Taylor Ausrud won the Out-Pace USRA B-Mod feature.

LANSING, Minn.—It was the annual Fireworks night at Chateau Raceway in Lansing Friday with the action not only in the sky after the races but on the track as well all night long. Added to the excitement was the presence of NASCAR driver Michael McDowell.  The evening was promoted by his sponsor Thrivent Financial as part of a fund raiser for the Boys & Girls Club of Blooming Praririe and the annual Paint The Town Pink Promotion to raise money for Cancer Research at the Hormel Instititue in Austin. Along with the 50/50 fundraiser there was a silent auction held before the races and at intermission a live auction with several racing items.

Come evening though it was time to race as he got the a track prepared USRA Modified to do battle on the dirt with the local boys. McDowell told fans that he grew up racing in Arizona on asphalt in go carts and open wheeled road courses and had only driven on dirt a handful of times in these promotional events. McDowell's first time out in his heat ended a little early as he went pit side with some mechanical issues before the end of it. However, he was able to keep the car under him for all 25 laps of the main event as he finished ninth in a fast-paced race that was only stopped once for an early caution on lap 3.

Brandon Davis of Medford picked up his fifth feature win of the season at the track coming out of row two to move by early leader Doug Hillson of Blooming Prairie. Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa, started back in row five, and despite turning the fastest laps of the race had to settle for second. By the time he worked through traffic Davis had checked out on the field. Jason Cummins of New Richland had a nice run coming from row four up to third ahead of another driver who started deep in the field, Steve Wetzstein of West Concord. Hillson rounded out the top five. VanderBeek and Greg Pfeifer Jr. of Brownsdale were the heat winners.

Brandon Davis won the USRA Modified feature.

A couple of drivers picked up there first career feature wins in the other two classes on the night. The first to do so was Taylor Ausrud of Hayfield in the USRA B-Mod class. Ausrud led flag to flag for the win but was under fire but several drivers throughout the race. The biggest threat came in the waning laps as he started lapping cars. A.J. Zvorak of Blooming Prairie was running second and as Taylor was trying to lap cars he got a couple runs along side the leader but Ausrud held him off for the win. Zvorak, who picked up a heat win earlier in the night settled for second ahead of the other heat winner, Mike Mehling of Grand Meadow.

Next weekend theUpper Midwest Sprint Series (UMSS) will be on hand to add to the night's racing. The series races at tracks throughout the Upper Midwest all summer long. Also in three weeks the rescheduled Mike Guttormson Memorial is on the schedule for July 29 with the USMTS slated to be a part of that night's race for that big paycheck. Racing action gets underway every Friday night at 7 p.m. as the 60th Anniversary season rolls on during the summer of 2016 at Chateau Raceway.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
USRA Weekly Racing Series
Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
Friday, July 8, 2016

OUT-PACE USRA B-MODS

Feature: 1. Taylor Ausrud, Hayfield; 2. A.J. Zvorak, Blooming Prairie; 3. Michael Mehling, Grand Meadow; 4. Kylie Kath, Owatonna; 5. Cole Lonergan, Dexter; 6. Kadden Kath, Owatonna; 7. Mark Wytaske, Austin; 8. Kenny Wytaske, Lansing; 9. A.J. Johnston, Hayfield; 10. Anthony Condit, Austin; 11. Jesse Baer, Minnesota City; 12. Nick Zago, Austin; 13. Raey Hastings IV, Austin; 14. Morgan Schrage, Cresco, Iowa; 15. Anton Nelson, Hayfield.

Heat #1: 1. Mehling; 2. Lonergan; 3, Kylie Kath; 4. Condit; 5. M. Wytaske; 6. Schrage; 7. Hastings.

Heat #2: 1. Zvorak; 2. K. Wytaske; 3. Johnston; 4. Ausrud; 5. Kadden Kath; 6. Baer; 7. Nelson.

USRA MODIFIEDS

Feature: 1. Brandon Davis, Medford; 2. Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa; 3. Jason Cummins, New Richland; 4. Steve Wetzstein, West Concord; 5. Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie; 6. Darwyn Karau, Kasson; 7. Joe Horgdal, Kasson; 8. Greg Pfeifer Jr., Brownsdale; 9. Michael McDowell, Glendale, Ariz.; 10. Alex Hanson, Northwood, Iowa; 11. Matt Stark, Austin; 12. Al Wagner, Orchard, Iowa.

Heat #1: 1. VanderBeek; 2. Karau; 3. Hillson; 4. Horgdahl; 5. Stark; 6. McDowell.

Heat #2: 1. Pfeifer; 2. Wetzstein; 3. Davis; 4. Cummins; 5. Wagner; 6. Hanson.