JEFFERSON, S. D. — -- Jon Tesch of Watertown, S.D., celebrated his 33rd birthday with the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour Tuesday night at the Park Jefferson Speedway, but it was Tesch that gave the spanking.
The “Wizard of Watertown” started seventh in the 35-lap Sunoco “A” Main, took the lead from Chris Abelson on lap 11 then proceeded to run away and hide from the field as he took the checkered flag while a three-way tussle for the runner-up spot was taking place half a lap behind on the back-stretch.
Jay Noteboom, who won the inaugural USMTS event at the Jefferson, S.D., 4/10-mile oval in 2005, grabbed the top spot from polesitter Jake Neal on the first lap as he powered around the extreme high side of the racing surface with Abelson following into the second position.
The pair of local favorites waged a fierce battle for the first eight laps before Noteboom pulled off the track with a flat tire, handing the lead over to Abelson.
Back-to-back cautions on laps 9 and 10 revealed that Abelson's engine was sputtering as he was unable to get up to speed quickly on the restarts. Tesch took the lead away on the second restart while Abelson completed just two more laps before exiting the race with a broken motor.
From that point on it was a dominating birthday celebration for Tesch as he lapped up to the seventh-place finisher in scoring his fifth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour event of 2009.
Despite Tesch's attempt to turn the contest into a yawner, a spirited fight for second place kept the fans in the seats as NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace held off Mike Hansen and Al Hejna to take the runner-up spot. For Wallace, it was his best finish in 26 career starts with the USMTS.
Bobby Moore grabbed the fifth spot, while Corey Dripps earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award by racing to a sixth-place finish from 21st on the starting grid. Tommy Myer finished seventh as the final car on the lead lap, with Dereck Ramirez, Grant Junghans and Mike Lineberry rounding out the top-10 at the checkered flag.
The win was worth $2,000 to Tesch and wrestled the Great Plains Region points lead away from Myer. Tesch's advantage is 12 points over Myer (391 to 379), with Hejna in third with 362 markers. Fourth is Dripps (360), followed by Kelly Shryock (334), Lineberry (283), Neal (283), Ramirez (274), Rich Lewerke (266) and Mike Steensma (257).
Tesch is also the current points leader in the Central States Region and is ranked second in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region.
NEXT EVENT ...
Wednesday will find the mud-slinging Modified masters at Earl Benson's Casino Speedway for the 5th Annual Team Electronics Summer Slam.
The fan-friendly facility is in its 56th year of racing on the shores of beautiful Lake Kampeska in Tesch's hometown of Watertown, S.D., and racers will find plenty of parking in the new pit area, a new concrete wall encompassing the racing surface and new track lighting… Plus food and beverages are now delivered directly to the drivers in the pit area.
Tesch is a two-time USMTS winner at the Casino Speedway where he was a three-time track champion (1998, 2000-01). He captured the main event in 2006 but spun out on the first lap of the 2007 race while another Watertown racer, Scott Ward, won the race. Tesch bounced back to win last year's contest and comes into this year's contest as the clear favorite.
Myer won the inaugural event at the Casino Speedway, four years ago today.
Local favorites expected to compete include Scott Hansen, Kent Arment, Ryan Engels, Jay Triplett, Darren Bistodeau, Joel Waba, Arne Anderson, Todd Stark, David Orr, Jordan Foster and more.
Pit gates open at 3:00 and grandstands open up at 5:00. Hot laps are set for 6:30 with racing action at 7:00. WISSOTA Street Stocks will also be in action.
Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons on race day at all three Casey's General Stores locations in Watertown.
The Casino Speedway is a 3/8-mile semi-banked clay oval located 4 miles northwest of US 212 on SR 20, then 0.7 mile south on Stokes-Thomas Lake Rd. (next to the city park). For more information call the track office at (605) 882-1221 or the track hotline on race day at (605) 882-2855. The track's Official Website can be found at www.casinospeedway.com.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS.
