DECORAH, Iowa (June 30) – Ryan Gustin put an exclamation point on a successful weekend with a dominating performance in the USMTS National Championship Series main event Saturday night at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.
After seven of the top eight qualifiers redrew for their starting positions in the 40-lap Swan Energy “A” Main, Jason Hughes was left with the pole position for the start of the race.
The 2012 USMTS National Champion beat fellow front-row starter Jeremy Payne into the first turn to take command of the $4,000-to-win contest.
Four laps later, Jon Tesch and Zack VanderBeek had moved into the second and third spots behind Hughes and the lead trio opened up a ten-car-length gap over Payne, Ryan Ruter, Gustin and Mike Sorensen.
With all of the top ten runners utilizing the bottom and middle grooves of the racing surface, Gustin went to the high side in search of a faster line … and he found it.
The series points leader drove past Ruter and Payne in two laps, and then ran down the three front-runners by lap 10. Gustin blasted by Tesch on lap 12, edged in front of VanderBeek on lap 13 and then took the lead away from Hughes at the flagstand as they completed lap 15.
From that point on, ‘The Reaper’ sailed to his third USMTS National Championship Series win and fifth overall of the 2012 campaign as he lapped up to the 11th-place machine of Sorensen at the end of the caution-free feature.
VanderBeek slipped by Hughes on lap 20 and occasionally narrowed the gap between himself and Gustin in lapped traffic, but was never able to get close enough to mount a serious challenge and took home the runner-up paycheck at the track where he scored his career-first USMTS victory.
Tesch bested Payne for the third spot while Hughes slipped to fifth in the final rundown. Dereck Ramirez, Ruter, Chris Brown, Rodney Sanders and Kelly Shryock rounded out the top-10 finishers.
The USMTS Modifieds will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, July 6-7, for a pair of USMTS Casey’s Cup Series events at a pair of familiar venues. On Friday, the series invades the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn., for the Mike Guttormson Memorial and then moves to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on Saturday for the 33rd Annual NAPA Gopher 50 where they will share the spotlight with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS National Championship Series
Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 14 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (3) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (7) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (1) 60 Kurt Krauskopf (R), Decorah, Iowa.
4. (2) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa.
5. (8) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
6. (9) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
7. (6) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa.
8. (4) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan.
9. (5) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
HOOKER HARNESS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (2) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (5) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (3) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
6. (8) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
7. (6) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
8. (7) 76x Troy Hovey (R), Castalia, Iowa.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
2. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (5) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
4. (3) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
5. (8) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
7. (7) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
8. (1) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, all advance):
1. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (2) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
3. (5) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa.
4. (6) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
5. (9) 76x Troy Hovey (R), Castalia, Iowa.
6. (7) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (10) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
8. (8) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan.
9. (1) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
10. (3) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
11. (11) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
SWAN ENERGY “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (7) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $4000.
2. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $2200.
3. (3) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $1600.
4. (2) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 40, $1200.
5. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1000.
6. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $800.
7. (6) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, 40, $700.
8. (14) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Skyrocket/RoushYates, 40, $600.
9. (15) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 40, $550.
10. (10) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/RoushYates, 40, $500.
11. (8) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/Action, 40, $475.
12. (11) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, 39, $375.
13. (9) 60 Kurt Krauskopf (R), Decorah, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 39, $425.
14. (23) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 39, $500.
15. (18) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 39, $400.
16. (16) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JRM, 39, $400.
17. (20) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 39, $400.
18. (19) 76x Troy Hovey (R), Castalia, Iowa, Rage/Brunner, 38, $400.
19. (12) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 36, retired, $400.
20. (21) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis., Lightning/, 28, handling, $300.
21. (22) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 20, mechanical, $400.
22. (17) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 18, mechanical, $400.
23. (13) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa, GRT/AEM, 9, mechanical, $400.
DNS – 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan., GRT/Mullins, 0, did not start, $100.
DNS – 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, 0, did not start, $100.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-14, Gustin 15-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 26, Hughes 14.
Margin of Victory: 1.995 seconds.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: S. Scott (started 23rd, finished 14th).
Dominator Race Products Hard Luck: Bohr.
Next Race: Friday, July 6, Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
USMTS National Championship Series Points: Gustin 1376, Sanders 1276, Hughes 1266, S. Scott 1191, Shryock 1181, J. Scott 1153, Ramirez 1054, Brown 1052, Chase Junghans 1020, VanderBeek 1018.
Rookie of the Year Points: S. Scott 1958, Daniel Hilsabeck 1297, Keith 1070, Casey Penn 956, Thomas Tillison Jr. 627.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 262, Geddes 260, ProPower 224, Sput’s 201, RoushYates 136.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 321, GRT 290, Skyrocket 231, Sidebiter 108, Shaw 99.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Kile.
American Racer – Sanders.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sorensen.
Dominator Race Products – Bohr.
Eibach Springs – Payne.
Forty9Designs.com – Payne, Sanders.
Hooker Harness – Gustin.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Gustin.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Sanders.
KSE Racing Products – Sorensen.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Broszeit.
Nitroquest – S. Scott.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – S. Scott.
PBM Performance Products – not awarded.
R2C Performance Products – VanderBeek.
Real Racing Wheels – Sanders.
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USMTS TITLE SPONSORS: Casey’s General Stores, Swan Energy.
USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Race Suits, Cheetos, Dominator Race Products, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, SLAP Energy, Snickers.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arbor Masters, Arnold Motor Supply, ASi Racewear, Beebe Heating & Air Conditioning, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Dirthead.com, DirtKnights.com, Erson Cams, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Mesilla Valley Transportation, O’Brien Enterprises, Olympic Fire Protection, Ramirez Motorsports, Road Runner Trucking, Ruter Farms, Sybesma Graphics, Yeager Machine.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products, Beyea Custom Headers, COMP Cams, CPD Racing Tools, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Harness, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, PBM Performance Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Tiger Rear Ends.