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FORT DODGE, Iowa (Aug. 3) – Ryan Gustin picked up his third USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour victory of the season — and second in the last five events — Monday night at the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge, Iowa. With the $2,000 win, the 18-year-old from Marshalltown served notice to the rest of the title-chasers that he is a clear and present danger to their hopes of capturing the USMTS National Championship. Another second-generation driver, Ryan Dolan, used his outside front row starting spot to jump out to an early lead. Dolan kept a firm grip on the top spot until Gustin powered ahead with eight laps to go in the 30-lap Sunoco “A” Main. Gustin also earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award for his triumphant charge from the 11th starting spot. A caution flag with two laps to go proved fruitless to Gustin's pursuers, as Zack VanderBeek was forced o settle for the runner-up paycheck ahead of eight-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock, Al Hejna and Dolan. Sixth through tenth, respectively, went to Pat Graham, Dereck Ramirez, Corey Dripps, Dean Mahlstedt and 20th-starting Tommy Myer. Although not good enough to take home the night's trophy, VanderBeek's second-place finish helped propel him into the points lead in the Central States Region. Jon Tesch led the rankings coming into Monday's race, but failed to finish the main event and dropped to second — 33 markers behind VanderBeek (483 to 450) with three races remaining in the regional campaign. Gustin improved to third where he and Shryock are tied with 439 points. Hejna is fifth with 387, followed by Dolan (378), Mahlstedt (369), Dripps (366), Ramirez (354) and Myer (325). WALLACE AND WALTRIP AT CRESCO TUESDAY The ’Countdown to The Hunt’ will continue tomorrow (Tuesday, Aug. 3) at the Cresco Speedway in Cresco, Iowa, Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region finale. While the top-10 are already locked into the first 10 positions in the standings, the battle for the regional title and accompanying bonus points going into ’The Hunt’ is up for grabs. Points leader Kelly Shryock leads Jon Tesch by just two points, with Zack VanderBeek close behind in third. Steve Wetzstein, Ryan Gustin, Tim Donlinger, Dan Bohr, Corey Dripps, Al Hejna and Dereck Ramirez complete the top-10. NASCAR fan favorite Kenny Wallace and Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip will be in attendance to meet the fans, sign autographs and race their own high-powered USMTS Modifieds. Other Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region drivers expected include Mark Noble Doug Hillson Mike Hansen Grant Junghans Layne Meyer Jeff Schluetter Tommy Myer Jay Poidinger Tom Paulson Mike Sorensen Dano Ostrander Ron Konkel Chase Junghans Bob Timm Jacob Dahle Josh Reisch Joe Wernecke Josh Angst Ryan Dolan Jay Ihrke Joel Alberts Nate Wasmund Terry Timmerman Ryan York Jeff Rollinger Jason Schlangen Andy Bohnstengel Craig Scott Nick Deal Brian Shaw and Wesley Summers. Also on tap at the Mighty Howard County Fairgrounds will be the American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series featuring USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Cars, USRA Karl Chevrolet B-Mods and USRA Hobby Stocks. Pit gates will open at 4:00, with grandstand gates opening at 5:00. Hot laps begin at 6:30 and the first heat race takes to the track at 7:00. Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons on Tuesday at Casey's General Stores locations in Cresco, Decorah and New Hampton. Check out www.caseys.com for more information or to find the location nearest you. The Cresco Speedway is a 4/10-mile semi-banked clay oval located 0.2 miles north of SR 9 on SW 7th (at the Howard County Fairgrounds). For more information, call 563-547-3400 or visit www.rlpromotions.com online. UPCOMING EVENTS ... The Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, will be the venue on Wednesday night, Aug. 5, with Kenny Wallace and Michael Waltrip back for a second night of USMTS action at the Mahaska County Half-Mile Monster. The USMTS steamroller treks to the Knox County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Ill., for the 10th Annual UPS Store Illinois Challenge featuring the Ed Sheckler Memorial race on Thursday, Aug. 6, then on Saturday, Aug. 8, visits the 24 Raceway Park for the second time this season – this time to crown the Central States Region champion and advance the final group of drivers to compete in The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship. With more than $300,000 in prize money up for grabs during the 18-race campaign, ’The Hunt’ beings on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the LA Raceway in La Monte, Mo., and wraps up at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., for the 11th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 24-26, where the 2009 USMTS National Champion will be crowned. 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. All drivers are locked into the Sunoco “A” Main in order of passing points accumulated in the heat races, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8
laps):
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps):
BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
SUNOCO “A” MAIN (30 laps):
Lap Leaders:
Dolan 1-22, Gustin 23-30.
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, New Vision Graphics, 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, Dirthead.com, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Lone Star Super Gas, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, WatchModsLive.com, Yeager Machine. USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Fast Shafts, 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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