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LOYET MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE, OUTRUNS REINKE FOR BUMPER TO BUMPER IRA OUTLAW SPRINT CAR VICTORY AT OSHKOSH!

ON TRACK ACTION AS HOT AS THE WEATHER! LOYET CAPTURES SPEEDZONE VICTORY AFTER SURPRISE APPEARANCE!

July 22, 2016; Oshkosh, WI – The pit area filled with a number of surprise entries as the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint series presented a program on an evening where the on track action was a hothot as the weather. A solid turnout of dedicated race fans were on hand to witness the action showcased by the 900 horsepower machines on the semi-banked third mile oval in spite of the heat index being near 100 degrees.

With drivers swapping rides, racers returning to action and outright surprise competitors, the fans had a lot to look forward to before racing even began.

Brad Loyet, a native of Sunset Hills, Missouri is currently on the national tour with the American Sprint Car Series where he has captured a pair of victories this season. He’s been an occasional competitor with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprints and tonight he made the most of those limited appearances. Loyet’s crew rebuilt a car that had been sitting dormant since an accident last year and used the Oshkosh event to shake down the reassembled ride. In spite of missing hot laps, Loyet quickly found the handle earning a spot in the main event.

The three time POWRi National midget champion then spent the first 9 laps of the 30 lap contest chasing two-time Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint Series title holder Scotty Neitzel before making a move in lapped traffic to take over the top spot.

From that point, he was able to fend off a hard changing Mike Reinke and survive a late race caution to secure the victory.

“It feels good to get a win that’s for sure”, Loyet exclaimed as he began to explain the effort it took to get his car ready for the evening’s show.

“We built this car this week. It was one we crashed last year and we just finally put it together. We didn’t get any hot laps, it was one of those new car deals you always find some stuff that’s wrong”, noted Loyet on his appearance with the IRA.

“We bolted some new shocks on for the heat race and they were not where we thought they were. We got them where they needed to be for the feature. That’s what it takes to win these races, hard work and my guys did a great job”, as he gave his crew credit for the victory.

Loyet’s victory goes into the record books as the tenth different winner in IRA action this season.

Mike Reinke may have had a bigger say in that outcome if not for a late-race caution.

Celebrating his 25th season of racing, Reinke was closing on Loyet as the event was nearing it’s conclusion having nibbled a straightaway lead down to a few car lengths when the yellow flag appeared. When racing went back green Loyet got a good jump on Reinke who no longer was able to match Loyet’s pace. He would have to settle for second six car lengths behind at the checkered flag.

Scotty Neitzel was the final driver making the podium after rebounding over the final circuits to come out on top of a torrid battle for the third spot.

30 entries had checked into the pit area and there were many surprises. Dave Uttech and Phillip Mock returned to action after time off due to mechanical ills, while Tim Vandervere made his first start in several seasons making a surprise return to action.

Additionally, two drivers made their debut in Bumper to Bumper IRA competition. Emily Portschy became the first new female competitor in several years to enter an IRA race, while second generation racer Brandon McMullen enthralled many in attendance with an impressive debut.

McMullen is a standout competitor in area 360 sprint ranks where he had captured the 2015 MSA series title. He turned heads by setting the fastest lap of the evening in qualifying and later finishing a solid 7th in the main event behind the wheel of a car prepared by Ozzie Weisner that was most recently driven by Ben Schmidt. Schmidt meanwhile also return to action after a several race absence wheeling a car owned by Brandon Thone earning a respectable eighth place.

Due to a late start of the program a group qualifying format was utilized with McMullen’s 13.261 second effort being the quickest of the session. Blake Nimee who had been hampered by mechanical ills recently was second quickest of the night with a lap of 13.269 seconds. Nimee would go on to capture his heat race in convincing fashion. He later finished 11th in the main event with challenged by a broken nose wing. Title contender Jeremy Schultz was third quickest on the evening with a lap of 13.285 seconds.

24 cars rolled trackside on a tacky racing surface that allowed for plenty of rim-riding high-speed action.

Neitzel who had started on the outside of the front row got the jump on Loyet blasting into the lead. Loyet opted to try a lower line in an effort to wrestle the top spot from Neitzel, but Neitzel maintained a slim lead over the opening circuits.

