St. Croix Falls, WI
By: Greg Parent (4-23-10)
What a difference one year makes! Last year when the Upper Midwest
Sprintcar Series (UMSS) kicked off their inaugural season, Dave Becker
suffered some serious misfortune with a hard crash. As the UMSS opened
their second season on Friday night April 23 at the Kopellah Speedway,
Becker's 2010 season got off to a great start with his first UMSS
feature win. Becker had to hold off Jerry Richert, Jr over the course of
the final 18 green flag laps of the 20 lap feature event to earn the
$1,000 top prize. Stated a very happy Becker, "I saw Jerry underneath me
early in the race, and I knew I had to get up on the wheel and be
near-perfect every lap if I wanted to finish in front of him." The Belle
Plain, MN driver went on to say, "I did not get to race very many times
last year, so I was hoping for a good consistent run in the feature
race tonight." That certainly was the case, as Becker put together 20
solid and consistent laps to earn his first-career UMSS victory. The
series was able to get the opening night completed just a short time
before the predicted rainfall arrived.With 2009 UMSS Rookie of the Year, Cody Hahn, and Dave Becker pacing
the thirteen car starting grid, the first attempt to go green ended with
the first caution when Brad Barickman drifted high in turn two, rode
the wall, and then stopped at the exit of the turn. Barickman was pushed
to the work area, but the Ron Olson-owned car sustained enough damage
that it could not continue. On the second attempt to start the race,
Johnny Parsons III spun in turn three and collected 2010 rookie
candidate Ronnie Erickson. Parsons was able to restart, but Erickson's
car was towed to the pits for the second time during the evening.
Earlier in the night, Erickson's driveline let go as he was lining up
for his heat race.The third time was the charm, as the feature race got underway with
Becker blasting to the early lead. Richert got by Hahn with Sye Anderson
and Brandon Allen close behind. The third and final caution blinked on
for a Kevin Nickel spin in turn two with two laps completed. With a
double-file restart behind Becker, Richert was quickly challenging him
for the lead. The race would run non-stop to the finish with Becker,
Richert and Hahn pulling away from the rest of the field a bit. As
Richert looked to dive underneath Becker on a couple of occasions,
Becker was able to hold him off.As the laps clicked off quickly, Anderson, inaugural 2009 UMSS
Champion Leigh Thomas, Joseph Kouba, and 2010 rookie Andy Jones kept
close together in the battle for the fifth through eighth positions.
With Becker continuing to keep Richert, a six-time UMSS feature winner
in 2009, at bay, Cody Hahn closed in on the lead duo. Just past the
half-way mark, the top three cars had put some distance on fourth place
Brandon Allen. As Becker put Kevin Nickel a lap down, Richert once again
drew close in the closing laps. Dave Becker was able to hold off Jerry
Richert Jr to open the 2010 UMSS season with a victory. Cody Hahn
finished third with Brandon Allen in fourth. The entertaining battle for
fifth went to Sye Anderson followed by Leigh Thomas, Andy Jones, Joseph
Kouba, Johnny Parsons III and Jesse Smith to round out the top ten
finishers.Earlier in the evening, the SprintSource.com Ultimate Sprint Race
(heat #1) win went to Cody Hahn. The Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint
Race (heat #2) saw Brad Barickman the victor. During the second heat,
something broke on Scotty Thiel's sprinter in turn three, sending the
southern Wisconsin MSA driver hard into the concrete wall. Thiel's
sprinter flipped once, coming to rest right-side up with a stuck
throttle. Thiel was able to get the car shut off, but a small fire
needed to be extinguished. Under the red, Leigh Thomas' car developed a
fuel leak and caught on fire. Both cars were out of the race with
Thiel's badly damaged sprinter done for the evening. Thomas would return
to run and finish two more races.In the first Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge race, Jerry
Richert, Jr showed the field the quick way around the 1/4 mile oval. The
second Bryant Heating and Cooling Systems Challenge race saw Brad
Barickman race to his second win of the night after following Dave
Becker for five laps. Barickman would redraw the #4 pill to determine
the invert for the feature race.With the first of 24 scheduled races in the books, several drivers
who were not on hand for opening night are preparing to make their 2010
UMSS season debut in the upcoming weeks. Rookie driver Andy Jones got
off to a good start in pursuit of the GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company
UMSS rookie bonus award. A further press release will be out soon
detailing the increased rookie of the year bonus thanks to
bptradingcompany.net in conjunction with GRP Motorsports. Racing action
continues with the 9th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial scheduled to be
run on Saturday April 24 at the Cedar Lake Speedway. For further
information, please visit the series website at www.umsprints.com to
check results, standings, upcoming races and much more.UMSS Race Results - Kopellah Speedway April 23, 2010 (Race
#1):
SprintSource.com Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (7 laps): Cody Hahn, Jerry
Richert Jr, Jesse Smith, Brandon Allen, Joseph Kouba, Andy Jones, Kevin
Nickel.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (7 laps): Brad
Barickman, Sye Anderson, Dave Becker, Leigh Thomas, Scotty Thiel, Johnny
Parsons III, Ronnie Erickson.Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #1 (7 laps): Richert,
Allen, Kouba, Hahn, Nickel, Smith, Erickson DNS.Bryant Heating and Cooling Systems Challenge Race #2 (7 laps):
Barickman, Becker, Anderson, Thomas, Jones, Parsons, Thiel DNS.GRP Motorsports UMSS A Main (20 laps): Becker, Richert, Hahn, Allen,
Anderson, Thomas, Jones, Kouba, Parsons, Smith, Nickel, Erickson DNF,
Barickman DNF, Thiel DNS.Lap Leader: Becker 1-20(3) cautions.GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Race: Andy Jones