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LANSING, MINN (May 22) - Chateau Raceway in Lansing, powered by Miners Outdoor Power and Recreation, was coming off two straight weeks of rainouts coming into the big Memorial Day Weekend Blowout Races Featuring the United States Modified Touring Series Big Guns. Cloudy skies and light sprinkles off and on during the day had everyone hoping that Mother Nature would cooperate and allow the fans and drivers to enjoy an esciting night of racing action. With big money on the line cars started filing in early hopeful that the trip would be worth while. Many of the drivers had already raced much of the week on the series having been in Oskaloosa Iowa on Tuesday Night, Marshalltown Iowa on Wednesday Night, and coming off a big night of action the night before in Cresco Iowa. From Lansing on Friday Night the series was scheduled to move on to Racine on Saturday Night, Kasson on Sunday Night and then to Fountain City Wisconsin on Monday Night. That making for seven straight nights of action. As the grandstands were opened about 5:30 light sprinkles were still in the area and radar was showing a large area of rain that was pretty much running right along the I-90 corridor just five miles south of the track. With extra money on the line for the special, drivers wanted to get the show in. The USMTS Modifieds were running for a $2000 to win paycheck, the Power 96 WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were hunting a $400 first prize check, Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks had there minds on what could be there biggest payday of the year, $200 to win. The S and S Auto Salvage Hornet Divisions had extra money on the line as well with the Senior Class gunning for a $125 win, and the Juniors a $75 to win payout. As the clock rolled around to race time the watching turned from the sky to the track for a full night of exciting action as Mother Nature kept the rains south allowing the show to go on. A special moment occurred right at the start of the night featuring Mark Noble of Blooming Prairie who had his "Special Pink 3 Day Race Car" which he is running over the Memorial Day Weekend in the USMTS Shows. The car is part of a fund raiser for the "Breast Cancer 3 Day Susan G. Komen race for the cure event this year. The fund raising effort was put on by "Team Jolene" who will be walking in the 60 mile three day walk later this year with the goal of raising $5000 dollars. The non profit 50/50 drawing on the night was used to raise money for the cause as well with the winner kicking back a share of his winnings. There were Pink T Shirts for the cause sold as well and anyone in attendance with one of these shirts went down on the track before the show into Victory Lane and gathered around the car and Mark for a special picture. On the track Noble was able to race the car to a second place finish in his heat but struggled to a twelfth place finish in the feature. He started in row three but was involved in an early caution and ended up restarting in twenty-first and had to work the rest of the night to try to salvage a good finish. Thirty-Four cars from eight states checked in for the USMTS portion of the show with one of those being scratched before the nights action got started because of mechanical issues. The remainder of the cars put on a solid show led off by four very exciting heats. In the first heat of the night Jason Hughes of Westville Oklahoma used his front row starting spot to put together a flag to flag win. In fact all four heat winners used front row starting spots to their advantage for wins. Kelly Shryock of Fertile Iowa held off Rodney Sanders of Happy Texas for the win in heat two. Todd Scharkey of Kasson walked away from the field on his way to taking home the win in heat three, while Scott Green of Derby Kansas took home the win in heat four. Two Consys were run with Al Hejna of Clear Lake Iowa holding off a hard charging Tim Donlinger of Rochester for the win in Consy number one. Donlinger had some tough luck in his heat forcing him to try and make the feature through the consys. Donlinger had moved from deep in the field in his heat up to third but he was the victim of somebody elses accident on the last lap of his heat which dumped him to the back of the field and forced him to the consy. Starting back in row four of the consy he quickly picked his way through the field jumping to fifth on the first lap and up to third on lap three. One lap alter he was up to second where he battled Hejna down the stretch but Al was able to hold him off for the win. Consy number two went to Corey Dripps of Waterloo Iowa who held off Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon Iowa to take the checkers. In the lead up to the main event the top eight drivers from the heats based on passing points redrew on the front straight away for positions. As driver after driver stepped up to draw nobody picked up the pole. The last driver of the eight, Jon Tesch of Watertown South Dakota ended up with the pole as it was the only position not drawn. Jason Hughes drew the second spot with Derek Ramirez of Woodward Oklahoma and Kelly Shryock getting the second row starting spots. Steve Wetzstein of West Concord and Scott Green got the third row positions with Mark Noble and Todd Scharkey getting the row four spots. Scharkey actually made the first of the redraws and drew the eighth and final spot right off the bat. So with the field all set it was time to fire the cars up for the forty lap finale. Hughes came off the outside of the front row and lead Tesch, Ramirez, Shryock, and Green around for the first lap. Back in the field Donlinger was trying to move