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USMTS Hunt for the Casey General Store National Championship
Tour Visits Chateau Raceway Friday Night
by: Matthew Grage
LANSING, MN (Sept 4) - Mother Nature served up a great weekend of weather
for the Labor Day weekend and the drivers at Chateau Raceway in Lansing,
powered by Miners Outdoor Power and Recreation served up a great night of
AMSOIL Dirt Track Racing Series Action Friday Night. It was the first of the
Fall Specials being Hosted by Chateau Raceway with the USMTS Modifieds on
hand for the 4th Annual Cedar River Races. It was night eleven in the
eighteen race "Hunt for the USMTS Casey General Store National Championship
for the touring series. A nice field of USMTS Modfieds were on hand along
with a good showing of the regular "Frenchs Repair and Fabrication USRA
Modified" local drivers who ran with them. Also on the program for the night
were three of the tracks other classes, Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks, Power 96
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, and S and S Auto Salvage Junior and Senior
Hornets. The WISSOTA Street Stocks and WISSOTA Super Stocks had the night
off but will be back for next weekends big two night "Midwest Modified Fall
Nationals".
Jason Hughes of Westville Oklahoma, the hottest drivers on the USMTS circuit
these days lead the All Star Line up of drivers into Lansing. Hughes had
racked up a combined nineteen feature wins running the USMTS circuit this
summer, nine in the Southern Series, six in the National Series leading up
to the "Hunt" and another four wins during the Hunts first ten events,
including the last two. Those last two came on Wednesday and Thursday, the
previous two nights, on the tours stops in Allison Iowa and Alta Iowa,
leaving him looking for a big payday for the third night in a row. One of
Hughes wins came earlier this season in the USMTS Tours regular season stop
at the track back in May. Other drivers on hand who have had a big summer on
the USMTS tour included Al Hejna of Clear Lake Iowa and Jon Tesch of
Watertown South Dakota who each have posted six features wins this summer
racing the tour. Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown Iowa who has had a pair of wins
during the Hunt was also on hand along with the top Rookie on the Tour this
summer Grant Junghans of Manhattan Kansas who has one Hunt win this fall as
does Tim Donlinger of Rochester who was also on hand. There was plenty of
the local favorites on hand as well with Blooming Prairies trio of hard
chargers, Mark Noble, Tommy Myer and Doug Hillson who was the 2009 Track
Points Champion in the USRA Modified class. Kelly Shryock of Fertile Iowa
who had one win during the season on the tour but has been shut out so far
in the Hunt was also on hand as his consistent performances still had him
leading there points battle by fifth-six points over Hughes entering the
nights action. And there was plenty of ACTION.
The action started right off with some exciting heat races. Johnny Bone Jr
of Pea Ridge Arkansas, Gustin, Bobby Swanson of Kasson, Shryock, and Zach
VanderBeek of New Sharon Iowa all claimed heat wins while taking advantage
of front row starting spots. There was plenty going on behind them and
around them however despite there favorable draws. Hughes made a nice charge
to a third place finish from a sixth place starting spot in heat one. In
heat two Jason Krohn of Slayton went side by side with Gustin in the middle
of there heat event as they battled for the win. In heat three it was Hejna
who kept Swanson on his toes. Hejna actually took the lead a couple times in
the race in the middle of the turns only to have Bobby power off the corners
to come back to the point and hold onto the win. Heat fours excitement came
at the expense of the current point leader in the USRA Modified Divison.
Steve Wetzstein of West Concord drew an outside row three starting spot for
the heat and on the first lap there was some contact as the field raced into
turn three which started Steve sliding sideways. His momentum took him over
as he rolled one time with the car climbing the wall and coming to rest with
the nose pointing straight down and the back of the car up on the wall. The
incident put a quick end to the night for Steve who had captured the feature
win at Lansing the week before. In heat five it was Josh Resich of Luverne
who put on the show as he started dead last in the eight car field and raced
his way all the way up to fourth at the checkers.
The two "B Mains" went to Tesch and Donlinger. Tesch started outside front
row and after trailing pole sitter Mike Steensma of Luverne for the first
five laps he went to the bottom of the track out of turn two and went wheel
to wheel for the lead. He crossed the line with the lead by a nose as they
completed lap six than cleared Mike on lap seven to race off to the win.
Jason Cummins of New Richland who has three feature wins at the track this
summer came out of the middle of the twelve car field to finish second ahead
of Steensma. Rodney Sanders of Happy Texas lead the early laps of the second
"B Feature" before Donlinger went to the outside of him to take over the
lead on lap five. Sanders held onto second with Joel Alberts of Mantorville
taking third.
