Dillard bounces back at Deer Creek


SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (May 27) -- Cade Dillard put the sour taste of Friday night's late-race collapse in the rear view mirror Saturday night with the sweet taste of victory at the Deer Creek Speedway.

Dillard, who passed Josh Angst at the halfway point of the 40-lap main event, led the final 21 laps to score his seventh Casey's USMTS National Tour victory of the season and first in the RHRSwag.com Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

"We've been struggling here of late and we thought we had a pretty good car last night but just couldn't seal the deal," Dillard said in victory lane.

Jacob Bleess garnered the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award but it was Josh Angst who flexed his muscle first. The "Candy Man" grabbed the lead for the first two laps before Lucas Schott made it three-wide with Dillard and Angst to lead the third lap.

Two laps later, Angst regained the lead as the race's first caution waved for John Doelle's stalled machine in turn four.

Angst set a furious pace around the high side of the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval for the next 14 laps with Dillard, Schott, Jason Hughes and Gustin in two around the top.

By lap 19, the leaders were dealing with heavy lapped traffic and Dillard took advantage, taking his first lead with 20 of 40 laps in the books.

"They were setting a pretty fast pace up there, one I wasn't very comfortable with, and it was so crummy but you had to keep up or fall back," Dillard added. "I got an opportunity to make a move in lapped traffic and took it. Luckily it worked out."

Dillard took control and on lap 26 the second and final yellow flag waved when Angst and Schott made contact while racing through back-markers. The ensuing melee collected Ryan Gustin and sent both he and Angst to the pits while Schott rejoined the field at the back of the pack.

From there, Dillard kept Hughes at bay to cash the $3,000 winner's paycheck and notch his 17th career USMTS triumph.

"Later on my car got pretty tight, so I was just clicking off laps and trying not to tear the wall down," Dillard admitted.

Hughes finished about three car-lengths behind Dillard in second place while Zack VanderBeek knocked down his third straight top-three finish. Jake Timm used some late-race heroics to score fourth place and was presented with the Wehrs Machine & Racing Products "Trick Move" of the Race Award.

R.C. Whitwell was fifth and Dustin Sorensen raced from 21st on the starting grid to sixth at the checkered flag to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. Cory Mahder, Joey Jensen, Craig Thatcher and Tyler Wolff rounded out the top ten.

On Sunday, the 10th Annual Nordic Nationals presented by Weis Buick GMC takes place at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa, and will see the Iron Man Challenge featuring Holley USRA Stock Cars and Out-Pace USRA B-Mods plus USRA Hobby Stocks on the card.

Zack VanderBeek collected his first of three wins at the Upper Iowa Speedway during his rookie campaign in 2005, and his most recent came in this event last year. Jon Tesch, Al Hejna and Ryan Gustin are two-time winners here. Jason Hughes and Johnny Scott have each made one appearance in the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds winners circle.

The pit gate opens at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4, hot laps start at 5:45 and the first heat race hits the track at 6. General admission is $20, juniors (ages 11-16) are $10 and kids ages 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $35.

Race fans can pick up coupons good for $2 off adult admission at Casey's General Stores locations in Clermont, Decorah, Ossian, Postville, Waukon and West Union. To find the location nearest you, visit www.caseys.com.

The Upper Iowa Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile dirt oval located 1.8 miles east of US 52 on SR 9, then 1.0 mile northwest on Montgomery St., then northeast on E. Main St. (at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds). For more information, call (563) 382-0711 or visit www.upperiowaspeedway.com online.

Each of the three Memorial Day Weekend blockbusters will dole out $3,000 to the main event winner, with valuable points awarded to drivers in the RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Casey's USMTS National Tour powered by S&S Fishing & Rental - RHRSwag.com Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment
15th Annual A&A Electric Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Saturday, May 27, 2017

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (6) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (5) 02 Jacob Dahle, Morristown, Minn.
5. (7) 89x Tony Bahr, Hogan, Wis.
6. (8) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
7. (2) 3f Cole Ferguson (R), Dexter, Iowa.
8. (3) 14 Amanda Stiffler (R), Farmdale, Ohio.
DNS - 8 Cale Slawson, Chatfield, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
2. (2) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa.
3. (3) 20m Mark Motl, Owatonna, Minn.
4. (4) 1g Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa.
5. (6) 00 Owen Grube (R), Cambridge, Minn.
6. (7) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn.
7. (5) 98 Kevin Stoa, Albert Lea, Minn.
DNS - 4d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
2. (4) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (2) 4a Joel Alberts, Kasson, Minn.
4. (3) 21 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn.
5. (5) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn.
6. (6) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
7. (8) 23k Darwyn Karau, Kasson, Minn.
8. (7) 5d Devon Havlik (R), Iowa Falls, Iowa.