Third place would remain hotly contested throughout the event. Steve Meyer and Reinke battled for the spot during the opening rounds joined by Schultz and Kertscher who were also seeking to advance.

Neitzel encountered lapped traffic by lap eight. Loyet used the opportunity to close the gap on the leader and as the pair worked past backmarkers on the next circuit, Loyet dove to the inside of Neitzel down the backstretch and wrestled away the lead.

Once out front Loyet slowly began to open up the lead as Neitzel gave chase.

On lap ten Meyer lost grip in turn two going for a quick spin drawing the first of two cautions.

The action quickly resumed with Loyet and Neitzel pulling away from a hotly contested third place battle between Reinke and Schultz. On lap 12 Schultz annexed the position and tried to close on the lead pair.

Running hard Schultz found room under Neitzel for the second spot on lap 19 briefly making his way to the second spot.

The battle for second intensified as soon Schultz, Reinke and Neitzel were all running within a couple car lengths as they weaved through lapped cars.

Loyet meanwhile had built a solid lead.

Reinke began his charge on lap 20 displacing Schultz and setting out after Loyet. Reinke began to blaze past lapped machines picking them off quickly and he started to reel in Loyet.

With five laps to go Reinke had removed all the lapped cars between himself and the leader and had closed within six car lengths.

The charge was halted on the next circuit when Nimee, who had been fighting for a top five spot, looped his ride in turn four.

This bunched the field and placed Reinke within striking distance of Loyet.

However when the green flag return Loyet got a good jump and Reinke wasn’t able to match Loyet’s speed. Over the final circuits, Loyet maintained the gap of a half-dozen car lengths.

Over the final laps, Neitzel would impress working back past several cars to claim the third spot. Schultz reached the line in the fourth position.

Current Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprint series point leader Scotty Thiel made the best of a challenging night after he was collected in his heat race accident. In the main event, he pressed forward from his 13th place starting spot to finish fifth and maintain his point lead.

Kertscher spent his evening contesting for a top five spot eventually having to settle for sixth. Brandon McMullen in his 410 sprint debut got an impressive seventh. Last season’s point runner-up Ben Schmidt has now driven four different cars this season and has proven his adaptability. Tonight he got his first start behind the wheel of a Brandon Thone owned machine that had been driven by Robbie Pribnow. Schmidt put the car in eighth place at the checkered.

Russel Borland made the most of a last-minute engine change. Having just received his powerplant Borland and his crew managed to make the program tonight taking a rewarding ninth place finish. Jordan Goldesberry completed the top ten after starting 19th.

20 of the 24 starters were still on track at the checkered.

The B-main was captured by Todd Daun who was chased to the finish by Jereme Schroeder, Matt Vandervere, and Dennis Spitz. Ken Jay Fiedler and Wayne Modjeski finished fifth and sixth and were the final transfer cars. Michael Decker was the first alternate for the main after finishing seventh.

Heat race victories were captured by Kertscher, Nimee, and Mock.

Then the series had planned to contest an event at Eagle Valley Speedway located near Jim Fall, WI on Saturday but with bad weather rolling into the area the event was canceled.

The series will now head to Langlade County Fairgrounds in Antigo, Wi for a program next Friday evening, July 29th.

For more information on the IRA Outlaw Sprints check out the tour website at www.irasprints.com or by logging onto the series Facebook page at www.facebook.com/irasprints the series is also on twitter at #IRA_sprints.

The IRA Sprints are presented by its long time supporting series partners. The series support is led by title sponsor Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts & Service Centers, and associate series partners Hoosier Tire, Osborn & Son Trucking, TW Metals, Cummins Onan, and Twin Lakes Marine.

