Balog Four for Six in Bumper to Bumper IRA Competition in 2017

Bill Balog. (Bob Buffenbarger Photo)

From Gared Tennyson

SUN PRAIRIE, Wi. (June 8, 2017) — 30 drivers from all across the country and 2 continents signed in for action on Thursday night with the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association (IRA). When the cars hit the track for qualifying, it was Sydney New South Wales Australia’s Ian Madsen atop the time charts. Scotty Thiel qualified in 2nd ahead of Taylor Malsam in the Rudeen Racing 26. Parker Price-Miller was 4th and Smoke Tony Stewart was 5th.

When heat race one went green Austin McCarl took the early lead ahead of Ian Madsen, series point leader Bill Balog ran in 3rd. Just after the halfway point of the race Balog muscled his way past the Aspin Air 18 of Madsen and set his sights on A-Mac. As the white flag waved Balog was able to pass McCarl exiting 2 in route to a win in heat race 1. Austin McCarl would come home 2nd, with Madsen 3rd. Price-Miller would bring his 2 car home 4th with Terry McCarl rounding out the top 5.

Heat 2 saw Scotty Neitzel with the early lead. Behind him Thiel and Stewart battled side by side for 2nd. A few times it seemed Thiel might out duel Stewart but eventually he settled into 3rd, as Smoke tried to run down the orange 2w piloted by Neitzel. On the white flag lap Stewart was able to maneuver his Rush Truck Centers 14 past Neitzel to pick up the win. Neitzel then Thiel followed him across the line, with Mike Reinke and Kyle Marten in 4th and 5th respectively.

Heat 3 would see pole sitter Daniel Harding in the Jolly Good Auto Electrics 12H take the lead, he would hold that lead all the way to the checkered flag. Danny Lasoski would finish in 2nd followed by the Meyer Electric 85m of Steve Meyer. 2016 IRA champion Jeremy Schultz would bring his machine home 4th with Malsam in 5th.

B main competition saw Wayne “Mojo” Modjeski take the early lead and led all 12 laps to pick up the win and transfer to the A main. Josh Walters in the 12w came home 2nd followed by Blake Nimee and Jereme Schroeder. Mike Decker brought his Merlin’s 200,000 Mile Shops 12 car across the line in 5th.

The A main saw Stewart get the early jump for his first place starting position, with Malsam in 2nd and Thiel in 3rd. After a few laps Thiel powered by Malsam to move into 2nd behind Stewart. On lap 10 Thiel was able to use a lapped car as a pick and drive by Stewart and into the lead, behind him Balog had moved from 5th into 2nd with Smoke in 3rd. Lap 24 saw Nimee get upside down and collect Meyer, setting up a 6 lap dash to the finish on the restart Thiel was able to hold off Balog’s challenge for a lap but with 5 to go The North Pole Nightmare was able to power by Thiel and drive to the Checkered. Behind Balog, Madsen was also able to get by Thiel for a 2nd place finish. Thiel would settle for 3rd followed by Price-Miller. The Dude Danny Lasoski would bring his 1m home in 5th.

Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association
Angell Park Speedway
Sun Prarie, WI
Thursday June 8, 2017

Feature: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, [5]; 2. 18M-Ian Madsen, [7]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, [2]; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller, [9]; 5. 1M-Danny Lasoski, [8]; 6. 14-Tony Stewart, [1]; 7. 26-Tayler Malsam, [3]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [13]; 9. 02-Mike Reinke, [10]; 10. 99-Kyle Marten, [15]; 11. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [12]; 12. 24-Terry McCarl, [14]; 13. 17A-Austin McCarl, [11]; 14. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [19]; 15. 10V-Matt Vandevere, [16]; 16. 7-Scott Uttech, [18]; 17. 12-Michael Decker, [23]; 18. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [22]; 19. 12H-Daniel Harding, [6]; 20. 12W-Josh Walter, [20]; 21. 23-Russel Borland, [17]; 22. (DNF) 85M-Steve Meyer, [4]; 23. (DNF) 79-Blake Nimee, [21]; 24. (DNF) 01-Chris Dodd, [24]

B Feature: 1. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [1]; 2. 12W-Josh Walter, [2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee, [4]; 4. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [3]; 5. 12-Michael Decker, [8]; 6. 01-Chris Dodd, [5]; 7. 71-Max McGhee, [12]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech, [10]; 9. 41-Dennis Spitz, [7]; 10. 56-Ryan Irwin, [6]; 11. 4K-Kris Spitz, [11]; 12. 18-Keith Fellner, [9]

Heat Race #1: 1. 17B-Bill Balog, [2]; 2. 17A-Austin McCarl, [1]; 3. 18M-Ian Madsen, [4]; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller, [3]; 5. 24-Terry McCarl, [5]; 6. 10V-Matt Vandevere, [6]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder, [7]; 8. 01-Chris Dodd, [9]; 9. 12-Michael Decker, [10]; 10. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech, [8]

Heat Race #2: 1. 14-Tony Stewart, [3]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel, [1]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, [4]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke, [2]; 5. 99-Kyle Marten, [5]; 6. 23-Russel Borland, [7]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, [6]; 8. 56-Ryan Irwin, [9]; 9. 18-Keith Fellner, [10]; (DNS) 4K-Kris Spitz,

Heat Race #3: 1. 12H-Daniel Harding, [1]; 2. 1M-Danny Lasoski, [3]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer, [2]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, [5]; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam, [4]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech, [10]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee, [7]; 8. 12W-Josh Walter, [6]; 9. 41-Dennis Spitz, [8]; 10. 71-Max McGhee, [9]

Qualifying: 1. 18M-Ian Madsen, 00:11.913[4]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel, 00:12.181[6]; 3. 26-Tayler Malsam, 00:12.290[1]; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 00:12.294[12]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart, 00:12.373[3]; 6. 1M-Danny Lasoski, 00:12.406[27]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:12.464[10]; 8. 02-Mike Reinke, 00:12.557[14]; 9. 85M-Steve Meyer, 00:12.582[8]; 10. 17A-Austin McCarl, 00:12.591[16]; 11. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 00:12.671[23]; 12. 12H-Daniel Harding, 00:12.675[13]; 13. 24-Terry McCarl, 00:12.714[18]; 14. 99-Kyle Marten, 00:12.736[22]; 15. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 00:12.781[19]; 16. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 00:12.895[20]; 17. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 00:12.951[11]; 18. 12W-Josh Walter, 00:13.072[5]; 19. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 00:13.078[15]; 20. 23-Russel Borland, 00:13.091[9]; 21. 79-Blake Nimee, 00:13.219[21]; 22. 68-Dave Uttech, 00:13.303[29]; 23. 4K-Kris Spitz, 00:13.340[28]; 24. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:13.368[24]; 25. 01-Chris Dodd, 00:13.449[7]; 26. 56-Ryan Irwin, 00:13.742[26]; 27. 71-Max McGhee, 00:13.782[30]; 28. 12-Michael Decker, 00:13.953[25]; 29. 18-Keith Fellner, 00:14.054[2]; (DNS) 7-Scott Uttech,