Gustin gets back on track with USMTS win at Mississippi Thunder Speedway


FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (Aug. 30)--Ryan Gustin took command on lap 15 and then dominated the final 25 laps of Friday's USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup main event at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis.

Gustin, who started third, drove by Rodney Sanders after 14 laps were in the books. After that, 'The Reaper' rattled off 26 flawless laps around the high side of the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval and collected his series-best fifth career win here.

Piloting Dustin Sorensen's backup MB Customs race car, Lucas Schott earned the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award and paced the first four laps before giving up the lead to Sanders, who held on for runner-up honors behind Gustin.

The win in the 7th Annual Dahl Chevrolet Buick GMC End of Summer Bash presented by Edelbrock was worth $3,000 to the 28-year-old from Marshalltown, Iowa, and was the 101st of his career.

Sanders led Schott across the finish line to bolster his advantage in 'The 'Hunt' as well as the Casey's General Stores USMTS National Championship points as he seeks a third national title.

Zack VanderBeek finished fourth after clawing his way from the 17th starting spot without the aid of a caution. His efforts earned him both the Eibach Spring Forward Award and FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.

Dustin Sorensen started 13th and finished fifth. Jake Timm, Cory Crapser, Jake O'Neil, Jacob Bleess and Josh Angst rounded out the top 10.

Deer Hunting: By the end of Saturday's 14th Annual J&S JCB Labor Day Duel presented by FK Rod Ends, the USMTS will dole out a feature winner's check at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., for the 109th time-more than any other racetrack in America.

Sharing the spotlight with the USMTS will be the Arnold Motor Supply Iron Man Challenge featuring American Racer USRA Stock Cars and Out-Pace USRA B-Mods. Wissota Street Stocks will also be on the card. The pit gate opens at 2 p.m., grandstands open at 4, hot laps begin at 5:30 and racing starts at 6 p.m.

Adult general admission tickets are $20 and kids ages 12 and under get in for $5. Pit passes are $35 for adults or $20 for students ages 6-15. Kids 5 and under are $5 for the pits.

Race fans can pick up coupons good for $2 off adult admission at Casey's General Stores locations in Austin, Blooming Prairie, Dodge Center, Hayfield, Mantorville, Oronoco, Preston, Rochester, Spring Valley and Stewartville, plus Riceville, St. Ansgar, Cresco, Osage and Lime Springs in Iowa. To find the location nearest you, visit  caseys.com.

Hunter Marriott and his No. 62 Snickers-sponsored USMTS Modified will be at the Casey's General Store located at 735 N. Broadway Ave. in Spring Valley to meet 'n' greet fans from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Deer Creek Speedway is a 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval is located 11.3 miles south of I-90 (exit 209) on US 63 or 0.7 mile north of SR 16 in Spring Valley, Minn. (25262 US Hwy 63, Spring Valley, MN 55975). For more info, check out deercreekspeedway.com online.

Union Soldiers: The industrious and illustrious USMTS gas-mashers will welcome the month of September with a Sunday evening show at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, for the 7th Annual USMTS War in West Union presented by KSE.

The pit gate opens at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4, hot laps begin at 5:30 and racing gets underway at 6 p.m. Spectator tickets are $20 for those ages 12 and older. Kids ages 11 and under get in free with a paid adult. Pit passes are $30.

Coupons good for $2 off adult admission available at Casey's General Stores locations in Clermont, Decorah, Fairbank, Fredericksburg, Maynard, Monona, Oelwein, Ossian, Postville, Strawberry Point, Sumner, Tripoli and West Union. To find the location nearest you, visit caseys.com.

Ryan Gustin and his Spike Hardcore Energy USMTS Modified will be at the Casey's General Store located at 102 E. Bradford in West Union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to meet 'n' greet fans.

The Fayette County Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located 0.9 mile south of US 18 on SR 150, then 0.1 mile east on SR 56 (Vine St.). For more information, visit fayettecountyspeedway.net on the World Wide Web.

