VENTURA, Iowa -- Hejna Brothers Racing landed two top five finishes at Black Bird Bend Speedway this past weekend. After a rough start, things are looking up for HBR.

On Friday, April 14, the O'Reilly USMTS hit the dirt at Blackbird Bend Speedway (Onawa, IA) for what was scheduled to be the first of a two-night affair. Both Al and Mike Hejna ran upfront during the 30-lap "A" main. Al would get brother Mike with two laps to go to take third. Al would come home in third while Mike finished fourth.

Both brothers were excited about racing on Saturday night, but heavy rain forced O'Reilly USMTS officials to cancel Saturday night’s racing action.

"You always want to get another night in on the trip if you can," said a disappointed Mike Hejna. “We were already there and had ran the track the night before. You always think you can do better the next night."

After what the boys would call a rough start to the 2006 season, things are starting to look a little better. Older brother Al says that they haven't been doing anything different.

"Things haven't really changed. We’re still running pretty standard stuff," explained Al. "We're on the 4-bar/4-bar set-up right now, but we might be going back to the z-link on the right side next race."

"Racing against the competition that we face on the (USMTS) tour, top-5s are good," Al commented from the shop on Monday. "We just have to get a win here soon."

The next stop for HBR on the O'Reilly USMTS trail is at the Mountain Dew Bloomfield (Iowa) Speedway on Friday, May 5, and the Pepsi Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Mo., the next night.

To learn more about Hejna Brothers Racing, you can log onto the team's web site at www.hejnaracing.com.