PIERCE AND RUHLMAN PREVAIL OVER TOP NOTCH DIRTcar UMP FIELD
161 Entrants Battle Frigid Weather in Competitive DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals by Allstar Performance
ROSSBURG, OH (Oct. 4) – Young driving sensation Bobby Pierce (IL) let everyone know that his newly earned DIRTcar UMP National Late Model championship was no fluke and veteran Brian Ruhlman (MI) put on a Modified driving clinic as the pair roared to victories in Saturday’s (October 4) bone-chilling DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals by Allstar Performance.
A wide top-to-bottom race track produced a near non-stop 40-lap finale as only one caution flag slowed the pace with a handful of laps remaining.
It was the fast pace that played right into the hands of second generation Pierce who rim-rode the high banks inches from the concrete wall.
Pierce fell short to Duane Chamberlain (IN) in the opening heat race for the 43 Late Models on hand, but a successful re-draw at the scales turned that frown upside-down as he drew the pole starting position for the $5,000 to win finale.
From that pole position Pierce shot into the lead, as Mason Ziegler (PA), Frank Heckenast, Jr. (IL) and Scott James (OH) followed in pursuit. None of that trio had anything for the high-flying Pierce, so they engaged in their own little battle.
By the eighth tour around the one-half mile clay oval, Pierce was into lapped traffic and the front runners began threading their way through the pack, using every available inch of the track.
Heckenast developed mechanical issues and had to retire to the pit area, leaving Zeigler holding off James and a fast-moving Kent Robinson (IN) from his 12th starting slot.
Matt Miller (OH) and Jeep VanWormer (MI) soon joined the fray that found the frozen fans focusing in on the battle for second-fifth. As they one-by-one were able to get by Ziegler the hottest battle on the track soon developed between James and Robinson. They traded spots repeatedly for several laps before Robinson was able to trigger the move he needed to bolt into second.
With that move made, he zeroed in on Pierce, but the number of available laps to get the job done ran out and had to settle for second behind the jubilant Pierce. James hung on to finish third, with Miller and VanWormer completed the top five.
A highly competitive three-night progressive racing format narrowed the 118 entered UMP Modifieds down to 32 for their final 2014 showing at Eldora.
Bringing that field down to the green flag was Kenny Wallace (MO) and he responded with a commanding lead over Ruhlman, Nick Hoffman (NC) and Evan Taylor (PA).
Despite the number of cars on the track, lapped traffic was minimal and Wallace looked to be unstoppable with the clear road ahead of him. That was until near the half-way point of the 25-lap chase and Ruhlman used his many years of Eldora experience to play his cards.
He began reeling in Wallace and after a couple laps of swapping back and forth around the massive oval he made the decisive move on lap 19. Hoffman, with two feature wins to his credit during the Nationals, studied Ruhlman’s moves intensely and with three laps remaining put those studies to work as he inched closed to Ruhlman.
Time ran out; however, for Hoffman as he concluded the weekend with a second place finish. Matt Mevert (IL) also came on the scene in the final laps and squeezed by Wallace for fourth.
Earlier in the night, Devin Gilpin (IN) was introduced as the 2014 UMP National champion, and a retiring Randy Korte (IL) was saluted for his many years of dedication and support of Late Model racing.
Eldora closes out its successful 2014 campaign Saturday (October 11) with the UNOH Sprintacular featuring three divisions of Sprint Cars – the All Star Circuit of Champions, Buckeye Outlaw Super Sprints and NRA Sprint Invaders.
