From Mike Babicz
WILMOT, WI (August 8, 2020) — Bill Balog of Hartland, originally from Alaska, scored a clean sweep of the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Winged Sprints Founders Night at Wilmot Raceway.
Balog led green to checkered for his third Founders Night Main win, having won in 2017 and 2018 with this year’s event being the seventh annual. Kewaskum’s Russel Borland was second with Howards Grove’s Mike Reinke third.
Posting fast time, winning the heat race, the dash and feature made Balog’s birthday most memorable.
Nathan Crane of Waukegan, IL won his first Autometer/Brewington Electric Wisconsin Wingless Sprint feature of the season. Crane held the lead flag to flag for his first main event win since July of 2018. Kansasville’s Ryan Marshall was second. Balog, doing double duty, took third edging out Trevor’s Chris Dodd at the checkered flag.
Genoa City’s Nick Simons made it back to back modified feature wins in a wild final lap. Nick Simons charged past Eagle’s Steve Mueller through turns three and four as the pair battled side by side coming for the checkered. Going into the final lap, Nick’s brother, Mike Simons, who had worked his way from the back of the field due to an earlier flat tire, had taken the lead from Mueller going into turn one. Suddenly Mike Simons got airborne on the high side, nearly flipping, setting up the battle between Mueller and Nick Simons.
At the finish it was Nick Simons, Muller with Union Grove’s Terry Kiedrowski third. Mike Simons saved the car and eventually finished seventh.
C.J. Malueg of Johnsburg, IL overcame mechanical gremlins to score his first IRA Lightning Sprints feature win at Wilmot this season. Nick Petska of Spring Grove, IL was second. Pleasant Prairie’s Mike Neau finished third.
Wilmot Raceway is off the weekend of August 15. Next up is a twinbill on Friday and Saturday, August 21 and 22. On Friday, August 22 will feature the rescheduled Bumper to Bumper IRA and All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Challenge. Modifieds, street stocks and Bandit 4-Cylinder Stock Cars will be on the program as well.
On Saturday, August 22 will be the Roger Iles Tribute for the IRA Winged Sprints, the Bill Grogan Memorial for the Autometer/Brewington Electric Wisconsin Wingless Sprints, IRA Lightning Sprints and the Bandit 4-Cylinder Stock Cars.
Grandstands open both nights at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps and qualifying at 5:45 p.m. and racing to follow.
For ticket information check the track website wilmotraceway.com, or the track’s official Facebook page. Weather updates are available at the trackside raceline 262-862-2090.
Wilmot Raceway
Wilmot, Wisconsin
Saturday August 8, 2020
Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association
Qualifying
1. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.116[25]
2. 10W-Mike Reinke, 13.252[13]
3. 79-Blake Nimee, 13.402[20]
4. 23-Russel Borland, 13.456[12]
5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 13.470[3]
6. 68-Dave Uttech, 13.491[19]
7. 73AF-Joey Moughan, 13.617[18]
8. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 13.672[22]
9. 73-Jake Blackhurst, 13.686[11]
10. 14-Jack Routson, 13.712[9]
11. 29L-Brayton Lynch, 13.721[2]
12. 47-Todd King, 13.762[6]
13. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 13.781[15]
14. 14R-Sean Rayhall, 13.795[8]
15. 4K-Kris Spitz, 13.796[21]
16. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 13.807[1]
17. 19-Todd Daun, 13.837[7]
18. 29-Hunter Custer, 13.891[4]
19. 0-John Fahl, 13.903[14]
20. 77-Wayne Modjeski, 13.994[17]
21. 20R-Rob Pribnow, 14.024[10]
22. 55-Austin Deblauw, 14.090[16]
23. 70-Chris Klemko, 14.348[5]
24. 12-Mike Decker, 14.765[24]
25. 51-Chris Larson, 14.882[26]
26. 25-Danny Schlafer[23]
Weld Wheels / Hepfner Racing Products Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 17B-Bill Balog[4]
2. 73AF-Joey Moughan[2]
3. 23-Russel Borland[3]
4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[5]
5. 0-John Fahl[7]
6. 43-Jereme Schroeder[6]
7. 14-Jack Routson[1]
8. 55-Austin Deblauw[8]
9. 51-Chris Larson[9]
All Star Performance Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 4B-Scott Biertzer[2]
2. 29L-Brayton Lynch[1]
3. 19-Todd Daun[6]
4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[3]
5. 10W-Mike Reinke[4]
6. 25-Danny Schlafer[9]
7. 14R-Sean Rayhall[5]
8. 77-Wayne Modjeski[7]
9. 70-Chris Klemko[8]
