CRESCO, Iowa – Eight-time champion Kelly Shryock notched his fourth O’Reilly USMTS National Tour victory of the season Thursday with a thrilling win in the 4th Annual Cresco Bowl at the Cresco Speedway in Cresco, Iowa.

A good redraw, lapped traffic and a good restart — along with an unmatched wealth of experience — were the keys to success for the veteran from Fertile, Iowa.

Among the top-8 in heat race passing points, Shryock drew the pole position for the 35-lap $2,000-to-win main event which went caution-free ... almost. And although Shryock started first and finished first, the task was not an easy one as there were four lead changes among three drivers in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region lidlifter.

Shryock jumped out to a two-car-length advantage on the first lap, but Tim Donlinger of Rochester, Minn., used the high side of the race track to pull alongside his fellow Skyrocket Chassis pilot on lap 2. Donlinger led lap 3 by a nose, but Shryock moved up to take away the high line and withstood Donlinger's challenge.

But Tommy Myer was coming fast.

Myer of Blooming Prairie, Minn., redrew the eighth starting spot for the Holley “A” Main, but quickly powered his way to the front. Myer moved around Jason Schlangen for fourth on lap 3, then got around Donlinger on lap 10. Four laps later, Myer scooted by Shryock on the inside to take the lead in his first O’Reilly USMTS National Tour start of the 2008 season.

The leaders reached the back of the field two laps later, and with the track beginning to take rubber, getting around lapped traffic proved to be difficult. Myer On lap 19, Myer made contact with the lapped car of Jake Neal, opening up the low side of the racetrack for Shryock to shoot back into the lead.

Nonetheless, Myer kept the pressure on Shryock while Donlinger followed in third ahead of AFCO Pole Award winner Mark Noble and defending O’Reilly USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn. Shryock looked to be on his way to a win when he took the white flag with a four-car-length cushion over Myer, but with Mike Sorensen's Modified spinning down the back stretch the first caution of the race came out to set up a green-white-checkered finish.

Shryock was flawless on the restart as he took a three-car-length advantage into the first turn, then took the checkered flag two laps later with the same distance between himself and Myer. Donlinger grabbed third with Jason Hughes moving up two spots after the restart to finish fourth. Krohn held on to round out the top-5 finishers.

Zack VanderBeek, Al Hejna, Schlangen, Bob Timm and Corey Dripps completed the top-10.

Bad luck struck Noble as mechanical problems on the final lap dropped him from a certain fourth-place finish to 17th on the score sheets.

UP NEXT:

Tomorrow (Friday, May 23) will find the O’Reilly USMTS National Tour at the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn., for the 11th Annual Guttormson Memorial. While this race was rained out last season, the teams returned in August for a barnburner that saw Tommy Myer hold off Jason Hughes for the victory.

Hughes will appear at the Casey's General Store location at 1702 12th St. SW in Austin from 1-3 p.m. Race fans can pick up $2-off grandstand admission coupons on race day at Casey's General Store in Austin, Stewartville, Rochester and Owatonna.

Pit gates will open at 5 p.m. and grandstands open at 5:30, with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Race fans can enjoy Happy Hour with two beers for $3 from 5:30 until the playing of the National Anthem, while kids ages 12 and under get in for free if they're wearing their Chateau shirt. Also racing Friday night will be Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets.

The Chateau Raceway is a 1/3-mile semi-banked dirt oval located 5.0 miles north of Austin on US 218 to the Lansing exit, then 1.3 miles eat on CR 2, then 0.4 mile south on CR 25, then 0.3 mile east . For more info, call 507-391-2486 or 507-433-4578 on raceday or visit www.chateauraceway.net.

On Saturday, it's the first of five occasions this season that the O’Reilly USMTS National Tour will tackle the tricky, lightning-fast Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and on Sunday set your TIVO to record the Indy 500 and World 600 because the best racing on Sunday will be at the Kasson Speedway for the 7th Annual Stars & Stripes Shootout. Then it's just a short 28-mile drive down the road from Kasson on Monday, the whirlwind weekend will wrap up with the long-awaited return of the O’Reilly USMTS National Tour for the 5th Annual Memorial Day Shootout at the Steele County Speedway in Owatonna, Minn., on Memorial Day.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS — America's Hottest Ticket on Dirt.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
O’Reilly USMTS National Tour
4th Annual Cresco Bowl
Cresco Speedway, Cresco, Iowa
Thursday, May 22, 2008

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Holley “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (3)
2. 27s - Jason Schlangen -- Cresco, IA (5)
3. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (6)
4. 19 - Mike Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (8)
5. 2 - Joey Schaefer -- Waterloo, IA (4)
6. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (1)
7. 88t - Terry Timmerman -- Stewartville, MN (2)
8. 61m - Shawn Peterson -- Cottage Grove, MN (9)
9. 55 - Larry Hall -- Rochester, MN (7) DNF

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (1)
2. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (4)
3. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (3)
4. X - Mike Wedelstadt -- Hortonville, WI (6)
5. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (9)
6. 52w - Nate Wasmund -- Rochester, MN (8)
7. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Kanawha, IA (7)
8. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (5)
9. 21L - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (2)

HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (3)
2. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (4)
3. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (6)
4. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- Woodward, OK (1)
5. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (7)
6. 1m - Julie McDermid -- Oconto Falls, WI (5)
7. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (8)
8. 77 - Tom Brink -- Winona, MN (2)

HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (1)
2. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (5)
3. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (4)
4. 35k - Ron Konkel -- Caledonia, MN (2)
5. 26p - Kevin Pittman -- Waterloo, IA (8)
6. 7n - Jay Noteboom -- Hinton, IA (6)
7. 17 - Steve Stewart -- Washington, IA (7)
8. 55x - Scott Stecher -- Muscatine, IA (3) DNF

HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (3)
2. 49 - Bob Timm -- Rollingstone, MN (4)
3. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (2)
4. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (7)
5. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (8)
6. 1r - Ryan York -- Racine, MN (5)
7. 2 - Carey Umbarger -- Garner, IA (1)
8. 01 - Brandon Aggen -- Rushmore, MN (6)

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. 19 - Mike Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (1)
2. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (3)
3. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (2)
4. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (5)
5. 7n - Jay Noteboom -- Hinton, IA (9)
6. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Kanawha, IA (11)
7. 35k - Ron Konkel -- Caledonia, MN (6)
8. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (13)
9. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (4)
10. 2 - Joey Schaefer -- Waterloo, IA (7)
11. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (10)
12. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (8)
13. 55x - Scott Stecher -- Muscatine, IA (14)
14. 55 - Larry Hall -- Rochester, MN (15) DNF
15. 2 - Carey Umbarger -- Garner, IA (12) DNS

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (2)
2. 26p - Kevin Pittman -- Waterloo, IA (4)
3. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (1)
4. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- Woodward, OK (5)
5. 1r - Ryan York -- Racine, MN (9)
6. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (6)
7. 21L - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (15)
8. 1m - Julie McDermid -- Oconto Falls, WI (8)
9. 77 - Tom Brink -- Winona, MN (13)
10. 17 - Steve Stewart -- Washington, IA (11)
11. 52w - Nate Wasmund -- Rochester, MN (7)
12. X - Mike Wedelstadt -- Hortonville, WI (3)
13. 88t - Terry Timmerman -- Stewartville, MN (10)
14. 01 - Brandon Aggen -- Rushmore, MN (14)
15. 61m - Shawn Peterson -- Cottage Grove, MN (12) DNF

HOLLEY “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (1)
2. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (6)
3. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (4)
4. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (14)
5. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (9)
6. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (3)
7. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (8)
8. 27s - Jason Schlangen -- Cresco, IA (2)
9. 49 - Bob Timm -- Rollingstone, MN (10)
10. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (5)
11. 26p - Kevin Pittman -- Waterloo, IA (16)
12. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (15)
13. 55 - Alan Mondus -- Lakeville, MN (19)
14. 1r - Ryan York -- Racine, MN (22)
15. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- Woodward, OK (20)
16. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (17)
17. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (7)
18. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (18)
19. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (24)
20. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (11) DNF
21. 7n - Jay Noteboom -- Hinton, IA (21) DNF
22. 19 - Mike Sorensen -- Rochester, MN (13) DNF
23. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (12) DNF
24. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (23) DNF

Lap Leaders: Shryock 1-2, Donlinger 3, Shryock 4-13, Myer 14-19, Shryock 20-35.
Total Laps Led: Shryock 28, Myer 6, Donlinger 1.
AFCO Pole Award: Noble.
Provisional Starters: Poidinger, Neal.
Ruter Farms Long Tow Award: Kenny (630.98 miles).
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award: Hughes (started 14th, finished 4th).
Next Race: Friday, May 23, Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region Points: Shryock 103, Myer 101, Hughes 97, Donlinger 93, Krohn 88, VanderBeek 81, Hejna 79, Timm 75, Dripps 72, Mondus 72, York 72.
Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year Points: Kenny 227, Ramirez 134, Rowland 129, Gary Langworthy Jr. 128, Rodney Sanders 90.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 82, A.S.I. 81, Mullins 71, Wanders 58, Buzzard 50.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 92, Hughes 84, Harris 59, GRT 51, TRE 44.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Sorensen.
Belleville Motorsports – not awarded.
BSB Manufacturing – Dripps.
Hawk Performance – Shryock, Timm.
Isky Racing Cams – Noble.
KSE Racing Products – Hughes.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Poidinger.
New Vision Graphics – Dripps.
Nitroquest Web Solutions - Donlinger.
Quarter Master – Shryock,.
QuickTime Performance Parts – Hejna.
Real Racing Wheels – Sorensen, Hughes.
Ruter Farms – Kenny.
TrackTek Racing Fuel – not awarded.

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TITLE SPONSOR: O’Reilly Auto Parts.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Race Tires, Arizona Sport Shirts, Awesome Race Suits, Bear Tire Company, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Childhelp, Gressel Racing, Houston Specialty Products Co., KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest Web Solutions, Q.E.M., Inc., TrackTek Racing Fuel, Western Flyer Xpress.

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boom Drilling, Day Motor Sports, Kraft/Ramirez Race Cars, Olympic Fire Protection, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar, Ruter Farms, Yeager Machine.

CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Belleville Motorsports, Bert Transmission, BSB Manufacturing, COMP Cams, Duralite Racing Wheels, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, GRT Race Cars, Hawk Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.