On a day that went from summer-like to winter-like in a matter of
hours, the Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) made its debut at the Kopellah
Speedway on Friday night April 24. A field of sixteen 360 sprint cars were on
hand for the series lid lifter at the 1/4 mile western Wisconsin oval, as the
start of racing action was delayed by a brief rain shower followed by
plummeting temps and a bitingly cold wind. Veteran racer Tony Norem etched his
name in the record books by becoming the first-ever UMSS feature winner in a
race that was halted twice for hard crashes.
The UMSS run a double round of qualifying events prior to their
feature race. Drivers earn points based on their finishes in these preliminary
races. Earning Ultimate Sprint Race victories were Tony Norem, Kenny Melanson,
and Jason Tostenson. In the second round, Ultimate Challenge Races were won by
John Nelson and Brad Barickman. Joseph Kouba and Rick Sanberg got upside down
in the Ultimate Challenges races. Sandberg was done for the night while Kouba
would borrow a top wing and tag the tail of the feature. When the points had
been tallied, it was Jason Tostenson as the high point driver. Tostenson pulled
the #4 pill for the feature invert. This put Tony Norem and John Nelson on the
front row of the scheduled 20 lap main event.
At the drop of the green, Tony Norem blasted into the lead over John
Nelson. The race was just two laps old when the first caution flew for a spin
by rookie sprint car driver Jack Zweber in turn four. On the restart, it was again
Norem battling with Nelson and Jason Tostenson for the top spot. As Norem began
to stretch his lead just a bit, the red light blinked on for a hard crash in
turn one by Dave Becker. Becker rolled his sprinter a couple of times,
sustaining significant damage to the rear of the car. Becker was not hurt. One
lap after the race returned to green, Zweber looped his car again in turn four
and was done for the night. The restart proved to be the end of Alan
Gilbertson's night as well as his sprint car. Gilbertson's sprinter shot
head-on at full speed into the large tractor tire protecting the concrete wall
at the exit to the pits in turn one. The impact was fierce, tipping his car on
its side and bringing out the second red of the event. Gilbertson was uninjured.
With Norem in the lead, the race resumed with Nelson and Tostenson
mixing it up for second. The final caution flew 13 laps into the race for a
spin in turn 4 by Sioux Falls, SD younster Robby Wolfgang. This set the stage
for a two lap dash to the checkers, as the time limit for the race had been
reached. Norem once again shot into the lead and never looked back enroute to
the win in the first UMSS feature event held for the upstart series. Tostenson,
Nelson, Jerry Richert Jr, and Brad Barickman completed the top five. Rounding
out the top ten were 15th starter Joseph Kouba, Leigh Thomas, rookie Cody Hahn,
Kenny Melanson, and Robby Wolfgang. Hahn and Melanson made contact at the
finish line with Melanson going for a long slide into turn one. Fortunately both
cars were okay. Norem earned $1,000 for his efforts with some sponsorship help
from GRP Motorsports in boosting the first place pay.
The next scheduled race for the UMSS sprint cars is slated for
Saturday night April 25 at the Cedar Lake Speedway. CLS will be hosting the 7th
Annual Billy Anderson Memorial. The sprint car feature winner will earn $1,000
which includes sponsorship money from GRP Motorsports. Former Billy Anderson
Memorial champions include Tony Norem, Bill Boles, Jerry Richert Jr, Loren Langerud,
Jake Peters, and Chuck Swenson. Racing action is scheduled to get underway at
6:30 PM for what will be the second race of the 2009 UMSS initial season.