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SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (May 23) Tim Donlinger was back in victory lane at the Deer Creek Speedway Saturday night as he captured the 7th Annual A&A Electric & Underground Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge on the same track where he nailed down the 2008 USMTS Caseys General Stores National Championship last September with a win in the Featherlite Fall Jamboree. Skill and experience has carried Donlinger to the winner's circle on many occasions at the Spring Valley, Minn., speedplant, but the veteran from nearby Rochester, Minn., mixed in a dose of good fortune in taking down Saturday's $2,000 top prize. Donlinger started on the pole for the 35-lap Sunoco A Main and jumped out to lead the first lap of the race, but relinquished the lead the next time around to eight-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock a nine-time winner at the Queensland family's 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval. Shryock continued to hold the point through the early stages of the main event as he led the field through the next 15 orbits, but young Jason Cummins came charging through the field to power by Donlinger then wrestle the lead away from Shryock on lap 17. Within four laps, Cummins had extended his advantage to nearly a straight-away as he threatened to run away and hide from the field. On lap 22, however, a broken radiator hose crippled his machine and he pulled to a stop on the racetrack to bring out the caution flag with hopes of collecting his first USMTS checkers gone up in smoke. Meanwhile, Donlinger had inched ahead of Shryock and led the field for the double-file restart. AFCO Pole Award winner Ryan Gustin battled with Shryock for the second spot while Donlinger maintained a narrow advantage over the final 13 laps. Shryock disposed of Gustin in the closing laps and pressured Donlinger for the lead, but had to settle for the runner-up spot as he continues to seek his first feature win of the season. Gustin held on for his third third-place finish in the last four races while Jason Hughes, who won on Wednesday and Friday night, came from the tenth starting spot to finish fourth. Dan Bohr rounded out the top-5 finishers, with Al Hejna, Steve Wetzstein, Zack VanderBeek, Jon Tesch and Rodney Sanders finishing sixth through tenth, respectively. A sub-par performance in his heat race and Real Racing Wheels "B" Main forced VanderBeek to take a provisional starting spot in the main event, but by feature time he may have had the fastest car on the track. After passing several cars in the first few laps of the race, VanderBeek spun and was forced to tag the tail of the 26-car field for the restart. The Z-Man passed an additional 18 cars during the final 27 laps en route to an eighth-place finish. Since provisionals are not eligible for the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award, that distinction went to Tesch, who was nearly as impressive with a run from 22nd to ninth and pocketed an additional $300 from Hanson Tire. Donlinger is back atop the rankings in his quest to repeat as champion in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region. Donlinger leads Wetzstein by 20 markers (295 to 275) with VanderBeek close behind with 270 points. Tesch is fourth with 263, followed by Shryock (257), Hughes (247), Dereck Ramirez (235) and Bohr (226), with Hejna and Sanders tied for tenth with 210 each. GET INTO DODGE ... The Memorial Day Weekend swing continues tomorrow (Sunday, May 24) at the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, Minn. The 8th Annual CJ Auto Sales Stars & Stripes Shootout will be the 23rd time the USMTS and their throttle-mashing thrill machines have invaded the 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval. The last event was on August 31 last year and the site of Kelly Shryock's most recent victory his series-leading fourth career win there. Fellow multi-time winners at the Dodge County Speedway include Brad Waits, Jason Hughes, Todd Scharkey and Dan Chapman as two-time winners. Other winners under the USMTS banner include Mike Hejna, Tommy Myer, Mike Sorensen, Jon Tesch, Corey Dripps, Nate Wasmund, Scott Megonigle, Chris Spieker and Mike Chasteen, who won the first-ever USMTS-sanctioned show at Kasson on June 21, 2001. On Sunday, the pits will open at 2:00 with grandstand gates opening at 3:00. Hot laps are slated for 4:30 and the first heat race is scheduled to take the track at 5:00. Also on the racing card will be WISSOTA Midwest Mods, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets. The Dodge County Speedway is located 1.1 mile north of US 14 on SR 57 (at the Dodge County Fairgrounds). For more information, call 507-634-4281 or check out www.dodgecountyspeedway.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):1.
97 - Rich Lewerke -- Garner, IA (2)
AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #3 (8
laps):
INTERCOMP HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
AMERICAN RACER HEAT RACE #5 (8
laps):
REAL RACING WHEELS B MAIN #1
(15 laps, top 5 advance):
REAL RACING WHEELS B MAIN #2
(15 laps, top 5 advance):
SUNOCO A MAIN (35 laps):
Lap Leaders:
Donlinger 1, Shryock 2-16, Cummins 17-22, Donlinger 23-35.
Contingency Awards:AFCO
Racing Products Gustin.
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