Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – PLYMOUTH, WI – Bill Balog certainly knows his way around Plymouth Dirt Track at Sheboygan County Fairgrounds, and for the second time in as many tries, the “North Pole Nightmare” is a Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and IRA Outlaw Sprint Series main event winner at the Plymouth, Wisconsin, bullring, this time leading all 30 circuits from the front row for a $6,000 payday.
The victory, capping what was basically a perfect evening for Balog with heat race and dash victories padding his preliminary effort, bumped his All Star career win total to three, two of which at Plymouth Dirt Track.
Gibson, Wisconsin’s Danny Schlafer, a regular contender with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Series, finished second on Saturday night at Plymouth, followed by Scotty Thiel, Parker Price-Miller, and Kyle Reinhardt.
“It feels really good to get a win in front of these Wisconsin fans, as well as get a win for all of our great partners. They are the reason we get to do this and it feels good to be standing up here for them,” Bill Balog said, a ten-time IRA champion and driver of the Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup/Wayne Corini CPA/No. 17B sprint car. “I wish we had the opportunity to race in Wisconsin a little more often.”
Starting from the pole position via dash victory, Balog’s campaign at the front of the field was relatively unchallenged, outdueling not only the competitors who were battling behind him, but simultaneously conquering waves of lapped traffic, all while maintaining control on a quick and narrow racing surface. A caution on lap ten would help alleviate an early run in with slower cars, but a long stretch of green from that point forward would eventually lead to additional roadblocks. A big move on lap 17 that allowed Balog to clear two lappers at once all but sealed the deal for the North Pole Nightmare.
“We were so good here tonight. I wish we could translate our speed here to other short tracks that we visit throughout the season,” Balog continued. “I was so focused on hitting my marks, especially in traffic. I wanted to make sure I was exiting every corner on the top of the race track. That allowed me to carry my momentum through the straights and use that momentum to pick off lapped cars. Regardless, we got it done and I’m proud of everyone involved. Hopefully we can repeat tomorrow at Angell Park.”
The All Star Circuit of Champions and IRA Outlaw Sprint Series will conclude their three-race turned two-race sweep through the southern half of The Badger State with a stop at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, on Sunday, May 22. Matching Wilmot and Plymouth, Sunday’s weekend cap will award $6,000.
Contingency Awards/Results: Plymouth Dirt Track | May 21, 2022:
Event: All Star vs. IRA Outlaw Sprint Series
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 36
Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Justin Peck | 11.144
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Parker Price-Miller | 10.895
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Cap Henry
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Danny Schlafer
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Bill Balog
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Bill Balog
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Justin Peck
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Steve Meyer
Tezos A-Main Winner: Bill Balog
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Justin Peck (+13)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Russ Borland
Qualifying
Group (A)
73-Scotty Thiel, 10.941; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman, 11.162; 3. 4-Cap Henry, 11.238; 4. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.295; 5. 14-Sean Rayhall, 11.536; 6. 4K-Kris Spitz, 11.584; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 11.729; 8. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 11.747; 9. 24-Scott Conger, 11.993
Group (B)
11-Parker Price Miller, 10.895; 2. 10-Zeb Wise, 10.960; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer, 11.163; 4. 7-Scott Bogucki, 11.258; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.272; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer, 11.318; 7. 21-Carson Short, 11.368; 8. 29-Hunter Custer, 11.490; 9. 19CW-Ion Stear, 11.993
Group (C)
65-Jordan Goldesberry, 11.332; 2. 9KK-Kyle Schuett, 11.348; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.360; 4. 28-Brandon Spithaler, 11.360; 5. 39-Jake Blackhurst, 11.367; 6. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 11.381; 7. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr., 11.404; 8. 87A-Austin Hartmann, 11.560; 9. 68-Dave Uttech, 11.565
Group (D)
13-Justin Peck, 11.108; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, 11.199; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 11.277; 4. 14M-Jack Rouston, 11.360; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 11.383; 6. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf, 11.475; 7. 19-Chris Windom, 11.483; 8. 79-Blake Nimee, 11.561; 9. 23-Russel Borland, 11.574
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
4-Cap Henry [2]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman [1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]; 5. 14-Sean Rayhall [5]; 6. 4B-Scott Biertzer [8]; 7. 43-Jereme Schroeder [7]; 8. 24-Scott Conger [9]; 9. 4K-Kris Spitz [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [1]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 4. 11-Parker Price Miller [4]; 5. 21-Carson Short [7]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer [6]; 7. 7-Scott Bogucki [3]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer [8]; 9. 19CW-Ion Stear [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 2. 9KK-Kyle Schuett [1]; 3. 28-Brandon Spithaler [3]; 4. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [7]; 5. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [4]; 6. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [6]; 7. 39-Jake Blackhurst [5]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech [9]; 9. 87A-Austin Hartmann [8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee [8]; 4. 19-Chris Windom [7]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [9]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 7. 14M-Jack Rouston [3]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [5]; 9. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf [6]
Dash (6 Laps)
17B-Bill Balog [2]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer [1]; 3. 73-Scotty Thiel [7]; 4. 11-Parker Price Miller [5]; 5. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [8]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [6]
B-main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
13-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 39-Jake Blackhurst [7]; 3. 7-Scott Bogucki [2]; 4. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [4]; 5. 85M-Steve Meyer [3]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [9]; 7. 68-Dave Uttech [11]; 8. 4B-Scott Biertzer [5]; 9. 14M-Jack Rouston [6]; 10. 43-Jereme Schroeder [8]; 11. 29-Hunter Custer [10]; 12. 4K-Kris Spitz [15]; 13. 24-Scott Conger [12]; 14. 87A-Austin Hartmann [14]; 15. 26T-Tyler Tischendorf [13]
A-main (30 Laps)
17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer [2]; 3. 73-Scotty Thiel [3]; 4. 11-Parker Price Miller [4]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [7]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [12]; 7. 10-Zeb Wise [9]; 8. 13-Justin Peck [21]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [13]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [8]; 11. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 12. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [16]; 13. 21-Carson Short [18]; 14. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [6]; 15. 79-Blake Nimee [15]; 16. 39-Jake Blackhurst [22]; 17. 3N-Jake Neuman [10]; 18. 7-Scott Bogucki [23]; 19. 19-Chris Windom [17]; 20. 23-Russel Borland [20]; 21. 9KK-Kyle Schuett [11]; 22. 14-Sean Rayhall [19]; 23. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [24]; 24. 28-Brandon Spithaler [14] Lap Leaders: Bill Balog (1-30)