‘Rocket’ gets best of ‘Reaper’ in USMTS go at Nobles County Speedway

jdearing

Administrator
Staff member
WORTHINGTON, Minn. (June 12) – After ending the 2010 season with several big wins, Rodney Sanders has found it tough to find his way back to the winner’s circle in 2011.

The dry spell ended Sunday night for the 21-year-old from Happy, Texas, as he captured the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy main event at the Nobles County Speedway in Worthington, Minn., with a late-race pass of Ryan Gustin.

Gustin was looking to notch his fourteenth triumph of the season and appeared in perfect position to do so as he led the 40-lap WIX Filters “A” Main with just five laps remaining.

Sanders, however, found the fast lane around the bottom of the racing surface and edged in front of Gustin as the pair of young guns came to the flagstand to complete lap 36.

As the leaders raced into the first turn, Gustin drove in deep but Sanders was able to expand his advantage as they headed down the back-stretch.

From there, ‘The Rocket’ blasted off from the pack to collect the win and $2,000 winner’s share of the prize money while ‘The Reaper’ was forced to settle for the runner-up paycheck.

2007 USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn came home in the third position while polesitter Al Hejna continued his much-improved 2011 campaign with a season-best fourth-place finish.

Bumper Jones made his first appearance with the USMTS road warriors in nearly two months and led the first six laps of the main event before eventually settling for fifth.

After missing a night to attend the wedding of a friend on Saturday, Jon Tesch returned to post a sixth-place finish and earned the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award for passing thirteen of his fellow competitors in the feature race.

Zack VanderBeek secured the seventh spot, Nate Wasmund ended up eighth, Eric Dailey nabbed ninth and Jason Grimes came home in tenth.

With his eighth top-10 finish in eight starts in the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region, Grimes took over the top spot in the battle for the 2011 USMTS Rookie of the Year Award.

Despite an eleventh-place finish Sunday night, Kelly Shryock maintained his spot atop the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region points standings with a 20-point advantage over Gustin (701 to 681). VanderBeek is third with 640 markers, followed by Grimes (618), Sanders (607), Krohn (603), Corey Dripps (588), Tesch (581), Chase Junghans (572) and Colt Mather (553).

On Monday, action heads to the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge, Iowa, for the 5th Annual Fort Dodge Modified Nationals and the third points race in the Arnold Motor Supply Central States Region.

Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstand general admission seating opens at 5. Hot laps begin at 6:30 and racing starts at 7 p.m.

Along with the USMTS Modifieds, the Iron Man Challenge for USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Cars and USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mods is also on tap along with the USRA Hobby Stocks racing for national points in the American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series.

On race day, fans can pick up $2-off coupons at all Casey’s General Store locations in Fort Dodge. For more information or to find the location nearest you, check out www.caseys.com.

The Mineral City Speedway is a 1/2-mile semi-banked dirt oval located 0.9 mile north of US 20 on US 169, then 0.5 mile east on 230th. For more information call the track office at 515-573-8745 or 515-574-7223 on race day, or visit www.fdspeed.com online.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also follow the USMTS on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy
Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region
4th Annual Event presented by Runnings Farm & Fleet
Nobles County Speedway, Worthington, Minn.
Sunday, June 12, 2011


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 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.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (5) 3C Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
2. (9) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (4) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn.
4. (1) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (8) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
6. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
7. (2) 88 Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa.
8. (6) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
9. (3) 88 Jim Mathieson, Sioux City, Iowa.

