By: Betty Glynn
La Salle, IL– The quest for La Salle Speedway’s 2011 top titles is behind the racers. Now the racing is just about who makes it to the finish line first not how many points will be collected. The points chase ended with the last regular night of racing on August 13th when the respective divisional champions were confirmed. Saturday night, those top finishers were honored in style on victory lane.
Mike Provenzano is a racer you can always count on to be running up front and finishing strong in the points chase. This season he stayed on track and scored his second UMP Late Model championship title atLa Salle. Finishing fifty points behind Provenzano, was Rich Bell who has proven to be another impressive hot shoe on the high banks. Brett Sievert, even though he missed a few regular races, finished third in the chase.
Matt Gremminger drove his way into a decent points lead in the UMP Modified division to claim the top title with a twenty six point lead. Tom Knippenberg took away the runner up position from Justin McCoy by a mere five points difference.
In the UMP StreetStock class it was Roger Rickels running away with the crown. His one hundred and two point lead over Tim Provenzano was impressive considering the strong competition in the division. Mike McKinney claimed the third place points finish fifty points behind Provenzano.
Allen Provenzano was the true commander of the UMP Four Cylinder Hornet division all season long. With ten feature victories he was the man to beat but nearly unbeatable. Allen racked up an impressive 1079 points over brother Jon Provenzano’s 902 points he tallied to take second place. Freddie Thatcher collected 754 points for third place.
UMP Late Models:
Sievert hit the track running when he scored the fastest timed lap of 13.198. Ryan Dauber took the checkers for the first heat race contest after leading from the start. He and Sievert stayed close together until the finish. Scott Schmitt crossed the line third ahead of Rich Bell and Mike Provenzano. Keith Piano led the entire second heat race with a challenge by Dale Markham half way through the event. He took the win overMarkham,LakeKnutti, Ed Williams Sr. and Joe Burba.
Dauber and Sievert found themselves side by side on the grid with Schmitt andBellon their back bumpers. Once the green was signaled, Sievert darted to the lead. Sievert, Dauber,Bell, Schmitt and Provenzano chose to run a higher line while sixth place starter Mike Glynn found a road less traveled down low. He was on the move and challenging Dauber for second when officials called a yellow for debris on the track surface. The single file restart was led by Sievert over Dauber, Glynn,Bell, Schmitt, Provenzano, Darin Furar, and Billy Weistart Jr.
During Lap 14, Glynn flew to the inside line of Dauber and the two were in a brief side by side challenge until he took the runner up spot. One lap later,Bellpushed his way under a low running Glynn and ran over his drivers side back quarter area. The contact moved Glynn up the track ending an impressively fast run. Two laps later, a caution brought the pack nose to tail. After seeing Glynn’s fast track on the inside, the leaders moved down to where he was flying and stayed there. The remainder of the race was an uneventful follow the leader on the bottom all the way to the checkers.
Sievert collected the win over Dauber,Bell, Glynn, Schmitt, Provenzano, Jon Rogers, Furar, Burba,Markham, Piccatto, Gary Schalmo, Brian Lock, and Weistart.
UMP Open Wheel Modified’s:
Justin McCoy topped the fourteen car time trials with a quick lap of 14.497. Jamie Lomax took the first heat contest victory over McCoy, Matt Gremminger, Travis Kohler, and Brandon Maciejewski. Steve Lewis won the second heat race ahead of Mike Marden, Scott Hauge, Don Cole and Dale Lueth.
Lomax was out of the race early leaving Travis Kohler in charge up front. Twelve cars were remaining by the second lap restart. During the eleventh circuit, Maciejewski who was running a solid second hit the marbles and lost some momentum while McCoy took over the running position. One lap later, Maciejewski lost control spinning when Knippenberg had no where to go but nose first into the spun ride. Kohler was challenged during the last couple laps but Kohler took the feature race ahead of AJ May, McCoy, Knippenberg, Gremminger, Maciejewski, Lueth, Hauge, Lewis, Marden, and Ken Fischer.
UMP Street Stock’s:
Jamie Balensiefen’s timed lap of 15.584 earned him the quickest qualifier of the division. Mike McKinney won the first heat over Mike Hughes, Jake Miller, Jamie Balensiefen, and Aaron Near. Kevin Snowberger claimed the second heat in front of Roger Rickels, Jim Phelps, Keith Lucas, and Justin Hamm.
