Hejna takes down USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour victory at Upper Iowa Speedway
DECORAH, Iowa – Al Hejna racked up his fourth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour victory of the season Saturday night with a victory in the “Donnybrook in Decorah” at the Upper Iowa Speedway.
The 46-year-old from Clear Lake, Iowa, reeled in polesitter Zack VanderBeek on lap 26 before surviving a green-white checkered finish after a caution flag with two laps to go to claim the $2,000 top prize.
Jon Tesch emerged as the runner-up after a spirited battle with VanderBeek and Ryan Dolan during the final two circuits around the 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval.
Darrin Walch rounded out the top-5 finishers, with sixth going to Corey Dripps, seventh to Kelly Shryock in a brand new car, Ron Konkel in eighth, Dan Bohr in ninth and Jeff Schluetter completing the top-10.
The PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award went to Konkel, who started 16th and finished 8th.
His second-place finish, coupled with Steve Wetzstein's failure to finish Saturday's Sunoco "A" Main, propelled Tesch into the points lead in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region. Tesch leads Wetzstein by 27 markers (629 to 602), and now leads the rankings in three of the four regions for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour.
VanderBeek is third in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region with 586 points, followed by Shryock (573), Hejna (555), defending region and USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger (502), Bohr (502), Ryan Gustin (493), Dereck Ramirez (489) and Dripps (465).
The USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour invades the Nobles County Speedway in Worthington, Minn., on Sunday for the 3rd Annual Slumberland Shootout.
Pit gates open at 3:00, grandstands open at 4:30, hot laps are scheduled for 5:30 and the first heat race takes to the track at 6:00.
Also on the racing card will be USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and USRA Hobby Stocks racing for track and national points in the American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series, plus, Sportsmans.
Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons for Sunday's event at both Casey's General Stores locations in Worthington. Check out www.caseys.com for more information or to find the location nearest you.
The Nobles County Speedway is a 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval located off of I-90 at Exit 43, then 0.4 mile south on SR 59, then 0.4 mile west on Oxford St., then 0.2 mile north on McMullan (Pioneer Village). For more information, call the track hotline at (507) 360-3825 or check out www.noblescountyspeedway.net online.
Sunday's event will be the second of seven straight $2,000-to-win race nights in eight days:
Sat Jun 20 … Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, IA (Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region)
Sun Jun 21 … Nobles County Speedway, Worthington, MN (Great Plains Region)
Mon Jun 22 … Iowa State Fair Speedway, Des Moines, IA (Central States Region)
Tue Jun 23 … Mineral City Speedway, Fort Dodge, IA (Central States Region)
Wed Jun 24 … I-35 Speedway, Mason City, IA (Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region)
Fri Jun 26 … LA Raceway, La Monte, MO (Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region)
Sat Jun 27 … Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, MO (Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region)
Sunday's event at the Nobles County Speedway will wrap up the Great Plains Region battle for the 2009 season while the Lucas Oil Speedway show shall serve as the venue for crowning the Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region champion.
After that, the engines will remain silent until Thursday, July 23, when the second half of the season explodes with a stop at the fast Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, prior to traveling to the Elko Speedway in Elko, Minn., for the inaugural Dirt Nationals on Friday and Saturday, July 24-25, at the historic asphalt speedplant temporarily covered with dirt.
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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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour (Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region)
Inaugural “Donnybrook in Decorah”
Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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 Sunoco “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (3)
2. 7 - Ryan Dolan -- Lisbon, IA (1)
3. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (7)
4. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (8)
5. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (5)
6. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (2)
7. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (4)
8. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (6)
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (6)
2. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (2)
3. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (7)
4. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (1)
5. 4 - Ben Mattick -- Hayfield, MN (4)
6. 61 - Noah Coppess -- Stanwood, IA (3)
7. 35k - Ron Konkel -- Caledonia, MN (5) DNF
BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (6)
2. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (1)
3. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (4)
4. 42 - Tom Paulson -- Kasson, MN (7)
5. 24 - Garry Oskerson -- Fairmont, MN (3)
6. 3a - Jason Schueller -- Dubuque, IA (5) DNF
7. 21 - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (2) DNF
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, 10 advance):
1. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (1)
2. 4 - Ben Mattick -- Hayfield, MN (2)
3. 3a - Jason Schueller -- Dubuque, IA (6)
4. 35k - Ron Konkel -- Caledonia, MN (8)
5. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (4)
6. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (7)
7. 61 - Noah Coppess -- Stanwood, IA (5)
8. 24 - Garry Oskerson -- Fairmont, MN (3)
9. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (10)
10. 21 - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (9) DNS
SUNOCO “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (6)
2. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (5)
3. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (1)
4. 7 - Ryan Dolan -- Lisbon, IA (3)
5. 5w - Darrin Walch -- Postville, IA (4)
6. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (8)
7. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (9)
8. 35k - Ron Konkel -- Caledonia, MN (16)
9. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (10)
10. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (17)
11. 3a - Jason Schueller -- Dubuque, IA (15)
12. 61 - Noah Coppess -- Stanwood, IA (19)
13. 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (21)
14. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (18)
15. 42 - Tom Paulson -- Kasson, MN (11)
16. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (13) DNF
17. 4 - Ben Mattick -- Hayfield, MN (14) DNF
18. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (2) DNF
19. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (7) DNF
20. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (12) DNF
21. 24 - Garry Oskerson -- Fairmont, MN (20) DNF
22. 21 - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (22) DNS
Lap Leaders: VanderBeek 1-26, Hejna 27-40.
Total Laps Led: VanderBeek 26, Hejna 14.
AFCO Pole Winner: Donlinger.
Provisional Starters: none.
PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: Konkel (started 16th, finished 8th).
Next Race: Sunday, June 21, Nobles County Speedway, Worthington, Minn. (Great Plains Region).
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Points: Tesch 629, Wetzstein 602, VanderBeek 586, Shryock 573, Hejna 555, Donlinger 502, Bohr 502, Gustin 493, Dereck Ramirez 489, Dripps 465.
DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year Points: Grant Junghans 330, Mike Hansen 282, Rich Lewerke 201, Mike Albertsen 151, Tate Cole 124.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 221, Mullins 165, ASI 139, JR 108, AEM 78.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 205, Ramirez 198, Hughes 174, Harris 114, GRT 112.
Contingency Awards:
AFCO Racing Products – Donlinger.
American Racer – Poidinger.
Isky Racing Cams – Tesch.
KSE Racing Products – Dripps.
PBM Performance Products – Konkel.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Meyer.
Nitroquest – VanderBeek.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Schueller.
Quarter Master – Hejna, Konkel.
QuickTime Performance Parts – Shryock.
Real Racing Wheels – Hillson.
Ruter Farms – Hillson.
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USMTS TITLE SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores.
USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Racewear, AwesomeRaceSuits.com, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, COMP Cams, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, PBM Performance Products, Sunoco Race Fuels.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, Bear Tire, Big Dog Chassis & Fabrication, DandyLand Farms, Day Motor Sports, Diamond Oil Company, Dirthead.com, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Lone Star Super Gas, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, WatchModsLive.com, Yeager Machine.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.