FANS BRAVE HEAT WAVE, REWARDED WITH SIZZLING O’REILLY USMTS ACTION AT EAGLE
by: Jeff Nun

EAGLE, NEB. (July 19, 2006) - Despite thermostats peaking at a near-record 108 degrees Wednesday in Eagle, Neb., race fans opted to fight fire with fire as a large crowd was on hand to witness a full field of cars and sizzling on-track action as the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series visited the Eagle Raceway for Modified Madness presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. From the drop of the green flag to start the first heat race to the waving of the checkered flag at the end of the night, a talented mix of touring regulars and local drivers made for a thrilling show on the high-banked 1/3-mile oval.

The start of the 40-lap Holley "A" Main saw a pair of Cornhusker State racers on the front row. Polesitter Clint Homan of Bellevue jumped out front to lead the first lap before outside front row starter Jason Friesen of Sutton powered around the high side of the track to lead lap 2. One lap later, Jason Hughes of Colcord, Okla., used the low side of the racetrack to become the third different leader in the first three laps.

The first of three cautions came out on the third lap as O’Reilly USMTS mainstays Jon Tesch of Watertown, S.D., and Tommy Myer of Blooming Prairie, Minn., made contact and resulted in Tesch spinning out in turn 1. Because of the contact, Myer was forced to join Tesch at the rear of the 25-car field for the impending restart.

Hughes continued to pace the next nine laps as drivers throughout the field jockeyed for position behind him, running two- and three-wide around the multi-groove racing surface. Behind Hughes, 13th-starting Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, and 14th-starting Brad McEwan of Storm Lake, Iowa, diced their way through the field to move into the second and third spots. McEwan, who won the second Real Racing Wheels "B" Main to advance to the main event, disposed of Shryock on lap 11, then scooted underneath Hughes in turn 2 to lead the 13th lap.

The caution flag waved again on lap 17 for debris on the track from the No. 1F Modified of Friesen, whose top-five run came to an end as he was instructed to tag the rear of the field for causing the yellow flag. Meanwhile, both Myer and Tesch had recovered from their earlier mishap and had moved back into the top 10.

On the restart, Shryock used the middle of the corners as he powered around McEwan to lead lap 18. With the seven-time defending O’Reilly USMTS national champ on the point, McEwan continued to show Shryock the nose of his car as Hughes, Ryan Ruter and Zack VanderBeek followed in close pursuit.

The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 25 but a spin by a lapped car on lap 29 brought out the third caution of the race. In the melee surrounding the spin, Hughes also spun and his shot at victory ended. With 11 laps to go, the green flag was displayed again with Shryock continuing to keep McEwan at bay. VanderBeek, who had the UNIJIG Worst Redraw and started eighth, found the high side to liking and moved around McEwan to take over the second spot.

VanderBeek hounded Shryock over the next 10 laps, pulling alongside several times in the turns and going bumper to bumper in the straights, but was unable to find a way around the veteran. Shryock took the checkers ahead of VanderBeek with a car-length to spare and picked up his 20th victory of the season. The win was worth $2,000 and increased his season-long winnings to more than $50,000.

McEwan, who was reeling the leaders in over the last few laps, settled for third while Forest City, Iowa's Ruter quietly secured a fourth-place paycheck. Myer rebounded to take fifth place while Omaha's Jake Neal recorded a career-best sixth.

Eagle Raceway regular Chris Alcorn of Lincoln fared the best of the home turf defenders and finished seventh. Current track points leader Mike Meyer of Greenwood used a provisional to garner the 25th and final starting spot, but passed 10 cars en route to a 15th-place finish.

Up next, Huset's Speedway in Brandon, S.D., plays host to the O’Reilly USMTS speed merchants for the first time ever on Thursday for the season's final event in the tough Western Region. The action wraps up on Friday with the 5th Annual Gopher Summer Challenge at the Murray County Speedway in Slayton, Minn., and the final points race in the Reich Concrete/Yeager Machine Northeast Region.

For more information, or to learn more about the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, call (515) 832-7944 or visit www.USMTS.com online.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series
Modified Madness presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts
Eagle Raceway, Eagle, Neb.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 12 drivers in Home Pride Passing Points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Holley “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.



ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT #1 (10 laps):

1. 27h - Clint Homan -- Bellevue, NE (1)
2. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (5)
3. 19 - Marlin Kracht -- Luverne, MN (2)
4. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (7)
5. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (8)
6. 8x - Robert Brinkman -- LaVista, NE (4) DNF
7. 02 - Tommy Weder -- Woodward, OK (6) DNF
8. 21t - Tracy Harr -- Omaha, NE (3) DNS



HEAT #2 (10 laps):

1. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Forest City, IA (5)
2. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (8)
3. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (7)
4. 8 - Larry Goertz -- Omaha, NE (1)
5. 96jp - Jeremy Payne -- Cave City, AR (3)
6. 72 - Mike Lineberry -- Fontanelle, NE (4)
7. 75j - Jesse Robinson -- Valley, NE (6)
8. 4j - Jack Dover -- Springfield, NE (2) DNF



HEAT #3 (10 laps):

1. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (3)
2. 1f - Jason Friesen -- Sutton, NE (6)
3. 26 - Brad McEwan -- Storm Lake, IA (5)
4. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (4)
5. 45m - David Trauernicht -- Beatrice, NE (7)
6. 95r - Lucas Robinson -- Elk City, NE (1)
7. 1z - Norm Ziegenbein -- Lincoln, NE (2) DNF



HEAT #4 (10 laps):

1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Colcord, OK (3)
2. 3x - Chris Alcorn -- Lincoln, NE (1)
3. 13 - Doug Deterding -- Lincoln, NE (6)
4. v45 - Rik Gropp -- Lincoln, NE (2)
5. 52 - Sean Manning -- Firth, NE (7)
6. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (4) -1 Lap
7. 3a - Aaron Pella -- Lincoln, NE (5) DNF