Hughes started on the front row outside taking the reigns away fromMcKinneyduring the second lap out. Six laps later, Hughes run put him far ahead of the pack for a challenge. Without contest, Hughes easily took the win over Rickels,McKinney, Near, Tim Provenzano, Randy Lucas, Jim Phelps, Justin Hamm, Keith Lucas, and Nick Sell.
UMP 4 Cylinder Hornet’s:
The UMP 4 Cylinder track champion added to his winning ways with yet another feature victory on his stellar season. Allen Provenzano’s outdistanced himself from his brother Jon while DJ Kilanowski and Crystal Broyles Provenzano put on a great show. Allen’s ability to cross the checkers first brought his feature win count up to eleven wins. Jon took second in front of Rick Zifko, Kilanowski, Broyles, and Thatcher.
Remaining Schedule:
Fri. Sept. 02 – Bob Tattersall Memorial USAC Midgets Complete Program, Late Model, Modified Street Stock and Hornet Race Divisions
Sat. Sept. 10 – Regular Race Night – just added
Sat. Sept. 17 – Nascar Night Plus Surprises Complete Program, Late Model, Modified, Street Stock and Hornet Race Divisions
Tues. Sept. 27 – Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series “Road toKnoxville” (re-scheduled Spring Shootout from May) Plus UMP Modified’s
Sat. Oct. 29 – Complete Program, Late Model, Modified, Street Stock and Hornet Race Divisions plus Boo Bash Halloween Party
La Salle Speedway Results 8/27/11
UMP Late Models: 19 Cars
Qualifying: Brett Sievert 13.198
Heat 1: Ryan Dauber, Brett Sievert, Scott Schmitt, Rich Bell, Mike Provenzano
Heat 2: Keith Piano, Dale Markham,LakeKnutti, Ed Williams Sr., Joe Burba
Feature: Brett Sievert, Ryan Dauber, Rich Bell, Mike Glynn, Scott Schmitt, Mike Provenzano, Jon Rogers, Darin Furar, Joe Burba, Dale Markham, Jon Piccatto, Gary Schalmo, Brian Lock, Billy Weistart Jr., Gary Hunt Jr., Aaron Schmidt,LakeKnutti, Ed Williams Sr., Keith Piano
UMP Modifieds: 14 Cars
Qualifying: Justin McCoy 14.497
Heat 1: Jamie Lomax, Justin McCoy, Matt Gremminger, Travis Kohler, Brandon Maciejewski
Heat 2: Steve Lewis, Mike Marden, Scott Hauge, Don Cole, Dale Lueth
Feature: Travis Kohler, AJ May, Justin McCoy, Tom Knippenberg, Matt Gremminger, Brandon Maciejewski, Dale Lueth, Scot Hauge, Steve Lewis, Mike Marden, Ken Fischer, Don Cole, Jamie Lomax, Austin Hewitt
UMP Street Stocks: 17 Cars
Qualifying: Jamie Balensiefen 15.584
Heat 1: Mike McKinney, Mike Hughes, Jake Miller, Jamie Balensiefen, Aaron Near
Heat 2: Kevin Snowberger, Roger Rickels, Jim Phelps, Keith Lucas, Justin Hamm
Feature: Mike Hughes, Roger Rickels, Mike McKinney, Aaron Near, Tim Provenzano, Randy Lucas, Jim Phelps, Justin Hamm, Keith Lucas, Nick Sell, Nathan Balensiefen, Kevin Snowberger, Jake Miller, Nathan Ultech
UMP 4 Cylinder Hornets: 11 Cars
Qualifying: Allen Provenzano 17.610
Heat 1: Rick Zifko, Allen Provenzano, Aaron Sutton, DJ Kilanowski, Freddie Thatcher
Heat 2: Jon Provenzano, Mark Sutton, Robert Hautz
Feature: Allen Provenzano, Jon Provenzano, Rick Zifko, DJ Kilanowski, Crystal Provenzano Broyles, Freddie Thatcher, Mark Sutton, Robert Hautz, Aaron Sutton