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NEAL NABS FIRST O'REILLY USMTS WIN IN WEST UNION

WEST UNION, Iowa (Sept. 16) – It must be something in their blood, as well as their right foot.

Less than three weeks ago, 17-year-old Ryan Gustin became the youngest winner in the ten-year history of the United States Modified Touring Series when the second-generation racer captured the O'Reilly USMTS National Tour main event on a less-than-smooth racing surface at the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison, Iowa.

The youth movement continued on Tuesday night as Jake Neal, 18, etched his name in the record books with his career-first O'Reilly USMTS National Tour win at the twice-rain-postponed inaugural event at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.

Like his counterpart, Neal had to not only maneuver around the best dirt Modified drivers in the nation to get the win, but also navigate an extremely rough racetrack that had been ravaged by recent rainfall.

"That was a rough one. I'm glad I've been working out, but I just want to go back to the hauler and sleep," Neal said in victory lane.

"This is one of my last races in this car. My dad and I do all the work on the car ourselves and he puts all the money into it. He's ready to retire, so I need to find a new ride for next year," added the winner.

His father, Scott, was also a successful dirt track racer in and around their hometown of Omaha, Neb.

Gustin started third in Tuesday's 25-lap Holley "A" Main and quickly jumped to the lead, but was sidelined with mechanical problems on lap 4. Tommy Weder Jr. took over from there and led the next eight laps using the low side of the 3/8-mile high-banked oval while fending off the challenges of polesitter and AFCO Pole Award winner Steve Kosiski.

Using the high side of the track, Kosiski was able to work around Weder to lead laps 13-14, but a flat tire ended his run for the winner's trophy as the yellow flag waved.
Weder led the field to the green flag for the restart while Dereck Ramirez and Neal were involved in a tussle for second place.

Claiming the high line for himself, Neal disposed of Ramirez then closed in on Weder, taking the lead with a crossover pass coming out of turn 2 on the 18th circuit.
From there, Neal was able to keep Weder at bay over the final seven laps to earn his career-first win.

Weder settled for the runner-up paycheck and Ramirez finished third while Tim Donlinger came from 14th to grab fourth at the checkered flags. Jon Tesch was fifth, Joey Schaefer sixth, Zack VanderBeek seventh, Jeff Schluetter eighth, Scott Green ninth and Darrin Walch rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Schluetter earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award for finishing eighth after starting 20th on the 24-car grid.

Neal's first win in his 90th O'Reilly USMTS National Tour start was worth $2,000 and propelled him from 13th to 10th in the Casey's General Stores Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship points standings. His first start came on March 11, 2005 at the Junction Motor Speedway when he was 14 years old.

At the top of the rankings, Donlinger reclaimed the top spot after points leader Kelly Shryock failed to finish Tuesday's main event. Donlinger now holds a 25-point advantage (1033 to 1008) over Shryock heading into the final three points races this weekend at the 10th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree.

VanderBeek is still in good position to claim his first O'Reilly USMTS National Championship as he sits third with
994 points. Tesch is fourth with 970 markers, followed by Al Hejna (890), Weder (862), Ramirez (850), Brandon Kenny (792), Alan Mondus (775) and Neal (736).

In addition to an up-for-grabs battle in the Casey's General Stores Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship, the Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year title is the tightest in history. After 51 races, Kenny leads Ramirez by a mere 16 points (1094 to 1078) heading into this weekend's finale. Rookie points are awarded to rookies based on their performance in relation to other rookies in the “A” Main, with the highest finisher getting 25 points, second earning 23 points and so on down to a miminum of 11 points for all starters.
Rookies that fail to qualify for the “A” Main are awarded 10 points.

UP NEXT:

The wait is nearly over for thousands of race fans in America’s heartland as the 10th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree is up next. Slated for next Wednesday through Saturday, Sept. 17-20 at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., the Featherlite Fall Jamboree is the undisputed marquee event for America’s most talented Modified drivers with over 100 drivers representing the "who’s who" of Modified racing pre-entered for this year’s installment.

Tickets are available online at www.deercreekspeedway.com or by calling the Deer Creek ticket office at 1-877-DCS-RACE.

