Home State Driver Survives Chaos To Bag $100 Victory, Fellow Illinoisian Momper Takes Second
FAIRBURY, Ill. (March 29, 2015) — Kyle Orso held off 27 other challengers on Sunday night to win his first Spring Fling at the extremely racy Fairbury American Legion Speedway. The native Illinois driver was impressed by the track that real life drivers love as well.
"It felt great to win here at home in front of the fans and the local guys, said Orso, who earned $100 for winning the 8th Annual Spring Fling after battling side-by-side for the lead nearly the entire race. "The track raced good, you know, couple grooves there and we were side-by-side for 50-plus laps running fast times. It raced well."
Despite turning the quickest lap times in hot laps, Orso, 30, of Herrin, Ill., struggled a bit in qualifying to get sixth. After the heat race, he found himself starting towards the rear of the field for the 100 lap A Main. He quickly charged forward as he worked the bottom line to perfection, eventually finding himself locked in a three way battle for the lead before taking the lead for good on lap 64 when Gage Clark and Austen Semmelmann had a terrifying wreck in turn one whilst battling for the top spot.
After the chaos settled behind him, Orso checked out to blow a side-by-side shootout into an all-out rout of the competition. Young rookie and another home crowd favorite, Jake Momper, of Wilmington, Ill., made a strong move to get by Crossville, Tenn. driver Howard Weaver with three laps to go to finish second. The crowd was on their feet as two local drivers grabbed the top two spots over a field of extremely tough national competitors.
Orso used the incident between Clark and Semmelmann to vault himself comfortably ahead of the pack, and nursed his big lead to win by 3.49 seconds over Momper. Weaver started on the pole and earned the "Smoother Than Ice" Fast Qualifier awards earlier in the evening, but saw his chances to win his first Spring Fling evaporate after getting knocked back to the rear of the field early in the race. The Tennessee native charged back as high as second, however, before fading in the closing laps to finish just behind Momper in third.
Joe Roberson, of East Moline, Ill., was the third Illinois driver to finish in the top four after an eventful night of racing for the x59 machine. The winningest driver in Spring Fling history looked to cap off another big victory in his home state, but fell all the way to dead last after a caution with fifty laps to go. The local favorite managed to charge back through the field by running inches from the outside wall and turned a dissapointing restart into an impressive finish. Teammate Thomas Walter of Erie, PA. rounded out the top five finishers after restarting last following the caution with 50 to go.
Orso's first career Spring Fling victory was one of the biggest of his career, and the first time a Team XCR driver has graced the top spot in the prestigious event.
"Being from Illinois and a crown jewel event, one of the ones that everybody marks on the calendar each year to go chase, it's certainly right up there if not the biggest win of my career.
"We put in a lot of work at the shop last week and it paid off, so I appreciate all the help," he continued, "I just tried to get the bottom groove working and get it packed down low. I knew it'd be tough, but I only needed about half a car-length to get that extra little swing down into the corner and the bite off. I saw them (Clark and Semmelmann) kinda pushing each other trying to get around me. I figured sooner or later they'd drive off too deep in the corner and give me the opening I needed (to clear them for the lead)."
Everything fell in place Sunday night for Orso, who made a steady march to the front of the talent-laden pack from his starting spot deep in the field.
"I was just trying to really focus in when they (Clark and Semmelmann) were up there next to me to get that edge I needed to get out front," said Orso. "Then I looked up and they were both gone and the next lap Semmelmann was waiting on the track so I was just hoping he wasn't waiting up to wreck me or something. But he sat there as I went by and it was just calamity after that. I just tried to focus on staying next to the inside berm and wait for the checkered flag to fly."
Momper used a steady climb to eventually find himself in a battle with Weaver for second. The young rookie driver showed poise and patience as he worked his way towards the front to pick up the $60 second place prize.
"Mainly the wrecks helped me catch all those guys," said a humble Momper after the race. "The Clark and Semmelmann thing, it was pretty intense. I saw them bouncing off each other, knew things were gonna get ugly, and just took advantage of it."
Finishing second in the biggest race of the year definitely helped the confidence of the young driver heading into the VLR series opener next week at Beaver Dam. Last season, Momper stormed onto the scene at VLR and picked up two top five finishes in a row to end the season as Rookie of the year.
