by Chris Stepan

KASSON, Minn. (Aug. 23, 2001) - The Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, MN welcomed the United States Modified Touring Series back to the track for the second visit of the summer along with the WISSOTA Super Stocks on Thursday, August 23rd.

Mark Wytaske took advantage of his pole position starting spot and jumped into the lead at the start of the Super Stock feature and held the top spot for the first circuit until the caution blinked on for a crash in turn four, necessitating a complete restart.

This time on the start, Tom Chrest took the lead from outside of row # 1 and set off into the night, leaving the battle on the track for second between Mark Teske and Bill Clemens, who were running door to door for the first 6 circuits of the event. While the duo battled with each other for second, Chrest continued to run away from the field out front. Curt Myers and Todd Miller were also locked in battle for fourth, beginning to reel in Teske and Clemens.

Teske was able to steal the second spot away from Clemens on lap 9, just before the caution blinked on again for a spin in turn 4. When the green flew again, Chrest went back to work out front, while Myers moved in on Clemens for third. Teske sat in second solidly while Myers wrestled third away from Clemens in turn 1 and set off after Teske for second.

Teske had reeled in Chrest up front and was beginning to put pressure on the leader, while Myers was working the inside of the racetrack and was also reeling in the lead duo. After another caution on lap 12, Chrest again took the lead, but this time Teske and Myers were glued to his bumper and made it a very entertaining three-car battle for the lead. Ryan Aho was also making his way through the field and appeared in fourth with a few laps remaining, trying to chase down the leaders.

Myers was able to sneak to the inside of Teske into second on lap 16 and immediately began to pressure Chrest as the laps wound down. The lead duo ran side by side with 2 laps to go as did Teske and Aho for third. Myers got a great run to the inside of Chrest as the white flag flew and again pulled along side of the leader as they raced down the backstretch for the final time. Myers got his # 1m to stick very hard on the inside of the speedway as the leaders raced through turn 4 for the checkered and was able to slide under Chrest for the lead and the win in dramatic fashion. Chrest ran a great race and crossed the line in second while Aho nipped Teske for third at the stripe.

Mike Sorensen and Todd Scharkey sat on the front row for the $2,000 to win USMTS main event, which saw Sorensen shoot into the lead at the drop of the green with Scharkey settling into second. Sorensen tried to run away and hide from the field, while Jason Hughes, Ron Schreiner and Steve Wetzstein were locked in battle for third on lap 10.

Just after a red flag period for Mark Noble, who pounded the wall hard in turn three, Willy Kraft sprung to life just before the half-way point of the event and went to work up on the high side in his # 83 and blew by Schreiner into fourth in turns 1 and 2 before repeating the move on Hughes into the third spot in turns 3 and 4 on the final circuit. Kraft was on a mission as he continued his tear on the cushion and bolted by Scharkey into second on the next lap. Once Kraft was into second, he set off after Sorensen up front and pulled alongside of Mike on lap 20. The leaders raced side-by-side for the next 10 circuits, thrilling the crowd with some amazing action on each lap.

Kraft stole the lead on lap 30 and just as he did so, Sorensen's mount broke and he spun onto the infield, brining out the final caution of the event.

When the race resumed, Kraft's sure thing turned sour as he developed a flat tire, ending his bid at the win and handing the lead over to Schreiner, who had worked his way into second.

Schreiner then took off into the lead, but Kelly Shryock was threading his way through the field and sat in second. Kelly quickly reeled in Schreiner and ducked to the inside of Rapid Ron for the lead on lap 37. Shryock took command with three laps remaining and held the top spot to the end, picking up his second win in as many nights. Schreiner came home a solid second with Wetzstein rounding out the top three runners. Mike Chasteen and Tommy Myer, both who qualified through the b-feature stormed through the field and ended up rounding out the top five runners.

RESULTS

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Feature: Curt Myers, Tom Chrest, Ryan Aho, Mark Teske, Nick Herrick, Bill Stettner, Stacy Edgar, Jon Van Minsel, Derek Bridley, Jerry Bloom

Heat 1: Teske, Can Minsel, Stettner, Chris Klinger, Mike Madsen

Heat 2: Aho, Bill Clemens, Myers, Mark Wytaske, Edgar

Heat 3: Dave Haberman, Todd Miller, Herrick, Chrest, Gary Schmidt

USMTS MODIFIEDS

Feature: Kelly Shryock, Ron Schreiner, Steve Wetzstein, Mike Chasteen, Tommy Myer, Bob Timm, Todd Scharkey, Johnny Bone Jr., Todd Klees, Bobby Sorensen

Heat 1: Schreiner, Chad Behne, T. Scharkey, Jay Ihrke, Les Duellman

Heat 2: Jason Hughes, Wetzstein, Dean Reiss, Myer, Timm

Heat 3: Shryock, Mike Sorensen, Nate Wasmund, Jordan Steier, Doug Hillson

Heat 4: Bone Jr., Willy Kraft, Mark Noble, Klees, Brad McEwen

B-feature 1: Timm, Wasmund, Duellman, Ihrke, Jim Arnold

B-feature 2: Myer, Chasteen, Steier, Dave Siercks, McEwen