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Dillard, Jones, Kanz & Koehler Top Deer Creek Challenge

Spring Valley, MN - May 27, 2017:  Mother Nature once again tried to put a pinch on the racers and fans at Deer Creek Speedway. THE USMTS Modifieds were in town for the Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge presented by A&A Electric & Underground along with Altenburg Construction. The Ironman Series for the USRA Stock Cars and B-Mods along with the National Fleet Graphics WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were on the race program.

Intermittent showers fell while race cars and fan filed into the speedway. Then a steadier rain fell for about 20-minutes and then the precipitation finally abated. The rain made its mark and delayed the start of the show by an hour and a half.

The Midwest Modifieds were up first for their 18-lap main event. Brayten Cisneros and Ryan Goergen led the 23-car pack to the green flag. The front row ran side-by-side for a couple of laps with Billy Steinberg in pursuit. Steinberg shot past the lead duo to take the lead on lap four. Robbie Franklin came from seventh to fourth and Nick Koehler charged from ninth into the top five.

Franklin got to third and then went after Cisneros for second. Franklin then got alongside Steinberg for the lead when the caution flag flew. On the restart, Koehler bolted to second but Franklin drove back to the outside and they were right on Steinberg for the lead. Franklin led lap eight, but Steinberg came back to lead lap 10. Another caution slowed the race and set up another torrid battle for the lead.

Koehler threw a wicked slide job on Franklin and Steinberg in turn one to take the lead. Franklin crossed over and they were even for the lead. Franklin got the lead and Koehler slid him once again to reclaim the lead on lap 16. Franklin again executed a perfect cross over move and again claimed the point.

Koehler shot to the lead again when the white flag appeared. Franklin gave it everything he had on the final lap but came up just a bit short at the line in a thriller of o finish. Steinberg finished in the third position while Garitt Wytaske was fourth and Steven Amundson finished fifth.

Next up was the USRA Stock Cars and their 20-lap feature. Matt Jones led the field to the green flag from the pole position and led every circuit to dominate the 25-car field.  USRA Stock Car national champion Mitch Hovden went from seventh on the grid to second place in just two laps, but could never mount a serious challenge to Jones, who has three Out-Pace USRA B-Mod national titles to his credit. Lynn Panos came up a bumper short of nipping Hovden for second, Derek Green was fourth and Kevin Donlan finished fifth.

Erik Kanz steered his machine to victory in the 20-lap Out-Pace USRA B-Mod main event. Despite starting 11th, Kanz wrestled the lead away from pole sitter Andrew Bleess after just four laps, and then survived seven yellow flags to secure the victory. Kylie Kath finished third behind Bleess, Brian Mahlstedt came from 12th to fourth and Dan Hovden took fifth.

Cade Dillard passed Josh Angst at the halfway point of the USMTS Modified  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.

Jacob Bleess garnered the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award but it was Josh Angst who flexed his muscle first. Angst 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 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.

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.

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 and R.C. Whitwell was fifth.

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

Feature—Nick Koehler, Robbie Franklin, Billy Steinberg, Garitt Wytaske, Steven Amundson, Ryan Goergen, Don Schaefer, Jason Haugerud, Antonio Pintaro, Casey Trom, Brayten Cisneros, Cory Asmussen, Jesse Hernandez, Ron Jablonske, Bonnie Jablonske, Tianna Mithun, Brad Minske, Ryan Wetzstein, Tyron Friese, Clark Swartz, Mitch Weiss, Isaac Clark, Spencer Stock

First Heat—Koehler, Franklin, Trom, Pintaro, Mithun, B. Jablonske, Wetzstein

Second Heat—Wytaske, Steinberg, Cisneros, Minkse, Stock, Friese, Harnandez, Schaefer

Third Heat—Weiss, Haugerud, Goergen, Asmussen, Swartz, R. Jablonske, Clark

 

USRA Stock Cars

 

Feature—Matt Jones, Mitch Hovden, Lynn Panos, Derek Green, Kevin Donlan, Pete Solum, Kyle Falck, Danny Sacquitne, Stefan Sybesma, Dean Cornelius, Phil Holtz, Danny Cole, Todd Staley, Steve Jackson, Derek Dettman, Troy Hansmeier, Jesse Brown, Andrew Lokenvitz, Brayden Gjere, Jayden Bears, Blake Adams, Jake Lampert, Andy Stinson, Cody Frerichs, Donovan Nunnikhoven

