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Reinke and Durbin win at CLS on Jerry Richert Memorial Night

09/08/07

By Greg Parent

The 7th Annual Jerry Richert Memorial IRA/Knoxville/NOSA Challenge was held at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday September 8. A field of 33 IRA outlaw sprint cars were on hand along with 28 DTRA Midwest Modifieds and 25 Northern Vintage Stock Cars. As sunny skies gave way to overcast conditions during the afternoon hours, the rain system that was moving into the area stayed to the north of the track all night long allowing for racing action to take place. When the final checkers waved, IRA sprint car driver Mike Reinke had recorded his second straight Jerry Richert Memorial title. In the DTRA Midwest Modified division, Dane Durbin made the most of his first race of the season by recording his first feature win of 2007.

Following sprint car time trials, the DTRA Midwest Modifieds opened the racing program with three heat races. The top four finishers in each race would earn redraw positions for the main event while all cars in each heat race would transfer to the feature. No B Feature was slated for the midwest mods. In the first 10 lap heat, Bryan Siercks raced ahead of the field for 10 laps to post the win in front of Jim Schultz, 10th starter Dane Durbin, and Todd Steffen. Ryan Olson blasted into the lead from his pole starting position in the second heat race and never looked back. Jim Schweitzer, Paul Fontecchio and Steve Strandlund completed the top four spots. Although Jason Gross led all ten laps in the final heat race, he was under pressure from Justin Schill for most of the race with Lonnie Louschke a short distance back in third ahead of Stan Thom.

Sprint car heat races were swept by IRA drivers Donny Goeden, Scott Biertzer, Dave Uttech, and Joe Symoens. The Northern Vintage stock cars then ran a couple of heats. The first heat was for the full body cars while the second one was for the modified class. Mike Liegman and Dennis Olson took top honors respectively. The sprints ran a special dash for cash for the heat race winners. Donny Goeden copped the $300 top prize. Scott Winters disappeared from the field in the sprint car B Main event to win by a half a lap over John Haeni. The stage was now set for feature race action with the vintage cars up first. Claiming his first-ever feature win, Dave Friendt pulled away from the field in the main event for the Northern Vintage full body class of cars. Dave donated his trophy to a young race fan. Ricci Lepinski bested the Northern Vintage modified division feature race, as the super modifieds generally fared better than the coupes.

The 15 lap DTRA Midwest Modified main event rolled trackside with 24 of the scheduled 28 starters making the call. On the first start attempt, front row starters Todd Steffen and Byran Siercks made contact in turn 2 with Siercks stopping on the backstretch. Steffen was charged with the caution and relegated to the tail of the field. This moved the inside row of cars up one row and Dane Durbin became the new pole sitter. Durbin wasted little time in jumping out into the lead when the race went green. 10th starter Ryan Olson was on the move forward, gaining a postion nearly every lap. When the second yellow flag flew on lap six for an incident in turn two involving the cars of Shawn Phillips and Siercks, Olson had moved up to fifth place behind Durbin, Lonnie Louschke, Jason Gross and Justin Schill. Following a caution for a spin in turn 2 one lap later, the race got underway again. Durbin continued to lead with Louschke in second. Olson moved to third on lap 8 while Schill got around Gross. As the laps clicked by, Durbin paced the field with Olson applying the pressure on Louschke for second. Just as Olson took over the second place spot on lap 12, the final caution waved for a two car crash on the frontstretch. Scoring reverted back one lap. Olson was able to repeat the pass for second when the race went back under green, but he could not track down Durbin. Dane Durbin recorded his first feature win of the season in his first race of the season. Ryan Olson advanced nine positions to finish second ahead of Lonnie Louschke, Justin Schill and Jason Gross. Completing the top ten finishers were Stan Thom, Paul Fontecchio, and the 15th, 16th, and 17th starters Mark Trog, Chad Patterson, and Steve Alsaker.

The 30 lap Jerry Richert Memorial feature race for the IRA outlaw sprint cars saw Scott Biertzer bolt into the lead from his pole starting spot. Biertzer led the first six circuits before 12th starter Scott Winters grabbed the lead on lap 7. Following a couple of cautions, misfortune struck the leader when his right rear tire exploded while entering turn one with eighteen laps in the books. Scott Winters crew changed the tire and he restarted at the tail of the field. At this time, 18 of the 22 starters were still racing. Mike Reinke inherited the lead on the restart. A few more cautions for spins kept the field bunched up. Reinke continued to lead with Knoxville regular Ricky Logan in second and Biertzer third. Winters was on the move forward again. Contact between Winters and Dave Uttech on lap 22 saw Uttech's night end with contact against the turn 2 wall. While battling for sixth on lap 23, Winters night also came to a conclusion when Kurt Winker made contact with Winters in turn 4. Winters car flipped over, bringing out the only red flag of the night. The top trio remained unchanged. Before the race finished, a couple more yellows waved. During the final seven laps, Travis Whitney raced his way into the fourth spot in front of Davey Heskin. Earning his second straight Jerry Richert Memorial title, Mike Reinke held off Ricky Logan for the win. Completing the top ten finishers were Biertzer, Whitney, Heskin, Donny Goeden, John Haeni, Bill Balog, Scott Neitzel, and Bill Warren.

Come and be a part of the CLS tradition in mid September, as racing action continues at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Wednesday night September 12 for the first of four straight nights at the Legandary 100. The DTRA Midwest modifieds and street stocks will run a full championship program on Wednesday with racing slated to get underway at 7:00 PM. The Legandary 100 continues at CLS on Thursday and Friday nights September 13 and 14 with full qualifying shows for the DTRA super stock, modified and late model divisions including qualifying feature races each night. The local area pure stocks will also be in action on Friday night. The Legandary 100 concludes on Saturday evening September 15 with B main and championship feature races for the pure stock, super stock, modified, and late model classes.