Following a grueling 3-day swing which included an extremely successful inaugural 2-day headline appearance at the Elko Dirt Nationals in Minnesota, and an annual visit to Eagle Valley Speedway in Wisconsin, the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series heads to Wilmot (WI) Raceway this Saturday night (Aug. 1) for the annual running of the Al & Marie Winker / Wayne Daun Memorial.
34 teams were on hand at Elko, all uncertain on what to expect as the top notch 3/8 pavement track was coated with dirt for the weekend. The racers were greeted with an ultra-smooth surface that far exceeded most expectations, and an event that will not soon be forgotten. One thing for certain that both racers and the HUGE throng of fans that turned out for this inaugural event discovered, the Elko Speedway is a spectacular facility. They also discovered improvement with each night, beginning with IMCA Sprint action which began on Wednesday to Saturday's IRA Sprint / USMTS Mod finale.
Terry McCarl established a track record on Friday only to have Travis Whitney smash it the next night. The Friday A-main included some great racing with Jake Peters passing Scott Winters and then outdueling Winters, McCarl, Scott Biertzer, and Donny Goeden for the exciting win. Saturday night it was current IRA point leader and defending series champion Billy Balog taking the win in front of a massive crowd, leading Whitney, Winters, Steve Meyer, and Jerry Richert Jr to the checkerd. After LOTS of post race fun it was off to Eagle Valley where some dark clouds suprised everyone. Sam Hafertepe Jr also surprised everyone as he unexpectedly entered the pit area. Haftertepe Jr and four others lowered the track record making it 4 consecutive races that IRA established new track records.
After a lengthy rain delay, the A-main thundered off only to have a scary first turn crash involving rookie Matt Vandervere. The likable Vandervere scared everyone at the time as he was transported for additional care, but thankfully he's back at home and going to be just fine. As the race went green, Whitney, Hafertepe Jr, and Balog were frightening fast, as the trio ran nose to tail at track record speeds, Hafertepe Jr used his WoO experience and took advantage of a Whitney hesitation in traffic to grab the lead and the win, the Texas drivers first in IRA competition. (On a little history note, fellow Texan Gary Wright captured a IRA win at LaSalle IL back in the mid 90's) Hafertepe Jr bested Whitney, Balog, Scotty Neitzel, and Richert Jr. As IRA heads to Wilmot, the usual solid Wilmot car count is expected. Balog and guest driver Sammy Swindell have captured IRA's previous two 2009 Wilmot visits. Balog leads Neitzel, John Haeni, Biertzer, and Meyer in the series points chase. IRA is a ASA affiliated series with support from Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts, United Trailers, Osborn & Son Trucking, Bar's Leaks & Rislone, The U.S. Army, TW Metals, Mechanix Wear, Super Clean, and Can-Am/BRP.
This article was posted to the website on July 28th, 2009 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
