WEBSTER CITY, IA (April 8, 2000) — Kevin Pittman of Cedar Falls picked up the $2,000 paycheck, Saturday night, in winning the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) main event at the Hamilton County Speedway.

Rick Gustin of Marshalltown started the race from the outside of the front row and jumped out to the early lead. Outside second row starter Ron Jones of Zimmerman, Minn., took the lead on lap five when the yellow flag came out on lap five for the spinning car of Mike Spaulding. Behind Jones was Gustin, Kelly Shryock of Story City in the third position and Pittman, who stated ninth, in fourth.

The restart saw Shryock take the No. 3 Modified around Gustin and was in hot pursuit of leader Jones, with Pittman right on Shryock's bumper. Pittman finally worked his way around Shryock on the eighth lap and was right on the rear bumper of Jones.

Pittman worked on Jones for the next nine laps, finally taking the top spot coming out of turn four on the 17th lap. When Pittman took the lead from Jones, the man on the move was Mark Noble, driving his Ford-powered DirtWorks Modified into the third spot right behind Jones.

Noble had rear end problems in the heat race and had to start the "B" main from the rear. Noble won the "B" main to give him the 14th starting position in the "A" main.

By lap 20, Noble had worked his way past Jones and had his sights on the No. 26p car of Pittman. On the next lap, Noble took the lead coming out of turn four and was en route to his first USMTS feature win of 2000.

The top four cars of Noble, Pittman, Jones and Shryock had an intense battle for the last four laps. On the white flag, Noble’s car let out a puff of smoke. His car was overheating, but he was still in command for the win.

Going into turn three, it was a four-car battle for the win. Noble lost power and Shryock was stuck behind him with Pittman to the inside and Jones to the outside of Noble.

Pittman took the checkered flag by a nose over Noble, who in turn beat Jones by a nose. Shryock had to settle with fourth.

Rounding out the top five was Tim Donlinger of Rochester, Minn.

Heat races were won by Gustin, Jones, Mike Mashl, Jim Shereck and Todd Ihde of Decorah, who also was the AFCO Pole Award winner.

"B" main winners were Noble and Jay Ihrke.

Fifty cars were on hand for the racing action. A good crowd witnessed some of the most exciting racing at the Hamilton County Speedway.

After the second race of the season, Shryock has taken over the point lead over Chad Lyle, while Shereck has taken over the Midwest Motorsports Rookie-of-the-Year points lead. Shryock is also leading in the Home Pride Most Passing Points and Corey Dripps of Cedar Falls is leading the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger standings.

The next race for the USMTS Modifieds will be Saturday, April 22, at Missouri’s I-35 Speedway in Winston. For more information on the Series, call Todd Staley at 515-832-6321.

<font size="4"><b>RESULTS</b></font>

<B>USMTS MODIFIEDS</B>

"A" MAIN: 1. Kevin Pittman, Cedar Falls; 2. Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.; 3. Ron Jones, Zimmerman, Minn.; 4. Kelly Shryock, Story City; 5. Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn.; 6. Corey Dripps, Cedar Falls; 7. Kevin Stoa, Kasson, Minn.; 8. Rick Gustin, Marshalltown; 9. John Anderson, Omaha, Neb.; 10. Tommy Meyer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.; 11. Jay Ihrke, Dover, Minn.; 12. Jim Shereck, St. Charles, Mo.; 13. Todd Klees, Rochester, Minn.; 14. Mike Mashl, Depere, Wis.; 15. John Logue, Boone; 16. Todd Ihde, Decorah; 17. Jeff Gorman, Boone; 18. John VanDenBerg, Oskaloosa; 19. Kevin Peters, Monmouth, Ill.; 20. Chad Lyle, Lenaxa, Kan; 21. Mike Spaulding, Bemidji, Minn.; 22. Mike Bennett, Des Moines; 23. Doug Lenth, Colana, Ill.; 24. Rich Smith, Davenport.

1ST HEAT: 1. Gustin; 2. Smith; 3. Logue; 4. Gorman; 5. Mike Collins, Council Bluffs.

2ND HEAT: 1. Jones; 2. Spaulding; 3. Pittman; 4. Ihrke; 5. Dripps.

3RD HEAT: 1. Mashl; 2. Shryock; 3. Steve Kosiski, Omaha, Neb.; 4. Lenth; 5. Curt Badker.

4TH HEAT: 1. Shereck; 2. Donlinger; 3. Anderson; 4. Stoa; 5. Mike Sorensen.

5TH HEAT: 1. Ihde; 2. Klees; 3. Jerry King; 4. Peters; 5. Doug Hillson.

1ST "B" MAIN: 1. Noble; 2. Stoa; 3. Peters; 4. Anderson; 5. Lenth.

2ND "B" MAIN: 1. Ihrke; 2. Spaulding; 3. Dripps; 4. Bennett; 5. VanDenBerg.