HEAT #5 (10 laps):

1. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (5)
2. 4 - Chevy Hadan -- Waterloo, NE (2)
3. 29 - Greg Metz -- Washington, KS (7)
4. 2m - Mike Meyer -- Greenwood, NE (3)
5. 96j - Johnny Saathoff -- Beatrice, NE (4)
6. 3w - Stacey Wilhelm -- Martell, NE (1)
7. 18s - Brent Bohmont -- Martell, NE (6)



REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):

1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (9)
2. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (4)
3. 02 - Tommy Weder -- Woodward, OK (10)
4. 4 - Chevy Hadan -- Waterloo, NE (1)
5. 96j - Johnny Saathoff -- Beatrice, NE (7)
6. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (2)
7. 2m - Mike Meyer -- Greenwood, NE (5)
8. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (3)
9. 72 - Mike Lineberry -- Fontanelle, NE (8)
10. 4j - Jack Dover -- Springfield, NE (13) -1 Lap
11. 1z - Norm Ziegenbein -- Lincoln, NE (11) -1 Lap
12. 52 - Sean Manning -- Firth, NE (6) -5 Laps
13. 18s - Brent Bohmont -- Martell, NE (12) DNF



REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):

1. 26 - Brad McEwan -- Storm Lake, IA (1)
2. 45m - David Trauernicht -- Beatrice, NE (5)
3. 19 - Marlin Kracht -- Luverne, MN (2)
4. v45 - Rik Gropp -- Lincoln, NE (4)
5. 21t - Tracy Harr -- Omaha, NE (12)
6. 8 - Larry Goertz -- Omaha, NE (3)
7. 95r - Lucas Robinson -- Elk City, NE (8)
8. 75j - Jesse Robinson -- Valley, NE (10)
9. 96jp - Jeremy Payne -- Cave City, AR (6)
10. 3w - Stacey Wilhelm -- Martell, NE (9) DNF
11. 8x - Robert Brinkman -- LaVista, NE (7) DNF
12. 3a - Aaron Pella -- Lincoln, NE (11) DNS



HOLLEY “A” MAIN (40 laps):

1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (13)
2. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (8)
3. 26 - Brad McEwan -- Storm Lake, IA (14)
4. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Forest City, IA (5)
5. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (7)
6. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (4)
7. 3x - Chris Alcorn -- Lincoln, NE (12)
8. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (6)
9. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (15)
10. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Colcord, OK (3)
11. 29 - Greg Metz -- Washington, KS (10)
12. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (23)
13. 1f - Jason Friesen -- Sutton, NE (2)
14. 27h - Clint Homan -- Bellevue, NE (1)
15. 2m - Mike Meyer -- Greenwood, NE (25)
16. 45m - David Trauernicht -- Beatrice, NE (16)
17. 19 - Marlin Kracht -- Luverne, MN (18)
18. v45 - Rik Gropp -- Lincoln, NE (20)
19. 4 - Chevy Hadan -- Waterloo, NE (19) DNF
20. 21t - Tracy Harr -- Omaha, NE (22) DNF
21. 02 - Tommy Weder -- Woodward, OK (17) DNF
22. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (9) DNF
23. 13 - Doug Deterding -- Lincoln, NE (11) DNF
24. 96j - Johnny Saathoff -- Beatrice, NE (21) DNF
25. 18s - Brent Bohmont -- Martell, NE (24) DNF



AMSOIL Lap Leaders: Homan 1, Friesen 2, Hughes 3-12, McEwan 13-17, Shryock 18-40.
Total Laps Led: Shryock 23, Hughes 10, McEwan 5, Homan 1, Friesen 1.
Provisional Starters: Reisch (regional), Bohmont (national), Meyer (track).
Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger: Shryock (started 13th, finished 1st).
Next Race: Thursday, July 20, Huset's Speedway, Brandon, S.D.
O’Reilly National Driver Points (top 10): Shryock 3312, Myer 2854, Mark Noble 2628, Tesch 2572, VanderBeek 2522, Ruter 2473, McEwan 2368, Mahlstedt 2154, Hejna 2137, Poidinger 1675.
Western Region Points (top 10): Shryock 1148, Tesch 1076, Mark Noble 979, Myer 955, Ruter 937, McEwan 900, Hejna 871, VanderBeek 832, Mahlstedt 644, Poidinger 630.

Home Pride Passing Points - National (top 5): Shryock 135.0, Ruter 118.5, Hejna 111.0, Myer 100.5, Tesch 99.0.
Home Pride Passing Points - Western (top 5): Ruter 66.0, Tesch 48.0, Shryock 46.5, Hejna 46.5, McEwan 45.0.
Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year Points (top 5): Poidinger 486, Friesen 409, Matt Gilbertson 295, Bohmont 280, Weder 277.
UNIJIG Builders Championship Points (top 5): Skyrocket 325, Kraft 253, Hughes 241, GRT 209, Bullet 155.



Contingency Awards:

Bassett Racing Wheel – McEwan.
Belleville Motorsports – Myer, Hughes.
Boyer’s Engine Development – Shryock, VanderBeek.
Edelbrock – Shryock.
Fast Shafts – Myer.
GRT Race Cars – Neal.
Isky Racing Cams – not awarded.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Ruter.
KSE Racing Products – Tesch.
Larson Racing Specialists – Friesen.
Marsh Racing Wheels – not awarded.
QuickTime Performance Parts – not awarded.
RaceQuest – Shryock, Poidinger, Lineberry.
Real Racing Wheels – Shryock, McEwan.
T.A.R. Race Car Bodies – Hughes.
UNIJIG – VanderBeek.