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KANKAKEE, IL (May 13, 2011) - With Mother Nature looming large throughout Illinois Friday night, the only things moving faster than the cars on the speedway's surface was the pace at which the program was run. Even with 95 machines poised pit side, all heat race action in the five competing divisions was completed in just over an hour at 8:34pm. And with only two last chance consolation races to run, the program quickly moved into the night's feature action. Promoter Tom Smith and starter Dave Whittington even elected to forego the customary pre-race driver's meeting in an effort to get as much of the program in before approaching weather could put a damper of the evening. A crowd of over 500 assembled, enduring with the cooler temperatures, to fulfill their addiction of speed and the taste of dirt in their beer and the smell of methanol in the air. The night's first feature event saw young 15-year-old Peotone native Joe Tsilis wheel his Ford Mustang to victory lane while withstanding the challenge of runner-up Scott Cupples. Cupples who started eighth on the grid, made his way up to the front to put some pressure on Tsilis who started outside pole. Tyler Griswold, who started outside the top 10 in 11th, would rally as well coming home in the third position followed by UNOH student Jessica Summar and Dave Polak Jr. The win was the first official UMP sanctioned triumph for Tsilis, although he also claimed victory last year in the season ending "Run Whatcha Brung" event. In UMP Stock Car feature action, Nate Zimmer of Mattoon, a student at Eastern Illinois University, made a rare appearance to score victory against an always tough cast of competitors. Zimmer made several impressive late season appearances last year after clinching the Charleston Speedway track championship, so Kankakee regulars are familiar with Zimmer being in the top five. Zimmer also started outside pole and vaulted into the early lead over Wilmington's Joe Brown and Papineau's Don Hilleary. Time and time again Brown challenged Zimmer on the inside but was not able to make the effort to pass work. Pole sitter and defending UMP National Champion Joel Funk got shuffled outside the top ten and would finish a disappointing 15th in the final rundown. Jay Hamilton and Lee J. Hall rounded out the top five. Funk, Zimmer, and Brown all won preliminary heat races, while the "Limestone Lightning" Brian Wirtz claimed the consi win. In easily the night's most exciting feature event, the "Lake Village Assassin" Jamie Lomax made the most of his first appearance of the season, also starting from the outside pole to claim the 20-lap UMP Modified feature. Lomax took the lead away from pole sitter Chad Osterhoff of Kankakee on the opening lap and never looked back. That's because he didn't have to. Joliet's Steven Brooks continues to impress fans with his style of driving, after having jumped to the dirt circles from the asphalt world. It's takes other much longer to realize their errors, and realize the dirt is where the asphalt stops and the racing begins. Brooks hounded Lomax the entire race after taking over the second spot running the bottom of the race track. However, when he had to, Brooks was able to position his car in any lane he wanted. Repeatedly, Brooks looked underneath Lomax through the turns, but Lomax was able to fend off the efforts of Brooks each time. It wasn't until fifth starting Nick Allen got into the mix running the extreme high side, that Lomax changed his strategy a bit and moved to the bottom to block the advances of Brooks. And while Allen, last week's season opening feature winner, was reeling in the duo, he did bobble when he jumped the cushion in turn four coming to the white flag. Still, all three drivers gave the fans reason to stand up and cheer, as they went three wide on the final lap racing for the checkers. Brooks looked to the outside of Lomax in one final effort to take the lead, but his bid to score his first career dirt victory came up just short. Lomax claimed his third UMP feature win of the season, all of which have come at different tracks. Allen would cross the line in third, while Osterhoff was fourth and rookie sensation Adam Williams of Wheatfield was fifth. Osterhoff, Lomax, and Dave Porth scored heat race wins while Peotone's Shawn Scripter took the consi checkers. In UMP Late Model action, Manhattan's Mike Spatola made it two-for-two, despite not having the most dominant car this week. Pole sitter Mike Provenzano launched out to the early lead and looked to have things in control. But even as the field was racing four wide down the front stretch. Tonica's Scott Schmitt rocketed by everyone to take the lead and pull out to a straightaway lead. But with about 10 laps to go Schmitt slowed coming down the front stretch and pulled to the infield grass while circling, waiting for the field to drive by before pulling his car off the track into the pit area with radiator overheating issues. It seems Schmitt's radiator had some mud blocking the air flow causing the water temp to max out. Spatola by this time was firmly holding down the second spot after passing Hebron's (IN) Shawn Toczek, who was making his return to the dirt after a year off, subbing in for Gary Schalmo, who was taking the night off due to work commitments, and Provenzano. Spatola, who started ninth after winning the first heat race, set his sights on a repeat win and went unchallenged over the final seven laps. Provenzano crossed the stripe in second for the second straight week, while Toczek shook off the rust to finish third. Kerry Mathew of Rensselear, IN finished fourth while Randy Manos took fifth. Spatola and Provenzano captured heat race wins while Provenzano was fast qualifier at 14.359 seconds. The final event of the evening was a quickly contested affair for the I-Mods as Lowell's Mike Kingma captured the checkered flag over Chris Arihood and last week's feature winner Adam Williams. The threesome have become fixtures in victory lane at Kankakee since the I-Mod's joined the program several years ago. Neil Martin and Josh Cooley rounded out the top five. Both Arihood and Williams won heat races, but because Williams won last week's event, he could start no better than eighth in this week's feature. The same will hold true for Kingma in two weeks when the I-Mods return to action. The night's racing concluded at 9:59pm, just before the sprinkles began to fall nearby then also at the track a short time later. Next Friday
night, May 20th, Indy Pic-A-Part presents Armed Forces Night with "The Land
of Lincoln 40" featuring the Sunoco American Late Model Series $2,000 to win
special. The Sunoco ALMS series is primarily a series for drivers out of
the Michigan and Ohio areas and includes drivers such as defending UMP
National Champion Rusty Schlenk of Jackson, MI, defending ALMS Champion
Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, MI, Jon Henry of Ada, OH, Curtis Roberts of
Coleman, MI, and Brandon Thirlby of Traverse City, MI. Others expected to
compete include Illinois standouts Ryan Unzicker, Kevin Weaver, Brandon
Sheppard, Steve Sheppard, Eric Smith, Jimmy Dehm, Wes Steidinger, Donnie
Walden, Derek Chandler, Scott Bull, Bret Sievert of Wisconsin, and Dillan
White of Kentucky. They will take on local hot shoes Mike Spatola, Mike
Provenzano, Steve Dimmick, Steve Thorsten, Shawn Toczek, and Jay Morris.
For weather updates be sure to text the word Kankakee to 84483 to sign up for text alerts from RainedOut.com. Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile plan.
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