SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Sept. 21, 2002) - Track conditions were greatly improved over last evening. A lot of great racing happened throughout the evening with lots of three wide racing including the 3-wide 30 car start in the feature tonight. Thanks to the major sponsors Featherlite Trailers and track sponsor The Hanger Bar and Grill who helped put on this show and to Steve Yaggy trucking and Valley Featherlite for their added prize money. $1,000 was added to the first place check making the show a $7,000 to win event and another $1,000 was divided from 2-30 place.

The drivers really enjoyed the event and the response I received from them during the weekend was terrific. A smooth fast track was the norm for all three nights and this helps to save on driver's equipment. The weekend was by far a great success for everyone involved and to see some of the best drivers from 12 different states is a treat. There were approximately 110 different modifieds on hand to battle throughout the weekend.

Also announced tonight was the 5th Annual USMTS Fall Jamboree will be held at Deer Creek Speedway September 18,19 & 20 in 2003, hope everyone marks their calendar for this event. I think with the success of this event more drivers will mark their calendars for next years event.

In the heat races for the Midwest Modifieds Greg Pfeifer made contact with another driver and went straight into the wall in corner three. The track personnel was awesome as this looked like horrific crash with the car pirouetting over the top of the wall. I honestly believe by the time the car landed their were at least four members of the track crew already to the edge of the track. It was awesome to see this kind of response to an accident. Pfeifer was okay and later came back on the track and put his number 73 on the concrete where his car hit. In the three years that the concrete has been in place this was the first time a car had been launched out of the ball park. It was nice to see him come back on the track with a four wheeler and the crowd gave the good humored driver a rousing applause as he painted the wall.

The Midwest Modifieds were up first for their feature. Jerry Young looked like he was shot out of a cannon tonight and pulled into a comfortable lead early on. Behind Young the field was running two wide as they battled for position. Brain Hernandez and Albert Wytaske were in a good battle for the second spot with Dain Schultz and Neil Eckhart battling for fourth. Wytaske battled with Hernandez for the second spot until they got together both going to the rear for the incident. Eckhart took advantage of the caution and jumped into the second spot with Schultz and Kenny Wytaske battling for third. At the stripe it was Young taking home the $1,000 paycheck with his third win of the season.

The super stock feature was awesome, Scott Lawrence took the early lead with Bill Clemens right on his back door. A couple times Clemens was able to pull along Lawrence coming out of the corner with Lawrence closing the door. The rest of the field was running three wide with Tyler Rubin and Dave Haberman in a good battle for third. After a couple restart Clemens started to work a higher line and at the halfway point Clemens worked to the outside of Lawrence to take the lead. Clemens pulled out to a comfortable lead as Johnny Erickson was making his presence known after starting fourteenth on the field. Brian Shaw started sixteenth and worked inside the top five past the halfway. Erickson passes a car every lap for five laps until he started to gain on second place runner Lawrence. With four laps to go the final caution of the event came out with Clemens first, Lawrence second and Erickson third. Coming out of two on the restart Erickson jumped below Lawrence and they two made contact causing a flat on the Lawrence machine ending his strong run. Coming to the white flag Erickson was about four car lengths behind Clemens. Coming out of four Clemens drifted up slightly as he had done the night before but this time Erickson had a really good run and pulled alongside of Clemens by a nose to take home the win and the $1500 check. The finish was a repeat of the previous nights action but this time Erickson was able to edge out Clemens.

The final race of the night was the 50 lap $7,000 to win Featherlite/USMTS feature. This race started 30 cars 3-wide in 10 rows. A fireworks display was set off and really set the stage for an awesome show. The cool temperatures had moved in and the crowd got really warmed up by the fire balls set off during the fireworks. Darin Walker started up front and into the lead. The track surface was in great shape for this unique start and the drivers did a super job keeping the green flag waving tonight with this start for the first 7 laps. This was extremely difficult with some battles running four wide and even trying a five wide exit of corner two that one smart driver backed out of. The second caution of the race came out on lap 10 with Bob Timm and Corey Dripps getting together and Dripps making contact with the back stretch wall. On the restart it was Walker leading with Nate Wasmund running a strong second. Mark Noble had moved up to the third spot followed by Jason Hughes and Jason Miller. The top four cars battled hard and as they battled for positions Jason Miller made a strong move under everyone to move into third. Noble moved into the second spot to battle with Walker for the lead. Ron Schreiner was also on the move and at the halfway point worked into the top five. A caution flew with 13 laps to go with Noble leading Walker second and Miller third. On the restart Miller worked into second with Schreiner coming up to the third position. With 8 laps to go the final caution flew and Schreiner took advantage of it passing Miller for second and moved into to battle with Noble for the last few laps. Mike Chasteen was also on the move starting 28 on the field and at the finish had moved into the fourth position. At the stripe it was Noble taking home the $7,000 paycheck followed by Schreiner and Miller.

It was a fantastic weekend and the fans enjoyed every minute of it. Although the crowd was a lot smaller on Saturday night than expected the show was great for all of those that were on hand to attend. The racers were great and really enjoyed being at the facility as it was very smooth and fast all weekend.