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (1) 99 Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown, N.D.
3. (7) 7K Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
4. (9) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
5. (3) 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa.
6. (8) 3 Jason Briese, Cleghorn, Iowa.
7. (6) 25S Warren VanWesten, Sibley, Iowa.
8. (2) 15M Shane Demey (R), Denison, Iowa.
9. (4) 95 Oliver Kollofski (R), Fairmont, Minn.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
2. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
3. (7) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
4. (6) 7 Eric Dailey (R), Armstrong, Iowa.
5. (3) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa.
6. (4) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
7. (5) 07 Justin Anderson (R), Truman, Minn.
8. (2) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, top 8 advance):
1. (1) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
2. (2) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
3. (6) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
4. (8) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D.
5. (5) 07 Justin Anderson (R), Truman, Minn.
6. (3) 88 Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa.
7. (10) 95 Oliver Kollofski (R), Fairmont, Minn.
8. (7) 15M Shane Demey (R), Denison, Iowa.
9. (9) 88 Jim Mathieson, Sioux City, Iowa, BeerBuilt/Mathieson, $75.
10. (4) 25S Warren VanWesten, Sibley, Iowa, FRC/RAS, $75.

WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 40, $2100.
2. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1600.
3. (7) 7K Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $1000.
4. (1) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JR, 40, $900.
5. (2) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $900.
6. (19) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $800.
7. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $700.
8. (10) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/KSE, 40, $600.
9. (11) 7 Eric Dailey (R), Armstrong, Iowa, Skyrocket/Grawmondbeck’s, 40, $550.
10. (5) 99 Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown, N.D., Hughes/Dakota, 40, $500.
11. (17) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $550.
12. (14) 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $425.
13. (15) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa, Skyrocket/HarryHeads, 40, $400.
14. (12) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $400.
15. (13) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 40, $300.
16. (18) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $300.
17. (20) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Sput’s, 40, $300.
18. (6) 3C Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $300.
19. (21) 07 Justin Anderson (R), Truman, Minn., Razor/Sweet, 40, $300.
20. (16) 3 Jason Briese, Cleghorn, Iowa, Skyrocket/JR, 40, $250.
21. (9) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 40, $400.
22. (24) 15M Shane Demey (R), Denison, Iowa, BMS/Demey, 28, mechanical, $300.
23. (23) 95 Oliver Kollofski (R), Fairmont, Minn., Skyrocket/Trondson, 8, mechanical, $300.
24. (22) 88 Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa, Hughes/Yankton, 4, mechanical, $250.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Integra Lap Leaders: Jones 1-6, Gustin 7-35, Sanders 36-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 29, Jones 6, Sanders 5.
Margin of Victory: 1.598 seconds.
AFCO Pole Winner: Gustin.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Tesch (started 19th, finished 6th).
Ruter Farms Long Tow Award: Jones (1,190 miles).
Provisional Starters: none.
Next Race: Monday, June 13, Mineral City Speedway, Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region Points: Shryock 701, Gustin 681, VanderBeek 640, Grimes 618, Sanders 607, Krohn 603, Dripps 588, Tesch 581, Junghans 572, Mather 553.
Rookie of the Year Points: Grimes 989, Clyde Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971, Jeff Rowland 843, Philip Houston 807.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 304, ProPower 237, Sput’s 185, Geddes 161, ASI 154.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 318, Skyrocket 262, GRT 194, BC 94, Ramirez 80.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Krohn.
CPD Racing Tools – not awarded.
Eibach Springs – Jones.
Forty9Designs.com – Hejna, Dailey.
Hooker Harness – Mather.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Gustin.
ISKY Racing Cams – Brown.
KSE Racing Products – VanderBeek.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Kollofski.
New Vision Graphics – VanderBeek.
Nitroquest – Kollofski.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Tesch.
PBM Performance Products – not awarded.
Real Racing Wheels – Demey.
Ruter Farms – Jones.
WIX Filters – 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, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, SLAP Energy, Snickers.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arnold Motor Supply, ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, DAY Motor Sports, Dirthead.com, DirtKnights.com, Dirt Track Racing School, DrySlik Dirt Trak Racewear, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Karl Performance Parts, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Ramirez Race Cars, Ruter Farms, Schwab’s Tinker Shop, Sybesma Graphics, Yeager Machine.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, COMP Cams, CPD Racing Tools, Eibach Springs, Erson Cams, Fast Shafts, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Harness, Hypercoil Springs, ISKY Racing Cams, The Joie of Seating, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, PBM Performance Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, RHS – Racing Head Service, Tiger Rear Ends, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, WIX Filters.
 




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