-ES-
UMP DIRTcar Late Model
TIME TRIALS – 1. 83-Scott James [19]; 2. 1-Josh Richards [1]; 3. 32P-Bobby Pierce [10]; 4. 3-Matt Miller [24]; 5. 31-Nick Latham [35]; 6. 11R-James Rice [23]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [28]; 8. 77K-Steve Kester [33]; 9. 7R-Kent Robinson [21]; 10. B7-Ben Adkins [9]; 11. 1B-Jeff Babcock [30]; 12. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [5]; 13. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [18]; 14. 15S-Dan Schlieper [41]; 15. M14-Brandon Thirlby [14]; 16. 20D-Doug Drown [12]; 17. 15H-Jon Henry [20]; 18. 20JH-Jacob Hawkins [27]; 19. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [40]; 20. 00-Randy Korte [15]; 21. 49-Brian Ruhlman [16]; 22. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [6]; 23. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [36]; 24. 99M-Devin Moran [13]; 25. 75-John Gill [26]; 26. 3C-Charlie Laplant [37]; 27. 11D-Brian Diveley [11]; 28. 76-Butch Kruckeberg [17]; 29. 3G-Brian Gray [32]; 30. RH21-Gregg Haskell [31]; 31. 15A-Phil Ausra [29]; 32. 88-Andrew Reaume [38]; 33. 94-Bill Bray [7]; 34. 53JM-John Miller [42]; 35. 117-Kevin Reeve [2]; 36. 13P-Justin Pauley [34]; 37. 18G-Andrew Gordon [22]; 38. 01-Tj Dolhun [25]; 39. 27-Lauren Longbrake [4]; 40. 1BM-Ben Mott [39]; 41. 6B-David Baldwin [43]; 42. 33-Don Gordon [3]; 43. 42*-Bob Mayer [8];
HEAT 1 – 1. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [1]; 2. 32P-Bobby Pierce [3]; 3. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [5]; 4. B7-Ben Adkins [2]; 5. 11D-Brian Diveley [6]; 6. 94-Bill Bray [7]; 7. 27-Lauren Longbrake [9]; 8. 117-Kevin Reeve [DNF]; 9. 42*-Bob Mayer [11]; 10. 33-Don Gordon [10]; 11. 1-Josh Richards [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [2]; 2. 83-Scott James [4]; 3. 7R-Kent Robinson [3]; 4. M14-Brandon Thirlby [1]; 5. 99M-Devin Moran [9]; 6. 20D-Doug Drown [5]; 7. 00-Randy Korte [7]; 8. 15H-Jon Henry [6]; 9. 49-Brian Ruhlman [8]; 10. 18G-Andrew Gordon [11]; 11. 76-Butch Kruckeberg [10];
HEAT 3 – 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [2]; 2. 3-Matt Miller [4]; 3. 11R-James Rice [3]; 4. 77K-Steve Kester [1]; 5. 75-John Gill [7]; 6. 1B-Jeff Babcock [5]; 7. 20JH-Jacob Hawkins [6]; 8. 15A-Phil Ausra [10]; 9. RH21-Gregg Haskell [9]; 10. 3G-Brian Gray [DNF]; 11. 01-Tj Dolhun [DNF];
HEAT 4 – 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [1]; 2. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [2]; 3. 31-Nick Latham [4]; 4. 15S-Dan Schlieper [3]; 5. 88-Andrew Reaume [6]; 6. 3C-Charlie Laplant [5]; 7. 13P-Justin Pauley [8]; 8. 53JM-John Miller [7]; 9. 1BM-Ben Mott [9]; 10. 6B-David Baldwin [10];