The Deer Creek Speedway is a 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval located off of I-90 at Exit 209, then 11.3 miles south on US 63 (0.7 mile north of SR 16). Check out www.deercreekspeedway.com for more info.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS—America's Hottest Ticket on Dirt.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series - O’Reilly USMTS National Tour Casey's General Stores Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship Inaugural Event presented by Miller Lite Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 16 drivers in 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 RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (3) 2. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (5) 3. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (1) 4. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (6) 5. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (4) 6. 86 - David McClain -- Potosi, WI (2) 7. 25jr - Vaughn Gittin Jr. -- Baltimore, MD (8)

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 22k - Steve Kosiski -- Papillion, NE (4) 2. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (5) 3. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (3) 4. 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (7) 5. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (6) 6. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (1) 7. 70 - Matt Sweeney -- Waukon, IA (2)

Q.E.M., INC. HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (1) 2. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (3) 3. 2 - Joey Schaefer -- Waterloo, IA (6) 4. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (4) 5. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (7) 6. 0 - Jeremy English -- Bernard, IA (5) 7. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (2)

HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (1)
2. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (5)
3. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (2)
4. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- Woodward, OK (4) 5. 703 - David Smith -- Copperas Cove, TX (7) 6. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (6) 7. 4rv - Ron Ver Beek -- Oskaloosa, IA (3)

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (8 laps, top 6 advance):
1. 703 - David Smith -- Copperas Cove, TX (2) 2. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (1) 3. 4rv - Ron Ver Beek -- Oskaloosa, IA (12) 4. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (8) 5. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (6) 6. 70 - Matt Sweeney -- Waukon, IA (10) 7. 0 - Jeremy English -- Bernard, IA (7) 8. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (3) 9. 86 - David McClain -- Potosi, WI (5) 10. 25jr - Vaughn Gittin Jr. -- Baltimore, MD (9) 11. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (4) 12. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (11)

HOLLEY “A” MAIN (25 laps):
1. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (5)
2. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (4) 3. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (6) 4. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (14) 5. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (7) 6. 2 - Joey Schaefer -- Waterloo, IA (9) 7. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (8) 8. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (20) 9. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (2) 10. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (23) 11. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- Woodward, OK (16) 12. 22k - Steve Kosiski -- Papillion, NE (1) 13. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (21) 14. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (12) DNF 15. 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (10) DNF 16. 70 - Matt Sweeney -- Waukon, IA (22) DNF 17. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (24) DNF 18. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (15) DNF 19. 4rv - Ron Ver Beek -- Oskaloosa, IA (19) DNF 20. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (13) DNF 21. 703 - David Smith -- Copperas Cove, TX (17) DNF 22. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (3) DNF 23. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (18) DNF 24. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (11) DNF

Lap Leaders: Gustin 1-4, Weder 5-12, Kosiski 13-14, Weder 15-17, Neal 18-25.
Total Laps Led: Weder 11, Neal 8, Gustin 4, Kosiski 2.
AFCO Pole Winner: Kosiski.
Provisional Starters: Walch, Noble.
Ruter Farms Long Tow: Weder (764.72 miles).
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Schluetter (started 20th, finished 8th).
Next Event: Thursday, Sept. 18, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
O'Reilly USMTS National Championship Points: Donlinger 1033, Shryock 1008, VanderBeek 994, Tesch 970, Hejna 890, Weder 862, Ramirez 850, Kenny 792, Mondus 775, Neal 736.
Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year Points:
Kenny 1094, Ramirez 1078, Bryan Rowland 716, Rodney Sanders 193, Schaefer 192.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 459, Mullins 375, Wanders 357, A.S.I. 334, JR 289.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 479, Hughes 391, Ramirez 331, Harris 295, Specialty 155.

Contingency Awards:
AFCO Racing Products – Kosiski.
American Racer – Kenny.
Belleville Motorsports – not awarded.
BSB Manufacturing – not awarded.
Hawk Performance – Neal, Green.
Isky Racing Cams – VanderBeek.
KSE Racing Products – Schluetter.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Hughes.
New Vision Graphics – Kosiski.
Nitroquest Web Solutions – Ramirez.
Quarter Master – Neal, Schluetter.
QuickTime Performance Parts – VanderBeek.
Real Racing Wheels – Smith.
Ruter Farms – Weder.
TrackTek Racing Fuel – not awarded.