DECORAH, Iowa (May 29)—The United States Modified Touring Series finally beat Mother Nature, and the drivers and fans took advantage of the occasion to pack the Upper Iowa Speedway for the final RealTruck.com Northern Region event of the Memorial Day Weekend.

Ricky Thornton Jr. drew the pole for the 42-lap Casey’s General Stores “A” Main and set sail early on around the 3/8-mile clay oval at the Decorah drivers defend home turf in USRA Iron Man Series go.

Two early cautions kept the field close behind and Zack VanderBeek took advantage on lap 11, snaring the lead from the Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year candidate.

Two laps later, Cade Dillard, who earned the most heat race passing points earlier in the program, followed into second, but Thornton fought back and the two traded the spot several times before Dillard settled in behind VanderBeek.

Meanwhile, the owners of the last three USMTS National Championship titles—Jason Hughes and Rodney Sanders—were making their way forward after starting side by side in the ninth row.

But nobody had anything for ‘The Z-Man’ on Sunday, and the 31-year-old from New Sharon, Iowa, rolled to his fifth triumph of the 2016 campaign and 32nd of his USMTS career.

The $3,000 win was also his third at the Decorah, Iowa, facility where he earned his first-ever win in 2005.

Dillard held on to the runner-up spot while Thornton recorded his career-best finish in third. Lucas Schott and Johnny Scott came from 13th and 12th to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.

Sanders and Hughes passed 11 cars each, and wound up sixth and seventh. Jacob Bleess, Jesse Sobbing and Dan Ebert rounded out the top 10.

UP NEXT for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental is a pair of do-overs in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Postponed two weeks ago by rain, the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan., hosts the Best of the Best on Thursday, June 9, and a doubleheader is slated at the Longdale Speedway in Longdale, Okla., on Friday and Saturday, June 10-11.

All three nights will award points in the MSD Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental – RealTruck.com Northern Region presented by Day Motor Sports
9th Annual “Donnybrook in Decorah”
Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa
Sunday, May 29, 2016

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races were locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

MSD HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
3. (9) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (8) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
7. (5) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
8. (3) 23k Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
9. (1) 42 Paul Niznik (R), Medford, Wis.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 01 Joey Galloway, Manor, Sask., Canada.
2. (1) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (5) 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr. (R), Chandler, Ariz.
4. (8) 99 Jett Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
5. (4) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (3) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa.
7. (6) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.
8. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
9. (9) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) B1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
3. (4) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
4. (6) 20r Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo.
5. (5) 00 Masen Big Eagle, Manor, Sask., Canada.
6. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
7. (7) 4 Cody Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.
8. (3) N81 Mike Densberger (R), Lincoln, Neb.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
4. (2) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa.
5. (4) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.
6. (6) 23k Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
7. (9) 42 Paul Niznik (R), Medford, Wis.
8. (8) N81 Mike Densberger (R), Lincoln, Neb., Jet/Speedway, $90.
9. (10) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn.
10. (5) 4 Cody Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (42 laps):
1. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/Sput’s, 42, $3000.
2. (7) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustom/ASI, 42, $1700.
3. (1) 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr. (R), Chandler, Ariz., Victory/Karl, 42, $1200.
4. (13) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, 42, $1000.
5. (12) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Lethal/Durham, 42, $900.
6. (17) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 42, $800.
7. (18) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 42, $700.
8. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/BK, 42, $650.
9. (20) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa, Harris/GMPP, 42, $600.
10. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., Millennium/Ebert, 42, $550.
11. (10) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, 42, $500.
12. (11) 20r Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo., BlackWidow/ProPower, 42, $450.
13. (22) 23k Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn., Shaw/Action, 42, $350.
14. (3) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., LG2/BuckBuilt, 42, $400.
15. (25) 42 Paul Niznik (R), Medford, Wis., Rocket/Niznik, 42, $375.
16. (16) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn., Hughes/Grove, 42, $350.
17. (23) 4 Cody Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill., GRT/Mullins, 42, $325.
18. (14) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/Fast, 42, $300.
19. (15) 00 Masen Big Eagle, Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, 42, $400.
20. (9) 99 Jett Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/ProPower, 42, $300.
21. (8) B1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., Shaw/Sput’s, 42, $300.
22. (6) 01 Joey Galloway, Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/ProPower, 42, $400.
23. (19) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Flyin’J, 42, $250.
24. (24) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., GRT/Action, 42, $250.
25. (21) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill., GRT/Mullins, 42, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Lap Leaders: Thornton 1-11, Vanderbeek 12-42.
Total Laps Led: VanderBeek 31, Thornton 11.
Margin of Victory: 0.911 second.
Time of Race: 22 minutes, 45.16 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: C. Bauman, Horgdal, Niznik (track).
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: Dillard.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Sanders (started 17th, finished 6th).
Entries: 26.
Next Race: Thursday, June 9, 81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.
RealTruck.com Northern Region Points: Hughes 379, Scott 355, Dillard 345, VanderBeek 321, Schott 317, Bleess 304, Ebert 301, Sobbing 288, Thornton 259, M. Big Eagle 237.
Rookie of the Year Points: B. Bauman 1301, C. Bauman 1241, Tyler Wolff 1092, Billy Vogel 723, Kevin Rutherford 664.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 222, Geddes 182, Durham 148, Sput’s 135, GMPP 129.
Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 220, MBCustoms 213, LG2 173, Harris 148, GRT 134.

Contingency Awards:
Allstar Performance – Bleess.
American Racer – Marriott.
Bell Helmets – C. Bauman.
Beyea Custom Headers – Scott.
BSB Manufacturing – Larson.
Day Motor Sports – Karau, Horgdal.
Deatherage Opticians – J. Big Eagle.
Edelbrock – Bleess.
Eibach Springs – Marriott.
Fast Shafts – Galloway.
FK Rod Ends – Niznik.
Forty9Designs.com – Timm, M. Big Eagle.
Fuel Safe – Sanders.
GRT Race Cars – Horgdal.
Hooker Harness – Kanz.
Integra Shocks & Springs – Hillson.
Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service – Foss.
Kevko Oil Pans & Components – Sobbing.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KSE Racing Products – Sanders.
Midwest Sheet Metal – Galloway.
MSD – Ebert, VanderBeek.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Foss.
PBM Performance Products – Thornton.
QA1 – Ebert.
Real Racing Wheels – Densberger.
Sybesma Graphics – Dillard.
VP Racing Fuels – VanderBeek.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Angst.
Wilwood Engineering – Hughes.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: Alpinestars, American Racer Racing Tires, Argo Manufacturing, Casey’s General Stores, Chix Gear Racewear, COMP Cams, CP-Carrillo, Day Motor Sports, Deatherage Opticians, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, Kevko Oil Pans & Components, KSE Racing Products, Leaf Racewear & Safety Equipment, Malvern Trust & Savings Bank, MSD, RacerWebsite.com, RacinDirt.com, RealTruck.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, The Joie of Seating, VP Racing Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: AMP Energy Drink, Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Duvall Electric, ElbowsUp.com, Erson Cams, I-29 Trailer Sales, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Oreo, Production Jars, Rivers Edge Scrap Management, Snickers, Sour Patch Kids, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, BSB Manufacturing, Driven Racing Oil, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance Products, Hooker Custom Harness, Integra Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, Midwest Sheet Metal, Out-Pace Racing Products, PBM Performance Products, QA1 Precision Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Sybesma Graphics, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Engineering.