Upcoming 2016 Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series Events:

7/29/2016 – Langlade County Speedway – Antigo, WI
8/5/2016 – Dodge County Fairgrounds – Beaver Dam, WI
8/6/2016 – Plymouth Dirt Track – Plymouth, WI

410 Sprints | IRA Interstate Racing Association

Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. O5-Brad Loyet[1]; 2. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[2]; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[6]; 5. 64-Scotty Thiel[13]; 6. 80K-Mike Kertscher[10]; 7. 73-Brandon McMullen[8]; 8. 94R-Ben Schmidt[12]; 9. 23-Russel Borland[11]; 10. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[15]; 11. 79-Blake Nimee[7]; 12. 7-Scott Uttech[3]; 13. 99-Kyle Marten[14]; 14. 19-Todd Daun[20]; 15. 53W-Bill Wirth[17]; 16. 41-Dennis Spitz[22]; 17. 43-Jereme Schroeder[19]; 18. 85M-Steve Meyer[4]; 19. 4K-Kris Spitz[18]; 20. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[24]; 21. (DNF) 1M-Phillip Mock[9]; 22. (DNF) 68-Dave Uttech[16]; 23. (DNF) 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[23]; 24. (DNF) 10V-Matt Vandevere[21]

Behling Racing Equipment B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 19-Todd Daun[6]; 2. 43-Jereme Schroeder[1]; 3. 10V-Matt Vandevere[4]; 4. 41-Dennis Spitz[8]; 5. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[2]; 6. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[5]; 7. 12-Michael Decker[3]; 8. 7V-Tim Vandevere[7]; 9. 33R-Douglas Pietz[9]; (DNS) 14AJX-Darren Struve; (DNS) 0-John Fahl; (DNS) 55E-Emily Portschy

Real Wheels Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 80K-Mike Kertscher[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 3. 68-Dave Uttech[1]; 4. 94R-Ben Schmidt[3]; 5. 02-Mike Reinke[5]; 6. 73-Brandon McMullen[6]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder[7]; 8. 19-Todd Daun[9]; 9. 33R-Douglas Pietz[8]; (DNS) 0-John Fahl

DMI Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[6]; 2. 85M-Steve Meyer[5]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[2]; 4. 53W-Bill Wirth[1]; 5. O5-Brad Loyet[4]; 6. 64-Scotty Thiel[3]; 7. 10V-Matt Vandevere[8]; 8. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler[7]; 9. 7V-Tim Vandevere[9]; 10. 55E-Emily Portschy[10]

All Star Performance Products Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 1M-Phillip Mock[2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[6]; 3. 23-Russel Borland[4]; 4. 4K-Kris Spitz[1]; 5. 7-Scott Uttech[5]; 6. 99-Kyle Marten[3]; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski[8]; 8. 41-Dennis Spitz[9]; 9. 12-Michael Decker[7]; 10. (DNF) 14AJX-Darren Struve[10]

Osborn & Son Qualifying: 1. 73-Brandon McMullen, 13.261[14]; 2. 79-Blake Nimee, 13.269[22]; 3. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 13.285[23]; 4. 02-Mike Reinke, 13.361[26]; 5. 85M-Steve Meyer, 13.486[16]; 6. 7-Scott Uttech, 13.529[20]; 7. 2W-Scott Neitzel, 13.563[7]; 8. O5-Brad Loyet, 13.596[21]; 9. 23-Russel Borland, 13.686[19]; 10. 94R-Ben Schmidt, 13.780[12]; 11. 64-Scotty Thiel, 13.828[17]; 12. 99-Kyle Marten, 13.844[25]; 13. 80K-Mike Kertscher, 13.868[24]; 14. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 13.873[4]; 15. 1M-Phillip Mock, 13.910[27]; 16. 68-Dave Uttech, 13.921[30]; 17. 53W-Bill Wirth, 13.997[10]; 18. 4K-Kris Spitz, 14.141[8]; 19. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 14.160[15]; 20. 95A-Ken Jay Fiedler, 14.198[9]; 21. 12-Michael Decker, 14.228[11]; 22. 0-John Fahl, 14.303[29]; 23. 10V-Matt Vandevere, 14.316[5]; 24. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 14.346[13]; 25. 19-Todd Daun, 14.545[3]; 26. 7V-Tim Vandevere, 14.597[28]; 27. 41-Dennis Spitz, 14.639[6]; 28. 33R-Douglas Pietz, 15.835[18]; 29. 55E-Emily Portschy, 16.553[1]; (DNS) 14AJX-Darren Struve

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