Caho Conquers Kasson TSCS Sprint Finale
Kasson, MN
By: Greg Parent, UMSS Media Director
On a very warm and windy fall evening, the inaugural season of the UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series (TSCS) concluded at the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson with Rob Caho, Jr. picking up the top prize. The largest turnout of the season saw ten TSCS nonwinged sprints sign into the pits along with 21 JSTS 360 sprints and 22 NVRA vintage cars. For the upstart TSCS program, only two cars that could have been on hand were not able to make the trek south to Kasson to compete in the final event. For Wyoming, MN driver Caho, it was his third TSCS victory of the season in eleven starts. It was also the largest purse of the season for the TSCS sprints, and Caho earned a total of $350 for the win thanks to some additional bonus money from GRP Motorsports.
"This is a great way to close out the season for this new series. These cars are a blast to drive, and I look forward to next year," commented Caho following his win. Caho took the lead on lap 8 from veteran racer Jack Clark when Clark's car pushed out a bit in turn four and Caho filled the void to zoom underneath for the top spot. "I hated that there was some contact with Jack, but I was committed when the door opened and fortunately everything turned out okay," continued Caho. Clark truly has been a great competitor and help to many in the pits during the first season for the TSCS sprint cars. Caho went on to lead the remaining ten laps, as nine out of the ten cars were running at the conclusion of the 18 lap Mora Motorworks feature event.
Caho and Tom Kamrath each topped their eight lap heat races from the pole, and Caho ended up being the high point driver following the two heats. Caho drew a #6 pill for the feature race invert. This put Clark and rookie Aaron Wisch on the front row with series point leader Kevin "Rocketman" Bradwell and Jeff "Racedoc" Pellersels in row two. Kamrath and Caho would have to come from the third row. Clark immediately captured the lead on the opening lap and looked solid up front. It only took Caho two laps to move up four spots into second with Bradwell and Kamrath close behind. The first caution blinked on when Pellersels did a complete 360 loop in turn one with three laps in. On the restart, Kamrath and rookie sprint car and former modified racer Mark Chevalier in the Morris #17 sprinter passed underneath the restart cone on the front stretch. The yellow waved again, as the cone was dragged part way down the track. Both drivers were penalized two spots for the infraction and the race resumed.
Caho raced to the lead exiting turn four on lap eight and was never seriously challenged after that. Bradwell got around Clark two laps later for second while Kamrath moved to third on lap 11, as Clark was having trouble keeping his car in the preferred bottom lane on the track. The final caution slowed the pace with 13 laps in when rookie Brad Nelson spun sideways in turn three. Chevalier once again drove under the cone on the restart but continued his impressive run forward to cross the finish line in third. Pellersels also found his groove during the final five laps to drive from seventh to fourth at the checkers. With Caho and Bradwell in the top two spots, Pellersels and Kamrath advanced one position in the final rundown when Chevalier was assessed a two position penalty for the cone infraction after the race concluded. The official top five finish was Caho, Bradwell, Pellersels, Kamrath and Chevalier. Clark, Nelson, Wisch and Adam Taubert rounded out the nine cars that finished with Tom Porter dropping out of the race at the final caution.
Although there was no official point structure determined prior to the start of the season, points during the inaugural campaign were kept on the UMSS website for the TSCS series using a very simple breakdown of one point per car based on the number of cars on hand each night. The feature winner earned the top point tally each night with the remainder of the field earning one point less per position. Kevin Bradwell competed in all fifteen TSCS races held and will be considered the first point champion of the series. The leading feature winner during the season was Johnny Parsons III with five wins followed by Reactor Racing teammate Kamrath with three and Caho also with three. Bradwell won twice including the very first race back in May at Ogilvie. Jalen Morris and Joseph Kouba picked up one feature win. Kouba's win was also in a Reactor Racing car, so that potent team picked up nine out of the fifteen feature race victories.
With several more cars under construction for next season and a great deal of interest being generated, the TSCS nonwinged series has a very favorable outlook for 2012. The St. Croix Valley Raceway will be their home track with the TSCS cars running most Friday nights at the 1/4 mile St. Croix Falls oval. The series will continue to travel to several different tracks. Work during the off-season will include establishing a structured purse and point system. A meeting will be held on November 19 for all UMSS divisions to discuss the 2011 season and make plans for the 2012 season. Traditional sprint car fans can continue to follow the growth of the UMSS TSCS series on the UMSS website at www.umsprints.com by clicking on the blue logo to enter the TSCS home page. TSCS news and results are also available on the UMSS Facebook page. Thanks to all of the drivers, car owners, pit crews and race fans for helping make the 2011 debut season of the Traditional Sprint Car Series a success!
UMSS TSCS Race Results - Dodge County Speedway October 8, 2011 (Race #15):
SprintSource.com Ultimate Heat Race #1 (8 laps): Rob Caho Jr, Wyoming MN, Jeff Pellersels, Woodbury MN, Aaron Wisch, Arlington MN, Adam Taubert, Mora MN, Brad Nelson, Brainerd MN.
Driverwebsites.com Ultimate Heat Race #2 (8 laps): Tom Kamrath, Maplewood MN, Kevin Bradwell Luck, WI, Mark Chevalier, Andover MN, Jack Clark, Knapp WI, Tom Porter, Blaine MN DNF.
Mora Motorworks A Main (18 laps): Caho #78, Bradwell #95, Pellersels #1, Kamrath #32, Chevalier #17, Clark #41s, Nelson #7N, Wisch #73, Taubert #8, Porter #53 DNF.
Lap Leaders: Clark 1-7, Caho 8-18.
Cautions: (3)
Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Vince Peterson at Track Rat Photos.