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ANDERSON WINS AT ROCKFORD AS BRUNS SCORES CHAMPIONSHIP
By Zach Tasker
The midgets of the Illini Racing Series were set to end their season on Saturday September 28 at Rockford Speedway, however mother nature had other plans. Practice and Qualifying got off without a hitch, with Sean Murphy setting fast time with a lap of 14.025 and earning another speeding bullet award. However just before the nights first IRS heat race was to hit the ¼ mile paved oval it started to rain. After a lengthy wait in which the conditions didn't improve it was decided to move the event to Sunday morning with just the 50 lap National Short Track Championship feature to run.
Doug Orseske and Andrew Hennig would lead the field to the green flag but it was Mike Gass who stole the lead early on jumping from 3rd starting spot to the lead before 1 lap was even completed. This years Illinois State Championship winner would build his gap quickly and start to dominate. The race was halted early on though as driver Eddie Sauer took a nasty tumble in turn 4 on lap 6, he was uninjured.
Fast qualifier Sean Murphy started deep in the field, the smurfinator had his work cut out for him from 10th starting position. He quickly carved his way through the field and looked like an early contender until something broke on the car entering turn 1 on lap 13 causing the car to spin and hit the wall hard. Once the field went back to green Gass would again pull away and build almost a straight away lead until on lap 34 when heartbreak struck for the second generation driver as his car died coasting to the infield on the back straight.
This blew the race wide open with Mike Anderson now assuming the race lead. Anderson had to hold off a hard charging Patrick Bruns, who also clinched his second straight IRS championship just by starting the feature. Bruns got close a few times with just a couple laps remaining but he couldn't get by as the “Passin Assassin” would score his 4th IRS feature win of the year and his 1st at Rockford. The driver of the #7 SET Racing Engines/Heros West Sports Grill/VIP Salon & Spa/John Lawson Auto Rebuilders/RHO Chemical/Party Bomb Energy Drink/SP2 Graphics Stewart/Ecotec was thrilled to end the season on a high note “There was a lot of good cars that fell out of this thing. Little Mikey Gass was gone. I think he was saving himself a little bit but then I don’t know happened, he had to pull in. But he definitely had a good strategy going for that 50 lapper and he was gone, something happened and he broke and pulled in. I got passed by Sean a little bit earlier and then something broke on his car. I think Sean would have been the car to beat, he was on the gas, he was flying. Him and Mikey would have probably had a good race if nothing happened to either of them. Like we said back in Morris sometimes you have to be lucky and sometimes you have to be good and when you can tow that line sometimes it works out for you so I'm very happy for today."
Patrick Bruns may have came up short at Rockford but he won this years Illini championship for the second straight year, his 3 feature wins all coming in the second half of the year gave him a commanding lead. The driver of the #83 Full Throttle Racing/JET Motorsports/Cains Marine Welding/Tin Cup RV Park/Advanced Financial/Mobil 1/Triple T Car Wash & Lube/Depke Gases & Welding Supplies Beast/Ecotec once again had everyone in the pits trying to chase him “It was just a phenomenal second half of the year, I'm really proud of my guys. They gave me a great opportunity the last couple of years. The Full Throttle Racing team is resilient, they are rock solid and never miss a beat. I feel like we were a little bit under horsepower throughout the entire season, but all in all we made it work, I'm just proud that they give me the opportunity to come out here and do what I love to do and if everything works out we can do it again next year. I have to thank Mike Wallace, he has been a big help the last couple of weeks. He gave me some advice on what to do and he has really sharpened our pencil when it comes to pavement racing. Big thanks to all sponsors, JET Motorsports came on board and provided us with a great power plant.”
The surprise of the race had to be that of rookie Kourtnay Borman. Her final race as a rookie proved to be one of her best, running up front all race and finishing in 3rd position holding off Lamont Critchett in the final laps. The driver of the #31 Manic Racing Ellis/Quad 4 is already setting her sights for a banner year in 2014 “It was a very good day, really long day yesterday but we came back and my crew chief Matt and I pulled off a good 3rd place finish. It definitely makes me want to be more ambitious, work out harder so we can maybe pull off a championship next year. “
All that is left now this year for the IRS will be the annual awards banquet at Chapins east in Morris, Illinois on Saturday November 9, come join us for a night of fun as well celebrate another exciting season.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
FEATURE (50 L) 1) #7 Mike Anderson 2)#83 Patrick Bruns 3)#31 Kourtnay Borman 4)#54 Lamont Critchett 5)#0 Doug Orseske 6)#41 Jim Canterbury 7)#52 Mike Gass 8)#5 Sean Murphy 9)#2a Andrew Hennig 10)#9k Scott Koerner 11)#8 Eddie Sauer 12)#24 Aaron Schuck (DNS) 13)#10 Mike Wallace (DNS)
QUALIFYING 1)#5 Sean Murphy (14.025) 2)#9k Scott Koerner (14.050) 3)#83 Patrick Bruns (14.096) 4)#10 Mike Wallace (14.118) 5)#7 Mike Anderson (14.134) 6)#52 Mike Gass (14.171) 7)#31 Kourtnay Borman (14.216) 8)#0 Doug Orseske (14.305) 9)#2a Andrew Hennig (14.517) 10) #41 Jim Canterbury (15.649) 11)#24 Lamont Critchett (no time) 12)#54 Freddie Teer Jr (no time) 13)#8 Eddie Sauer (no time)
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