Provenzano seals the deal on championship at La Salle Speedway

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By: Betty Glynn

La Salle, IL – Grand Ridge racer Mike Provenzano gained a great deal of respect and fans this season en route to his first track championship at La Salle Speedway. It wasn’t just that he raced hard and earned the accolades he deserves, it was how the UMP Late Model competitor did it.

Saturday night was the final night to collect points towards the championship in each of the divisions which usually makes for some great racing action. Due to Mother Nature’s fury, the drivers only had six nights to collect points in their quest for the divisional championships. Running for points can become a point-of-contention and make normally level headed drivers loose control.

Mike Provenzano was sitting third in points only a few races ago but his powerful presence and consistent finishes jolted him into the lead. Top that off with his stellar performance on Saturday and you have a true champion.

Scott Schmitt earned the pole with Bret Sievert on the outside. Rich Bell and Mike Glynn took row two over Mike Provenzano and his father Lil’ John Provenzano. Sievert wasted little time taking control of the lead but Schmitt was right there with him as Glynn ran third. During the third lap, Schmitt and Sievert raced a little too close for comfort and made contact, Glynn moved into second but a caution stopped their battle.

It seemed as though the pack would just get momentum building when the yellow flag could be found hanging from the flagman’s stand. During Lap 11, Mike Mataragas lost control ending the nights of Lil’ John and the new ride belonging to former champ Keith Piano. Mataragas eventually retired his ride as well.

Five laps later, half the field was back in their pit areas. Sievert flew around the top side like he had his own route back to victory lane while Mike Provenzano seemed to be falling out of his rhythm. Fourteenth place starter, Jason Jaggers was now running an upper groove with Schmitt chasing.

“The car was terrible,” explained Mike. “It pushed hard when I went in to the corner.” His smooth entry into the corners was gone while Sievert continued his seamless wide open drive up the track.

Lucky for the new champ his car didn’t let him down. “The last two laps, the car just came alive.”

With two laps left on the scoreboard, Mike brought the action into a one lap showdown. As they entered turn three Mike held on while Sievert nearly lost control.

Mike sealed the deal as the 2009 UMP Late Model Track Champion crossing the finish line solo. Sievert straightened his ride out in time to take home second over Jaggers. After a run from the tail, Schmitt moved his way into an impressive fourth place finish over sixteenth place starter John Piccatto. Dan Doherty took sixth in front of Roger Rebholz, Greg Wagner, Aaron Schmidt, and Ande Bivens.

Schmitt’s powerful run early scored him both the dash and heat wins. Bell, and Mike Provenzano each won their heat events.

The UMP Modified’s came out of the blocks fast and furious. The pole sitter Matt Gremminger nearly lost control but did a great job of missing the speed plants who were heavy on the gas behind him. Fourth place starter Milo Veloz took command early.

The show just wasn’t up front as three wide conquests were common place throughout the field of nineteen. A three wide battle with Veloz, Joe Adam and Vince Cooper ensued without anyone giving an extra inch or letting off the gas. Contact was made with Veloz spinning to a stop. Soon after Veloz went pitside.

Cooper was now at the helm with Adam, Nathan Balensiefen, AJ Dixon, Justin McCoy and Dale Lueth ready for action.

Cooper continued his winning ways taking home the trophy as Adam charged for second. Cooper’s ability to wheel his machine has not only put him in winners circle repeatedly but put his name back in the record books as a repeat divisional champion.

Balensiefen crossed the finish line third over Dixion, McCoy, Lueth, Travis Kohler, Tom Knippenberg, Coy Williams, and Gremminger.

Gremminger and Line each won their heat contests.

Jimmy Partipilo had enough points that no matter the feature outcome he was going to go home the Street Stock champion. That didn’t seem to matter for the young gun from Elmhurst. He came ready to race hard and win.

He started on the pole of his heat and won in solo fashion. Brandon Maciejewski won the first heat. Their victories positioned them next to each other for the feature starting grid. Once the green was signaled Partipilo used his outside start to take the lead from the highside. The pair only battled side by side during the first lap out. After that, it was the Partipilo show.

Partipilo has truly dominated the division this season. After he collected the checkers it was Steve Lewis making his move for second. Maciejewski was close behind in third over Noah Faw. Roger Rickels crossed the line fifth but was later disqualified after tech inspection. Jake Miller finished behind him in front of Chris Philhower, Randy Lucas, Justin Rutledge, Tim Provenzano and Aaron Near.

