FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. -- Again this season, Mississippi Thunder Speedway was graced with the presence of a pack of visiting drivers as other tracks in the area couldn’t handle all the moisture Mother Nature poured down on the area. The Mississippi Thunder Speedway track crew worked all week to stay ahead of the forces of nature, and aside from the extreme low line which held waters through the mid-week rains and couldn’t quite handle the pounding from the competitors cars, the rest of the track laid in extremely well and allowed the drivers three distinct grooves from which to choose as they were battling their competitors.

On an evening when the Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modified division had more than 20 championships represented by the drivers on track, Lance Hofer of Cochrane, Wis., finally visited victory lane.

With his last name and racing pedigree, race fans knew it was only a matter of time until Hofer visited Mississippi Thunder Speedway’s victory lane. With a father and two uncles who were so dominant when they were behind the wheel, everybody knew that much of that talent would also be present in this second generation driver.

He’s been close before, but Lance had not yet visited Victory Lane with his #11 USRA Modified at his home track of Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Well that all changed Friday night as he left some huge competition behind him in dominant fashion and raced, practically unchallenged, to that first feature win.

With former MTS track champions Josh Angst, Lucas Schott and John Doelle as well as nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock behind him, I’m sure Hofer would understand if some race fans expected the outcome to be a little different. But Hofer proved that he has the car and the ability to turn the tables on those former champs, or any other challengers who are ready for the battle.

True, he started from the pole position, but the simple results print out does not do justice to Lance’s feature win run. He battled fellow front-row starter, and former MTS Feature winner, Jeremy Houle early for the lead and then left Joel Alberts very fast looking #4A behind easily through restarts to claim the feature win, which also contained a $100 bonus in the form of the all new “Wehrs’ Winner’s Bonus” which was implemented for the first time for the entire 2014 season this past Friday night.

“I was kind of nervous, but I was up front and wanted to stay up there,” offered a near speechless Hofer in victory lane. “I saw so many things coming at me, I just tried to keep going. I’m pretty happy; I don’t know what to say.”

Alberts held off two former track champions, in the form of Angst and Schott, respectively, for second.

MORE THAN LUCK PUTS VAN MINSEL IN VICTORY LANE

Jon Van Minsel’s nickname is “Lucky” . . . but, it was more than luck that put him into Victory Lane Friday Night in the Black Horse Bar & Grill USRA B-Mod Feature. A strong car and his driving skills combined to help him work from his third row starting spot to the front of the field.

While young standout Alex Williamson ran his familiar low line with amazing quickness, Van Minsel let it all hang out in the ultra high groove to work around both Williamson and pole-sitter Brandon Reutzel to grab the lead on lap 13. Opening night feature winner, and defending Mississippi Thunder Speedway Track Champion Jacob Bleess, followed Van Minsel to the front from his fourth row starting spot, but ran out of laps to mount a challenge for the win – finishing second ahead of Williamson.

Racing resumes next Friday night May 16th with another evening of exciting regular season entertainment. The first green flag is scheduled to wave at 6 PM with the first appearance of the Sunshine Sanitation Midwest Mini Mods on the 1/10 mile “Lightning Speedway” which is located within the infield of Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Action on “The Big 1/3 Mile” starts immediately following the 7 PM Opening Ceremonies with on-track competition provided by Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modifieds, Coordinated Business Systems WISSOTA Super Stocks, Black Horse Bar & Grill USRA B-Mods, Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks, Elmer's Auto Salvage MTS Pure Stocks and the first of four appearances by the Midwest Poker League Four-Cylinder Flyers.

Pit gate & Grandstands Open at 5:00 p.,m. Family Friendly General Admission Prices continue at: Adults $12, Senior Citizens $10, College Students 23 & under (with current Valid Student ID) and Children 17 & Under are admitted absolutely free.