THE JOIE OF SEATING HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
2. (3) 1m Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
3. (2) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (4) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
5. (8) 55 Cory Mahder (R), Eau Claire, Wis.
6. (6) 5k Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb.
7. (5) 14 Scott Stiffler (R), Farmdale, Ohio.
8. (7) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.

MSD HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
2. (1) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz.
3. (5) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (4) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (6) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
6. (3) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
7. (7) 19 Dustin Sorensen (R), Rochester, Minn.
8. (8) 73 Andy Jones (R), Princeton, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (7) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn.
2. (2) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark.
3. (4) 21 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn.
4. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (12) 19 Dustin Sorensen (R), Rochester, Minn.
6. (9) 5k Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb.
7. (8) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Action, $75.
8. (1) 20m Mark Motl, Owatonna, Minn., GRT/Sput's, $75.
9. (3) 1g Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa, Victory/Karl, $90.
10. (6) 00 Owen Grube (R), Cambridge, Minn., SSR/KSE, $90.
11. (11) 98 Kevin Stoa, Albert Lea, Minn., Harris/KSE, $75.
12. (10) 23k Darwyn Karau, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Flyin'J, $75.
13. (13) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn., Ramirez/Majerus, $75.
DNS - 4d Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn., LG2/Cornett, $75.
DNS - 8 Cale Slawson, Chatfield, Minn., IROC/Slawson, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (4) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (3) 55 Cory Mahder (R), Eau Claire, Wis.
3. (6) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
4. (8) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
5. (1) 4a Joel Alberts, Kasson, Minn.
6. (7) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
7. (9) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
8. (2) 02 Jacob Dahle, Morristown, Minn., Hughes/Sput's, $75.
9. (5) 89x Tony Bahr, Hogan, Wis., MBCustom/Mullins, $90.
10. (14) 73 Andy Jones (R), Princeton, Minn.
11. (11) 14 Scott Stiffler (R), Farmdale, Ohio, Taylor/HRE, $90.
12. (10) 3f Cole Ferguson (R), Dexter, Iowa, DirtHustler/Mullins, $90.
13. (13) 5d Devon Havlik (R), Iowa Falls, Iowa, Sidebiter/Johnos, $90.
14. (12) 14 Amanda Stiffler (R), Farmdale, Ohio, Taylor/HRE, $90.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustom/ASI, 40, $3000.
2. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1700.
3. (14) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput's, 40, $1200.
4. (12) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 40, $1000.
5. (11) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $900.
6. (21) 19 Dustin Sorensen (R), Rochester, Minn., MBCustom/Action, 40, $800.
7. (16) 55 Cory Mahder (R), Eau Claire, Wis., MBCustom/Power Line, 40, $700.
8. (17) 21 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., MBCustom/Tim's, 40, $650.
9. (18) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., GRT/TriStar, 40, $600.
10. (15) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustom/Hatfield, 40, $550.
11. (1) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 40, $500.
12. (13) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn., MBCustom/Dakota, 40, $450.
13. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 40, $425.
14. (20) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustom/Troy's, 40, $400.
15. (23) 5k Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb., Razor/GMPP, 40, $375.
16. (25) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis., Rocket/Sput's, 40, $350.
17. (9) 1m Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis., LG2/Sput's, 40, $325.
18. (22) 4a Joel Alberts, Kasson, Minn., Rocket/Action, 40, $300.
19. (24) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 39, $300.
20. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 29, $300.
21. (2) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 26, $300.
22. (7) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 26, $400.
23. (26) 73 Andy Jones (R), Princeton, Minn., Jones/J&J, 24, $300.
24. (19) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/Mullins, 18, $400.
25. (8) 45 Levi Nielsen (R), Evansdale, Iowa, MBCustom/KSE, 10, $300.
26. (5) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., LG2/Sput's, 1, $300.

(R) = Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leaders: Angst 1-2, Schott 3-4, Angst 5-19, Dillard 20-40.
Total Laps Led: Dillard 21, Angst 17, Schott 2.
Margin of Victory: 0.666 seconds.
Time of Race: 18 minutes, 11.842 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Doelle, Jones.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Sorensen (started 21st, finished 6th).
Entries: 41.
Next Race: Sunday, May 28, Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa.
RHRSwag.com Northern Region Points: Dillard 284, VanderBeek 281, Hughes 272, Whitwell 238, Timm 229, Saurer 214, Bleess 205, Gustin 203, Scott 192, Prauner 191.
Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Points: Whitwell 1795, Saurer 1714, Wolff 1604, Kates 1250, Billy Vogel 982.
Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 253, ASI 202, Durham 197, Sput's 189, Hatfield 154.
Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 253, MBCustoms 244, GRT 221, VanderBuilt 193, LG2 166.