FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. -- In a matter of 24 hours, Brad Waits went from worst to first as he captured the 40-lap main event Saturday night as the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy invaded the Mississippi Thunder Speedway for the 3rd Annual Rivercity Rumble.
Waits sat out the remainder of the night on Friday after being involved in a crash in his heat race, but on Saturday the driver from Rochester, Minn., sat in victory lane with a $3,000 check in his hands – just one week after pocketing $20,000 at the World Modified Dirt Track Championship.
Event sponsor Rivercity Manufacturing tempted the previous night’s winner, Ryan Gustin, with a $3,000 bonus if he would agree to start at the rear of the field and could win from there.
Much to the crowd’s delight, Gustin forfeited his second row starting spot and elected start dead last in the 27-car field for a chance at a $6,000 haul.
Ben Mattick started on the pole for the WIX Filters “A” Main with Josh Angst on his outside for the drop of the green flag. Angst fended off Mattick and Waits for the first five laps, but Waits muscled his way to the front to lead the sixth lap.
Behind the leaders, Lucas Schott raced outside of Corey Dripps for fourth place with Rodney Sanders joining the battle in the top 5 while Waits and Angst pulled away in a side-by-side race for the lead.
Waits eventually pulled away and left the field to battle it out for runner-up honors.
Meanwhile, Gustin was working his way forward but got no help from the flagman as the first caution flag finally waved on lap 33 when Sanders and Mattick both slowed with flat tires while Gustin hovered in the 13th spot.
Waits bolted away from the field on the restart en route to another win at the former Tri-Oval Speedway where he was virtually unbeatable in year’s past.
Kelly Shryock gained ground and finished second followed by Dripps, Schott and Tim Donlinger. Dereck Ramirez, Bob Timm, Mike Wedelstadt and Doug Hillson rounded out the top 10 finishers.
Gustin also retired from the race with six laps to go due to a flat tire. Although he wound up 19th, simply taking the green flag in his heat race earlier locked up the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points title worth $2,500 for the 20-year-old from Marshalltown, Iowa.
Finishing behind ‘The Reaper’ in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points were Shryock, Zack VanderBeek, Sanders, Dripps, Jason Miller, Ramirez, Jason Krohn, Keith Foss and Hillson.
With their top-10 finishes in the final rankings, the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship powered by Swan Energy added Miller, Foss and Hillson to the Class of 2011 who will be chasing this year’s crown.
After winning four regional titles, Gustin will lead all drivers into ‘The Hunt’ with a perfect base score of 80 points. The rest of the top 10 ‘hunters’ behind Gustin are Shryock, Sanders, VanderBeek, Jason Hughes, Johnny Scott, Dripps, Shane Hebert, Krohn and Bryan Rowland.
In all, 46 drivers from 12 different states have earned a spot in this year’s USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship powered by Swan Energy.
‘The Hunt’ begins this Thursday, Aug. 11, in Jetmore, Kan., at the Great American Dirt Track. Last year’s debut at the high-banked 3/8-mile oval saw Kelly Shryock beat Ryan Gustin to the finish line by a bumper as they banged their way to a photo finish to the delight of the fans.
Shryock, Gustin, defending USMTS National Champion Jason Hughes and dozens of other lead-footed dirt merchants will be on hand and looking to start off on the right foot. Gates open at 5 p.m., hot laps start at 7 and racing gets underway at 7:30.
For additional information, visit www.greatamericandirttrack.com.
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
3rd Annual Rivercity Rumble
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Saturday, August 6, 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. (5) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
2. (1) X Mike Wedelstadt, New London, Wis.
3. (7) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (2) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
5. (4) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
6. (9) R4 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
7. (6) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
8. (8) 50 Kevin Viebrock, Somerset, Wis.
9. (3) 00 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn.
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 4 Ben Mattick, Mantorville, Minn.
2. (1) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
3. (7) 3d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn.
4. (3) 35k Ron Konkel, Caledonia, Minn.
5. (9) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
6. (6) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
7. (8) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn.
8. (5) 96 Jay Ihrke, Dover, Minn.
9. (2) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (3) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
2. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (4) 5 Brandon Beckendorf (R), Danube, Minn.
4. (2) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn.
5. (5) 431 Mike Gibson (R), Star Prairie, Wis.
6. (9) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (8) 58 Jeff Rollinger, Winona, Minn.
8. (1) 86 Philip Wernert, Galesville, Wis.
9. (6) 55w Gary Wiersgalla, Fountain City, Wis.
PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (5) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (4) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
4. (8) 52 Jason Thoennes (R), Garfield, Minn.
5. (6) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (1) 30 Shane Wehrs (R), Bangor, Wis.
