The United States Modified Touring Series made its second stop of the 2009 season at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah on Saturday night. This time the event meant just a little bit more as it was race number seven on the Hunt for the Championship to determine the national champion.
Thirty-one modifieds checked in through the back gate last night, but that number quickly reduced by one when Sean Rupp went for a nasty rollover in hot laps. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released for bruises.
Ryan Gustin and Kelly Shryock paced the field to Todd Staley's green flag with Gustin leading the first circuit. The battle of the 4R machines quickly got started as Dereck Ramirez looked inside of Ron VerBeek for the fourth spot. These two would be glued to each other for most of the race. As Gustin closed in on lapped traffic, Shryock began to close the gap.
Deeper in the field Jason Hughes was trying to make his way to the front as he passed Dustin Boney for the sixth spot after starting twelfth. Ron VerBeek was able to get by Dereck Ramirez for the fourth spot before the only caution of the race came out when Darrin Walch's motor expired exiting turn four. On the restart, Rodney Sanders drifted up high and lost two spots before getting a handle on fifth place. VerBeek and Ramirez continued their heated battle while Jason Krohn slid by Sanders to take over the fifth spot. Krohn and Sanders would swap that spot a couple times before the checkered flag waved.
Gustin scraped the frontstretch and turn two wall a couple times, allowing Shryock to close in late in the race. But once Gustin was able to straightened his car out he was able to inch away from the point leader. Ryan Gustin would lead all forty laps on his way to victory lane. Points leader Kelly Shryock finished second, Dereck Ramirez was third, Ron VerBeek fourth, and Jason Krohn rounded out the top five.
The Upper Iowa Speedway also ran USRA hobby stocks, USRA bmods, and USRA stock cars in support of the USMTS. Chris Hovden took home the win in USRA hobby stocks for the 17th time this season. Nathan Wood made the long tow up from southern Iowa and finished with a strong third place run.
Matt Jones had troubles in his USRA bmod heat and only made one lap, which put him deep in the field after transferring from a bmain. But that built the drama up as he closed in on Junior Boyer on the last couple of laps. Boyer slide up in turn two after taking the white flag, which allowed Jones to dive to the inside. Boyer apparently didn't see him going into turn three and the two cars made contact. Boyer's left front hopped Jones right front and sent Boyer's car up the track while Jones was able to take home the win. Brandon Hare finished second, Andrew Kelly was third, Eric Verthein fourth, and Chris Frethem rounded out the top five.
The USRA stock cars also put on a great show. Five cars were battling it out near the end of the race before Matt Greiner's car slid up and hit Austin Curtin's car. Both drivers were solidly in the top five, but the contact sent Curtin spinning to the inside while the rest of the field narrowly missed making contact. Greiner would be penalized for the contact, but up front Shay Curtin would take home the win. Not sure how the rest of the top five rundown looked as they were so close at the line, but Kurt Krauskopf, Kevin Donlan, and Mitch Hovden were all right there.
It was another good night of racing at the Upper Iowa Speedway. Racing was done around 10:30 or so, giving fans plenty of time to either go to the pits and talk with drivers or to make their way home.
The USMTS will take a little break now to gear up for another grueling road trip beginning September 1 at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. That will be the first of six consecutive nights of racing to help sort things out for the Hunt for the Championship.
For more information on the USMTS, check out their website at www.usmts.com. For Upper Iowa Speedway results, check out their website at www.upperiowaspeedway.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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