CRESCO, Iowa (Aug. 4) – Lapped traffic plus experience behind the wheel equaled victory Thursday night for Kelly Shryock as the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy invaded the Cresco Speedway for the 6th Annual Cresco Bowl.
Shryock’s ninth win of the season was worth $2,000 as the nine-time USMTS National Champion from Fertile, Iowa, scored his ninth career triumph at the 4/10-mile clay oval.
Lucas Schott was just two years old when Shryock captured his first USMTS title in 1999, and the 15-year-old was poised to make his first trip to the winner’s circle Thursday night.
After leading the first 21 laps from the pole, Schott bobbled slightly while trying to maneuver around a lapped car. That opened the door for Shryock who zipped underneath to grab the lead and then paced the final 14 laps to record his 173rd career win while Schott was left longing for his first.
Jason Krohn – a two-time winner at Cresco – began the 35-lap main event beside Schott on the front row, and followed him to the checkered flag for third.
Rodney Sanders and Zack VanderBeek rounded out the top-5 finishers, while sixth through tenth went to Keith Foss, Ryan Gustin, Kurt Krauskopf, Ryan Ruter and Brandon Beckendorf.
Despite a seventh-place finish, Gustin continues to hold a healthy advantage over VanderBeek in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points standings with just two races left on the campaign. While VanderBeek sits 76 markers out of first place, Shryock is now just one point behind VanderBeek in third. Sanders is fourth, followed by Jason Miller, Corey Dripps, Krohn, Jon Tesch, Dereck Ramirez and Foss.
On Friday and Saturday, the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., will host a dynamic doubleheader with the USMTS Modifieds racing for $2,000 to win on Friday and $3,000 to win on Saturday as part of the 3rd Annual Rivercity Rumble.
Saturday’s show will wrap up the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points battle and graduate the final class of drivers into this year’s Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship powered by Swan Energy.
Todd Scharkey, Kelly Shryock and Al Hejna were all winners at the former Tri-Oval Speedway before Bob Timm assumed ownership three years ago and reconfigured the shape and surface of the track. Since then, Tommy Myer and Tim Donlinger have each visited victory lane while Ryan Gustin has two wins, including the most recent event last August during ‘The Hunt.’
On Friday, the pits will open at 4 p.m. and the grandstands will swing open at 5. Hot laps begin at 6:30 with racing to follow at 7 p.m. On Saturday, pits open at 2 p.m., grandstands open at 3 and hot laps start at 5:30 with racing at 6 p.m.
The track is located 3.0 miles north of Fountain City on SR 35. For more information, call 608-687-3282 or visit www.mississippithunder.com on the World Wide Web.
Fridays program will also feature the Iron Man Challenge for USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Cars and USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mods. USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mods, Street Stocks, Super Stocks and Mini-Mods will round out the card on Saturday.
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
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region
6th Annual Cresco Bowl
Cresco Speedway, Cresco, Iowa
Thursday, August 4, 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 12 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. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
2. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
3. (7) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (1) 52 Jason Thoennes (R), Garfield, Minn.
5. (6) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
6. (2) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (8) 5w Darrin Walch, Postville, Iowa.
8. (5) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (3) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
3. (5) 60 Kurt Krauskopf, Decorah, Iowa.
4. (7) 35k Ron Konkel, Caledonia, Minn.
5. (4) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
6. (1) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (6) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (2) 5 Brandon Beckendorf (R), Danube, Minn.
3. (4) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn.
4. (5) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
5. (7) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (3) 23k Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (6) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn.
WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (5) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, $2110.
2. (1) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/GMPP, $1500.
3. (2) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, $1000.
4. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, $1010.
5. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $900.
6. (9) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Brink, $700.
7. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, $760.
8. (7) 60 Kurt Krauskopf, Decorah, Iowa, Harris/Sput’s, $500.
9. (11) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, $550.
10. (3) 5 Brandon Beckendorf (R), Danube, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $500.
11. (16) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, $450.
12. (13) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, $425.
13. (21) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, $400.
14. (22) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., Hughes/Mullins, $400.
15. (18) 23k Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Skyrocket/Joe’s, $350.
16. (20) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn., TRE/Grove, $300.
17. (15) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, $300.
18. (12) 52 Jason Thoennes (R), Garfield, Minn., MasterSbilt/Sower, $300.
19. (10) 35k Ron Konkel, Caledonia, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $250.
20. (17) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, $300.
21. (19) 5w Darrin Walch, Postville, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $300.
22. (14) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, $400.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leaders: Schott 1-21, Shryock 22-35.
Total Laps Led: Schott 21, Shryock 14.
Margin of Victory: 1.25 seconds.
AFCO Pole Winner: Shryock.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Timm (started 21st, finished 13th).
Ruter Farms Long Tow: Scott (1,314 miles).
Next Race: Friday, Aug. 5, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region Points: Gustin 878, VanderBeek 802, Shryock 801, Sanders 758, Miller 674, Dripps 661, Krohn 623, Jon Tesch 616, Ramirez 592, Foss 572.
Rookie of the Year Points: Jason Grimes 1672, Clyde Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971, Schott 957, Foss 950.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 412, ProPower 331, Sput’s 299, Geddes 202, ASI 168.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 436, Skyrocket 382, GRT 287, BC 159, Sidebiter 87.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Sanders.
CPD Racing Tools – not awarded.
Eibach Springs – VanderBeek.
Forty9Designs.com – Sanders, Ruter.
Hooker Harness – Ramirez.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Schott.
ISKY Racing Cams – Shryock.
KSE Racing Products – VanderBeek.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Dripps.
New Vision Graphics – Krohn.
Nitroquest – not awarded.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Timm.
PBM Performance Products – not awarded.
Real Racing Wheels – not awarded.
Ruter Farms – Scott.
WIX Filters – Shryock.
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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.