DECORAH, Iowa -- The fight for the 2011 USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Car National Championship came down to a trio of pilots from Decorah, Iowa, slugging it out for the title.

When the fight was over, a former champ from a different division was standing atop the field with his second crown in four years.

Adding another trophy to his case, Mitch Hovden beat out fellow Decorah drivers Kyle Falck and Kevin Donlan to claim the 2011 USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Car National Championship.

Hovden was also the 2007 USRA Hobby Stock National Champion.

While he had 10 feature wins in 32 starts, the 24-year-old focused most of his attention on his hometown Upper Iowa Speedway where he captured eight main event wins in 16 nights of racing.

He also picked up wins at the Cresco Speedway in nearby Cresco, Iowa, and also won an Iron Man Challenge feature at the Nobles County Speedway in Worthington, Minn.

Iron Man Challenge champion Mike Van Genderen of Newton, Iowa, added a fourth-place finish in the final national points standings while another former USRA Hobby Stock National Champion, Nathan Wood of Keswick, Iowa, rounded out the top 5 nationally.

Three-time USRA Karl Performance Parts B-Mod National Champion Matt Jones of Waukon, Iowa, wound up sixth; 2009 Stock Car National Champ Tory Reicks of Waucoma, Iowa, was seventh; Waterville, Iowa’s Dan Jones was eighth; ninth was another Decorah driver, Brian Webb; and Mark Mullins of Ada, Okla., finished tenth to thwart a top-10 sweep by Hawkeye State hustlers.

Hovden joins Scotty Pratt (2006), Tom Schmitt (2007-08), Tory Reicks (2009) and Rich Gregoire (2010) as USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Car National Champions.

He will collect a national points funds check worth $1,500 plus $600 for his track championship at the Upper Iowa Speedway and numerous contingency awards.

Final USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Car Points (top 10):

1. 15 Mitch Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4204
2. 67 Kyle Falck, Decorah, Iowa ... 4099
3. 33D Kevin Donlan, Decorah, Iowa ... 4088
4. 57V Mike Van Genderen, Newton, Iowa ... 4060
5. 52 Nathan Wood, Keswick, Iowa ... 4022
6. 23 Matt Jones, Waukon, Iowa ... 3959
7. 27T Tory Reicks, Waucoma, Iowa ... 3934
8. 25 Dan Jones, Waterville, Iowa ... 3914
9. 10 Brian Webb, Decorah, Iowa ... 3877
10. 89 Mark Mullins, Ada, Okla. ... 3818

Tenth place will take home at least $250 from the points fund and each eligible USRA Karl Chevrolet Stock Car track champion will pocket $600.

In each of the four USRA-sanctioned national divisions, a driver’s best 20 events based on points earned from March 4 through Oct. 16 applied toward American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series national points. In order to be eligible for national points funds, a driver must possess a USRA competitor license and have competed in at least 50% of the events held at any one USRA-sanctioned racetrack (minimum of 8 events with a minimum of 4 starts).

Despite being one of the smallest dirt track racing sanctioning bodies in America, the USRA will distribute a national points fund of more than $60,000 in the four classes plus thousands in contingencies from USRA marketing partners. The USRA will also dole out track points funds which are among the highest-paying in the nation for dirt track racing.

The USRA was founded in 2002 with the sanctioning of Modifieds and Stock Cars at the Thunder Valley Speedway in Fayetteville, Ark. Hobby Stocks were added in 2003 and the organization grew steadily over the next three years with 14 tracks hosting USRA events in 2005. The B-Mod division arrived on the scene in 2006.

Champions were not crowned in individual divisions during the first four years, but an overall National Champion was crowned in 2005. Earning that honor was Modified driver Ron Luitjens of Brewster, Minn. Since then, USRA Weekly Racing Series National Champions have been crowned in all four premier divisions.

During the 2011 racing season, more than 2,000 individual drivers competed in USRA-sanctioned events at 37 unique dirt ovals in Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also like us on Facebook, join us on MySpace or follow us on Twitter.

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USRA OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Race Suits, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, Karl Performance Parts, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, RHS – Racing Head Service, Western Flyer Race Cars.

USRA PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boubin Tire & Automotive, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, DAY Motor Sports, DirtKnights.com, SpeedNet Direct.

USRA CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: COMP Cams, Dirthead.com, Eibach Springs, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Custom Harness, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, New Vision Graphics, PBM Performance Products, Real Racing Wheels, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products.