Tesch conjures up USMTS ‘Hunt’ victory at Mississippi Thunder Speedway

 

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. -- Jon Tesch of Watertown, S.D., ended his dry spell just 17 days shy of the one-year anniversary of his last USMTS victory as he took the lead from Jason Hughes on lap 17 Friday night to score the victory at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis.

It was the second career victory for the ‘Wizard of Watertown’ at the Fountain City, Wis., speedplant, and the 33rd of his career competing with the United States Modified Touring Series.

Tesch, whose last win came on Sept. 4 of last year at the Dodge County Speedway in nearby Kasson, Minn., chased Hughes for the first 16 laps before taking charge and leading the final 24 orbits to earn the $3,000 top prize.

Hughes held on for runner-up honors while Joey Jensen, fresh off of his win the previous night, beat USMTS Casey’s Cup Series points leader Ryan Gustin to the checkered flag to take third. Rodney Sanders came from 13th to finish fifth and earned the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award.

Jeremy Payne continued his string of strong runs during the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup with a sixth-place result. Zack VanderBeek, Josh Angst, Jason Miller and Mark Teske rounded out the top 10.

Gustin will look to make it two wins in a row Saturday when the series returns to the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa. The grandstands are always full at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds when the USMTS Modifieds come to town as the exciting 1/4-mile short track offers some of the wildest and closest competition on the campaign.

VanderBeek captured his career-first USMTS victory at the Upper Iowa Speedway in 2005, and added another win there three years later. Al Hejna is also a two-time winner along with Gustin, who has taken two of the last three including a 40-lap thriller this past June. Hughes and Tesch have also visited victory lane at UIS.

 

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series – The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, Aug. 17, 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 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.

BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
2. (3) 20z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (2) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
4. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (7) 49jr Jake Timm (R), Winona, Minn.
6. (9) 0 Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa.
7. (8) 99 Steve Lavasseur (R), River Falls, Wis.
8. (5) 431 Mike Gibson, Star Prairie, Wis.
9. (6) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis.
10. (10) 00 Robby Bunkelman (R), Abbotsford, Wis.

HOOKER HARNESS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck (R), Waukee, Iowa.
2. (1) 41 Mark Teske (R), Spring Valley, Minn.
3. (4) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
4. (3) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (8) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
6. (5) 83 Willy Kraft, Mico, Texas.
7. (6) 5 Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn.
8. (9) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn.
9. (7) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
10. (10) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (7) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
3. (4) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
5. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (1) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
7. (3) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (5) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn.
9. (9) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (2) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (4) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
4. (5) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
5. (6) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
6. (9) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.
7. (8) 59 Hank Rollinger Jr., Buffalo City, Wis.
8. (7) 89 Eric Pember (R), Pittsville, Wis.
9. (3) 11x Rich Lofthus (R), Bloomer, Wis.

HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (3) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (5) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
3. (2) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
4. (9) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
5. (4) 33x Adam Hensel (R), Baldwin, Wis.
6. (1) 01 Brandon Aggen, Rushmore, Minn.
7. (6) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
8. (8) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
9. (7) 4g Chris Gilbertson, Trempealeau, Wis.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 7 advance):
1. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (2) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
3. (4) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
4. (8) 33x Adam Hensel (R), Baldwin, Wis.
5. (1) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (9) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
7. (5) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
8. (14) 89 Eric Pember (R), Pittsville, Wis., LG2/Mullins, $90.
9. (12) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, $90.
10. (11) 5 Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $90.
11. (15) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis., SSR/BK’s, $75.
12. (13) 431 Mike Gibson, Star Prairie, Wis., Matrix/Tim’s, $90.
13. (10) 99 Steve Lavasseur (R), River Falls, Wis., Shaw/Homegrown, $75.
14. (17) 4g Chris Gilbertson, Trempealeau, Wis., J-Car/BK’s, $75.
15. (6) 49jr Jake Timm (R), Winona, Minn., GRT/BuckBuilt, $90.
16. (16) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Grove, $90.
17. (7) 0 Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa.
18. (18) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn., Wheeler/Wagamon, $90.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 7 advance):
1. (2) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
2. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
4. (11) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (6) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
6. (1) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (7) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.
8. (13) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn.
9. (5) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Kraft/Gaerte, $90.
10. (12) 49 Bob Timm, Winona, Minn., GRT/BuckBuilt, $90.
11. (8) 83 Willy Kraft, Mico, Texas, Kraft/Gaerte, $75.
12. (9) 01 Brandon Aggen, Rushmore, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $90.
13. (15) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
14. (16) 11x Rich Lofthus (R), Bloomer, Wis., Hughes/Tim’s, $90.
15. (10) 59 Hank Rollinger Jr., Buffalo City, Wis., Hughes/Sput’s, $75.
16. (14) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, $90.
17. (17) 00 Robby Bunkelman (R), Abbotsford, Wis., Skyrocket/Tim’s, $75.

SWAN ENERGY “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (4) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, $3000.
2. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, $1700.
3. (7) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, $1200.
4. (3) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, $1000.
5. (13) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, $1000.
6. (8) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, $800.
7. (5) 20z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Hughes/Sput’s, $700.
8. (6) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $650.
9. (15) 12m Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., Matrix/Mullins, $600.
10. (9) 41 Mark Teske (R), Spring Valley, Minn., LG2/Vankirk, $550.
11. (14) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, $500.
12. (12) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, $450.
13. (16) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, $400.
14. (20) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, $400.
15. (21) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, $400.
16. (29) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/KSE, $125.
17. (18) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., GRT/Mullins, $300.
18. (23) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $300.
19. (11) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., Skyrocket/Action, $300.
20. (24) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, $300.
21. (22) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JRM, $300.
22. (25) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, $400.
23. (27) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/ProPower, $100.
24. (10) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, $300.
25. (26) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa, GRT/Midstate, $300.
26. (28) 0 Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa, GRT/Yeoman, $100.
27. (1) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck (R), Waukee, Iowa, GRT/Mullins, $300.
28. (17) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $300.
29. (19) 33x Adam Hensel (R), Baldwin, Wis., Rocket/Malcuit, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Integra Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-16, Tesch 17-40.
Total Laps Led: Tesch 24, Hughes 16.
Provisional Starters: Dripps, Richie Gustin, Wasmund.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Sanders (started 13th, finished 5th).
Next Race: Saturday, Aug. 18, Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa.
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series Points: Ryan Gustin 683, Sanders 635, S. Scott 595, Hughes 548, J. Scott 531, VanderBeek 518, Payne 510, Rowland 510, Ramirez 463, Shryock 446.
Rookie of the Year Points: S. Scott 2143, Hilsabeck 1489, Ron Keith 1219, Casey Penn 956, Thomas Tillison Jr. 904.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 422, Geddes 380, ProPower 351, Sput’s 324, RoushYates 246.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 493, GRT 445, Skyrocket 369, Sidebiter 183, BC 160.

Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Hensel.
American Racer – Wasmund.
Beyea Custom Headers – Angst.
Dominator Race Products – Hilsabeck.
Eibach Springs – Hughes.
Forty9Designs.com – Ryan Gustin, Miller.
Hooker Harness – Hilsabeck.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Tesch.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Miller.
KSE Racing Products – Payne.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Wetzstein.
Nitroquest – Bunkelman, Wagamon.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Sanders.
PBM Performance Products – Tesch.
R2C Performance Products – Hughes.
Real Racing Wheels – Sanders, Rowland.