R H Enterprises Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 79-Blake Nimee[4]
2. 73-Jake Blackhurst[2]
3. 47-Todd King[1]
4. 68-Dave Uttech[3]
5. 4K-Kris Spitz[5]
6. 20R-Rob Pribnow[7]
7. 29-Hunter Custer[6]
8. 12-Mike Decker[8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 68-Dave Uttech[2]
2. 23-Russel Borland[1]
3. 10W-Mike Reinke[3]
4. 73-Jake Blackhurst[4]
5. 29L-Brayton Lynch[5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]
2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[1]
3. 73AF-Joey Moughan[3]
4. 79-Blake Nimee[5]
5. 4B-Scott Biertzer[4]
Behling Racing Products B-Main (10 Laps)
1. 14R-Sean Rayhall[2]
2. 14-Jack Routson[1]
3. 29-Hunter Custer[3]
4. 77-Wayne Modjeski[4]
5. 55-Austin Deblauw[5]
6. 70-Chris Klemko[7]
7. 12-Mike Decker[6]
8. 51-Chris Larson[8]
Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 17B-Bill Balog[2]
2. 23-Russel Borland[3]
3. 10W-Mike Reinke[5]
4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[4]
5. 4B-Scott Biertzer[9]
6. 2W-Scott Neitzel[12]
7. 20R-Rob Pribnow[16]
8. 4K-Kris Spitz[13]
9. 19-Todd Daun[11]
10. 25-Danny Schlafer[17]
11. 43-Jereme Schroeder[15]
12. 77-Wayne Modjeski[20]
13. 14R-Sean Rayhall[18]
14. 55-Austin Deblauw[21]
15. 29-Hunter Custer[19]
16. 12-Mike Decker[23]
17. 51-Chris Larson[24]
18. 0-John Fahl[14]
19. 29L-Brayton Lynch[8]
20. 73-Jake Blackhurst[6]
21. 47-Todd King[10]
22. 79-Blake Nimee[7]
23. 68-Dave Uttech[1]
24. 70-Chris Klemko[22]
Auto Meter WingLESS Sprints
Qualifying
1. 50-Rusty Egan, 15.449[21]
2. 70B-Bill Balog, 15.503[2]
3. 70-Chris Klemko, 15.512[1]
4. 22S-Brian Strane, 15.577[18]
5. 01-Chris Dodd, 15.592[26]
6. 91-Jimmy Sivia, 15.617[22]
7. 1N8-Nathan Crane, 15.624[27]
8. 4-Jordan Paulsen, 15.653[14]
9. 40-Tim Cox, 15.658[20]
10. 9X-Mike Sullivan, 15.687[31]
11. 7S-Scott Uttech, 15.789[13]
12. 14AJ-Davey Ray, 15.799[9]
13. 94-Jim Wehrman, 15.808[4]
14. 99-Tommy Colburn, 15.823[17]
15. 22-Greg Alt, 15.854[11]
16. 38-Allen Hafford, 15.868[24]
17. 12-Shawn Swim, 15.890[32]
18. 7X-Ryan Marshall, 15.907[29]
19. 52-Craig Lager, 15.908[15]
20. 69-TJ Smith, 15.941[23]
21. 39-William Huck, 15.957[33]
22. 89-George Gaertner Jr, 15.967[5]
23. 6B-Vince Bartolotta, 15.990[16]
24. 1HD-Zach Hansen, 16.011[3]
25. 99J-Seth Johnson, 16.026[10]
26. 20-Natalie Klemko, 16.123[25]
27. 9-Dan Wade, 16.208[6]
28. 29OG-Tom Eller, 16.219[7]
29. 00-Paul Shaffer, 16.234[19]
30. 54-Scott Grissom, 16.256[28]
31. 41-Dennis Spitz, 16.327[12]
32. 17-Darren Ihrke, 17.092[30]
33. 8-Daniel Walldan, 17.155[8]
34. 7H-Billy Hafford[34]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 01-Chris Dodd[3]
2. 40-Tim Cox[2]
3. 50-Rusty Egan[4]
4. 94-Jim Wehrman[1]
5. 12-Shawn Swim[5]
6. 00-Paul Shaffer[8]
7. 39-William Huck[6]
8. 99J-Seth Johnson[7]
9. 8-Daniel Walldan[9]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 70B-Bill Balog[4]
2. 91-Jimmy Sivia[3]
3. 7X-Ryan Marshall[5]
4. 9X-Mike Sullivan[2]
5. 54-Scott Grissom[8]
6. 20-Natalie Klemko[7]
7. 99-Tommy Colburn[1]
8. 89-George Gaertner Jr[6]
9. DNS: 7H-Billy Hafford
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 7S-Scott Uttech[2]
2. 70-Chris Klemko[4]
3. 1N8-Nathan Crane[3]
4. 6B-Vince Bartolotta[6]
5. 22-Greg Alt[1]
6. 52-Craig Lager[5]
7. 9-Dan Wade[7]
8. 41-Dennis Spitz[8]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 14AJ-Davey Ray[2]
2. 4-Jordan Paulsen[3]
3. 38-Allen Hafford[1]
4. 22S-Brian Strane[4]
5. 1HD-Zach Hansen[6]
6. 69-TJ Smith[5]
7. 29OG-Tom Eller[7]
8. 17-Darren Ihrke[8]
B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 69-TJ Smith[3]
2. 52-Craig Lager[2]
3. 99-Tommy Colburn[1]
4. 20-Natalie Klemko[4]
5. 39-William Huck[6]
6. 9-Dan Wade[7]
7. 00-Paul Shaffer[5]
8. 41-Dennis Spitz[11]
9. 8-Daniel Walldan[13]
10. 29OG-Tom Eller[8]
11. 89-George Gaertner Jr[9]
12. 17-Darren Ihrke[12]
13. 99J-Seth Johnson[10]
14. DNS: 7H-Billy Hafford
AutoMeter A-Main (20 Laps)
1. 1N8-Nathan Crane[2]
2. 7X-Ryan Marshall[13]
3. 70B-Bill Balog[7]
4. 01-Chris Dodd[4]
5. 22S-Brian Strane[5]
6. 70-Chris Klemko[6]
7. 38-Allen Hafford[12]
8. 40-Tim Cox[11]
9. 50-Rusty Egan[8]
10. 69-TJ Smith[21]
11. 6B-Vince Bartolotta[16]
12. 91-Jimmy Sivia[3]
13. 22-Greg Alt[17]
14. 9X-Mike Sullivan[14]
15. 7S-Scott Uttech[10]
16. 54-Scott Grissom[20]
17. 12-Shawn Swim[18]
18. 99-Tommy Colburn[23]
19. 20-Natalie Klemko[24]
20. 52-Craig Lager[22]
21. 1HD-Zach Hansen[19]
22. 4-Jordan Paulsen[1]
23. 14AJ-Davey Ray[9]
24. 94-Jim Wehrman[15]