MASON CITY, Iowa – Fans packed the North Iowa Fairgrounds grandstands Wednesday night as the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour made their long-awaited debut at the I-35 Speedway in Mason City, Iowa.

The nation's top dirt Modified drivers didn't disappoint as they diced for position throughout the 25-lap main event on the lightning-fast half-mile oval.

And Ryan Ruter didn't disappoint his followers as he led the main event from start to finish to record his first USMTS-sanctioned victory since Oct. 7, 2006, when he finished eighth in the final USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour points standings.

After finishing second to AFCO Pole Award winner Zack VanderBeek in Isky Racing Cams Heat Race #1, Ruter drew the outside front row for the start of the Sunoco “A” Main and blasted into the lead at the drop of the green flag.

Two caution flags during the first five laps kept the field close, but once back under green Ruter was untouchable. Kenny Wallace of Concord, N.C., finished second to match his career-best effort in a USMTS Modified, but the NASCAR veteran and SPEED Channel commentator was no match for the 25-year old from nearby Kanawha, Iowa.

Ruter pocketed $2,000 for the win, which was also the first victory in the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour for one of his Side Biter Chassis creations.

Steve Wetzstein finished third behind Wallace, while Mark Elliott earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award for racing from 14th on the starting grid to a fourth-place finish at the checkered flag.

Jason Hughes was fifth, Kelly Shryock finished sixth, VanderBeek held on for seventh, Pat Graham wound up eighth, J.J. Wise took the ninth spot and current Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points leader Jon Tesch rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Wetzstein was able to cut into Tesch's points lead, but still trails by 17 markers (710 to 693) in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region rankings. VanderBeek is third with 664 points, followed by Shryock (661), Al Hejna (613), Dan Bohr (572), Ryan Gustin (548), defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger (547), Dereck Ramirez (540) and Corey Dripps (510).

FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM ...

With mercy from Mother Nature, the touring titans of the USMTS will battle this Friday, June 26, at the LA Raceway in La Monte, Mo. The event has been postponed by rain three times this season, and officials are hoping that the fourth time is actually the charm.

Last year's stop at the 3/8-mile semi-banked clay oval saw eight-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock hold off defending USMTS Southern Series Champion Jason Hughes to take the win.

Friday's show will be the 10th event in the Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region. Drivers expected for this blockbuster event include Jason Hughes, Kelly Shryock, Rodney Sanders, Zack VanderBeek, Dustin Boney, Dereck Ramirez, Bryan Rowland, Johnny Bone Jr., Scott Green, Jon Tesch, Terry Phillips, Chad Wheeler, Tommy Myer, Tate Cole, Jeremy Payne, Tim Shields, Steven Martin, Don Crnkovich, Brian Bolin and more.

Pit gates open at 3:00, grandstand gates open at 4:00, hot laps are slated for 6:30 and the first heat race goes green at 7:00. Local Street Stocks will also be on the racing card.

Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons on Friday at the Casey's General Stores locations in La Monte, Sedalia and Warrensburg.  Check out www.caseys.com for more information or to find the location nearest you.

The LA Raceway is located 3.5 miles west of SR 127 on Hwy Y. For more information, call the track hotline at 660-563-9878 or visit www.laraceway.com online.

After a two-year hiatus, the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour returns to the state-of-the-art Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., on Saturday, June 27, to close the curtain on a busy month of June, wrap up the Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region action and kick off a nearly four-week "summer vacation" before returning to battle on Thursday, July 24, at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Fri., June 26 … LA Raceway, La Monte, Mo.
Sat., June 27 … Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Thurs., July 23 … Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa
Fri.-Sat., July 24-25 … Elko Speedway, Elko, Minn.
Mon., Aug. 3 … Mineral City Speedway, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Tues., Aug. 4 … Cresco Speedway, Cresco, Iowa

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 Event presented by C & W Used Cars and Ray’s Body Shop
I-35 Speedway, Mason City, Iowa
Wednesday, June 24, 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. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (2)
2. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Kanawha, IA (4)
3. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (3)
4. 1k - Pat Graham -- Ames, IA (1)
5. 19 - Richie Gustin Jr. -- Gilman, IA (6)
6. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (7)
7. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (8) DNF
8. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (5) DNF