forward from his row eight starting spot, fifteenth on the grid. He picked up four spots in two laps and moved into the top ten on lap four. He made it up to eighth on lap eleven just as the second caution of the race came out when Al Hejna went off turn one. Another quick caution followed a lap later and after that third restart the action started to pick up. Donlinger jumped up to sixth off the restart while Tesch and Ramirez hooked up in some exciting side by side action for second swapping the spot several times before Tesch took control of it. Another caution on lap sixteen, the third of the race, came out when Mike Sorensen of Rochester and Mark Noble got together in turn four. It was starting to look like the yellow flag was going to dominate the race when three laps later it waved again for a car sitting sideways in turn one. But as it would turn out that would be the last time the yellow would be out for the night as the next twenty-one laps of the forty lap main event ran off caution free. Hughes maintained his lead all the way to the finish with Tesch holding off Wetzstein and Donlinger for second. The three swapped positions several times over the second half of the race with Wetzstein moving up to second a couple times only to have Tesch come back on him. Donlinger was able to get along side Wetzstein for third a time or two but never was able to finish off the pass. Derek Ramirez took fifth folllowed by Kelly Shryock, Scott Green, Ryan Gustin of Marshaltown Iowa, and Corey Dripps rounding out the top ten. In other AMSOIL Dirt Track Racing Series Action the Power 96 WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds saw a first time winner on the year as Jerry Young of Blooming Prairie took advantage of an early restart to put himself in the lead. Eric Condit of Austin took the lead off the drop of the green. A spinning car on lap two brought out the first of three cautions in the race. it was a wild restart with Young going to the inside of Condit while Greg Pfeifer JR of Austin went to the outside of him and they crossed the line three wide heading to turn one. Young came out of the scramble with the lead and Pfeifer fell in line second. Condit fell back to fourth as Bryan Hernandez of Blooming Prairie moved up a spot as well. Hernandez would move up to second on the restart after the races second caution. Pfeifer fell back to third where it looked like he would finish until Bryan slide up high in turn four coming to the checkers. Pfeifer went under him to take second with Brandon Davis of Medford and Albert Wytaske of Lansing moving by for third and forth shuffling Hernandez back to fifth at the finish. The class ran two heats on the night with Dan Wheeler of Columbia Heights taking home the nights first heat win for the class. Albert Wytaske took the win in heat two. The Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks had a solid twenty car field on hand. Kevin Vogt of Rose Creek took the lead at the start of the race ahead of Jake Siemers of Dexter and Jason Newkirk of Austin. Vogt was looking strong out front but once again it would be a restart that would make a change in the running order. A caution on lap eight worked to Newkirk's advantage has he jumped from third to first when the green flag came out and set sail for his first feature win of the season at Lansing. Vogt ended up in second ahead of Brady and Stacy Krohnberg of Walters who finished third and fourth. Siemers had some mechanical problems over the course of the second half of the race and ended up dropping out with a disapointing seventeenth place finish. The class ran three heats with Brandon Shaner of Owatonna, Tom Kasier of Waseca, and Siemers taking those wins. The S and S Auto Salvage Junior and Senior Hornets also ran on the night. In the Junior Division Michael Wytaske of Lansing took his fourth feature win in five weeks of action at the track. It looked like Brandon Vogt of Rose Creek who had the early lead might have been able to hold off Wytaske but a slower car boxed him in as he was trying to put him down a lap and Michael was able to take advantage to go to the front. Wytaske also took the classes heat win. In the Senior Division it was a thrilling finish that stopped the dominating run of Mike Blowers of Waseca. Blowers was undefeated at the track on the season having scored four sweeps in the first four weeks of racing action and that added to a heat win earlier in the night had him nine for nine on the season in combined heats and features at the track to open the season. He was in position to make it ten for ten as he jumped from the inside of row three to the front on the first lap of the feature. Gary Stahl of Kasson meanwhile who started outside row two ran third on lap one. After a second lap caution for a lost tire off one of the cars Gary moved up to second following the restart. From there he patiently reeled in Mike and the two came to the white flag side by side with Blowers still in the lead at the line. Things changed in turn one as Stahl hugged the bottom of the track and nosed to the lead. Blowers tried to cross back over in turn two and came back along side as they headed throug turns three and four heading for the checkers. Stahl was up to the challenge as he scored his first feature win of the season. Jim Briggs of Waseca took third ahead of Briana Grinstead of Austin and Jamie Tapp of Austin. Next week Chateau Raceway will run there 12th Annual Mike Guttormson Memorial race. Another big night of racing action with all seven of the tracks classes back in action for the Memorial and the extra purse money and trophys on the line. Race time next Friday Night for the Guttormson Memorial will be 7:30.
