5TH ANNUAL MUSCO LIGHTING FALL CHALLENGE SET FOR SEPT. 15-16 AT OSKALOOSA

OSKALOOSA, IA (Sept. 11, 2006) - The 5th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will take place on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15-16, at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, with many of the region's top drivers looking to capture the title, while others look to defend their crowns.

This year will feature four classes in action with the USRA B-Modifieds added to the racing schedule along with the USRA Hobby Stocks, USRA Stock Cars and the O'Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series highlighting the action.

In the O'Reilly USMTS Friday night feature last year, Kelly Shryock of Fertile topped the field and pocketed $2,000 while Tommy Myer of Blooming Prairie, Minn., snared the $3,000 top prize in Saturday's finale.

Shryock also won the Friday night portion of the program in 2004 after sweeping both nights in 2003. The seven-time defending O'Reilly USMTS national champion also captured the Saturday finale in 2002 when the event was a three-day affair. Chris Spieker of Masena and John VanDenBerg of Oskaloosa won the preliminary events in the inaugural event. Bruce Hanford of Davenport won the Saturday night finale in 2004. Overall, Shryock has captured 10 O'Reilly USMTS events at Oskaloosa, including the last visit on Aug. 2.

2004 O’Reilly USMTS Rookie of the Year Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa, sits atop the ranking in ‘The Hunt’ for the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship, which is comprised of the final 16 events of the season. The 5th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will be the sixth and seventh events of ‘The Hunt’ for the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship.

VanderBeek leads the ‘The Hunt’ standings with a 21-point cushion (492 to 471) over Watertown, S.D.'s Tesch, while Shryock is 38 markers behind the leader. Jason Friesen of Sutton, Neb., who squeaked into ‘The Hunt’ with a 10th-place finish in the Dirt Works Southern Region, is fourth with 428 points and Myer rounds out the top-5 with 410 points.

‘The Hunt’ for the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship continues with the running of the 5th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15-16. Gates open at 4 p.m. on Friday, with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15. On Saturday, gates open at 4 p.m., hot laps are at 6 and the mud starts flyin' at 6:30. Friday's main event winner will earn $2,000 and Saturday's event will carry a top prize of $3,000.

In 2005, Curt Hook of Ackley topped the USRA Hobby Stock main event on Friday with Eddyville driver Bobby Greene taking the win on Saturday night. In the USRA Stock Car division, hometown hero Ron Ver Beek took the win on Friday night while current track points leader Brad Pinkerton of New Sharon grabbed the win on Saturday night. This year, the USRA B-Modifieds will make their debut at the Southern Iowa Speedway, with the possibility of becoming a regular fixture on the weekly Wednesday night program in 2007.

Both USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA B-Mods will race for $200 to win on Friday, with $500 earmarked for the winners on Saturday. USRA Stock Car drivers will battle for a $300 top prize on Friday and Saturday's main event will feature a $1,000 winner's share of the purse.

The Mahaska County Half-Mile Monster received a facelift earlier this year with the latest and greatest lighting from Musco Lighting installed at the facility.

The Southern Iowa Speedway is located 0.5 mile west of US 63 on SR 92, then 0.3 mile north on N. I St. (at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds) in Oskaloosa, Iowa. For day-of-race information, call the track hotline at (507) 634-4281 or visit www.rlpromotions.com/oskaloosa  online. For more information about the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com  online.