Andy Jones Sweeps Ogilvie With A Late Race Pass For The Win
Ogilvie, MN
By: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director

The number thirteen was anything but unlucky for Andy Jones on Saturday night June 4 at the Ogilvie Raceway, as the young Princeton phenom raced to his second win of the season in just his thirteenth start ever in a sprint car. With a fantastic summer evening for racing, a large crowd filled the speedway for the second appearance of the Upper Midwest SprintCar Series (UMSS) at the track. The fans were entertained with a very exciting race for the top spot between Brad Barickman of Richfield and modified racer turned sprint car driver Andy Jones. Jones drove his Mastell Brothers Trailer Service sprinter to his second ever win in his brief but blossoming sprint car racing career that spans part of last season and the beginning of this year.

Jones and leader Brad Barickman encountered lapped traffic during a nineteen lap green flag run to the checkers. The lead duo stayed close together for much of the race, and on lap 18 Jones made the winning pass in traffic. Talking about the exciting feature race afterwards, Jones commented "I knew the lapped cars would be a factor, and when Brad changed his line to get around one, I figured that was my chance. I had poked my nose under him a time or two before to let him know I was there, but the traffic sometimes helps or hurts. Tonight it helped. This is an awesome type of racing! I'm heading to Husets for a 410 ride on Sunday night. Can you believe it?" Jones likely made believers out of many onlookers on Saturday night, as he became the first driver to win two UMSS features during the 2011 season.

As the high point driver after the typical two rounds of qualifying races, Jones was fortunate to draw the zero pill during the UMSS driver introductions and autograph session at intermission for a straight-up feature start. This put him on the pole position with Barickman outside and a very strong second row comprised of UMSS point leader Chris Graf and 2010 champion Cody Hahn with Friday night winner Jerry Richert, Jr. behind them. The race was one lap old when Jared Goerges turned sideways in turn four to bring out the yellow. On the restart, Tony Norem jumped the heavy cushion exiting turn two, rode against the concrete wall, and eventually flipped wildly down the backstretch to bring out the red flag. Norem was okay, but his car was badly damaged and out of action. The race then ran nonstop to the finish.

Barickman blasted to the lead again on the restart with Jones in tow. The leaders encountered lapped traffic five laps later and battled in and out of traffic for the remainder of the race on the 3/8 mile speedway. Jones took a peek at the lead a couple of times but to no avail, as Barickman was strong. Late in the race, the leaders came up on a car that was running fast on the cushion, and Jones took advantage of the opportunity to get by. Barickman tried to regain the lead, but a quick two laps to the checkers left little time to do so with lapped traffic involved.

Following Jones and Barickman across the finish line was Chris Graf, Jerry Richert, Jr. and Cody Hahn. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Scott Broty, Sye Anderson, Joseph Kouba, Jared Goerges, and rookie Anna Kouba. Another stroke of good luck was discovered following the race when winner Andy Jones' crew and UMSS head tech official Terry Galle found that his #73 sprinter was nearly out of fuel. Another lap or so and Jones may not have won. Andy Jones should like the "lucky" #13 after the Ogilvie race, as not only did he win his first-ever sprint car feature on Friday May 13 at the Chateau Raceway but he followed it up with his second win in his 13th career start in a sprint car to complete a clean-sweep for the night.

In the battle for the 2011 GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Year Award, Anna Kouba extended her slim lead over Chad Patterson by three points. Anna finished one position ahead of Chad. Kevin Bradwell, who is likely not intending to run enough races to qualify, finished behind Patterson in his third start of the season. Charly Cropp has missed the last three shows, but there are still plenty of races remaining to meet the twelve race minimum to qualify. Brodie McKeown from Heron Lake made his sprint car racing debut at Ogilvie, as he has moved up from the B-mods to sprint cars in 2011. It was close to a four hour drive to get to Ogilvie for McKeown, but he started his night off in fine fashion when his number was drawn for a free Hoosier racing tire certificate. Sye Anderson also lucked out in a random drawing for a $100 GRP Five for Five bonus for those drivers who raced in all five events so far but had not won any bonus money yet.