In the 40 Lap "A Main" it was Jason Krohn of Slayton who drew the pole for
the race and he took his machine straight to the front with VanderBeek in
tow. On lap four the two went side by side around the one-third mile oval
with Zach taking the lead at the line. Krohn than fell into a battle for
second with Ryan Gustin who was coming forward in a hurry from his row three
starting spot. It only took about another three laps and Ryan took over the
runnerup spot and set his sits on VanderBeek. With the twenty-six car field
spread out all around the track there was action in every corner but it was
Gustin who was putting on the show. He reeled in Zach and dropped to the
inside of him on lap thirteen and went to the front. The laps were clicking
off as the field raced through the first thirty-two laps of the forty lap
race before the first and only caution of the race came out for a spinning
car in turn four. That bunched the front of the field back up and put
Shryock, who had worked his way to third from a row four starting spot,
alongside VanderBeek behind the leader Gustin. When the green came back out
Kelly took over the second spot and set his sights on Ryan as he was still
looking for his first feature win of "The Hunt". Ryan had gotten a nice jump
on the restart and put a little distance between him and the eight time
USMTS Champion however Kelly pulled up on him with three to go. As the field
was working lap thirty-nine Shryock went to the bottom of the speedway and
the two went side by side for the lead as they took the white flag. Ryan got
the good push coming off of turn two on the final lap however to pull back
out in front of Kelly and lead him into the final turns heading for the
checkers. Shryock made one more charge to the bottom coming to the line but
Gustin had enough to hold him off and take his third feature win of "The
Hunt". Vanderbeek came home in third follwed by Bone Jr and Corey Dripps of
Waterloo Iowa. Jason Hughes meanwhile had to settle for a hard fought sixth
place finish after starting back in row five. Hughes raced side by side
several laps with Tesch who came forward to battle with Hughes before
falling back to eighth. Donlinger, the other "B Main" feature winner along
with Tesch also had a nice feature run as he came forward to finish seventh.
Shryocks second place finish padded his lead in the hunt standings with just
seven races left to decide the 2009 Champion.
In the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Class 2009 Track Champion Bryan Hernandez of
Blooming Prairie kept on rolling with another feature win. Hernandez worked
his way from row six toward the front moving into the top five in just two
laps and getting up to second behind Dan Wheeler of Columbia Heights by lap
eight. Off a restart at that point Bryan got the good jump and slide to the
bottom of the track on the drop of the green and took over the lead coming
out of turn two. Brandon Davis of Medford came on late to take the second
spot away from Wheeler while Greg Pfeifer JR of Austin and Kenny Wytaske of
Lansing rounded out the top five. Hernandez's feature win was his fifth of
the season. He also took home one of the classes heat wins giving him a
sweep on the night for the second time this year. Also taking heat wins were
AJ Wiste of Adams and Dave Stevens of Albert Lea.
In Pure Stock action Brandon Shaner of Owatonna collected his third feature
win of the year as he held off Dylan Nelson of Freeborn for the win. Shaner
started on the pole but ran second on the first lap to outside pole sitter
Adam Godeke of Hollandale. Off a restart on lap two Brandon went to the lead
but he was called for jumping the start and on the next yellow a lap later
he was docked two spots and had to restart in third. He took the next
restart a little more cautiously and fell in line for a few laps before
sliding back by for the lead on lap seven. Godekes night got worse from
there as two laps after he lost the lead he lost control of his car spinning
out. Aaron Sletten of Owatonna came home third ahead of Kylie kath of
Owatonna and Jason Newkirk of Austin. Kath and Jesse Cruz of Owatonna were
the nights heat winners.
In the Hornet classes it was the same old story in the Senior Division as
Mike Blowers of Waseca walked away with another pair of wins giving him his
thirteenth sweep of the season go go along with his fourteen feature wins.
Gary Stahl of Kasson took home the classes other heat win. In the Junior
Divison Garitt Wytaske of Lansing put together a pair of wins taking home
his third feature win of the year and his first sweep.
Chateau Raceway will host there fourth annual "Midwest Modified Fall
Nationals next weekend. There will be a special practice session at the
track Thursday Night from 7:00 to 10:00. Than two full shows Friday night
and Saturday night. Friday Nights race time will be 7:30, with Saturday
Nights races scheduled for 6:00. Joining the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds on
the show next weekend will be the other two regular WISSOTA classes that run
at the track, the Street Stocks and Super Stocks, as well as the Pure Stocks
and USRA Modifieds. After next weekend the track will take a couple weeks
off before coming back for another big two night special. It will be the
Third Annual Buzz Festival for the Hornet class. That will be two complete
shows the first weekend of October, the 2nd and 3rd. Despite being named for
the Hornet Class all the tracks regular classes will be on hand for the two
nights of racing action featuring complete shows with heat and features both
nights.