 

First Heat—Hovden, Panos, Frerichs, Jones, Staley, Nunnikhoven, Holtz, Sacquitne, Gjere

 

Second Heat—Donlan, Solum, Stinson, Cornelius, Lampert, Hansmeier, Adams

 

Third Heat—Green, Falck, Cole, Dettman, Sybesma, Brown, Jackson, Bears

 

USRA B-Mods

 

Feature—Erik Kanz, Andrew Bleess, Kylie Kath, Brian Mahlstedt, Dan Hovden, Kyle Anderson, Cole Denner, Taylor Ausrud, Kadden Kath, Brandon Hare, Jerry Young, JT Wasmund, Scott Demmer, Trevot Fecht, Ben Stockton, Jim Chisholm, Kenny Boge Jr., Austin Kaplan, Ben Moudry, Dustin Kruse, Sam Wiebert, Mike Tanner, Tanner Johnston, Jared Timmerman, Parker Hale, Alex Williamson

 

B-Feature 1—Chisholm, Fecht, Wieben, Wasmund, Moudry, P. Hale, Ben Stockton, Channing Warner, Bill Stettner, Timmerman, Kyle Brown, Christian Warner, AJ Johnston, Jackson Hale

 

B-Feature 2—Hare, Anderson, Kruse, Kaplan, Tanner, Boge Jr., Alex Zwanziger, Mike Mehling, Jett Sorensen, AJ Zvorak, Tucker Williams, Cole Suckow, Mike Chisholm, Derek Clement

 

First Heat—T. Johnston, Demmer, A. Johnston, Tanner, M. Chisholm, Kaplan, Zwanziger, Clement

 

Second Heat—Denner, Ausrud, Hovden, Hare, Stettner, Timmerman, P. Hale, Brown

 

Third Heat—Young, Bleess, Kruse, Mahlstedt, Mehling, Zvorak, J. Hale, Sorensen

 

Fourth Heat—Williamson, Kylie Kath, J. Chisholm, Anderson, Channing Warner, Christian Warner, Suckow, Moudry

Fifth Heat—Kadden Kath, Kanz, Wieben, Fecht, Wasmund, Boge Jr., Suckow, Williams

 

USMTS Modifieds

 

Feature—Cade Dillard, Jason Hughes, Zack Vanderbeek, Jake Timm, RC Whitwell, Dustin Sorensen, Cory Mahder, Joey Jensen, Craig Thatcher, Tyler Wolff, Jacob Bleess, Travis Saurer, Lucas Schott, Cory Crapser, Kyle Prauner, John Doelle, Curt Myers, Joel Alberts, Adam Kates, Dereck Ramirez, Josh Angst, Ryan Gustin, Andy Jones, Stormy Scott, Levi Nielsen, Jason Cummins

 

B-Feature 1—Saurer, Wolff, Jensen, Scott, Sorensen, Prauner, Joe Horgdal, Mark Motl, Pat Graham, Owen Grube, Kevin Stoa, Darwyn Karau, Charlie Steinberg, Tim Donlinger, Cale Slawson

 

B-Feature 2—Vanderbeek, Mahder, Thatcher, Crapser, Alberts, Kates, Doelle, Jacob Dahle, Tony Bahr, Andy Jones, Scott Stiffler, Cole Ferguson, Devon Havlik, Amanda Stiffler

 

First Heat—Ramirez, Gustin, Hughes, Hughes, Dahle, Bahr, Kates, Ferguson, A. Stiffler, Slawson

 

Second Heat—Cummins, Nielsen, Motl, Graham, Grube, Horgdal, Stoa, Donlinger

 

Third Heat—Angst, Schott, Alberts, Jensen, Saurer, Crapser, Karau, Havlik

 

Fourth Heat—Bleess, Myers, Wolff, Vanderbeek, Mahder, Prauner, S. Stiffler, Steinberg

 

Fifth Heat—Dillard, Whitwell, Timm, Scott, Thatcher, Doelle, Sorensen, Jones

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