Jerry Richert, Jr. passed Scott Broty to win the Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1. Cody Hahn led all the way in the Meeks Video second Ultimate Sprint Race while Andy Jones did likewise in the North Country Builders Ultimate Sprint Race #3. Jones came from fourth to first to top the Driverwebsites.com first Challenge Race. Tony Norem drove away from the field in the Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 for the win. Cody Hahn earned another $100 GRP Motorsports Past Champions Bonus for his top five finish while Andy Jones received some bonus money in the feature from GRP Motorsports making it a $1,000 victory.

The UMSS will make their first of four appearances next Saturday June 11 at the reconfigured and improved North Central Speedway in Brainerd. The four race series at Brainerd will feature a special point fund provided by North Central Speedway with some extra bonus money from GRP Motorsports to boost the top spot to $1,000 followed by $500 and $250 for drivers in second and third in points after the four races. The feature race next Saturday pays $1,000 to win thanks to some bonus money from GRP. Race fans will want to be on hand to see if Andy Jones can continue his winning ways or if another one of the strong contenders in the UMSS field will earn a victory.

UMSS sprint car racing has been very entertaining during the 2011 season, so fans are encouraged to catch the thrills and spills of exciting sprint car racing action at a track nearby. Fans can follow the UMSS on their website at www.umsprints.com, become a friend of the UMSS on their Facebook page, keep tabs on series action with the free UMSS Report newsletter available at each event, or check out the UMSS on various other media outlets.

UMSS Race Results - Ogilvie Raceway June 4, 2011 (Race #5):
Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (6 laps): Jerry Richert Jr, Scott Broty, Anna Kouba, Chad Patterson, John Franzen DNF.
Meeks Video Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (6 laps): Cody Hahn, Brad Barickman, Tony Norem, Sye Anderson, Brodie McKeown.
North Country Builders Ultimate Sprint Race #3 (6 laps): Andy Jones, Chris Graf, Joseph Kouba, Jared Goerges, Kevin Bradwell.
Driverwebsites.com Challenge Race #1 (8 laps): Jones, Barickman, J Kouba, Richert, Anderson, A Kouba, Franzen DNF, Bradwell DNS.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Norem, Graf, Hahn, Broty, Goerges, McKeown, Patterson.
GRP Motorsports A Main (20 laps): Jones, Barickman, Graf, Richert, Hahn, Broty, Anderson, J Kouba, Goerges, A Kouba, Patterson, Bradwell, McKeown, Franzen DNF, Norem DNF.
Lap Leader: Barickman 1-17, Jones 18-20
(2) cautions.
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of official UMSS Videographer Mark Meeks.

Graf Tops Barickman in Great Battle At Rice Lake Speedway
Rice Lake, WI
By: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director

Although a brief rain shower about an hour before the scheduled start of the May 28 race program at the Rice Lake Speedway caused only a minor delay, the heavy weather stayed south of the track and the fans were rewarded with an outstanding battle for the lead in the 20 lap Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) feature event. Swapping the lead back and forth a couple of times, Chris Graf and Brad Barickman thrilled the crowd with an entertaining tussle for the top spot. At the checkers, Graf had raced from his sixth starting spot to earn his first UMSS feature win of the season and fifth over all. Stated an elated Graf, "I think that late race caution may have helped us, but it was great to race with Brad for the lead and end up getting my first win of the season." Runner-up Barickman summed it up, "That was a fun race with Chris. I was concerned he might get by me in the end after that caution. We had raced close for several laps."

Following the double round of qualifying races utilized by the UMSS, Brad Barickman started the feature race on the outside of the front row after high point driver Chris Graf drew a six for the invert. Barickman wasted little time in blasting away to an early lead. Graf quickly advanced to third on the opening lap and moved by Joseph Kouba for second on lap four. Graf closed in on Barickman over the next few laps and the battle for the top spot was on.

At the halfway mark, Barickman held a narrow lead over Graf with the lapped car of Kevin Bradwell looming in front of the lead duo. Graf edged past Barickman exiting turn four on lap 11 for the lead, but Barickman raced back to the front when the leaders split Bradwell coming off turn two on lap 12. Barickman and Graf continued to race hard and clean for the lead, as the laps clicked off under green on the well-prepared 1/3 mile oval.