Mississippi Thunder Speedway is located 3.0 miles north of Fountain City on Wisconsin Highway 35. For more information, call 608-687-3282 or visit www.MississippiThunder.com on the World Wide Web.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
USRA Weekly Racing Series
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, May 9e, 2014

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (5) 49X Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (3) 54 Jeremy Houle, Ham Lake, Minn.
3. (7) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
4. (2) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia
5. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa
6. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
7. (8) 59X Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn.
8. (9) 03 Jordan Hessler
9. (1) 15 Chris Loberg, Menomonie

Heat #2:
1. (2) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield
2. (3) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
3. (4) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane
4. (6) I0U1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
5. (5) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
6. (7) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
7. (8) 13-2 Bryan Hessler, Chetek
8. (1) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.

Feature:
1. (1) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane
2. (3) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
3. (7) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
4. (10) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa
5. (11) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (2) 54 Jeremy Houle, Ham Lake, Minn.
7. (16) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
8. (13) 59X Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn.
9. (15) 03 Jordan Hessler,
10. (9) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia
11. (17) 15 Chris Loberg, Menomonie
12. (14) 13-2 Bryan Hessler, Chetek
13. (4) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield
14. (6) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
15. (8) I0U1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
16. (12) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
17. (5) 49X Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.

USRA B-MODS

Heat #1:
1. (1) 23K Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
2. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (5) 39 Ben Anderson, Winona, Minn.
4. (2) 13 Ryan Konkel, Winona, Minn.
5. (7) 20K Kyle Brown, Minnesota City, Minn.
6. (6) 00R Chad Rosendahl
7. (8) 83X Josh Malchaski, Fountain City
8. (3) 48K Scott Kunda

Heat #2:
1. (1) 83 Kylie Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
2. (5) 5WX Kyle Jumbeck
3. (2) 44 Brandon Reutzel, Winona, Minn.
4. (6) 90 Tyler Creeley, Winona, Minn.
5. (3) 12K Casey Knutson, Spring Grove, Minn.
6. (4) 95X Shaun Walski, Winona, Minn.
7. (7) 88D Nick Frion, Ellsworth
8. (8) 177 Darran Jonsgaard, Fountain City

Heat #3:
1. (1) 1 Jon Van Minsel, Spring Grove, Minn.
2. (2) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
3. (3) 91X Bob Fort, Fountain City
4. (4) 12 Tucker Breitung, Prior Lake, Minn.
5. (6) 88 Troy Langowski, Winona, Minn.
6. (8) 80J Lee Jonsgaard, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (5) 35X Phillip Dunbar, Rushford, Minn.
8. (7) 99 Bill Engler, Hixton

Feature:
1. (5) 1 Jon Van Minsel, Spring Grove, Minn.
2. (8) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
4. (4) 12 Tucker Breitung, Prior Lake, Minn.
5. (6) 23K Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
6. (10) 39 Ben Anderson, Winona, Minn.
7. (7) 91X Bob Fort, Fountain City
8. (12) 5WX Kyle Jumbeck
9. (14) 12K Casey Knutson, Spring Grove, Minn.
10. (15) 88 Troy Langowski, Winona, Minn.
11. (18) 80J Lee Jonsgaard, Minnesota City, Minn.
12. (21) 35X Phillip Dunbar, Rushford, Minn.
13. (19) 83X Josh Malchaski, Fountain City
14. (9) 13 Ryan Konkel, Winona, Minn.
15. (1) 44 Brandon Reutzel, Winona, Minn.
16. (16) 00R Chad Rosendahl
17. (13) 20K Kyle Brown, Minnesota City, Minn.
18. (2) 83 Kylie Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
19. (22) 48K Scott Kunda
20. (20) 88D Nick Frion, Ellsworth
21. (11) 90 Tyler Creeley, Winona, Minn.
22. (17) 95X Shaun Walski, Winona, Minn.
23. (23) 99 Bill Engler, Hixton
24. (24) 177 Darran Jonsgaard, Fountain City