To connect with the United States Modified Touring Series, visit USMTS.com. You can also like us on Facebook, see us on Instagram, follow us on Twitter, connect with us on LinkedIn and watch us on our YouTube channel. Keep up to speed, get it first and subscribe to USMTS e-News.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Casey's General Stores USMTS National Championship
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup powered by Summit
7th Annual Dahl Chevrolet Buick GMC End of Summer Bash presented by Edelbrock
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, Aug. 30, 2019

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Casey's General Stores "A" Main.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
2. (2) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
3. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
4. (3) 15w Alex Williamson (R), Rushford, Minn.
5. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (7) 62 Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo.
7. (8) 17 Mike Striegel (R), Wheatland, Mo.
8. (5) 6t7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn.
9. (9) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
2. (4) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
3. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (6) 3c Chet Atkinson (R), North Hugo, Minn.
5. (7) 8s Tony Schill, Oakdale, Minn.
6. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
7. (2) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, Iowa.
8. (3) 782 Miah Christensen (R), Sioux Falls, S.D.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 44 Adam Hensel, Baldwin, Wis.
2. (3) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (6) 9 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (5) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (4) 23kk Erik Kanz (R), Winona, Minn.
7. (1) 6 Dustin Kruse (R), Brandon, S.D.
8. (7) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.

MSD PERFROMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (4) 49jr Jake Timm, Minnesota City, Minn.
3. (1) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
4. (5) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis.
5. (3) 7 A.J. Roschen (R), Somerset, Wis.
6. (7) 4H Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (6) 23b Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa.
8. (8) 35b David Baxter (R), Eau Clare, Wis.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (3) 8s Tony Schill, Oakdale, Minn.
3. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (6) 4h Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (2) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis.
6. (10) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
7. (1) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis., MBCustoms/Mullins, $90.
8. (8) 6 Dustin Kruse (R), Brandon, S.D., Sidebiter/ChevPerf, $90.
9. (7) 17 Mike Striegel (R), Wheatland, Mo.
10. (9) 6t7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn., Shaw/Adams, $75.
11. (11) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 15w Alex Williamson (R), Rushford, Minn.
2. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (1) 3c Chet Atkinson (R), North Hugo, Minn.
4. (5) 62 Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo.
5. (4) 7 A.J. Roschen (R), Somerset, Wis.
6. (6) 23kk Erik Kanz (R), Winona, Minn.
7. (8) 23b Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa., SSR/Midnight, $90.
8. (7) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, Iowa., Hilsabeck/Mullins, $90.
9. (10) 35b David Baxter (R), Eau Clare, Wis., Rocket/Baxter, $75.
10. (9) 782 Miah Christensen (R), Sioux Falls, S.D., MBCustoms/JB, $75.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/TriStar, $3000.
2. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, $1700.
3. (1) 9 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Action, $1100.
4. (17) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Stoen, $900.
5. (13) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., MBCustoms/Action, $700.
6. (8) 49jr Jake Timm, Minnesota City, Minn., MBCustoms/OFI, $650.
7. (4) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., VanderBuilt/OFI, $600.
8. (12) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, $550.
9. (16) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., VanderBuilt/KSE, $500.
10. (9) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, $450.
11. (10) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, $425.
12. (11) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, $400.
13. (7) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., VanderBuilt/Stoen, $375.
14. (14) 15w Alex Williamson (R), Rushford, Minn., SSR/KSE, $350.
15. (5) 94jr John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis., Rocket/Sput's, $225.
16. (26) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., Jet/Speedway, $90.
17. (20) 62 Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo., Rage/KSE, $300.
18. (19) 4h Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, $300.
19. (18) 3c Chet Atkinson (R), North Hugo, Minn., Sidebiter/Wagamon, $225.
20. (21) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis., Rocket/Niznik, $300.
21. (24) 17 Mike Striegel (R), Wheatland, Mo., GRT/Eagle, $400.
22. (23) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, $300.
23. (15) 8s Tony Schill, Oakdale, Minn., SSR/KSE, $225.
24. (6) 44 Adam Hensel, Baldwin, Wis., DirtDueler/OFI, $300.
25. (22) 7 A.J. Roschen (R), Somerset, Wis., GRT/Stoen, $300.
26. (25) 23kk Erik Kanz (R), Winona, Minn., Shaw/Action, $300.

(R) = Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leaders: Schott 1-4, Sanders 5-14, Gustin 15-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 26, Sanders 10, Schott 4.
Margin of Victory: 1.478 seconds.
Time of Race: 11 minutes, 17.097 seconds (no cautions).
Provisional Starters: Saurer, Striegel, Kanz (track), Kates.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: VanderBeek (advanced 17 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 17th, finished 4th).
Entries: 33.
Next Race: Saturday, Aug. 31, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Casey's General Stores USMTS National Championship Points: TBD.
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup Points: TBD.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: TBD.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: TBD.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: TBD.