The return of the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) to the upper Midwest kicked off my Memorial Day lengthy weekend of racing on Wednesday night. The road warriors invaded the "monster" half-mile known as the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa as stop #1 of five consecutive nights in Iowa and southern Minnesota. A solid field of forty-two cars graced the pit area along with USRA stock cars, USRA bmods, and USRA hobby stocks.
First to hit the track would be the USRA bmods. Mike Wanders grabbed the reigns early on from the pole before an early caution slowed the pace. Tyler Groenendyk, last year's track champion, restarted in fifth but quickly darted to the outside to take the third spot away. By lap five Groenendyk had eclipsed Wanders for the lead while the rest of the pack sorted itself out. Scott Davis found his racing groove in the middle of the race as he climbed to the runner up spot after starting eleventh. Groenendyk's lead was too much to overcome, however, as he took home the win. Davis would lose the second position to Cayden Carter with two laps remaining. Mike Wanders would finish fourth and Mike Shelton was fifth.
Next up would be the USRA stock cars as stop #1 of the Dart Iron Man Challenge. Only thirteen cars checked in for action tonight, but the outcome was never certain. Greg Elliott held the top spot down early on while brother Mark made his way through traffic. Mark Elliott, who started thirteenth thanks to mechanical failures in his heat race, climbed to the top five by lap four. The race would get more interesting up front as the top four cars were all bunched together. Nathan Wood made the outside line work as he took the lead on lap eight. The Elliott brothers battled side by side for second while Shane Weller was making his move just behind. A caution changed the entire scenario as the double file restart would change the running order. Weller used the outside line to zip past the Elliott's for second and closed in on Wood. On the final lap Weller tried to slingshot his way by coming to the checkers, but he came up just short as Nathan Wood took the win. Weller finished second, Mark Elliott third, Rick Gustin fourth, and Mike VanGenderen rounded out the top five. Greg Elliott finished a disappointing ninth.
Derek Kirkland used the outside front row to nail down the lead at the start of the USRA hobby stock feature. The caution came out at the midway point of the race, but Kirkland maintained his lead throughout as he pocketed the win. Andy Coleman would finish second, Kris Walker third, Steve Allen fourth, and Jim Hughes completed the top five.
The stage was now set for the USMTS modified thirty-lap finale. Ryan Ruter and Ryan Gustin would set the pace of the twenty-six car starting field with Gustin taking the early advantage. A battle for third soon heated up with Michael Long using the outside to get by Steve Wetstein. After starting sixteenth on the grid, Al Hejna was a rocket and moving forward. He climbed to seventh in the first eight laps before a caution slowd the action two laps later. Gustin had built up a straight away advantage when the yellow flew.
Zack VanderBeek, who restarted fourth, dove to the inside and picked up two spots to sneak into the runner up spot ahead of Ruter and Long. Hejna continued to pick off cars as he made passes on Wetstein and Long to fill in the fourth position. Gustin would pull away up front while Hejna ducked under Ruter for third before the caution waved again.
Johnny Scott, who is running for Rookie of the Year honors I believe, found himself restarting in the seventh spot. He would get a great jump and slide into fifth with eight laps to go. VanderBeek would stay close to Gustin's rear bumper shortly after racing resumed, but Gustin was able to put some distance between them as the laps clicked off. In the end, it would be Ryan Gustin taking home the win followed by Zack VanderBeek, Al Hejna, Johnny Scott, and Steve Wetstein. It was Hejna's first night out in his newly designed Harris car.
The action shifts to the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison Thursday night as the USMTS modifieds along with the Dart Iron Man Challenge stock car series invades another half-mile facility. Also on the card will be the USRA bmods and USRA hobby stocks.
For more information regarding the USMTS, check out www.usmts.com. For information pertaining to the Southern Iowa Speedway, check out www.rlpromotions.com/oskaloosa. Also, for more results check out the 4D Fan Report as they were on hand and jotted down the finishes of each class.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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