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LANSING, Minn. (May 22) – The Chateau Raceway powered by Miner's Outdoor & Rec was coming off two straight weekends of rain-outs coming into Friday night's big Memorial Day Weekend Blowout featuring the big guns of the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour. Cloudy skies and light sprinkles off and on during the day had everybody hoping that the weather would cooperate and allow the fans and drivers to enjoy an exciting night of racing action. As the clock rolled around to race time, all eyes turned from the sky to the track as Mother Nature kept the rain to the south, allowing the show to go on. Thirty-four cars and drivers from eight states checked in for the show with Wednesday night's winner at the Marshalltown (Iowa) Speedway, Jon Tesch, drawing the pole position for the 40-lap Sunoco “A” Main with the eighth and final draw among the inverted qualifiers. Jason Hughes drew the second spot but came from the outside of the front row to lead Tesch, Dereck Ramirez, Kelly Shryock and Scott Green around the 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval for the first lap. Back in the field, defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger was trying to move forward from his eighth row starting spot, picking up four spots in two laps and moving into tenth on the fourth lap. With Hughes holding back challenges from Tesch and Ramirez, Donlinger was up to eighth by lap 11 as the second caution of the race came out when Al Hejna went off in turn 1. Another quick caution followed one lap later, but afterward the action started to pick up. Donlinger jumped up to sixth on 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. Another caution came out on lap 16 when Mike Sorensen and Mark Noble got together in turn 4, then again three laps later for a car sitting sideways in turn 1. That was the last time the field would see the dreaded yellow flag as the remaining 21 laps ran caution-free. Hughes maintained a slim lead throughout, but held it all the way to the finish with Tesch holding off Steve Wetzstein for second and Donlinger snagging the fourth spot and earning the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award. The three swapped positions several times during the second half of the race with Wetzstein moving up to second a couple of times only to have Tesch come back on him. Donlinger was able to get alongside Wetzstein on three occasions but never was able to finish off the pass. Ramirez took fifth, followed by Zack VanderBeek, Shryock, Green, Ryan Gustin and Corey Dripps rounding out the top-10 in the second of five Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region main events in a row this Memorial Day Weekend. Hughes also led wire to wire in the Isky Cams First Heat Race to make it a perfect night in grabbing his series-leading fourth win of 2009. The Westville, Okla., chassis builder also has four victories this season in the USMTS Southern Series. In the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points, VanderBeek and Donlinger are tied at the top of the rankings with 194 points each, with Wetzstein just three markers back in third. Fourth is Ramirez with 165 points, followed by Shryock (159), Hughes (154), Dripps (144), Green (140) and Dan Bohr (138). MONTH OF MAY-HEM ROLLS ON ... The mud-slinging Modifieds of the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour head to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., tomorrow (Saturday, May 23) for the 7th Annual A&A Electric & Underground Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge. Pit open at 2:00 and the grandstand gates open at 3:00. Hot laps are slated to begin at 4:30 and the first heat race will hit the track at 5:00. This highly-anticipated event will also feature WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and WISSOTA Super Stocks in action. Fans can pick up coupons good for $2 off adult general admission at Casey's General Stores locations in Austin, Owatonna, Rochester and Stewartville. Running in conjunction with this event will be the Miner's Outdoor & Rec Demo Day. Come check out their full line of Husqvarna power equipment and outdoor recreational vehicles under the big tent located in the front parking area at Deer Creek Speedway from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Deer Creek Speedway will also be running its Memorial Day Weekend Happy Hour special with beer for $1 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. as everyone gets ready for the first green flag. 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). For more information, call 507-346-2342 or visit www.deercreekspeedway.com online. 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. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
OFFICIAL RESULTS Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Sunoco “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8
laps):
BRODIX HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #3 (8
laps):
INTERCOMP HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1
(12 laps, top 4 advance):
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2
(12 laps, top 4 advance):
SUNOCO “A” MAIN (40 laps):
Lap Leader:
Hughes 1-40.
Contingency Awards: = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = USMTS TITLE SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores. USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Racewear, AwesomeRaceSuits.com, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, COMP Cams, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Nitroquest, PBM Performance Products, Sunoco Race Fuels. USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, Bear Tire, Big Dog Chassis & Fabrication, DandyLand Farms, Day Motor Sports, Diamond Oil Company, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Lone Star Super Gas, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, Yeager Machine. USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.
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