B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 20D-Doug Drown [2]; 2. 00-Randy Korte [4]; 3. 1-Josh Richards [11]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman [8]; 5. 15H-Jon Henry [6]; 6. 18G-Andrew Gordon [10]; 7. 94-Bill Bray [1]; 8. 76-Butch Kruckeberg [12]; 9. 33-Don Gordon [9]; 10. 42*-Bob Mayer [7]; 11. 27-Lauren Longbrake [3]; 12. 117-Kevin Reeve [5];
B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 20JH-Jacob Hawkins [3]; 2. 1B-Jeff Babcock [1]; 3. 15A-Phil Ausra [5]; 4. 3C-Charlie Laplant [2]; 5. 3G-Brian Gray [9]; 6. 13P-Justin Pauley [4]; 7. RH21-Gregg Haskell [7]; 8. 6B-David Baldwin [10]; 9. 1BM-Ben Mott [8]; 10. 53JM-John Miller [6]; 11. 01-Tj Dolhun [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 32P-Bobby Pierce [1]; 2. 7R-Kent Robinson [10]; 3. 83-Scott James [3]; 4. 3-Matt Miller [7]; 5. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [9]; 6. 25Z-Mason Zeigler [2]; 7. 11S-Rusty Schlenk [5]; 8. 31-Nick Latham [12]; 9. 11R-James Rice [11]; 10. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [6]; 11. 99M-Devin Moran [18]; 12. 75-John Gill [19]; 13. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [4]; 14. 49-Brian Ruhlman [25]; 15. 00-Randy Korte [23]; 16. B7-Ben Adkins [13]; 17. M14-Brandon Thirlby [14]; 18. 20D-Doug Drown [21]; 19. 88-Andrew Reaume [20]; 20. 15A-Phil Ausra [27]; 21. 77K-Steve Kester [15]; 22. 11D-Brian Diveley [17]; 23. 1B-Jeff Babcock [DNF]; 24. 20JH-Jacob Hawkins [DNF]; 25. 15S-Dan Schlieper [DNF]; 26. 15H-Jon Henry [DNF]; 27. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [DNF];
UMP DIRTcar MODIFIED
F FEATURE – 1. 20M-Josh Morton [5]; 2. 4D-Kc Burdette [6]; 3. 21T-David Treon, Jr [2]; 4. 47B-Joe Brosseau [4]; 5. 21MS-Michael Stratton [8]; 6. 20WD-Jeff Daniels [7]; 7. 133-Gary Ricketts [1]; 8. 69KW-Kris Williamson [13]; 9. 31J-Ray Jackson [3]; 10. 86-Drew Smith [9]; 11. 28SM-Scott Mackenzie [DNF]; 12. 55-Clayton Smith [DNF]; 13. 69D-Dennis Deserraro [DNF]; 14. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [DNS]; 15. 42P-Cody Parker [DNS]; 16. 13K-Joey Kramer [DNS];
E FEATURE – 1. 4B-Brian Brindley [2]; 2. 5T-Jonathan Taylor [6]; 3. 4S-Rob Starkey [3]; 4. 01L-Patrick Lyon [4]; 5. WO-Jeff Koz [1]; 6. 20M-Josh Morton [17]; 7. 4D-Kc Burdette [18]; 8. 0-Brent Hole [5]; 9. 14S-Terry Sroufe [16]; 10. 18-Ryan Sutter [8]; 11. 15H-Jeff Hamby [13]; 12. 00G-Andy Galgoci [9]; 13. 8L-Jimmy Lennex Jr [14]; 14. 47B-Joe Brosseau [20]; 15. 31J-Ray Jackson [25]; 16. 28SM-Scott Mackenzie [27]; 17. 133-Gary Ricketts [23]; 18. 04-Aaron Raby [DNF]; 19. 01F-Anthony Flannery [DNF]; 20. 20WD-Jeff Daniels [DNF]; 21. 21T-David Treon, Jr [DNF]; 22. 86-Drew Smith [DNF]; 23. 69KW-Kris Williamson [DNF]; 24. 21MS-Michael Stratton [DNF]; 25. 4K-Jason Kinney [DNS]; 26. 50-Amos Bunch [DNS]; 27. 1AS-Andy Sprague [DNS];
