The 14th Annual Jerry Richert Memorial race at Cedar Lake Speedway, was one for the record books. Thanks to the Jerry Richert family, the event posted an IRA record purse. Never in the history of the history of the series had the teams of the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints competed for such a lucrative pot which included a $7,000 first place prize.

The payout was like honey to a bee, as teams from all over the Midwest descended on Cedar Lake Speedway. All tallied drivers on the check in sheet represented seven states and two countries. The racing was going to be epic.

The main event didn’t disappoint, and the showdown involved two of the best in the business. Six-time, and defending IRA champion Bill Balog found himself in the lead with a handful of laps to go, while newly crowned 2014 Knoxville Raceway champion Ian Madsen from St. Mary’s Australia was on the move.

Balog has been seen so many times making a late race charge, reeling in the leader. While the leader saw his lead evaporate. Tonight, the roles were reversed; it was Balog, trying to find the pace to reach the checkered flag first, with Madsen, driving on the edge slicing away at Balog’s lead.

On lap 28, the clash of the titans came into play. The circuit began with Madsen performing a perfectly timed slider. This briefly gave Madsen the upper hand. Balog countered with a successful cross-over heading for the white flag to briefly retake the top spot. Madsen however was up to the challenge, and his second sweeping maneuver past Balog would stick leaving Balog no opportunity to take another shot at Madsen’s lead the final circuit.

Madsen had stolen the victory, by three car lengths, with Balog making his way to the finish in second. Madsen had succeeded in performing a rare fete to earn his $7,000, and that fete was making a pass on Balog on the final lap, for the win.

Madsen obviously enjoyed his trip to victory lane. “It was a great honor to win the Knoxville point championship, and thankfully we got that over with. Now we can have some fun. Like tonight you can go race for the money, and just go for it”, Madsen said with excitement.

“I was just kind of struggling and going nowhere. With about ten (laps) to go the car just came on, and I just went for it. I figured I was going to win it or just junk it here. Thankfully we won it,” claimed Madsen.
Madsen was also aware of the efforts to bring such an event to the area. “It’s an awesome event put on by the Richert family. It’s just an honor to win it”, he noted. “I have to tank my team KCP Racing and the whole crew it’s an awesome deal to be a part of”, Madsen concluded.

Balog was a bit more reserved but still pleased with his run.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was disappointed. But we did a good job, we beat some good cars”, Balog stated. There was an element of surprise to Madsen’s late race charge. “I didn’t know where those guys were. I believe I looked up at the scoreboard with about five laps to go and saw the 55 (Tatnell) still there in second. I was just running as hard as I could”, claimed Balog.

“I just couldn’t beat em tonight, but I’m happy, and it was a good payday for us. I have to say thanks to the Richert family and everyone who puts this event on”, as Balog acknowledged the efforts to put on this event.

The 30 lap A-main prepared to accept the green flag amid a fireworks ceremony that briefly delayed the start of the contest.

Polesitter, John Sernett, got the jump on outside front row starter Brooke Tatnell setting the initial pace. Balog was on the move from his fourth place starting spot. He swept past last evening’s IRA event winner Dusty Zomer who had won the sprint car portion of the Northern Nationals at Amsoil Speedway in Superior to grab third, and before the completion of the second lap he rocketed past Tatnell for second.

Sernett had been showing the way with a slim lead on Balog, when he jumped the cushion and tagged the wall. His machine then climbed the concrete and he began to tumble end for end into turn three before coming to rest upside down.

Sernett emerged from his battered ride unhurt but the lead was now handed to Balog who had Tatnell, Madsen and fast qualifier Terry McCarl directly behind him.

One more lap went into the books when Chris Marten clipped the wall, and flipped in nearly the exact same spot as Sernett. Fortunately like Sernett, Marten was able to climb from his ride unhurt.

Balog was back in command for the next green flag stretch, showing the way around the banked, 3/8 mile oval, using the cushion effectively to fend off Tatnell when the caution appeared for a Dennis Spitz spin in turn four on the eighth circuit.

It was the final slowdown of the contest as the last 22 laps ran without incident.

With the green flap back in the air Balog went back to showing the way. This time he began to build a gap on Tatnell who was able to stay just ahead of a torrid battle between McCarl, and Madsen who tossed the third spot back and forth.

By the hallway point of the contest Balog began to extend his lead, further bolstered as he effortlessly picked off lapped machines. McCarl now began to show his hand working by Madsen and Tatnell to reach second by lap 20.

McCarl could go no further and soon he began to lose grip and was overtaken by Tatnell.

With the battles behind him Balog had opened up a dozen car length lead, and as the war waged for second it began to look more and more like Balog might be finding the winner’s circle.

Madsen however had other plans. Using the highest possible line, Madsen now showed remarkable speed, shooting past McCarl for third, and then running down Tatnell for second. With five laps to go it also became apparent that Balog could not match the pace he had set earlier in the contest.

The chase was on.

With each lap Madsen sliced off chunks of Balog lead until reaching Balog’s rear nerf bar on lap 28. The pair exchanged the top spot before Madsen secured the position, pulling away after accepting the white flag.

Madsen took the victory with an approving cheer from the crowd. Balog maintained his advantage on Tatnell to accept second. Tatnell comprised the final podium spot in third. McCarl crossed the line in fourth.

Last year’s Jerry Richert Memorial winner Mark Dobmeier was able to move from his 13th starting spot up to fifth at the finish.

