FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. - A heavy rain soaked the track as haulers rolled through the pit gate leaving a muddy mess and puddles everywhere. Track work began and something nearly unheard of in a very long time: a call to all drivers to help roll the track in. Nearly two hours later, the first heats pulled onto the track for season championship night at Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

Lou Fegers’ Racing Equipment was the sponsor of the night and provided grab bags to the first 100 drivers in the gate as well as numerous prizes for the fans throughout the night.

Jay Ihrke pulled to a commanding lead over Jeff Rollinger in the USRA Modified main event. Joel Alberts and Paul Hamernik ran third and fourth, but Hank Rollinger Jr. dove under Hamernik into fourth early on. Kevin Viebrock then shot under Hamernik as the dust began to fly.

Three-wide racing down the backstretch continued down the frontstretch as well, but a caution emerged and left Kerry Ledebuhr with only three wheels on his machine. Ihrke resumed the lead position followed by Alberts, Jeff Rollinger, Hank Rollinger, and Viebrock when Josh Angst silently slipped into fifth.

Angst kept his energy focused on the top spots as he next moved to third place. The third caution reset the field when Hamernik spun into the mud inside of turn four. Ihrke again manned the lead followed by Angst, Alberts, and Ron Konkel who had worked up from 10th place.

Viebrock ran in fifth place followed by a great battle for sixth place amongst Bob Timm and Jeff Rollinger. Viebrock slid wide in turn four which gave Timm the chance to move into fifth place. As more cautions waved over the field, Ihrke continued his top performance in the lead spot. Angst worked hard in second place while Alberts and Konkel waged a great fight for third place before Konkel zipped into the spot.

With seven laps to go, Ihrke slowed his car due to a broken shock which brought out the final caution as he exited the track. Angst was handed the lead with Ihrke’s exit, but Konkel was on the move. Konkel flew around Angst into the lead and never looked back.

As Konkel took home the win, Angst finished second followed by John Doelle, Timm, and Alberts.

Doelle was the big winner though when he grabbed the USRA Modified track championship by 13 points over Angst.

Track points are a thing of the past for the 2009 season, and now it is on to the specials. Friday, Sept. 4, will be the first Pit Stop Challenge event. WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, and USRA Modifieds will be in action for this unique event. WISSOTA National points will be awarded. Features will be 30 laps for the WISSOTA and USRA classes and will consist of two segments of 15 laps each. A mandatory ten-minute pit stop on the front stretch will be allowed for changes of any kind within legality of course, and the driver MUST remain in the car. The leader of the race after segment one is complete will role a dice to determine the number of cars to invert for the second segment. A penalty of two positions per minute for a maximum of five minutes will be assessed to any driver who does not complete all pit activity within the ten minutes allowed. Any pit activities not complete within the extended five-minute penalty period will result in disqualification. The purse will be awarded at 50% to the finishing order of the first segment and 50% to the finishing order of the second segment. A $100 bonus will be awarded to the driver in each class that advances his/her position the most following the pit stop. Check out Mississippi Thunder for this new and unique twist on racing. All three Mini Mod classes will also be racing beginning at 6:15 p.m. Regular racing action starts at 7 p.m. Watch for more details for the season finale at Mississippi Thunder the weekend of Oct. 9 as well.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, Aug. 28, 2009

USRA MODIFIEDS

Feature: 1. Ron Konkel, 2. Josh Angst, 3. John Doelle, 4. Joel Alberts, 5. Bob Timm, 6. Hank Rollinger Jr., 7. Les Duellman, 8. Jeff Rollinger, 9. Ron Britain, 10. Paul Hamernik, 11. Gary Doelle, 12. Clint Wittlief, 13. Jay Ihrke, 14. Adam Stockhausen, 15. Brian Albrecht, 16. Andy Bohnstengel, 17. Lance Hofer, 18. Kevin Viebrock, 19. Phil Wernert, 20. Jeremy Jonsgaard, 21. Les Jonsgaard, 22. Kerry Ledebuhr, 23. Roger Niederkorn.

Heat #1: 1. Konkel, 2. Ihrke, 3. Britain, 4. Viebrock, 5. Duellman, 6. Wernert, 7. J. Jonsgaard, 8. Stockhausen.

Heat #2: 1. Hamernik, 2. Alberts, 3. Hofer, 4. J. Rollinger, 5. Bohnstengel, 6. Albrecht, 7. G. Doelle, 8. L. Jonsgaard.

Heat #3: 1. Angst, 2. Ledebuhr, 3. H. Rollinger, 4. Timm, 5. Wittlief, 6. J. Doelle, 7. Niederkorn.

2009 Track Champion – J. Doelle.