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(7/20/2015) Over 1500 fans packed the stands for UPIR's 5th Annual Blast from the Past and 3rd Annual Art Richer Memorial race on Saturday. Seventy-four racers in six divisions and 21 vintage modifieds put on a show to remember. Doug Wolf of the Milwaukee Vintage Modified Club handed out prizes to fans in the ticket line. Businesses donating were Elmer's Restaurant, Elmer's County Market, Culvers, NAPA, Escanaba Holiday Station, Riverside Auto Group, Gander Mountain of Milwaukee, Wi., Milwaukee Vintage Modified Club and UPIR. Sportsman Micro-Sprint driver, Rhianna Carne, was chosen to receive the Escanaba Holiday Station Hard Luck Award from the June 27 race. The Milwaukee Vintage Modified clubs made their annual trek with sixteen vintage modifieds. Locally the vintage modifieds of Don Benoit, Bob Iverson, Herb Iverson, Dan Lambert and Joe Piron added to the excitement. A Meet and Greet for the vintage modifieds and local racing legends was held from 4 to 6 PM and included a VIP area with complimentary food and beverages for the vintage modified owners and local racing legends. The vintage mods were on display in front of the grandstand for fans to visit with owners. Memorabilia was available from the Milwaukee Vintage Modified Club, The Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame located in Hartford, WI and Scott Wollum of Gus and Bills Speed Tee Shop of MN. Art Richer's modified was on display under the grandstand. The night began with a special tribute to Dale Peterson, well known racer, who passed away June 28. Workers, volunteers, racers and pit crews alike came to the edge of the track to salute Dale. Dale's blue number 17 modified was driven by his son, Kody and daughter, Kristi drove her micro-sprint in the Parade of Flags with feature winners from the last race. The Parade of Flags was followed by a silent lap with Kody and Kristi. Kody then ran a few hot laps, but as Dale would have wanted it, racing got underway. The night’s action began with the Riverside Auto Junior Micro -Sprints. The five lap heat went lean, mean, and green the whole way. Haden Frazer got out to the early lead, but Avry Corrigan muscled his way passed to take the lead, and the win. Frazer followed Corrigan in second, with Joey Stankowicz in third. Brett Labre, Elliot Corrigan and Tristan Kostreva (Crivits, WI.) followed in that order. Next out onto the track were the Sportsman Micro -Sprints for two heats at ten laps each. Heat number one went to Gabriel Zellner (New Franklin, WI.) who continues his dominance in the 2015 UPIR Season. Second place was Dave Hosking, with Jesse Liss coming in third. J In the second heat, Kyle Getchell led flag to flag to take the win. Logan Getzloff passed 2014 track champion Kristi Peterson in the closing stages of the race to take second. Peterson would hold on to third. The 600 Micro-Sprints ran two heats. Coming from the back of the pack to the lead, Jeff Ives won the first 600 Micro-Sprint Heat. Second place would go to Scott Ruleau (Menominee, MI.) with Bart Kostreva (Crivitz, WI.) In third. The second heat went to 2014 UPIR Track Champion Josh Bartel, who led all ten laps. Second place was claimed by Christian Groleau, with Matt Peterson rounding out the podium in third. Two exhibition races were run by the Milwaukee Vintage Modifieds and local vintage modifieds much to the pleasure of the fans. As in the good old days, the drivers wheeled the Mods around the dirt oval like it was 1975! After each race, the crowd roared with applause for the cars and drivers. Don Benoit driving his original modified captured first in his heat. Racing to the win in his heat was Jeremy Allard of WI. From the past, to the present, the UPIR Modifieds came out next for two heats. After ten laps, Matt Valiquette won the first heat. Second place went to Pat Richer, and third went to Chuck Carmin. Coming in fourth was Karl Lamoreaux (Niagara, WI.), The second heat would be led to the green flag by Kody Peterson in his father's blue 17. However, going into the first turn, the rear end of Peterson’s car was dynamited by Darrell Gagnon. Peterson exited the track, but as soon as he stopped in his pit stall, a crowd of fellow racers gathered round, and began repairs. Once the race was restarted it would be Fran Berube who would lead land take the win. Second went to Darrell Gagnon, and third to Chris Lassila of Vulcan. The growing Street Stock division ran two heats. After an early race smash-up with Matt Adams, Ron Jenshak would take the checkered flag in heat one, bent nose and all. Second was taken by Ron Borchert, and third by Rob Willis, who avoided a spinning Rick Gagnon in turn four on the final lap. Heat two saw some of the best racing in recent memory in the Street Stock division, with two and three wide battling lap after lap, and passing in almost every corner of every lap. The second heat race was won by Glenn Nance, with Paul Wagner and Jon Pepin second and third respectively. Rounding up the heat racing for the night were the Bink’s Coca Cola Sport Fours. Justin Lauscher, 2014 UPIR Track Champion, returned to racing at UPIR with the same form he left with last year, winning the opening heat. Randy DeGrave tried and tried, but was unable to pass, and settled for the second position. Third went to Tyler Corwin, who is back to racing after a horrendous airborne crash three weeks ago at UPIR. Patience and determination rewarded Hattie Bourdeau who claimed her first win in heat two. Leaving the rest of the field behind, she led all the laps start to finish. Second place went to Dylan