RESULTS

MIDWEST MODIFIEDS

Heat 1 - Jerry Young, Albert Wytaske, Kenny Wytaske, Nick Kramer, Harland Morehart.

Heat 2 - Dan Fagerlind, Dain Schultz, Larry Nelson, Ken Puckett, Patrick McCarthy.

Heat 3 - Neil Eckhart, Mitch Ford, Ryan Weber, Chuck Chesler, Mike Paulson.

Heat 4 - Chad Herman, Scott Anderson, Bryan Hernandez, Clark Perry, Harlan Morehart Jr.

B Feature 1 - Kenny Wytaske, Nick Kramer, Chuck Chesler, Steve Malherek, Mike Paulson, Patrick McCarthy. (top six finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 2 - Harlan Morehart Jr., Larry Nelson, Harlan Morehart, Tim Siercks, Mike Bartsch, Chris Lehn. (top six finishers advanced to the A Feature)

Non-Qualifiers Feature - Tony Angrimson, Jesse Frericks, Dick Walters, Vic Schmidt, Nolan Bachman, Doug Ferguson, Terry Timmerman, Joe Wernecke, Mike Vreeman, Larry Brengal.

A Feature ($1,000 to win) - Jerry Young, Neil Eckhart, Dain Schultz, Kenny Wytaske, Dan Fagerlind, Clark Perry, Nick Kramer, Chuck Chesler, Ken Puckett, Steve Malherek.

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Heat 1 - Bill Clemens, Dave Haberman, Randy Spacek, Jerry Bloom, Gary Wiersgalla.

Heat 2 - Ron Host, Tyler Rubin, Chris Klinger, Cole Queensland, Bronson Kuhn.

Heat 3 - Scott Lawrence, Mark Wytaske, Kelly Anderson, JB Stortz, Johnny Erickson.

Heat 4 - Kevin Hager, Brandon Jensen, John Remington, Dan Wendt, Dave Solumn.

B Feature 1 - Dave Solumn, Matt Durnen, Scott Huinker, Kelly Anderson, Gary Wiersgalla, Rick Franzen. (top six finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 2 - Johnny Erickson, Brian Shaw, Quinn Arnoldy, Dan Wendt, Jerry Bloom, Bronson Kuhn. (top six finishers advanced to the A Feature)

Non-Qualifiers Feature - Mark Oeltjenbruns, Stacy Edgar, Cole Queensland, Tim Williamson, Chris Quast, Bobby Swanson, Gary Schmidt, Steve Hocovski.

A Feature - Johnny Erickson, Bill Clemens, Mark Wytaske, Brian Shaw, John Remington, Jerry Bloom, Rick Franzen, Ron Host, Quinn Arnoldy, Kelly Anderson.

USMTS MODIFIEDS

Heat 1 - Randy Geisler, Bob Timm, Mike Mehling, Doug Hillson, Donnie Zweifel.

Heat 2 - Corey Dripps, Chris Spieker, Dan Bohr, Dave Siercks, John Klynsma.

Heat 3 - Skeet Amason, Mike Chasteen, Mike Spaulding, Jay Ihrke, Joey Jensen.

Heat 4 - John Vandenberg, Todd Klees, Darin Duffy, Steve Holzkamper, Trent Follmer.

Heat 5 - Jason Miller, Hank Berry, Mick Glenn, Brad Waits, Kevin Peters.

Heat 6 - Nate Wasmund, Brian Mullen, Steve Wetzstein, Willy Kraft, Kevin Pittman.

Heat 7 - Tommy Myer, Tim Donlinger, Brad Rain, Gary March, Brian Bonner.

Heat 8 - Johnny Bone Jr., Darin Walker, Jeff Spacek, Scott Megonigle, Jason Krohn.

B Feature 1 - Skeet Amason, Mick Glenn. (top two finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 2 - Johnny Bone Jr., Tim Donlinger. (top two finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 3 - Todd Klees, Steve Holzkamper. (top two finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 4 - Chris Spieker, Brad Waits. (top two finishers advanced to the A Feature)

B Feature 5 - Scott Megonigle, Mike Chasteen. (top two finishers advanced to the A Feature)

Non-Qualifiers Feature - Jay Ihrke, Dean Mahlstedt, Gary March, Steve Wetzstein, Mike Mashal, Bret Frieden, Mike Sorensen, Les Duellman, Doug Hillson, Craig Scott.

A Feature (50 laps) - Mark Noble ($7,000), Ron Schreiner, Jason Miller, Mike Chasteen, Bob Timm, Darin Walker, Jason Hughes, Kelly Shryock, Steve Holzkamper, Tommy Myer, Skeet Amason, Scott Megonigle, Randy Geisler, Darrin Duffy, Todd Klees, Bruce Hanford, Jason Krohn, Johnny Bone Jr., Chris Spieker, Brad Waits, Kevin Peters, Nate Wasmund, Mick Glenn, Hank Berry, Justin Boney, John Vandenberg, Tim Donlinger, Corey Dripps, Mike Spaulding, Dan Bohr.