D FEATURE – 1. 91R-Derrick Ramey [15]; 2. 36-Brandon Vaughan [2]; 3. 4D-Kc Burdette [23]; 4. 111-Curt Spalding [4]; 5. WO-Jeff Koz [21]; 6. 5T-Jonathan Taylor [18]; 7. 24M-Zeke Mckenzie [6]; 8. 14S-Terry Sroufe [25]; 9. 01L-Patrick Lyon [20]; 10. 42-Bob Baldwin [12]; 11. 4B-Brian Brindley [17]; 12. 91T-Adam Thrush [14]; 13. 0-Brent Hole [24]; 14. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [DNF]; 15. 5X-Tim Richardson [DNF]; 16. 20M-Josh Morton [DNF]; 17. N59-Chad Evans [DNF]; 18. 116-Jimmy Haager [DNF]; 19. 757-Kurt Allison [DNF]; 20. 11PH-Pete Holt [DNF]; 21. 10-Scott Bowersock [DNF]; 22. 4T-Andrew Terrill [DNF]; 23. 4S-Rob Starkey [DNF]; 24. 10KM-Kevin Morehouse [DNS]; 25. 21S-Denny Schwartz [DNS];
C FEATURE – 1. 21D-Danny Schwartz [1]; 2. 91R-Derrick Ramey [16]; 3. 19-Chad Bauer [3]; 4. 45-Nick Stroupe [10]; 5. 111-Curt Spalding [19]; 6. 83S-Kasey Schrock [6]; 7. 77B-Ray Bollinger [4]; 8. 4D-Kc Burdette [18]; 9. WO-Jeff Koz [20]; 10. 225-Jesse Bitterling [9]; 11. 71-Joel Ortberg [15]; 12. 24M-Zeke Mckenzie [22]; 13. 01L-Patrick Lyon [24]; 14. 21A-Nick Allen [5]; 15. 36-Brandon Vaughan [17]; 16. 82N-Nick Tharp [13]; 17. 19C-Andrew Corbin [DNF]; 18. 5T-Jonathan Taylor [DNF]; 19. 91T-Adam Thrush [DNF]; 20. 14S-Terry Sroufe [DNF]; 21. 10L-Nathon Loney [DNF]; 22. L5-Casey Luedeke [DNF]; 23. 17W-Tanner Wilson [DNS]; 24. 1SW-Scott Williams [DNS]; 25. 47-Collin Thirlby [DNS];
B-FEATURE – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [3]; 2. 11JR-Josh Rice [9]; 3. 51-Brandon Green [7]; 4. OJ-Bryce Jewell [5]; 5. 2TS-Travis Stemler [6]; 6. 91R-Derrick Ramey [18]; 7. 35S-David Stremme [2]; 8. 87-David Mielke [10]; 9. 11R-Ed Roley [11]; 10. 21D-Danny Schwartz [17]; 11. 21JS-Jonathan Sluka [8]; 12. D1-Lance Dehm [4]; 13. WO-Jeff Koz [25]; 14. 22T-Tony Anderson [12]; 15. 19-Chad Bauer [19]; 16. 55S-Zach Schroeder [13]; 17. 111-Curt Spalding [21]; 18. 83S-Kasey Schrock [22]; 19. 45P-Brian Post [14]; 20. 77B-Ray Bollinger [23]; 21. 14GE-Gary Eicher [DNF]; 22. 05-David Smith [DNF]; 23. 45-Nick Stroupe [DNF]; 24. 4C-Chad Boone [DNS]; 25. 4D-Kc Burdette [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [4]; 2. 2NH-Nick Hoffman [6]; 3. 22M-Matt Mevert [5]; 4. 36W-Kenny Wallace [2]; 5. 13-Jacob Hawkins [12]; 6. 21C-Taylor Cook [9]; 7. 25N-Tyler Nicely [8]; 8. 7B-Jeff Babcock [19]; 9. 7T-Evan Taylor [1]; 10. 3L-Jeff Leka [14]; 11. 24H-Mike Harrison [10]; 12. 85R-Kent Robinson [13]; 13. 43A-Mark Anderson [15]; 14. 11JR-Josh Rice [22]; 15. 54-Matt Westfall [3]; 16. 1DH-Dean Hoffman [18]; 17. 36L-Jamie Lomax [11]; 18. 2TS-Travis Stemler [23]; 19. OJ-Bryce Jewell [24]; 20. 1G-Devin Gilpin [7]; 21. 91R-Derrick Ramey [26]; 22. 18L-Randy Lines [16]; 23. 87-David Mielke [28]; 24. 11R-Ed Roley [27]; 25. 05-David Smith [29]; 26. 99J-Jimmy Dehm [17]; 27. L5-Casey Luedeke [31]; 28. 21A-Nick Allen [30]; 29. X-Jerry Bowersock [20]; 30. 51-Brandon Green [21]; 31. N59-Chad Evans [32]; 32. 35S-David Stremme [25];