Walker wins Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge
SPRING VALLEY, Minn -- What a tremendous amount of work that was put in at Deer Creek over this past week. On Thursday afternoon after meeting with some other track prep crews and soil engineers from the State of Minnesota the tremendous task of fixing the racing surface was undertook. A special thanks to Jacobsen Farms, Hyland Equipment, Carl Anderson, Richard Freeze and Joe Fitzpatrick along with all of the regular track prep crew who spent over 30 hours the next two days ripping up the racing surface approximately 20" deep and reapplying it. Tonight's racing surface found the track smooth as glass for the first United States Modified Touring Series event of the season. A beautiful evening was on hand for the United States Modified Touring Series Southern MN Spring Challenge which was sponsored by Schmidt Trucking & Brokerage L.L.C. of New Richland MN.
The Midwest Modifieds were up first for their feature with Kenny Wytaske jumping out to an early and commanding lead. Ryan Weber was running second as the first caution flew for a spin in corner 4. On the restart Wytaske jumped back out to a large lead with Chad Herman and Dan Fagerlind battling side by side for the 4th position. Another caution flew over the field bunching them back up. On the restart Jessie Frericks made his presence known to Weber as the two were in a great battle for the second spot. Wytaske again pulled out to a half straight lead as Frericks cleared into second and Fagerlind came up to battle with Weber again. At the finish it was Wytaske coming home with the win, Frericks second and Weber third.
The WISSOTA Street Stock feature was on deck for the next race with Travis Krause using his front row starting spot to his advantage and jumping into the early lead followed by Vince Corbin. Scot Nelson and Greg Erickson battled for the third position. The first caution came out for a spin in turn 2. On the restart Krause jumped back out into the lead as Corbin drifted high with Nelson moving into the second spot. A few good side by side battles were waging through the field. Krause put it on cruise control to take home the win with Nelson in second and Corbin third.
The Modified Lite feature hit the track with Brian Kiehne taking the early lead and Dan Wendt working quickly into the second position. The little Modified Lite's were really moving tonight and the top two cars started to pull out in a large advantage with Jeff Jech working into the third position. Just past the half way point Wendt made a move to the inside of Kiehne to take the lead while working lapped traffic. Wendt went on to take the win, followed by Kiehne and Jech.
The WISSOTA Super Stocks had a hard time to get going and after a single file restart started to settle into some green flag racing. Kevin Hager jumped into the early led with Troy Langowski a close second. Mark Wytaske moved up behind Langowski as Hager slipped up a little high in four Langowski and Wytaske moved by for the top two spots. Chris Klinger and Bill Clemens had a great battle going for fifth and sixth spot swapping positions. Just before the half way point Wytaske got the upper hand on Langowski and made the pass into lead. Justin Pogones had his best run of the season staying inside the top five all night. At the finish it was Wytaske with the win, Langowski second and Hager third.
Before the start of the United States Modified Feature race it was announced that the final night of the 5th Annual Featherlite/USMTS Fall Jamboree will pay $10,000 to win. The starting money and the other two nights are still being worked on and a payout will be posted as soon as it can. The payout this year has been increased by $20,000 in overall purse from last season. Mike Sorensen got the early lead on the field at the drop of the checkers. Darin Walker settled into second spot with Kelly Shryock in third. The first caution came out for Tim Donlinger losing a left front on the tenth lap of the race. Sorensen jumped back out into the lead on the restart and pulls back into a comfortable lead when his motor let loose on the 16th lap. The rest of the race settled into a long green flag run with Darin Walker in the lead and Shryock in second. Shryock tried valiantly to get around Walker for the last ten laps and pulled along side a couple times but was unable to make the move stick with Walker taking home the win, Shryock second and Mike Hejna third.
<b>UNITED STATES MODIFIED TOURING SERIES</b>
Heat 1 - Kelly Shryock, Mike Sorensen, Todd Klees, Eddie Martin, Dean Mahlstedt
Heat 2 - Darin Walker, Mike Hejna, Scott Drake, Marty Thompson, Jason Hughes
Heat 3 - Joe McBirnie, Jon Tesch, Tm Donlinger, John Logue, Jay Ihrke
Heat 4 - Mike Chasteen, TJ Artz, Neil Eckhart, Jordan Steier,Nate Wasmund
Heat 5 - Bruce Angst, Mike Wedelstadt, Pat Graham, John Vandenberg, Mark Trautner
"B" Feature 1 - Logue, Donglinger, Justin Boney, Ihrke, Wasmund
"B" Feature 2 - Scott Drake, Jon Tesch, Pat Graham, Jason Hughes, Russ Olson
Feature - Walker, Shryock, Hejna, Chasteen, Eddie Martin, Klees, McBirnie, Eckhart, Logue, Steier
<b>MIDWEST MODIFIEDS</b>
Heat 1 - Albert Wytaske, Jesse Frericks, Harlan Morehart, Dan Fagerlind, Brian Hernandez
Heat 2 - Kenny Wytaske, Ryan Weber, Nick Kramer, Dain Durbin, Jeff Ringenberg
Heat 3 - Chad Herman, Gary Nordine, Joe Werneke, Tim Siercks, Scott Huinker
Feature - K. Wytaske, Frericks, Weber, Fagerlind, Herman, Siercks, Durbin, Hernandez, Ringenberg, Scott Pomeroy
Modified Lites
Heat 1 - Dan Wendt, Jeff Jech, Brian Shaw, Brian Kiehne, Roni VanRiper
Heat 2 - Bob Bunne, Mike Gaines, Brian Erickson, Rick Utley, Jim Dahle
Feature - Wendt, Kiehne, Jech, VanRiper, Bob Bunne, Gaines, Joe Bunne, Erickson, Tate Bestor, Jeremey Anderson
<b>STREET STOCKS</b>
Heat 1 - Shaun Wehlage, Steve Eischens, Jeff Brauer, Scot Nelson, Jason Gabrielson
Heat 2 - Greg Erickson, Tom McEldowner, Chuck Nerland, Mark Hovland, Kevin Newell
Heat 3 - Travis Krause, Vince Corbin, Mitch Thompson, Steve Goodenough, John Bushman
Feature - Krause, Nelson, Corbin, Eischens, Erickson, Nerland, Hovland, Brauer, Tony Foster, Wehlage
<b>SUPER STOCKS</b>
Heat 1 - Chris Klinger, Kevin Hager, Bill Clemens, Justin Pogones, George Batzel
Heat 2 - Nick Herrick, Dennis Earney, Dave Haberman, Dave Solum, Dean Hobbs
Heat 3 - Tyler Rubin, Kelly Anderson, Mark Wytaske, Troy Langowski, Derrick Bridley
Feature - Wytaske, Langowski, Hager, Pogones, Clemens, Haberman, Rubin, Herrick, Solum, Mark Oeltjenbruns