Asa Robart started the UMP Hornet main on the front row next to Phil Burdette ahead of Nick Clubb and Rick Zifko. Robart took over the point but Burdette stayed right with the leader. The pair battled with Robart higher on the track then Burdettte. Lap after lap they found themselves battling while lapped traffic had their own races going on.

During the final lap, Robart was still in command just narrowly over Burdette when lapped traffic closed any shot at stealing the lead. Robart took the victory over Burdette, Nick Clubb, Allen Provenzano, Zifko, Jamie Deford, Chad Williams, Jeff Seitz, Jerry Legner, JR Brown, Kyle Carlson, and Rick Wagner.

Nick Clubb and Burdette won the heat races.

Next weekend the speedway hosts the Hanks 4 x 4 event with racing action returning the following week.





La Salle Speedway Scoreboard Results 08/08/09

UMP Late Models – 23 Cars
Dash: Scott Schmitt, Bret Sievert, Rich Bell, Mike Glynn
Heat One: Rich Bell, John Provenzano, Ed Williams, Keith Piano
Heat Two: Mike Provenzano, Mike Mataragas
Heat Three: Scott Schmitt, Bret Sievert, Rusty Schlenk, Roger Markham
Feature: 1. Mike Provenzano, 2. Bret Sievert, 3. Jason Jaggers 4. Scott Schmitt, 5. John Piccatto, 6. Dan Doherty, 7. Roger Rebholz, 8. Greg Wagner, 9. Aaron Schmidt, 10. Ande Bivens, 11. Ed Williams, 12. Jeff Small, 13. Jon Small, 14. Ralph Markham, 15. Rich Bell, 16. Mike Mataragas, 17. Keith Piano, 18. Lil John Provenzano, 19. Mike Glynn, 20. Rusty Schlenk

UMP Modifieds – 21 Cars
Heat One: Matt Gremminger, Travis Kohler, Nathan Balensiefen, Vince Cooper
Heat Two: Phil Line, Joe Adam, Milo Veloz, AJ Dixon
Feature: 1. Vince Cooper, 2. Joe Adam, 3. Nathan Balensiefen, 4. AJ Dixon, 5. Justin McCoy, 6. Dale Lueth, 7. Travis Kohler, 8. Tom Knippenberg, 9. Coy Williams, 10. Matt Gremminger, 11. Felish Collins, 12. Don Cole, 13. Ryan Kortge, 14. Brad Carrington, 15. Wally Forsythe, 16. Milo Veloz, 17. Mike Marden, 18. Jeremy Johnson, 19. Paul Smith

UMP Street Stocks – 19 Cars
Heat One: Brandon Maciejewski, Mike Hughes, Noah Faul, Jake Miller
Heat Two: Jim Partipilo, Roger Rickels, Steve Lewis, David McKenny
Feature: 1. Jim Partipilo, 2. Steve Lewis, 3. Brandon Maciejewski, 4. Noah Faw, 5. Roger Rickels – DQ, 6. Jake Miller, 7. Chris Pillhower, 8. Randy Lucas, 9. Justin Rutledge, 10. Tim Provenzano, 11. Aaron Near, 12. Darryl Mathews, 13. Keith Lucas, 14. Steve Schwemlein, 15. Duane Peterson, 16. Matt Hughes, 17. Alex Clubb, 18. David McKenny

UMP Hornets – 23 Cars
Heat One: Nick Clubb, Jamie Deford, Alex Clubb, Jeff Seitz
Heat Two: Phil Burdette, Rick Zifko, Asa Robart, Chad Williams
Feature: 1. Asa Robart, 2. Phil Burdette, 3. Nick Clubb, 4. Allen Provenzano, 5. Rick Zifko, 6. Jamie Deford, 7. Chad Williams, 8. Jeff Seitz, 9. Jerry Legner, 10. JR Brown, 11. Kyle Carlson, 12. Rick Wagner, 13. Allen Line, 14. Mark Sutton, 15. Anna Cain, 16. Shanon Mudro, 17. Alex Clubb, 18. Andrew Schwarko, 19. Josh Larson, 20. Harold Reiter, 21. Freddie Thatcher
 




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