Results For Memorial Day Blowout USMTS Special at Chateau Raceway
Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks Feature - Jason Newkirk-Austin, Kevin Vogt-Rose Creek, Brady Krohnberg-Walters, Stacy Krohnberg-Walters, Brandon Shaner-Owatonna, James Weber-Austin, Ryan Henderson-Holmen WI, Adam Godeke-Hollandale, Kylie Kath-Owatonna, James Connors-Waseca, Tom Kaiser-Waseca, Nick Roemhildt-Waseca, Samantha Stark-Austin, Dustin Sletten-Owatonna, Tony Jensen-Austin, Keith Weber-Austin, Jake Siemers-Dexter, Dylan Nelson-Freeborn, Sammie Fromm-Owatonna, Matt Simon-Adams Heat 1 - Shaner, Kath, Vogt, K Weber, Godeke, Henderson, Simon Heat 2 - Kaiser, S Krohnberg, B Krohnberg, Connors, Nelson, Roemhildt, Jensen Heat 3 - Siemers, Newkirk, Fromm, J Weber, Slettin, Stark
Power 96 WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds Feature - Jerry Young-Blooming Prairie, Greg Pfeifer JR-Austin, Brandon Davis-Medford, Albert Wytaske-Lansing, Bryan Hernandez-Blooming Prairie, AJ Wiste-Adams, Jason Born-Medford, Dave Stevens-Albert Lea, Beau Lammers-Owatonna, Eric Condit-Austin, Joe Horgdahl-Kasson, Billy Steinberg-Kasson, Bob Fisher-Lyle, Dan Wheeler-Columbia Heights Heat 1 - Wheeler, Wiste, Hernandez, Pfeifer JR, Born, Davis, Steinberg Heat 2 - Wytaske, Young, Condit, Horgdahl, Stevens, Lammers, Fisher
S and S Auto Salvage Junior Hornets Feature - Michael Wytaske-Lansing, Brandon Vogt-Rose Creek, Garitt Wytaske-Lansing, Jacob Stark-Austin, Matt Brooks-Austin, Cole Lonergan-Dexter, Michaela Stucky-Kenyon, Samantha Zipse-Northwood IA Heat 1 - M Wytaske, Vogt, Stark, G Wytaske, Lonergan, Stucky, Harang, Brooks
S and S Auto Salvage Senior Hornets Feature - Gary Stahl-Kasson, Mike Blowers-Waseca, Jim Briggs-Waseca, Briana Grinstead-Austin, Jamie Tapp-Austin, Kaitlyn Stark-Austin, Ryan Jech-Dodge Center, Jesse Harang-Northwood IA (no show: Paul Kroneman-Austin) Heat 1 - Blowers, Stahl, Briggs, Harang, Grinstead, Stark, Tapp, Jech, Kroneman
USMTS Modified National Tour Results French's Repair and Fabrication USRA Modifieds Feature - Jason Hughes-Westville OK, Jon Tesch-Watertown SD, Steve Wetzstein-West Concord, Tim Donlinger-Rochester, Dereck Ramirez-Woodward OK, Zach VanderBeek-New Sharon IA, Kelly Shryock-Fertile IA, Scott Green-Derby KS, Ryan Gustin-Marshalltown IA, Corey Dripps-Waterloo IA, Rodney Sanders-Happy TX, Mark Noble-Blooming Prairie, Layne Meyer-West Union IA, Tommy Myer-Blooming Prairie, Mike Sorensen-Rochester, Mike Hansen-Alton IA, Alan Mondus-Lakeville, Greg Jensen-Albert Lea, Doug Hillson-Blooming Prairie, Dan Bohr-Decorah IA, Todd Scharkey-Kasson, Tom Paulson-Kasson, Joe Wernecke-Dodge Center, Al Hejna-Clear Lake IA Consy 1 - Hejna, Donlinger, Gustin, Meyer, Hillson, Bohr, Scott Drake-Webb City MO, Hansen, Dano Ostrander-Princeton, Grant Junghans-Manhattan KS, Josh Reisch-Luverne Consy 2 - Dripps, VanderBeek, Paulson, Mondus, Brandon Aggen-Rushmore, Joel Alberts-Mantorville, Jensen, Jay Poidinger-Somerset WI, Jeremy Misgen-Ellendale, Bobby Swanson-Kasson Heat 1 - Hughes, Noble, Wetzstein, Myer, Ostrander, Aggen, Donlinger, Bohr, Hansen Heat 2 - Shryock, Sanders, Drake, Meyer, Paulson, Junghans, Jensen, Poidinger Heat 3 - Scharkey, Wernecke, Tesch, Hejna, Mondus, Hillson, Reisch, Gustin Heat 4 - Green, Ramirez, Sorensen, VanderBeek, Dripps, Swanson, Alberts, Misgen
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