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| USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour (Great Plains Region) 5th Annual All-Star Challenge Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, S.D. Tuesday, June 16, 2009 Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Sunoco “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8. ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps): 1. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (2) 2. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (1) 3. 86jr - Dirk Kirk -- Sloan, IA (4) 4. 72 - Mike Lineberry -- Fremont, NE (8) 5. 4e - Justin Elmer -- Buffalo, WY (6) 6. 1m - Matt Sheesley -- Rapid City, SD (7) 7. B1 - Scott Ward -- Watertown, SD (5) DNF 8. 83 - Jesse Cowles -- Council Bluffs, IA (3) DNF NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps): 1. 36 - Kenny Wallace -- Concord, NC (2) 2. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (5) 3. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (6) 4. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (8) 5. 48 - Bobby Moore -- Sioux City, IA (4) 6. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (7) 7. 97 - Rich Lewerke -- Garner, IA (1) 8. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (3) BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps): 1. 7n - Jay Noteboom -- Hinton, IA (2) 2. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (6) 3. 18 - Chase Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (1) 4. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (8) 5. M80 - Jim Mathieson -- Sioux City, IA (3) 6. 29g - Rich Hesse -- Hinton, IA (7) 7. 80x - Jeff Berens -- Dakota Dunes, SD (5) 8. 31b - Jacob Brown -- Sioux City, IA (4) AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps): 1. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (3) 2. 1x - Chris Abelson -- Sioux City, IA (4) 3. 10 - Mike Steensma -- Luverne, MN (1) 4. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (7) 5. 32 - Steven Pfeifer -- Bowbells, ND (6) 6. 20 - Anthony Mann -- Luverne, MN (5) DNF 7. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (2) DNF REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance): 1. 48 - Bobby Moore -- Sioux City, IA (4) 2. 29g - Rich Hesse -- Hinton, IA (6) 3. 18 - Chase Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (2) 4. 86jr - Dirk Kirk -- Sloan, IA (1) 5. 31b - Jacob Brown -- Sioux City, IA (10) 6. 1m - Matt Sheesley -- Rapid City, SD (5) 7. 80x - Jeff Berens -- Dakota Dunes, SD (8) 8. 83 - Jesse Cowles -- Council Bluffs, IA (9) 9. 4e - Justin Elmer -- Buffalo, WY (3) DNF 10. B1 - Scott Ward -- Watertown, SD (7) DNS REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance): 1. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (1) 2. 10 - Mike Steensma -- Luverne, MN (2) 3. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (5) 4. 32 - Steven Pfeifer -- Bowbells, ND (3) 5. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (8) 6. 20 - Anthony Mann -- Luverne, MN (6) 7. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (9) DNF 8. 97 - Rich Lewerke -- Garner, IA (7) DNF 9. M80 - Jim Mathieson -- Sioux City, IA (4) DNF SUNOCO “A” MAIN (35 laps): 1. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (7) 2. 36 - Kenny Wallace -- Concord, NC (8) 3. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (9) 4. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (11) 5. 48 - Bobby Moore -- Sioux City, IA (13) 6. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (21) 7. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (5) 8. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (14) -1 Lap 9. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (2) -1 Lap 10. 72 - Mike Lineberry -- Fremont, NE (10) -1 Lap 11. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (1) -1 Lap 12. 18 - Chase Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (17) -1 Lap 13. 31b - Jacob Brown -- Sioux City, IA (24) -1 Lap 14. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (22) DNF 15. 83 - Jesse Cowles -- Council Bluffs, IA (23) DNF 16. 1x - Chris Abelson -- Sioux City, IA (6) DNF 17. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (18) DNF 18. 29g - Rich Hesse -- Hinton, IA (15) DNF 19. 32 - Steven Pfeifer -- Bowbells, ND (20) DNF 20. 7n - Jay Noteboom -- Hinton, IA (3) DNF 21. 10 - Mike Steensma -- Luverne, MN (16) DNF 22. 86jr - Dirk Kirk -- Sloan, IA (19) DNF 23. 98 - Josh Reisch -- Luverne, MN (4) DNF 24. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (12) DNF Lap Leaders: Noteboom 1-8, Abelson 9-10, Tesch 11-35. Total Laps Led: Tesch 25, Noteboom 8, Abelson 2. AFCO Pole Winner: Reisch. Provisional Starters: Dripps, Albertsen, Cowles (track), Brown (track). Ruter Farms Long Tow: Pfeifer (639.89 miles). PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: Dripps (started 21st, finished 6th). Next Race: Wednesday, June 17, Casino Speedway, Watertown, S.D. (Great Plains Region). Great Plains Region Points: Tesch 391, Myer 379, Hejna 362, Dripps 360, Shryock 334, Lineberry 283, Neal 283, Ramirez 274, Lewerke 266, Steensma 257. DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year Points: Junghans 292, Hansen 234, Lewerke 182, Tate Cole 124, Albertsen 122. COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 194, Mullins 153, a.s.i. 139, JR 86, AEM 59. Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 184, Ramirez 178, Hughes 164, GRT 93, Harris 92. Contingency Awards:AFCO Racing Products – Reisch. American Racer – Kirk. Isky Racing Cams – Neal. KSE Racing Products – Wallace PBM Performance Products – Dripps. Marsh Racing Wheels – Krohn. Nitroquest – Hansen. Out-Pace Racing Products – Neal. Quarter Master – Tesch, Ramirez. QuickTime Performance Parts – Myer. Real Racing Wheels – Sheesley, Mann. Ruter Farms – Pfeifer. |