7. (2) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
8. (7) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
RIVERCITY MANUFACTURING HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
2. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (8) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
4. (6) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (7) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn.
6. (1) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (4) 29h Joe Horgdal (R), Kasson, Minn.
8. (5) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 7 advance):
1. (4) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
2. (1) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
3. (3) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
4. (11) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
5. (5) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn.
6. (6) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (2) 5 Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn.
8. (7) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., Skyrocket/Action, $100.
9. (13) 96 Jay Ihrke, Dover, Minn.
10. (8) 431 Mike Gibson (R), Star Prairie, Wis., Matrix/Tim’s, $100.
11. (12) 29h Joe Horgdal (R), Kasson, Minn., Skyrocket/Flyin’J, $100.
12. (9) 30 Shane Wehrs (R), Bangor, Wis., Hughes/Tomcat, $100.
13. (14) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn., TRE/Grove, $100.
14. (16) 55w Gary Wiersgalla, Fountain City, Wis., $80.
15. (15) 00 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn., $80.
16. (10) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/KSE, $80.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 7 advance):
1. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (8) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
3. (1) 52 Jason Thoennes (R), Garfield, Minn.
4. (5) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn.
5. (2) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (7) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
7. (6) R4 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
8. (10) 58 Jeff Rollinger, Winona, Minn., $80.
9. (15) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, $100.
10. (11) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn., DK/Flyin’J, $80.
11. (12) 50 Kevin Viebrock, Somerset, Wis., Stealth/Action, $80.
12. (9) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn., Pierce/JR, $100.
13. (14) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis., $80.
14. (13) 86 Philip Wernert, Galesville, Wis., $80.
15. (4) 35k Ron Konkel, Caledonia, Minn., $80.
WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., Skyrocket/ASI, 40, $2000.
2. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $2100.
3. (5) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 40, $1500.
4. (6) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/GMPP, 40, $1000.
5. (9) 3d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $900.
6. (10) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $800.
7. (8) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $700.
8. (11) X Mike Wedelstadt, New London, Wis., Sidebiter/Yeoman, 40, $650.
9. (16) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 40, $600.
10. (15) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $550.
11. (13) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $600.
12. (21) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/GMPP, 40, $450.
13. (12) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, 40, $425.
14. (25) R4 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Skyrocket/Midstate, 40, $300.
15. (17) 52 Jason Thoennes (R), Garfield, Minn., MasterSbilt/Sower, 40, $375.
16. (24) 5 Brandon Beckendorf (R), Danube, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $350.
17. (2) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 36, tire, $300.
18. (19) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Brink, 36, mechanical, $400.
19. (27) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 34, tire, $500.
20. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 33, tire, $500.
21. (1) 4 Ben Mattick, Mantorville, Minn., Fegers/Dave’s, 33, tire, $300.
22. (14) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis., 32, mechanical, $300.
23. (26) 96 Jay Ihrke, Dover, Minn., Fegers/Dean, 32, mechanical, $100.
24. (23) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., Hughes/Mullins, 32, mechanical, $400.
25. (20) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn., DirtDueler/Brink, 30, suspension, $350.
26. (18) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 29, handling, $350.
27. (22) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, 9, mechanical, $350.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leaders: Angst 1-5, Waits 6-40.
Total Laps Led: Waits 35, Angst 5.
Margin of Victory: 1.264 seconds.
AFCO Pole Winner: Waits.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Ver Beek (started 25th, finished 14th).
Ruter Farms Long Tow: Ramirez (840 miles).
Provisional Starter: Ihrke.
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 11, Great American Dirt Track, Jetmore, Kan.
Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region Points (final): Gustin 1036, Shryock 987, VanderBeek 948, Sanders 863, Dripps 826, Miller 802, Ramirez 786, Krohn 740, Foss 700, Hillson 688.
Rookie of the Year Points: Jason Grimes 1672, Schott 1125, Foss 1078, Clyde Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 431, ProPower 350, Sput’s 314, Geddes 205, ASI 174.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 436, Skyrocket 382, GRT 287, BC 159, Sidebiter 87.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Doelle.
CPD Racing Tools – not awarded.
Eibach Springs – Angst.
Forty9Designs.com – Schott, Hillson.
Hooker Harness – Myer.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – not awarded.
ISKY Racing Cams – not awarded.
KSE Racing Products – Shryock.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Scott.
New Vision Graphics – not awarded.
Nitroquest – Brink, Glenn.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – not awarded.
PBM Performance Products – Sanders.
Real Racing Wheels – Alberts, Bohr.
Ruter Farms – Ramirez.
WIX Filters – not awarded.
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