Krohn Drives To USMTS $$$$ At Moberly

As the cars and stars of the United States Modified Touring Series raced through the turns of 24 Raceway Saturday night during their five qualifying heat races, it looked more like a race through the Baja desert rather than a trip around one of the Midwest’s fastest dirt ovals. Dry spots going into turn one and into turn three appeared during hot laps and the dust plumes billowed and swirled from behind the cars as the drivers set them into the corners. But after an hour-long session of re-working the track during intermission, the issue was minimized and the track was back to its more normal racy condition for the main events.

Local driver Darin Walker now behind the wheel of the #22c ride sat on the pole position for the USMTS Modified thirty-lap finale with current point leader Ryan Gustin right beside him. Gustin shot to the lead at the drop of the green and it was the second row starters Jason Hughes and Tim Donlinger who picked up the chase of the leader. Another local, Kevin Blackburn was running a strong fourth and was putting the heat on Donlinger before he ended up in the turn four wall on lap eleven bringing out the second caution of the event. On the restart Donlinger, Hughes and Gustin raced three-wide for the next lap before Gustin again established himself as the leader.

With the preferred line by most being around the top side of the speedway, it was easy to spot Tommy Myer who was now working the extreme low groove in the corners and quickly making his way toward the front. Myer was up to fourth after starting fifteenth when the caution flew again on lap twenty-one for Corey Dripps. A flat left rear tire was the culprit for Dripps who himself had made a nice run up from fourteenth to sixth. Once again on the restart the battle was three-wide for the front, but this time it was Jason Krohn who joined Hughes and Gustin in a side-by-side-by-side formation. Gustin again used the momentum off the top groove to maintain the lead, but a lap later he went too high in turn one and tagged the retaining wall. The young gun from Marshalltown, Iowa, was able gather it back up and continue on but he lost several positions as Krohn inherited the lead down the back stretch. On the following lap Gustin again had issues in turn one as he tangled with Rodney Sanders in an accident that saw Sanders’ car #20 roll a couple of times before it settled to a halt upside down. The Texas driver crawled out of his used up racecar uninjured while Gustin headed to the pits to make repairs.

Before the red it still appeared that Myer was turning the best lap times running his low line, but the break for the cleanup in turn one must have made a difference as once back to green he could not mount a charge on the leaders. Krohn cruised the final six laps to take the $3,000 victory with Hughes coming home second and Myer settling for third. Zack VanderBeek came out of nowhere on the final restart to finish fourth after starting twenty-third while Kelly Shryock, who also slapped the turn one wall on the same lap that Gustin first did, held on for fifth. Gustin came back out to finish the race in 15th and he hopes to regain his point lead in the Hunt for the USMTS title as the series moves to his hometown track the Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday night for the first of three straight USMTS appearances on Iowa tracks. The series then goes to Oskaloosa on Wednesday night September 1st and then on to the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison on Thursday night.

The Dart Iron Man Challenge for the USRA Stock Cars ran in support of the Modifieds with a solid field of fifteen cars taking the green for the twenty-lap main event. Point leader Mike VanGenderen started from the pole and held off the early challenges of driver and promoter Rick Girard. Girard is now promoting races at the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, on Saturday nights. Girard faded to fifth on a lap six restart and it was then Derrick Agee who applied the pressure on VanGenderen sticking his nose under the leader on several occasions. VanGenderen though was not to be intimidated as he held on to make the long trip from Newton, Iowa, worthwhile by taking the checkered flag first. Agee finished a few car lengths back in second while Iowa drivers Steve Jackson, Shane Weller and Nathan Wood rounded out the top five. The Dart Iron Man Challenge for the Stock Cars will close out its 2010 run with the three events coming up this week at Marshalltown, Oskaloosa and Allison.

The local four cylinder Hornet division was also in competition with Rob Chase taking the win in a race that saw only eight of the seventeen starters complete the twenty-lap distance with two cars taking hard rollovers. Fortunately both escaped injury.

Despite the questionable track conditions to start the evening, the show was an entertaining one as 24 Raceway always seems to offer up three and four-wide racing action. A big thanks to track announcer Doug Mealy for the kind words that he had for PositivelyRacing and another big thanks to my friend and neighbor Mark Hayes who made the evening possible for me with a mid-afternoon phone call.

Make sure that you try to hit at least one of the three USMTS events in Iowa this coming week!