Al Hejna scored his fifth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour win of the season Tuesday night with a wire-to-wire performance at the Cresco Speedway. Hejna started on the pole of the 40-lap Sunoco “A” Main, and never relinquished the lead despite pressure from runner-up Kelly Shryock throughout the contest presented by Dean’s Body Shop. The win was worth $2,000 to the 46-year-old owner of Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar in Clear Lake, Iowa, in his #7 Harris Chassis powered by JR Motorsports.
Ryan Gustin kept his hot streak alive with a third-place finish and his fourth straight top-3 finish while 2007 USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn grabbed fourth. Zack VanderBeek garnered his fourth AFCO Pole Award of the season, redrew seventh and finished fifth. Sixth through tenth, respectively, went to defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger, Dereck Ramirez, Steve Wetzstein, Tommy Myer and Jon Tesch, who nailed down his 12th top-10 finish in 12 starts in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region.
The PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award went to Michael Long, who started 17th and finished 11th.
Despite his perfect run of top-10 finishes, the feat was not enough for Tesch to overtake Shryock in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region points as the eight-time USMTS National Champion captured his 12th regional title out of 15 possible since the inception of the ‘Hunt’ format in 2006. Tesch wound up second in the rankings behind Shryock (1046 to 1024), followed by VanderBeek (1006), Gustin (928), Wetzstein (917), Donlinger (896), Hejna (859), Ramirez (833), Dan Bohr (828) and Corey Dripps (812).
All ten drivers are officially qualified for the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship, along with Doug Hillson and Layne Meyer who had perfect attendance in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region. There are 55 drivers qualified for the ‘Hunt’ so far, with the final roster for the class of 2009 to be completed with the Central States Region finale in four days.
NASCAR fan favorite Kenny Wallace and Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip were on hand at the Cresco Speedway Tuesday night. Wallace, who has raced 12 times with the USMTS Modifieds this season, won his heat race and finished 15th in the main event. Waltrip took some laps in Layne Meyer’s machine, but spent the balance of the evening entertaining fans and waving the green flag to start the feature race. “These cars and drivers are just awesome,” Waltrip said. “I was fortunate enough to get behind the wheel of one these Modifieds and feel the power and the way the cars handle, and it was incredible. “The show these guys put on is simply overwhelming and I had a lot of fun. It was a great crowd and a a full field of cars — this is what keeps the heartbeat of NASCAR and grassroots racing across the country.”
SUNOCO “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. 7 - Al Hejna—Clear Lake, IA (1)
2. 3 - Kelly Shryock—Fertile, IA (2)
3. 19r - Ryan Gustin—Marshalltown, IA (5)
4. 7k - Jason Krohn—Slayton, MN (3)
5. 33z - Zack VanderBeek—New Sharon, IA (7)
6. 3d - Tim Donlinger—Rochester, MN (6)
7. 4r - Dereck Ramirez—Woodward, OK (8)
8. 90 - Steve Wetzstein—West Concord, MN (10)
9. 65 - Tommy Myer—Blooming Prairie, MN (12)
10. 14 - Jon Tesch—Watertown, SD (13)
11. 18 - Michael Long—Quincy, IL (17)
12. 49 - Bob Timm—Rollingstone, MN (14)
13. 5w - Darrin Walch—Postville, IA (19)
14. 29d - Brad Dierks—Clarence, IA (9)
15. 36 - Kenny Wallace—Concord, NC (4)
16. 66 - Dan Bohr—Decorah, IA (23)
17. 27m - Mark Schulte—Delhi, IA (18)
18. 35 - Jeff Schluetter—New Hampton, IA (15)
19. 2 - Grant Junghans—Manhattan, KS (16)
20. 18 - Chase Junghans—Manhattan, KS (21)
21. 55 - Brian Shaw—Brownsdale, MN (11)
22. 27s - Jason Schlangen—Cresco, IA (22)
23. 72 - Doug Hillson—Blooming Prairie, MN (20) DNF
24. 12h - Mike Hansen—Alton, IA (24) DNS
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