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CRESCO, Iowa (Aug. 4) – Al Hejna scored his fifth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour win of the season Tuesday night with a wire-to-wire performance at the Cresco Speedway. Hejna started on the pole of the 40-lap Sunoco “A” Main, and never relinquished the lead despite pressure from runner-up Kelly Shryock throughout the contest presented by Dean's Body Shop. The win was worth $2,000 to the 46-year-old owner of Rookies Rockin' Sports Bar in Clear Lake, Iowa, in his #7 Harris Chassis powered by JR Motorsports. Ryan Gustin kept his hot streak alive with a third-place finish and his fourth straight top-3 finish while 2007 USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn grabbed fourth. Zack VanderBeek garnered his fourth AFCO Pole Award of the season, redrew seventh and finished fifth. Sixth through tenth, respectively, went to defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger, Dereck Ramirez, Steve Wetzstein, Tommy Myer and Jon Tesch, who nailed down his 12th top-10 finish in 12 starts in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region. The PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award went to Michael Long, who started 17th and finished 11th. Despite his perfect run of top-10 finishes, the feat was not enough for Tesch to overtake Shryock in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points as the eight-time USMTS National Champion captured his 12th regional title out of 15 possible since the inception of the ’Hunt’ format in 2006. Tesch wound up second in the rankings behind Shryock (1046 to 1024), followed by VanderBeek (1006), Gustin (928), Wetzstein (917), Donlinger (896), Hejna (859), Ramirez (833), Dan Bohr (828) and Corey Dripps (812). All ten drivers are officially qualified for the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship, along with Doug Hillson and Layne Meyer who had perfect attendance in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region. There are 55 drivers qualified for the ’Hunt’ so far, with the final roster for the class of 2009 to be completed with the Central States Region finale in four days. NASCAR fan favorite Kenny Wallace and Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip were on hand at the Cresco Speedway Tuesday night. Wallace, who has raced 12 times with the USMTS Modifieds this season, won his heat race and finished 15th in the main event. Waltrip took some laps in Layne Meyer's machine, but spent the balance of the evening entertaining fans and waving the green flag to start the feature race. “These cars and drivers are just awesome,” Waltrip said. “I was fortunate enough to get behind the wheel of one these Modifieds and feel the power and the way the cars handle, and it was incredible. “The show these guys put on is simply overwhelming and I had a lot of fun. It was a great crowd and a a full field of cars — this is what keeps the heartbeat of NASCAR and grassroots racing across the country.” WALLACE AND WALTRIP AT OSKALOOSA WEDNESDAY The ’Countdown to The Hunt’ will continue tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 4) at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa, for the second-to-last race in the Central States Region. Both Wallace and Waltrip will be in attendance at the Mahaska County Half-Mile Monster to meet the fans and sign autographs. Also on tap will be the American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series featuring USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Cars, Carter's Manufacturing USRA B-Mods and USRA Hobby Stocks. Pit gates will open at 5:00, with grandstand gates opening at 5:30. Hot laps begin at 7:00 and the first heat race takes to the track at 7:30. Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons on Wednesday at all three Casey's General Stores locations in Oskaloosa. Check out www.caseys.com for more information or to find the location nearest you. The Southern Iowa Speedway is a half-mile semi-banked clay oval located 0.5 mile west of US 63 on SR 92, then 0.3 mile north on N. I St. (at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds). For more information, contact the RL Promotions offices at (515) 832-6000 or visit www.rlpromotions.com online. Race day info is available by calling the track hotline at (641) 673-7004. UPCOMING EVENTS ... 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. 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): NEW VISION GRAPHICS
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps): BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8
laps): AWESOME RACEWEAR 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:
Hejna 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, 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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