SPRING VALLEY, Minn. -– A packed house in attendance to see the stars and cars of the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series on a beautiful night for racing ended with disaster Saturday at Deer Creek Speedway.

With nine laps complete in the Holley "A" Main, two cars near the front of the field made contact and began a chain reaction of smashing metal at the end of the backstretch. As the red flag waved to halt the action, one car's throttle became stuck. Uncontrollably, the car climbed the turn 3 wall with the engine wide open. After a few anxious moments, the car became hung up over the wall and revved wide open until the engine let go in a puff of smoke.

Emergency medical technicians and O’Reilly USMTS officials were immediately on the scene after the melee. In all, five drivers were transported to the hospital, including Tommy Myer and Mark Noble of Blooming Prairie, Minn.; Mike Hejna of Clear Lake, Iowa; Bruce Hanford of Davenport, Iowa; and Lonnie Earney of Cochrand, Wis.

As of early Sunday morning, four of the five drivers had been released with minor injuries. Earney remained at the hospital with undisclosed injuries. An update on his condition will be announced as information becomes available.

Following the wreck which involved 10 cars, O'Reilly USMTS officials gathered with the drivers and it was unanimously decided that the entire "A" main purse would be donated to the drivers who were injured. The feature race was cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

Sunday, May 29, will see the O’Reilly USMTS invade the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, Minn. for the Minnesota Spring Fling at the 1/3-mile clay oval. With 10 different winners in 11 visits to the Speedway, it's anybody's guess as to who will take down this year's crown. Pit gates open at 3 p.m., with grandstand gates opening at 4 and heat races set to begin at 6 p.m. Also on the racing card will be Super Stocks, Street Stocks and B-Modifieds. Turn off the television ... this is the only race you need to see on Sunday.

A lightning-fast field of 24 cars will start the Holley "A" Main, with a $2,000 top prize on the line for the winner!

For more information, call 515-832-7944 or log on to www.USMTS.com for all the latest news and information from the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS

O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series

Minnesota Spring Classic

Deer Creek Speedway, Slayton, Minn.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses.

The top 12 drivers in Home Pride Passing Points accumulated in the heat races will be locked into the Holley "A" Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for their starting positions.

Heat 1:

1 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (2)

2 90 - Steven L. Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (7)

3 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (10)

4 61 - Bruce Hanford -- Davenport, IA (3)

5 59 - Hank Rollinger -- Buffalo City, WI (9)

6 4r - Ron VerBeek -- Oskaloosa, IA (4)

7 37 - Mike Hernke -- Cannon Falls, MN (6)

8 16 - Dain Schultz -- Owatonna, MN (8)

9 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (11)

10 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (5) DNF

11 11k - Jeremy Keller -- Bismark, ND (1) DNS

Heat 2:

1 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Kanawha, IA (1)

2 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (2)

3 49 - Bob Timm -- Rolling Stone, MN (3)

4 3F - Jeff Feaster -- Dakota City, IA (5)

5 11x - Jim Chyba -- Browerville, MN (6)

6 19 - Mike Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (9)

7 26 - Brad McEwan -- Storm Lake, IA (10)

8 96 - Jay Ihrke -- Dover, MN (8)

9 72 - Brian Mullen -- Seymour, WI (7)

10 3x - Barry Underdahl -- Cannon Falls, MN (11)

11 52 - Jesse Frericks -- Pine Island, MN (4) DNF

Heat 3:

1 12 - Jason Hughes -- Colcord, OK (1)

2 24 - Darin Walker -- Bowling Green, MO (5)

3 3D - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (8)

4 7e - Neil Eckhart -- Rochester, MN (10)

5 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (3)

6 31s - Kent Schoeck -- Highland, IL (4)

7 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (9)

8 7x - Jodi Olson -- Hibbing, MN (7)

9 1M - Julie McDermid -- Fremont, WI (6)

10 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Garner, IA (2) DNF

Heat 4:

1 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (2)

2 50 - Brad Bakken -- Garner, IA (8)

3 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (9)

4 52w - Nate Wasmund -- Rochester, MN (7)

5 X - Mike Wedelstadt -- Hortonville, WI (10)

6 35W - Albert Wytaske -- Lansing, MN (6)

7 02a - Matt Aarsvold -- Oronoco, MN (1)

8 54 - Bobby Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (5) DNF

9 03 - Lonnie Earney -- Cochrand, WI (3) DNF

10 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (4) DNF

Heat 5:

1 7II - Mike Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (2)

2 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (9)

3 8r - Mike Rumsey -- Brownsdale, MN (6)

4 72 - Douglas Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (3)

5 55x - Brian Shaw -- Brownsdale, Mn (7)

6 99 - Bruce Angst -- Winona, MN (10)

7 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (1) DNF

8 WFO - Craig Shaw -- Extra, MN (8) DNF

9 99F - Karl Fenske -- Winona, MN (5) DNF

10 24W - Brad Waits -- Zumbrota, MN (4) DNF

"B" Main 1:

1 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (2)

2 49 - Bob Timm -- Rolling Stone, MN (3)

3 7e - Neil Eckhart -- Rochester, MN (1)

4 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (8)

5 59 - Hank Rollinger -- Buffalo City, WI (4)

6 11x - Jim Chyba -- Browerville, MN (7)

7 61 - Bruce Hanford -- Davenport, IA (5)

8 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (12)

9 35W - Albert Wytaske -- Lansing, MN (10)

10 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (15)

11 96 - Jay Ihrke -- Dover, MN (13)

12 4r - Ron VerBeek -- Oskaloosa, IA (9)

13 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (19)

14 11k - Jeremy Keller -- Bismark, ND (20)

15 1M - Julie McDermid -- Fremont, WI (16)

16 99F - Karl Fenske -- Winona, MN (17)

17 37 - Mike Hernke -- Cannon Falls, MN (11) DNF

18 54 - Bobby Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (14) DNF

19 55x - Brian Shaw -- Brownsdale, Mn (6) DNS

20 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (18) DNS

"B" Main 2:

1 19 - Mike Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (7)

2 52w - Nate Wasmund -- Rochester, MN (2)

3 24W - Brad Waits -- Zumbrota, MN (19)

4 26 - Brad McEwan -- Storm Lake, IA (8)

5 03 - Lonnie Earney -- Cochrand, WI (16)

6 3F - Jeff Feaster -- Dakota City, IA (4)

7 X - Mike Wedelstadt -- Hortonville, WI (3)

8 31s - Kent Schoeck -- Highland, IL (9)

9 72 - Brian Mullen -- Seymour, WI (15)

10 52 - Jesse Frericks -- Pine Island, MN (20)

11 8r - Mike Rumsey -- Brownsdale, MN (1)

12 7x - Jodi Olson -- Hibbing, MN (13)

13 16 - Dain Schultz -- Owatonna, MN (12)

14 02a - Matt Aarsvold -- Oronoco, MN (11)

15 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (10) DNF

16 99 - Bruce Angst -- Winona, MN (6) DNF

17 3x - Barry Underdahl -- Cannon Falls, MN (17) DNF

18 72 - Douglas Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (5) DNS

19 WFO - Craig Shaw -- Extra, MN (14) DNS

20 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Garner, IA (18) DNS

Holley "A" Main: cancelled after 9 laps due to multi-car crash.

Next Race: May 29, Dodge County Speedway, Kasson, Minn.