Results
Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks
Feature - Brandon Shaner-Owatonna, Dylan Nelson-Freeborn, Aaron Sletten-Owatonna,
Kylie Kath-Owatonna, Jason Newkirk-Austin, Wayne Bellrichard-Albert Lea,
Adam Godeke-Hollandale, Matt Miller-Austin, Brandon Vogt-Rose Creek, Jacob
Stark-Austin, Sammie Fromm-Owatonna, Matt Simon-Adams, James Connors-Waseca,
Jesse Cruz-Owatonna
Heat 1 - Cruz, Bellrichard, Vogt, Miller, Godeke, Newkirk, Simon
Heat 2 - Kath, Nelson, Fromm, Shaner, Sletten, Connors, Stark
Power 96 WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature - Bryan Hernadez-Blooming Prairie, Brandon Davis-Medford, Dan
Wheeler-Columbia Heights, Greg Pfeifer Jr-Austin, Kenny Wytaske-Lansing,
Dave Stevens-Albert Lea, Joe Horgdahl-Kasson, Troy Dahle-Morristown, Adam
Stowell-Rosemount, Beau Lammers-Owatonna, Billy Steinberg-Kasson, Harland
Morehart-Eyota, Cole Queensland-Grand Meadow, Travis Wytaske-Rochester,
Scott Huinker-Stewartville, AJ Wiste-Adams, Bob Fisher-Lyle
Heat 1 - Hernadez, Wheeler, Horgdahl, Lammers, Steinberg, Fisher
Heat 2 - Wiste, Davis, K Wytaske, Dahle, Huinker
Heat 3 - Stevens, Pfeifer JR, Stowell, T Wytaske, Morehart
French's Repair and Fabrication USRA/USMTS Modifieds
Feature - Ryan Gustin-Marshalltown IA, Kelly Shryock-Fertile IA, Zach
VanderBeek-New Sharon IA, Johnny Bone JR-Pea Ridge AR. Corey Dripps-Waterloo
IA, Jason Hughes-Westville OK, Tim Donlinger-Rochester, Jon Tesch-Watertown
SD, Al Hejna-Cler lake IA, Tommy Myer-Blooming Prairie, Rodney Sanders-Happy
TX, Mike Hansen-Alton IA, Todd Scharkey-Kasson, Jason Krohn-Slayton, Bumper
Jones-Mesilla Park NM, Dustin Boney-Tonganoxie KS, Josh Reisch-Luverne,
Bryan Rowland-Woodward OK, Grant Junghans-Manhattan KS, Mike
Steensma-Luverne, Bobby Swanson-Kasson, Doug Hillson-Blooming Prairie, Joel
Alberts-Mantorville, Jason Cummins-New Richland, Dustin Steinbrink-Austin,
Mike Sorensen-Rochester
Consy 1 - Tesch, Cummins, Steensma, Myer, Rowland, Dereck Ramirez-Woodward
OK, Jacob Dahle-Morristown, Hillson, Steinbrink, Brian Shaw-Brownsdale, Tom
Paulson-Kasson (DNS: Mark Noble-Blooming Prairie, Steve Wetzstein-West
Concord, Greg Jensen-Albert Lea)
Consy 2 - Donlinger, Sanders, Alberts, Reisch, Scharkey, Shawn
Peterson-Cottage Grove, Junghans, Eddie Martin-Stillwell OK, Scott
Green-Derby KS, Boney, R.C. Whitwell-Tucson AZ, Joe Wernecke-Dodge Center,
Layne Meyer-West Union IA, Darwin Karau-Kasson
Heat 1 - Bone JR, Dripps, Hughes, Tesch, Dahle, Scharkey, Shaw, Karau
Heat 2 - Gustin, Krohn, Jones, Junghans, Alberts, Steinbrink, Peterson,
Ramirez
Heat 3 - Swanson, Hejna, Rowland, Sanders, Wernecke, Boney, Noble, Meyer
Heat 4 - Shryock, Hansen, Donlinger, Myer, Cummins, Martin, Green, Wetzstein
Heat 5 - VanderBeek, Sorensen, Steensma, Reisch, Hillson, Jensen, Paulson,
Whitwell
S and S Auto Salvage Junior Hornets
Feature - Garitt Wytaske-Lansing, Casey Trom-Zumbrota, Charlie
Steinberg-Kasson, Cole Lonergan-Dexter
Heat 1 - Wytaske, Trom, Steinberg, Lonergan
S and S Auto Salvage Senior Hornets
Feature - Mike Blowers-Waseca, Michael Wytaske-Lansing, Gary Stahl-Kasson,
Jason McShane-Waseca, Kevin Trom-Zumbrota, Jeremy Wenzel-New Richland,
Briana Grinstead-Austin, Scott Porter-Madison Lake, Paul Kroneman-Austin,
Bob Schoenfelder-Grand Meadow, Adam Gransee-Waseca
Heat 1 - Stahl, Wytaske, Wenzel, Trom, Porter
Heat 2 - Blowers, McShane, Kroneman, Grinstead, Schoenfelder, Gransee
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