CANTON, Ill. (May 3, 2001) - Mike Chasteen of Peoria, Ill., passed Kelly Shryock of Lemars, Iowa, on lap 16 to pick up his first win of the season in the Simpson Race Products United State Modified Touring Series (USMTS) A-main Thursday at Spoon River Speedway.

Mike Chasteen won the USMTS Modified feature Thursday night at Spoon River Speedway.

Chasteen started the race from the third row inside and was running second the first time by the flagstand. Shryock and Chasteen raced side by side for the next 16 laps until Chasteen got by Shryock out of turn 4. The man on the move at that time was Bobby Allen of Bartonsville, Ill., who started the race from the eighth row. By lap 13 Allen had worked his way up to fourth, right behind Bruce Hanford of Davenport, Iowa. The race was marred with seven cautions -- most of them before lap 13. Only one caution was thrown after lap 13 when the #9 car of Wes Steindinger had the rear end lock up going into turn 3 on lap 20. Another driver that was moving up at the time of the last yellow was Tim Donlinger of Rochester, Minn., as he had worked his way from the 22nd starting spot all the way up to the top 10. Once the racing did get going on lap 23 Allen had worked passed Hanford and was working on Shryock and did get by on lap 25 and started reeling in Chasteen. Once the top two drivers got into lapped traffic Chasteen worked the bottom of the speedway and won by 10 car-lengths over Allen. Shryock did hang on for a third-place finish. Dan Daniels of Humboldt, Kan., who started the night out with bad luck with hauler problems, worked his way up to a fourth-place finish. The Harris Auto Racing heat races were won by Daniels, Wes O’Dell, Shryock, Mark Noble, Scott May and Chasteen. The Midwest Motorsports B-mains were won by Jason Hughes and Tim Hancock. This was the first race in the East Region, so Chasteen starts the season out leading the points in that region. Fifty-nine cars checked in for the racing action. The next race for the USMTS is Friday night, May 4, at the Quincy (Ill.) Raceways. RESULTS Heat 1 - Dan Daniels, Phil Schnarr, Rick Scott, Mike Karhoff, Bob Dominacki. Heat 2 - Wes O’Dell, Butch Weisser, Tim Hancock, Wes Steidinger, Mike Delozier. Heat 3 - Kelly Shryock, Gary Cook, Ed Bohlander, Gary Clark, Brian Shirley. Heat 4 - Mark Noble, Bruce Hanford, Steve Grotz, Greg Gilmore, Marty Thompson. Heat 5 - Scott May, Tim Donlinger, Rusty Griffaw, Brian Lynn, Jim Roach. Heat 6 - Mike Chasteen, Jason Hughes, Bobby Allen, Rodney Bowman, Justin Boney. B-Main 1 - Tim Hancock, Brian Allen, Steve Grotz, Brad McEwan, Bill Anderson. B-main 2 - Jason Hughes, Ed Bohlander, Rusty Griffaw, Brian Shirley, Justin Boney. A-main - 1. Mike Chasteen, Peoria, Ill.; 2. Bobby Allen, Bartonsville, Ill.; 3. Kelly Shryock, Lemars, Iowa; 4. Dan Daniels, Humboldt, Kan.; 5. Bruce Hanford, Davenport, Iowa; 6. Gary Cook, Deer Creek, Ill.; 7. Tim Hancock, Mt. Olive, Ill.; 8. Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn.; 9. Brian Shirley; 10. Ed Bohlander, Glasford, Ill.; 11. Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.; 12. Tim Folkerts, Albia, Iowa; 13. Mike Delozier, Carthage, Ill.; 14. Scott May; . Rusty Griffaw; 15. Phil Schnarr, Cuba, Ill.; 16. Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, Iowa; 17. Butch Weisser, Peoria, Ill.; 18. Brian Allen, Bartonsville, Ill.; 19. Steve Grotz, Quincy, Ill.; 20. Wes O’Dell; 21. Wes Steidinger; 22. Kevin Peters, Monmouth, Ill.; 23. Jason Hughes, Colcord, Okla.