by Cedar Lake Speedway Media PR
As the new year draws near Cedar Lake Speedway is excited to release their 2012 event schedule. 2012 brings with it a few format changes and the addition of a new class. We are excited to welcome Hornets to our program for 2012. “The Hornets put on a great show, they are fun to watch and it provides an entry level class for new blood” noted owner Brad Both. The Hornet class has become very popular at other area tracks and we anticipate great car counts right away in 2012. A complete list of rules will be released very soon. Racing will begin at 6:00 each night and feature all 5 classes most nights. Please visit www.cedarlakespeedway.com often for updates.

by Kevin Kovac
Josh Richards finally has a victory in a crown-jewel dirt Late Model event on his resume.

The 23-year-old star’s breakthrough performance came on Saturday night in the 24th annual USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel at Cedar Lake Speedway, a three-eighths-mile oval that will forever be close to his heart.

“It hasn’t even sunk in yet,” Shinnston, W.Va.’s Richards said when asked to describe his emotions following a 100-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series triumph worth $50,125. “This place has always been real special to me. Back in 2000 whenever Davey Johnson was driving for us (his father Mark’s Rocket Chassis house car) I remember coming here and watching the (USA Nationals). I was just in awe. I just fell in love with this track at a young age.

“To finally get (a crown-jewel win) – and here at Cedar Lake – it really means a lot.”

Richards, who witnessed his father’s familiar No. 1 reach Victory Lane in the 2000 USA Nationals with Johnson behind the wheel, returned his dad to the spotlight at Cedar Lake with a savvy performance. He spent more than half the distance chasing polesitter Jason Rauen of Farley, Iowa – a 31-year-old seeking a monumental upset win in his first-ever USA Nationals and WoO LMS starts – before diving underneath the upstart to grab the lead on lap 78.

The remainder of the distance served as a valedictory ride for Richards, who beat two-time USA Nationals winners Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., to the finish line despite driving a car that sported significant left-side body damage from a lap-65 tangle that nearly ended his bid. It was his fifth WoO LMS win of 2011 and the 33rd of his career.

Rauen, who led laps 1-77, settled for a fourth-place finish, nearly a half-lap behind Richards at the checkered flag. WoO LMS regular Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., completed the top five after starting 18th, nursing home a car that was hampered by an overheating engine caused by a hole in its radiator.

by Kevin Kovac
Jason Rauen of Farley, Iowa, surprised even himself with a clean sweep of Friday night’s qualifying program for the USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel at Cedar Lake Speedway.

by Kevin Kovac
Jimmy Mars has a pretty good idea what people will be talking about when he rolls into the pit area at Cedar Lake Speedway this weekend (Aug. 4-6) for the 24th annual USA Nationals presented by U.S. Steel.

Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Stan Meissner at Minnesota Dirt Track Racing.by Greg Parent
Completing back-to-back nights in the Reactor Racing team car normally driven by Johnny Parsons III, North Branch, Minnesota's Joseph Kouba raced to his first career nonwinged sprint car feature win at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday night July 30. The UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Series (TSCS) was making its second appearance at Cedar Lake, and the #22 sprinter has graced victory lane on both occasions. Kouba passed race leader Rob Caho, Jr. on lap four of the twelve lap exhibition style main event on his way to victory. A field of six nonwinged sprint cars were on hand, as approaching storms on the warm and humid summer evening lit up the northern and western skies during feature race action.

Caho was looking for a weekend sweep of TSCS feature races, and he immediately drove into the early lead from his outside front row starting position. Kouba dove under rookie Aaron Wisch on the second lap to take the second spot and quickly tracked down Caho. Ducking under Caho on lap four, Kouba was glued to his patented bottom line that he is noted for running in his winged sprint car. On this night, the bottom line was the quick way around and Kouba wasted little time in expanding the margin between himself and the remainder of the field. "It's been a long time since I was in victory lane. These cars are fun to drive," stated a very happy Kouba following his win.

Coming off his first-ever win in a sprint car during earlier heat race action, Jeff "Race Doc" Pellersels from Woodbury and Jack Clark from Knapp made contact in turn three during the early laps of the feature. Clark's sprinter bounced airborn with all four wheels off the ground. Clark managed to regain control and amazingly was able to continue racing as was Pellersels. A few laps later Pellersels overtook Caho for second while Clark got back up to fourth place in the nonstop feature race. At the checkers it was Kouba, Pellersels, Caho, Clark and Wisch still running. Kevin Bradwell did not finish. The second Reactor Racing team car driven by Tom Kamrath was not able to make repairs in time to race after getting upside down the night before at the St. Croix Valley Raceway. Adam Taubert and Jalen Morris were also not on hand. The Morris racing team has sold the motor in their car and are in the process of building a new engine.

Victory Lane Photo courtesy of Stan Meissner from Minnesota Dirt Track Racing.by Greg Parent
With lightning flashing to the north and west of the track, Brooke Tatnell overtook race long leader Cody Hahn with less than two laps to go enroute to his second Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series (UMSS) feature win of the season on Saturday night July 30 at the Cedar Lake Speedway. Picking up where he left off last September, the talented driver from the "Land Down Under" now residing in Forest Lake recorded his second straight UMSS feature win at the legendary western Wisconsin 3/8 mile dirt oval on a warm and muggy summer evening.

Defending UMSS Champion Cody Hahn had led the race from the beginning, withstanding a yellow with five laps in for a spin and a red flag after eleven laps when Tony Norem got upside down in turn two. Just like the previous night, Brooke Tatnell found himself in second at the final caution with an opportunity to race for the win. Hahn held strong until lap 19 when Tatnell made the winning pass entering turn three with a little over a lap to go. Although he wanted to win the feature race, Hahn summed up the experience afterwards by stating "I got beat by a veteran racer tonight with a great deal of talent." Tatnell had the chance to follow Hahn for several laps. Seeing he was strong on the bottom lane, Tatnell moved up the track a little bit and found some grip. Sometimes running a close second has its advantages.

Jerry Richert, Jr. maintained his point lead with a solid third place run. Fargo, ND driver Lee Grosz finished fourth just ahead of Brad Barickman. Friday night race winner Andy Jones was sixth followed by Scott Broty, Joseph Kouba, Tony Kaus, and Ronnie Erickson in the top ten. As the high point driver after the typical two rounds of UMSS qualifying races, Tatnell drew the #4 pill for the feature race invert. This put Grosz, Hahn and Tatnell's brother-in-law Jerry Richert, Jr. in the top three starting positions for the 20 lap main event. It only took Tatnell a couple of laps to move into second, but it took him considerably longer to eventually gain the lead and feature victory over the seventeen car field.