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Neitzel "Masters" Cedar Lake in 30 Lap Thriller
by Paul Pittman
New Richmond, WI (Jun 18, 2005): Night #2 of the 7th Annual
Masters for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series lived up to the
billing as it provided enough excitement to last the fans until the series
returns in September. Using a passing points system in lieu of time
trials to allow the Late Models to time, the night was filled with
anticipation and electricity.
The night got off inauspiciously for Andy Hunt as he got caught up in the
marbles at the start of the first heat race, sending his #9A flipping up the
banking and into the concrete retaining wall. As the red flag was
displayed for Hunt’s disabled Maxim, Lloyd Dykstra made contact with another
car as well, landing him on his side as well. Both drivers emerged
unscathed however; Dykstra would call it a night at that point. Hunt
would later return for the B-Main. Mike Stefka would go on to win the
heat race. Billy Balog logged his first IRA heat race win in the second
heat in dramatic fashion when his right rear tire let go just after crossing
the finish line. Scott Young helped his run at Scotty Neitzel’s point
lead with a win in the third heat while Steve Meyer scored his second heat
race win in two weeks (Meyer also won a heat race with the World of Outlaws
last week at the Sheboygan County Fair Park) with a win in heat race #4.
Travis Whitney got his #9 dialed in, took command of the B-Main and never
looked back once in front.
The start of the 30 lap A-Main will be ones that fans and Scott Biertzer will
not soon forget as he and Mike Kertscher found themselves pinched against the
outside retaining wall while approaching the flag stand. Biertzer’s
#4B began a series of flips that first saw him flip over Kertscher’s #80K
and then continue on, end for end, nearly into the turn #1 area.
Kertscher emerged from his badly damaged racer immediately, making his way to
Biertzer’s wreckage, where the Mid-West Safety Team was already on the scene
and attending to Biertzer. Shaken a bit from the series of violent
tumbles, Biertzer was aided from the car by the Safety team, and walked to the
ambulance for a quick check by the medical personnel on scene. Once the
wreckage was cleared, the field was fired off for another try at the start;
however the red flag would wave again with only a couple laps in when Kim Mock
lost the handle on his #1M in turn #2, forcing Ryan Irwin to take evasive
action, to be collected by Kurt Davis’ #6K. Davis, who was involved in
Friday night’s only red incident, shot straight into the air and landed back
down on the tail section. Davis quickly emerged from the car and both he
and Irwin were uninjured.
The second restart saw some exciting green flag racing action as rookie Matt
Folstad took advantage of his pole position and tried to put some distance
between himself and 2nd place John Sernett. Sernett soon felt the
pressure of Scott Young, who would use the high side of the speedway surface
to get by for second. Meanwhile, Joe Roe and Scott Neitzel were also
marching toward the front. Sernett, Roe and Young would stage a terrific
battle for the second spot with Neitzel finally gaining the advantage and the
spot. Action would slow as Jerry Richert Jr came to a stop in turn four,
residual damage from the previous night’s altercation ending his night
prematurely. Neitzel now had his sights set squarely on Folstad, sizing
him up for what would be the winning pass. Caution would slow the pace
however when Mike Stefka came to a stop on the backstretch just past the
infield exit.
The caution set the stage for a seven lap shootout. Joe Roe would fall
from the field with motor problems; bring John Sernett back into the
picture. Once racing resumed, Scott Young again moved to the top of the
speedway, however, the concrete would not be as forgiving as it was Friday
night when he brushed it. Young’s #3 would catch the marbles and the
impact put his #3 on its side and out of the race.
With four laps to go, the crowd was on its seat as Sernett was now back up to
third and local favorite Travis Whitney was also on the move from his 17th
spot start. At the drop of the green, Neitzel wasted no time in putting
some distance between himself and Folstad, who was now engaged in a hotly
contested battle for second with Sernett. With the white flag in the air
for Neitzel, who had now put a little breathing room between himself and
Folstad, Neitzel would cruise to his 2nd win of the 2005 season in defense of
his 2004 Championship Title. Folstad and Sernett who raced wing to wing
for the final few laps dove into turn #3 side by side and exiting turn #4,
nearly touched wheels with the edge going to Folstad for second, a career high
IRA finish. Travis Whitney would finish forth, having gotten around
Billy Balog who posted his own career high finish with the IRA.
June 24th will see the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series return to the
Northwoods as the series ventures to the Superior Speedway for its first visit
of the 2005 season to Superior, WI. Then on Saturday night, June 25th,
the series heads south to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley (MN) for
the inaugural visit to the 2004 WISSOTA track of the year. For complete
scheduling information for the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series,
please visit their website at www.irasprints.com.
For ticket sales and information, please contact the individual track offices.
OFFICIAL RESULTS:
TW Metals Passing Points: Scott Young (B&B Oval Track Products #3)
WELD Racing Heat: Mike Stefka (Specialty Repair & Finishing #83D)
MPD Race Products Heat: Billy Balog (Coleman Racing/Jeff Becker Homes
#4)
Lane Automotive Heat: Scott Young (B7B Oval Track Products #3)
VMAC Racing Heat: Steve Meyer (Steve Meyer Electric #85M)
Behling’s Raceing Equipment B-Main: Travis Whitney (Powder Coating
Tech #9)
United Trailers A-Main (30 Laps): Scotty Neitzel (R&H Enterprises
#2W), Matt Folstad, John Sernett, Travis Whitney, Billy Balog, Kim Mock, Steve
Meyer, Todd Hepfner, Scott Uttech, Jim Melis, Tim Sernett, Bill Wirth, Scott
Young, Joe Roe, Mike Stefka, Fred Ebler, Jerry Richert Jr., Ty Bartz, Ryan
Irwin, Kurt Davis, Mike Kertscher, Scott Biertzer
DMI Hard Charger: Travis Whitney (Powder Coating Technologies #9 / +13)
Stone Mountain Access presents
The Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series
current driver point standings as of June 19, 2005.
1 2W Scotty Neitzel1029
2 3 Scott Young 950
3 1H Matt Folstad ® 877
4 1M Kim Mock
866
5 61 Joe Roe
865
6 85M Steve Meyer 854
7 80K Mike Kertscher795
8 7 Scott Uttech772
9 83D Mike Stefka754
10 4B Scott Biertzer738
11 6K Kurt Davis
730
12 75 Ty Bartz
715
13 4 Billy Balog ® 713
14 77 Wayne Modjeski684
15 9 Travis Whitney 675
16 80 K.J. Skelton ® 674
17 28 Todd Hepfner668
18 68 Dave Uttech640
19 49 Ryan Irwin
620
20 64 Fred Ebler
602
21 9A Andy Hunt
585
22 53W Bill Wirth
524
23 95 Bill Warren
516
24 21J John Haeni
513
25 44 Jason Johnson 473
26 51M Jim Melis
473
27 96 Joe Symoens453
28 50 Rusty Egan 361
29 90 Lloyd Dykstra ® 341
30 11K Rick Kelsey 340
® indicates Arizona Race Mart/United Trailers Rookie of the Year
contender.
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