ALGONA, Iowa – The USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour kicked off the annual Kossuth County Fair on Tuesday night as the series returned to the Algona Raceway in Algona, Iowa, for the first time since Aug. 5, 2004. Nine-time and defending USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock won his fifth straight crown that year, and the veteran from Fertile, Iowa, added another trophy to his collection Tuesday night with his series-best 154th career win.
Shryock was dominant from the moment they rolled his familiar #3 Skyrocket Chassis off the trailer. The 45-year-old from Fertile, Iowa, won the night’s first heat race, earned the AFCO Pole Award and then paced the entire distance of the WIX Filters “A” Main to make his way back to the winner’s circle for the first time since June 5 in Springfield, Mo.
The main event was stopped short of the scheduled 30-lap distance on lap 28 when rain began to fall during the race’s second caution. Ryan Gustin had to settle for the runner-up finish, Tommy Myer was third, Corey Dripps came across the finish line in fourth and Mike Hansen rounded out the top-5 finishers.
Al Hejna, Jason Krohn, Doug Hillson, Algona Raceway regular Austin Wolf and Mike Jergens finished sixth through tenth, respectively.
Tuesday’s show was the next-to-last event in the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Central States Region presented by Arnold Motor Supply where Gustin now leads Shryock by just 14 points with the final race in the region coming up Wednesday night at the Cresco Speedway in Cresco, Iowa. Dripps is third in the rankings and an insurmountable 121 markers behind Gustin. Hejna (-143) is third, followed by Colt Mather (-144), Myer (-163), Krohn (-183), Zack VanderBeek (-192), Nick Deal (-220) and Mark Elliott (-237).
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