"Definitely gives you some momentum after finishing this good at this type of race. I want to thank VLR for promoting the race this year and all the racers who raced it and made it a good show."
Pole-sitter, Weaver, hung on for a third place finish after losing second to Momper on lap 97 of 100. The Tennessee driver has never been able to win a Spring Fling and the streak continued after another promising start ended without a win.
"It's good to get a top three, but this is a race I've tried to win for years and something always happens to keep that from happening," said Weaver after a grueling race at the 1/4 mile dirt oval. "In 2012 we were leading coming out of turn 3 and got sent over the wall by our (former) teammate and limped home sixth. Then the very next year I had a big lead after about 40 laps and we blew up. I didn't have very high hopes tonight but after qualifying on the pole my confidence rose quite a bit.
"It just wasn't to be after Zach (Mietzner) got into me early on and put me in the wall, but we made a nice rally. We'll try again next year. It was still an exciting race and Orso did a great job to stay out of trouble and get the win."
Among the contenders to fall by the wayside during the 100 were Austen Semmelmann, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Gage Clark, of Cross Plains, Indiana. Clark led for much of the race before the lap 50 caution reset the field. Once racing continued, the Indiana driver continued to battle side-by-side with Orso for the lead, with Semmelmann right on his bumper on the high line. Frustrations grew between the two drivers when Semmelmann pushed Clark up the track on lap 57 to take second. Clark showed his displeasure with the #18 car and returned the favor on the next lap. Semmelmann fired back once again as Orso turned a side-by-side battle into a five car length lead due to the boiling tempers behind him.
Finally, Clark decided he had had enough on lap 61 and send 20-year old Semmelmann hard into the outside wall, ending any shot Semmelmann had to win. Clark was able to continue racing in second while Semmelmann drove to the pits for some hasty repairs. Once back on track, Semmelmann waited for Clark on the back straightaway before slamming him into the wall, ending both drivers chance at a good finish. The incident marred what may have been the best racing in Spring Fling history, at a track known for incredible racing and great finishes.
Sunday night's program began with qualifying and saw Howard Weaver earn the top spot with a blistering 11.24 lap time. Team VLR drivers swept the top three in qualifying as Gage Clark and Josh Weems, of West Point, Miss., rounded out the top three qualifiers.
Heat races were won by Weaver, Zachary Mietzner, of Wilmington, Ill., and Clark. The B-Mains were won by eventual second-place finisher Momper, and Weems.
Next week, VLR starts their new series after a five-month break and heads to Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, Wisc. for the Scott Semmelmann Memorial race. The race will be 47-laps to match Semmelmann's age when he lost his life at the track last September in a tragic Sprint Car Accident.
For more information on the Spring Fling, visit www.dtr2.com or www.teamvlr.com.
Full Results from Fairbury American Legion Speedway (Fairbury, Illinois)
1. XCR_Orso/$100 - Herrin, Illinois
2. ICE_M9/$60 - Wilmington, Illinois
3. VLR_Shock/$40 - Crossville, Tennessee
4. WFO_Rainman/$50 - East Moline, Illinois
5. WFO_Ranger - Erie, Pennsylvania
6. BLS_Deadbolt - Erie, Pennsylvania
7. VLR_Gage - Lawrenceburg, Indiana
8. ICE_KG - Wilmington, Illinois
9. AIR_18 - Brookfield, Wisconsin
10. VLR_JW - West Point, Mississippi
11. Smallz - Hillview, Pennsylvania
12. USRA_Dane - Danview, Illinois
13. Dirk - Fort Worth, Texas
14. JFR_Duster/$50 - Hildebran, North Carolina
15. JFR_LP - Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
16. rmn00
17. DTA777 - Chillicothe, Ohio
18. 43a - Hagerstown, Maryland
19. BLS_Jammin - Decorah, Iowa
20. ICE_41 - Genesse, Wisconsin
21. JFR_Faschek - Hindman, Kentucky
22. AIM_Bull, Brunswick, Georgia
23. Goldfish - Ashtabula, Ohio
24. XCR_t19 - New Albany, Indiana
25. Trav13x - Crab Orchard, Tennessee