Zomer backed up last evening’s victory with a sixth tonight. Craig Dollansky was seventh. Rookie of the Year contender Scotty Thiel earned an eighth place finish while Mike Reinke and Bill Rose completed the top ten finishers.

20 of the 24 car starting field was still on the racing surface at the finish, with cars were still on the track at the finish with the top 12 drivers still on the lead lap.

Earlier in the program Austin Johnson rebounded from a flip in his heat race to comfortably capture the B-main event to transfer to the big show. Steve Meyer, Marten and Kris Spitz finished second through fourth respectively to earn a spot into the A-main. Jason Johnson was first alternate with a fifth place finish.

Scott Uttech overcame mechanical problems that arose early in the evening. He was unable to qualify, or take the green flag in his heat race. He did however come from dead last in the B-main up to sixth in a non-stop event narrowly missing a transfer to the feature contest.

Heat races were captured by McCarl, Rose, Madsen and Jeremy Schultz

36 drivers had signed in to do battle tonight. McCarl topped the qualifying ranks with a lap of 11.765 seconds. He was the only driver to crack the 12 second barrier. Dollansky was second quick with a 12.000 second effort while Madsen was third fastest overall with a time of 12.230 seconds.

IRA Sprint Cars | IRA Interstate Racing Association
Jerry Richert Memorial Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen[6]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 3. 55-Brooke Tatnell [2]; 4. 24-Terry McCarl[8]; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier[13]; 6. 82-Dusty Zomer[3]; 7. 7X-Craig Dollansky[7]; 8. 64-Scotty Thiel[12]; 9. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 10. 6-Bill Rose[10]; 11. 19P-Paige Polyak[15]; 12. 85M-Steve Meyer[20]; 13. 2W-Scott Neitzel[16]; 14. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[9]; 15. 81-Austin Johnson[11]; 16. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[19]; 17. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[17]; 18. 68-Dave Uttech[18]; 19. 35X-Skylar Prochaska; 20. 4K-Kris Spitz[22]; 21. 41-Dennis Spitz; 22. 44X-Chris Martin[21]; 23. 91-John Sernett[1]; 24. 35-Ben Schmidt[14]
Behling Circle Track B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 81-Austin Johnson[1]; 2. 85M-Steve Meyer[4]; 3. 44X-Chris Martin[2]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz[5]; 5. 44-Jason Johnson[3]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech[13]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee[9]; 8. 4B-Scott Biertzer[6]; 9. 37-Sye Anderson[12]; 10. 23-Russell Borland[8]; 11. 5-Bryon Walters[11]; 12. 19-Ryan Wilson[10]; 13. 94-Brandon Thone[7]

Weld Racing Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Terry McCarl[6]; 2. 35X-Skylar Prochaska[1]; 3. 13-Mark Dobmeier[3]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel[2]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer[7]; 7. 23-Russell Borland[8]; 8. (DNF) 81-Austin Johnson[4]; 9. (DNF) 37-Sye Anderson[9]
Diversified Machine Inc. Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Bill Rose[3]; 2. 82-Dusty Zomer[5]; 3. 7X-Craig Dollansky[6]; 4. 41-Dennis Spitz[1]; 5. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[2]; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee[8]; 8. (DNF) 56-Davey Heskin[4]; DNS 7-Scott Uttech
All Star Performance Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Ian Madsen[6]; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel[4]; 3. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[1]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 5. 55-Brooke Tatnell[5]; 6. 4B-Scott Biertzer[7]; 7. 19-Ryan Wilson[8]; 8. (DNF) 44-Jason Johnson[2]; DNS 70-Raymond Hensley
King Racing Products Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[1]; 2. 19P-Paige Polyak[3]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[2]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke[6]; 5. 91-John Sernett[5]; 6. 44X-Chris Martin[4]; 7. 94-Brandon Thone[7]; DNS 5-Bryon Walters; DNS 4W-Matt Wasmund
Osborn & Son Qualifying: 1. 24-Terry McCarl, 11.765[1]; 2. 7X-Craig Dollansky, 12.000[3]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.230[33]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke, 12.307[18]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.328[22]; 6. 82-Dusty Zomer, 12.378[26]; 7. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 12.382[23]; 8. 91-John Sernett, 12.383[4]; 9. 81-Austin Johnson, 12.388[12]; 10. 56-Davey Heskin, 2.413[17]; 11. 64-Scotty Thiel, 12.434[20]; 12. 44X-Chris Martin, 12.511[10]; 13. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 12.533[32]; 14. 6-Bill Rose, 12.567[5]; 15. 35-Ben Schmidt, 12.680[9]; 16. 19P-Paige Polyak, 12.696[35]; 17. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 12.730[36]; 18. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 12.748[6]; 19. 44-Jason Johnson, 12.767[15]; 20. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.768[2]; 21. 35X-Skylar Prochaska, 12.778[19]; 22. 41-Dennis Spitz, 12.791[7]; 23. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 12.843[30]; 24. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 12.889[21]; 25. 85M-Steve Meyer, 12.910[34]; 26. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.912[24]; 27. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 13.095[25]; 28. 94-Brandon Thone, 13.136[8]; 29. 23-Russell Borland, 13.198[28]; 30. 79-Blake Nimee, 13.246[29]; 31. 19-Ryan Wilson, 13.445[31]; 32. 5-Bryon Walters, 13.520[13]; 33. 37-Sye Anderson, 13.687[14]; DNS 7-Scott Uttech; DNS 70-Raymond Hensley; DNS 4W-Matt Wasmund