FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. – There's a new sheriff in Fountain City, Wis., and his name is Bob Timm.

Timm, 40, will be in his 19th year of racing in 2009, but the USMTS National Tour competitor will be a rookie in the racetrack promotions business as he takes over the reigns of the former Tri-Oval Speedway.

With the new role also comes a new configuration for the track, a new clay surface and a new name. The facility will now be known as Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

Although unique and fast, gone is the sweeping tri-oval shape that often made passing a rarity as the night progressed.

“The new layout is a true one-third mile with straight-aways a lot like Deer Creek, but shorter,” said Timm, who is a regular fixture in the USRA Modified class at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. “It's 80 feet wide all the way around with about 12 feet of banking, so it should make for some good racing.”

Reconfiguring pit road, installing a new cement wall and many other improvements are on the to-do list, Timm said.

A tentative opening date of Friday, April 17, has been set, but moving the start of the season back into May is a possibility. More than 2,500 yards of new clay have been trucked in for the new racing surface, so weather conditions will play a part in the amount of work that can be completed between now and opening day.

In addition to the USRA Modifieds racing for track and national points in the American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series, the Mississippi Thunder Speedway will also feature a variation of WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Midwest Mods, Mini-Mods, 600cc Mods and Hornets.

The USMTS National Tour is slated to visit the track twice in 2009 on Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day), and again on Friday, Aug. 21, for a $3,000-to-win event as part of The Hunt for the USMTS National Championship.

For more information about the Mississippi Thunder Speedway, call 507-429-9639 or visit www.mississippithunder.com online.

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.

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