DECORAH, Iowa (Aug. 18) – Jon Tesch made it back-to-back wins with a wire-to-wire victory Saturday night as the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup invaded the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.
On the heels of scoring his first win in nearly a year Friday night, the 36-year-old rancher from Watertown, S.D., drew the pole position for the 40-lap Swan Energy “A” Main Saturday, and that was about as close anybody ever got.
Tesch took off like a rocket at the drop of the green flag with Rodney Sanders, Al Hejna and Joey Jensen trying to keep pace. Jensen got around Hejna on lap 2 and then the yellow flag waved two laps later when Bryan Rowland came to a stop atop turn, forcing Ryan Gustin over the embankment to avoid is slowing machine.
Caution returned moments after the restart when Daniel Hilsabeck, Jeremy Payne and Pat Graham collided in the fourth turn. On the next try, Tesch again squirted out to a big lead and built himself nearly a straight-away advantage by lap 12.
Heavy lapped traffic slowed Tesch’s progress midway through the contest, allowing Sanders and Jensen to close the gap momentarily but unable to get close enough to offer a challenge for the lead.
With just two laps to go, the yellow flag waved for the third and final time when fourth-running Zack VanderBeek slowed on the track with a flat tire. Back under green, Tesch cruised the final two circuits to earn his second straight $3,000 triumph while Sanders and Jensen followed in second and third.
Hejna recorded his best result of the season with a fourth-place finish while 15th-starting Dereck Ramirez and 17th-starting Stormy Scott wound up fifth and sixth, respectively, after Johnny Scott exited the track with a flat tire on the final lap while battling for fifth.
Gustin held on for sixth, followed by Jason Hughes, Kelly Shryock and Jason Cummins rounding out the top 10. Mike Steensma finished 11th after starting 23rd and earned the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award.
The five-night, five-track trek in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup concludes Sunday, Aug. 19, with a return trip to the Nobles County Speedway in Worthington, Minn., where Gustin picked up a win last month during a USMTS National Championship Series contest.
Jeremy Payne and his #186 SLAP Energy Drinks Modified will appear at the Casey’s General Stores located at 1704 Oxford in Worthington on Sunday from 12-2 p.m. Discount coupons good for $2 off adult admission are available at Casey’s General Stores locations in Fulda, Sibley and Worthington all day Sunday.
Sponsored by the Grain Exchange and Hickory Lodge Bar, gates open at 4 p.m. and hot laps begin at 5:30 with racing at 6 p.m. Also on the racing card will be the Iron Man Challenge for USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods, plus USRA Hobby Stocks and Micro-Sprints.
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.
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 at www.facebook.com/ustmts and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series – The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup
Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa
Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 16 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. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (5) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
3. (7) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (6) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
6. (2) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
7. (4) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.
8. (8) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa.
9. (9) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Liberty, Mo.
HOOKER HARNESS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (6) 20z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (1) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
3. (3) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
4. (4) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck (R), Waukee, Iowa.
5. (5) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
6. (7) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (2) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
8. (8) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (2) 0 Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa.
3. (4) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (6) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
8. (8) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, all advance):
1. (2) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (5) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (1) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
4. (6) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa.
5. (7) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
6. (9) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Liberty, Mo.
7. (4) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
8. (8) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
9. (3) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.
SWAN ENERGY “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $3000.
2. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 40, $1700.
3. (4) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, 40, $1200.
4. (2) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JRM, 40, $1000.
5. (15) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $900.
6. (17) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $800.
7. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $700.
8. (11) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $650.
9. (18) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $600.
10. (19) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $550.
11. (23) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $600.
12. (16) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 40, $450.
13. (25) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa, GRT/Midstate, 40, $400.
14. (21) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, Victory/JRM, 40, $250.
15. (10) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 39, $400.
16. (22) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Liberty, Mo., Hughes/Hatfield, 38, $325.
17. (7) 20z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Hughes/Sput’s, 38, $400.
18. (14) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., GRT/Mullins, 36, $300.
19. (20) 88x Jimmy Broszeit (R), Postville, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 36, $300.
20. (13) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, 33, $300.
21. (8) 0 Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa, GRT/Yeoman, 21, $300.
22. (24) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 13, $400.
23. (12) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck (R), Waukee, Iowa, GRT/Mullins, 10, $300.
24. (5) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 3, $400.
25. (9) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/ProPower, 3, $300.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leader: Tesch 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Tesch 40.
Margin of Victory: 1.708 seconds.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Steensma (started 23rd, finished 11th).
Next Race: Sunday, Aug. 19, Nobles County Speedway, Worthington, Minn.
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series Points: Ryan Gustin 761, Sanders 730, S. Scott 676, Hughes 624, J. Scott 593, VanderBeek 576, Payne 562, Rowland 560, Ramirez 547, Shryock 520.
Rookie of the Year Points: S. Scott 2148, Hilsabeck 1489, Ron Keith 1219, Casey Penn 956, Thomas Tillison Jr. 904.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 427, Geddes 389, ProPower 357, Sput’s 334, RoushYates 247.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 502, GRT 455, Skyrocket 376, Sidebiter 183, BC 168.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Dripps.
American Racer – Steensma.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sanders.
Dominator Race Products – not awarded.
Eibach Springs – Tesch.
Forty9Designs.com – Hejna, Shryock.
Hooker Harness – VanderBeek.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Tesch.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Shryock.
KSE Racing Products – Richie Gustin.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Rowland.
Nitroquest – Mahlstedt.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Steensma.
PBM Performance Products – not awarded.
R2C Performance Products – Sanders.
Real Racing Wheels – S. Scott.
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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.