Track Schedules

Deer Creek to continue partnership with USRA for tenth straight season in 2012
By Todd Narveson

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Jan. 31) – The Queensland family and the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., will continue their sanctioning partnership with the United States Racing Association (USRA) for the 2012 season. This will be the tenth straight year with USRA sanctioning at the speedway.

The high-banked 3/8-mile speedplant operates on Saturday nights and will have two classes that will carry the USRA banner. Those will include the USRA RHS Modifieds and USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mods during American Racer USRA Weekly Series races.

Deer Creek has sanctioned the Modified division since the 2003 season. Bob Timm of Winona won the first USRA sanctioned race on April 26, 2003, and in that time there have been 27 different feature winners. Tim Donlinger of Rochester leads the way with 26 wins under the USRA sanction. Mike Sorensen of Rochester sits second with 25 wins while Timm is third with 16 victories. Jason Cummins of New Richland is fourth with 15 wins and Rochester’s Brad Waits is fifth at 13 tallies.

There have been five different track champions in that time frame too. Sorensen won the inaugural title in 2003 and also was the champion in 2004 and 2006. Donlinger won the title in 2005 and Timm was on top in 2007. Waits took the hardware in 2008 en route to capturing his second USRA National Championship and now Cummins is the three-time defending champion with titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Cummins was also the USRA National Champion in 2010 and was runner-up to Johnny Bone Jr. in the 2011 title chase.

The car counts at Deer Creek were stellar for the Modifieds in 2011 – one of the best in America. They ran 12 points nights with an average of 28.66 cars per event. The high car count for the year was 34 on July 23 and six nights topped the 30-car marker. There were eight different feature winners this season.

The USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mods will enter their third season at Deer Creek. Brandon Hare of Elma, Iowa, is the only champion in the division taking both the 2010 and 2011 titles. Hare also leads with the most wins at 13 with Jake Timm of Winona a distant second with four. Kylie Kath of Owatonna and Erik Kanz of Winona sit tied for third with three wins each and four drivers have one victory.

A lot of young talent influxed the B-Mods in 2011 and the car counts showed it. The class had 13 shows with an average of 21.07 cars on hand. The highest car count was 27 on June 11.

Although not a part of the weekly line-up, the USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Cars will compete three times in 2012 during three marquee events. On May 26, the full-fendered machines will join the B-Mods as part of the Iron Man Challenge, along with the USMTS Modifieds. Thursday, July 26, will see the Stock Cars in action with the USMTS Modifieds again during the 2nd Annual World Modified Dirt Track Championships and on Sept. 15 they will compete during the Clash at The Creek featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.

The 2012 racing season will kick off with the annual car show held at Clements Chevrolet in Rochester on Saturday, March 31. Weather permitting, there will be an open practice held on Wednesday, April 4, from 5-9 p.m., and the season opener is tentatively set for Saturday, April 7, with a 5 p.m. start time.

Individual event and season passes for the 2012 season are on sale now. For more information on the Deer Creek Speedway, go to www.deercreekspeedway.com.

To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usraracing or follow us at www.twitter.com/usraracing on Twitter.

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USRA OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Race Suits, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, Karl Performance Parts, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Nitroquest Media Group, RACEceiver,  Racing Head Service, Western Flyer Race Cars.

USRA PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Day Motor Sports, DirtKnights.com.

USRA CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: COMP Cams, Dirthead.com, Eibach Springs, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Custom Harness, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, New Vision Graphics, PBM Performance Products, Real Racing Wheels, Tiger Rear Ends, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products.