Mike Walters[5]; 4. 29-Hunter Custer[3]; 5. 6L-Joe Lallier[6]; 6. 99-Bryan Roach[4]; (DNS) 78-Rob Caho Jr