With Barickman's lead ranging from a few car lengths to a few feet at times, the leaders raced side by side to begin lap 18. Rookie Anna Kouba looped her car entering turn one right in front of the leaders, but both Barickman and Graf were able to slip by without contact. This brought the race under what would be its only yellow flag. Scoring reverted back to the last fully completed lap, so it would be a three lap shootout to the finish with Barickman, Graf, Jerry Richert Jr, Joseph Kouba, and 2010 UMSS Champion Cody Hahn in the top five positions.

On the restart, Graf moved to the outside of Barickman entering turn one, pulled alongside, and was able to race to the lead down the backstretch. Barickman kept the pressure on Graf for the remainder of the race, but Graf was able to hold him off for his first victory of the season and a clean sweep for the evening. Barickman finished second with Richert in third. Cody Hahn advanced to fourth at the checkers while Andy Jones passed a couple of cars in the final sprint to the finish to round out the top five. Completing the top ten finishers were Joseph Kouba, Jared Goerges, Scott Broty, Sye Anderson and last year's Rice Lake winner Brandon Allen.

In Ultimate Sprint Race action, Graf topped Richert in the Alpha & Apparel Promotions first heat while Hahn raced ahead of the field in the Meeks Video Productions second heat. Challenge race victories were earned by Graf in the Driverwebsites.com race with Barickman besting the Mastell Brothers Trailer Service second challenge race. It appeared as though Johnny Parsons III was on his way to victory in the first challenge race when, on the final lap, JPIII caught the turn three wall, rode up into the catch fencing, and flipped. Johnny was okay, but his heavily damaged sprinter was done for the night.

Chris Graf took home a decent payday, as he earned the GRP feature winner bonus, the GRP Hard Charger Award, and a special bonus in effect for GRP Motorsports sponsored cars. By virtue of winning the feature, Graf also earned a Hoosier Racing Tire certificate for a rear tire. All told, the Glencoe, MN hotshoe earned about $1,400 for his win. With her 11th place finish, young Anna Kouba took over the top spot in the GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie of the Year standings three races into the season.

The UMSS will return to action with a double-header for the 10th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial at the Princeton Speedway on Friday night June 3 followed by the second appearance of the season at the Ogilvie Raceway on Saturday June 4. The Billy Anderson Memorial will pay $1,010 to win while the Ogilvie show will pay $1,000 to win thanks to some additional bonus money from GRP Motorsports. The Princeton show will also have some extra money in the second and third spots plus a GRP Hard Charger Award and the Past Champions Bonus in effect.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all of the UMSS racing action by checking out our website at www.umsprints.com or be sure and "like us" on the UMSS Facebook page. The UMSS Race Report is also distributed free at all UMSS events. Catch the excitement of winged sprint car racing at Princeton and Ogilvie on June 3 & 4. The non-winged UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series will also be in action at the Ogilvie Raceway for their second exhibition event of the young season. Come on out and enjoy back-to-back UMSS sprint car racing programs next weekend!

UMSS Race Results - Rice Lake Speedway May 28, 2011 (Race #3):

Alpha Apparel & Promotions Ultimate Sprint Race #1 (7 laps): Chris Graf, Jerry Richert Jr, Joseph Kouba, Andy Jones, Scott Broty, Anna Kouba, Kevin Bradwell.

Meeks Video Productions Ultimate Sprint Race #2 (6 laps): Cody Hahn, Jared Goerges, Brad Barickman, Johnny Parsons III, Brandon Allen, Sye Anderson.

Driverwebsites.com Challenge Race #1 (8 laps): Graf, Goerges, Broty, J Kouba, Bradwell, Parsons DNF, Allen DNF.

Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Race #2 (8 laps): Barickman, Richert, Hahn, Jones, Anderson, A Kouba.

GRP Motorsports A Main (20 laps): Graf, Barickman, Richert, Hahn, Jones, J Kouba, Goerges, Broty, Anderson, Allen, A Kouba, Bradwell, Parsons DNS.

Lap Leaders: Barickman 1-10, Graf 11, Barickman, 12-17, Graf 18-20
Cautions: (1) yellow

Top Three UMSS Points: Graf 730, Jones 708, Richert 705
GRP/BP Trading Co. Rookie Points: A Kouba 419, Cropp 407, Patterson 404