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (1)
2. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (3)
3. 68 - J.J. Wise -- Manly, IA (2)
4. 12m - Mark Elliott -- Webster City, IA (5)
5. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (4)
6. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (8)
7. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (6)
8. 18 - Chase Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (7) DNF

BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 21 - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (2)
2. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (4)
3. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (7)
4. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (6)
5. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (3)
6. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (5)
7. 7a - Mike Liddle -- Plainfield, IA (8)
8. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (1) DNF

AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. 36 - Kenny Wallace -- Concord, NC (2)
2. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (1)
3. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (3)
4. 3f - Jeff Feaster -- Dakota City, IA (4)
5. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (6)
6. 26 - Dan Fetters -- Montour, IA (7)
7. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (8) DNF
8. 25 - Shane Monson -- Clear Lake, IA (5) DNF

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 4 advance):
1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (1)
2. 1k - Pat Graham -- Ames, IA (2)
3. 19 - Richie Gustin Jr. -- Gilman, IA (3)
4. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (5)
5. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (7)
6. 35 - Jeff Schluetter -- New Hampton, IA (4)
7. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (8)
8. 26 - Dan Fetters -- Montour, IA (6)
9. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (9)
10. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (10) DNS

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. 12m - Mark Elliott -- Webster City,, IA (1)
2. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (4)
3. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (6)
4. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (8)
5. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (3)
6. 7a - Mike Liddle -- Plainfield, IA (7)
7. 3f - Jeff Feaster -- Dakota City, IA (2) DNF
8. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (5) DNS
9. 18 - Chase Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (9) DNS
10. 25 - Shane Monson -- Clear Lake, IA (10) DNS

SUNOCO “A” MAIN (25 laps):
1. 555 - Ryan Ruter -- Kanawha, IA (2)
2. 36 - Kenny Wallace -- Concord, NC (4)
3. 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (3)
4. 12m - Mark Elliott -- Webster City, IA (14)
5. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (9)
6. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (13)
7. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (5)
8. 1k - Pat Graham -- Ames, IA (15)
9. 68 - J.J. Wise -- Manly, IA (11)
10. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (19)
11. 66 - Dan Bohr -- Decorah, IA (1)
12. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (10)
13. 25 - Shane Monson -- Clear Lake, IA (23)
14. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (16) DNF
15. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (18) DNF
16. 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (22) DNF
17. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (12) DNF
18. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (20) DNF
19. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (21) DNF
20. 19 - Richie Gustin Jr. -- Gilman, IA (17) DNF
21. 21 - Layne Meyer -- West Union, IA (6) DNF
22. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (7) DNF
23. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (8) DNF
24. 21m - Dean Mahlstedt -- Clear Lake, IA (24) DNF

Lap Leader: Ruter 1-25.
Total Laps Led: Ruter 25.
AFCO Pole Winner: VanderBeek.
Provisional Starters: Ryan Gustin, Hillson, Monson (track).
PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: Elliott (started 14th, finished 4th).
Next Race: Friday, June 26, LA Raceway, La Monte, Mo. (Bear Tire Mo-Kan Region).
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region Points: Tesch 710, Wetzstein 693, VanderBeek 664, Shryock 661, Hejna 613, Bohr 572, Ryan Gustin 548, Donlinger 547, Ramirez 540, Dripps 510.
DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year Points: G. Junghans 350, Hansen 322, Rich Lewerke 201, Albertsen 193, Tate Cole 124.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 238, Mullins 183, ASI 139, JR 124, AEM 79.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 223, Ramirez 211, Hughes 192, Harris 120, GRT 119.

Contingency Awards:
AFCO Racing Products – VanderBeek.
American Racer – Shryock.
Isky Racing Cams – VanderBeek.
KSE Racing Products – Ramirez.
PBM Performance Products – Elliott.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Mahlstedt.
Nitroquest – Wetzstein.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Bohr.
Quarter Master – Ruter, Graham.
QuickTime Performance Parts – VanderBeek.
Real Racing Wheels – Schluetter, Liddle.
Ruter Farms – Ramirez.

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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.