Lanaville, with third place going to Matt Maki (Chatham, MI.) The final heat of the night was taken by Bryon Stemick, yet another driver to lead every lap. Second went to Robert Bridges, with Dan Mathieson third. Intermission included drawings for bicycles donated by Matt Maki who was a double winner in the Bink's Coca-Cola Sport Fours on June 27. The highlight of intermission was introduction of the “Racing Legends” that came out for the night. For the second year, UPIR has invited drivers who raced in Escanaba in years past. Legends were introduced in front of the grandstand, allowing fans to show them their appreciation with loud applause and cheering with every name mentioned. Participating were Ron Baciak, Jim Barron, Don Benoit, Jerome Bowden, Al Buckland, Tom Chailler, David Christianson, Albin Dill, Ray Gardner, Ken Guiliani, Joe Haferkorn, Herb Iverson, Jamie Iverson, Ken Lantagne, George Leach, Rob Manninen, Karl Manninen, Norm Plourde, Gary Randall, Kent Rusk, Gene Smith, Harlan Smith, Ron Smith, Perry St. Cyr, Wennell Tourangeau, Jake Valiquette, Larry Valiquette and Allen Yelle. The Third Annual Art Richer Memorial feature winners were awarded trophies and a special payout from the Art Richer family. Dean Bloniarz Equipment of Perronville, MI. added a bonus for the modified winner. The Riverside Auto Junior Micro-Sprints hit the track with a battle between Haden Frazer and Avry Corrigan that lasted several laps before Frazer spun out. Corrigan went on to win. Second place was a dead heat between Brent Labre and Joey Stankowicz. Coming out of turn four the two slammed into each other, launching both cars sideways. Both drivers showed their talent, saving their sprints and not crashing. Stankowicz was able to edge out Labre at the line, taking the second place. Labre finished in third, missing second by mere inches. Elliot Corrigan came home in fourth, Tristan Kostreva was fifth and Haden Frazer sixth. In the Sportsman Micro-Sprint feature Gabriel Zellner stepped out and checked out from the rest of the field, and looked to have the race in his hands, then the car suddenly stopped on the back stretch. Zellner was out with mechanical issues. Another Zellner moved into the lead in the form of brother, Jacob Zellner. On the restart, Jacob blasted out to a huge lead, then like brother Gabriel, his car broke down. Kyle Getchell then inherited the lead, and didn’t look back, winning the feature. Second went to Jesse Liss, and third to Logan Getzloff. The feature racing rolled on with the 600 Micro Sprints. After 20 laps of slinging dirt and heavy battling, Matt Peterson was able to take the win over the rest of the hard charging field. Second place went to Jeff Ives, with Josh Bartel in third. Once again, the Milwaukee Vintage Modifieds took us for a trip into the past, running two more exhibition races. The fans, like earlier in the night, were delighted to see the old cars back on the track, roaring with cheers and applause. Wisconsin drivers Steve Bergdorf and Jeremy Allard took both checkers. The UPIR Modifieds from the present day came out to run their feature. Miraculously, Kody Peterson was able to come back out to run his dad’s blue 17 after the big hit in the heat race. Even with all the work getting the car back out on the track, the car’s handling went away throughout the race from mechanical issues. Cody took the car off the track, but just seeing the car on the track at all was a very special moment. Matt Valiquette held off a hard charging Chuck Carmin to win the feature. Carmin would come home in second place. Third position went to Ben Godlewski (Sussex, WI.) who came to honor the memory of Art Richer. Ben's father, Wally Godlewski was on Art's pit crew for years. It wouldn’t be difficult to pick what division put on the best feature of the night, as the Street Stocks came out and put on one heck of a show for the fans. Side by side and three wide battles littered the racetrack for the whole 20 lap feature. There were battles for position around the whole track, along with some paint trading and bumping! Ron Jenshak was able to pull away in the final stages of the race to win. Second place went to Paul Wagner, who battled with Jon Pepin for the majority of the race. Pepin followed Wagner closely in third, As always, the Bink’s Coca Cola Sport Fours closed out the night’s racing action. The opening lap saw cars going every which way, spinning and slamming into one another all bringing out an early O’Reilley Auto Parts Caution Flag. It looked like another caution plagued race.. A completely different story was written, however, as not a single caution flew the rest of the race. Justin Lauscher continued his return of dominance by winning the feature. Bryon Stemick trailed Lauscher in second place. Tyler Corwin rounded out the podium in third. The 2015 UPIR Blast from the Past truly was a night to remember for both drivers and fans alike. UPIR is back in action on a different night this week as racing heads to Friday night. Nearly two hundred Holiday Rambler RV's are camped at the U.P. State Fairgrounds. Organizers requested UPIR race on Friday, July 24 so their group can attend the races. Action begins at 7:00 PM EST with the grandstand opening at 5:00 PM EST. As always, family friendly prices of $5 grandstand admission (10 and under free), $2 and $3 concessions and adult beverages will be available. No carry-ins please. Go to www.upirtrack.com for point standings and other information. Complete results are available on www.speednetdirect.com By: Todd Rose, Co-Announcer and Race Reporter

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