CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (July 28, 2000) — The United States Modified Touring Series ran the Super Modified Week Monday-Friday and added another new driver on the victory list in the 2000 season. Willy Kraft picked up his first USMTS win of the 2000 season on Monday night at the Thayer County Speedway in Deshler, NE driving the backup car of Johnny Saathoff. Kraft started the race from the AFCO pole and had a tough battle all night from four different drivers. The racing action was side by side for most of the forty laps. Dan Daniels Humboldt, KS looked as if he was going to pick up his first win when the last yellow of the evening came on lap 27 with Daniels in the lead. After the restart Daniels tried to hold his car at the bottom of the track and his car went away at the end of the event. Daniels had to settle with a fifth place finish. That left the racing action intense between Kraft, Johnny Saathoff, Kelly Shryock, and Mike Chasteen. Saathoff tried several times to get by Kraft, but came up a little short and had to settle with a second place finish. The race at the finish line was close for third as Shryock beat Chasteen to the line. Midwest Motorsports seemed to show the way as all of the top three drivers were powered by Midwest Motorsports. Heat races were won by Shryock, Chasteen, and Jason Hughes. The B-main was won by Kevin Peters. The Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger for the race was Phil Penney. Kevin Peters still leads the Midwest Motorsports Rookie of the Year points by two points over Dan Daniels.

On Tuesday the series moved north to the US 30 Speedway in Columbus, NE. Another great night of racing action as Johnny Saathoff picked up his second win of the season. Saathoff started the race from the front row outside and lead all forty laps with a challenge coming towards the end of the race from Mike Chasteen. Chasteen just ran out of time as he worked the bottom of the track and was really moving towards the front when the checkered flag was displayed. Tommy Myer started the race from the AFCO pole and finished third as Chasteen got by with three laps to go. Joe Kosiski was the early challenger racing Saathoff and Myer, but Kosiski had motor trouble and had to retire for the evening. Rounding out the top five was Kevin Peters fourth and Jason Hughes fifth. Heat race winners were Joe Kosiski, Tommy Myer, and Damian Smith. The B-main was won by Tom Svoboda. The Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger for the event was Kelly Shryock.

Wednesday the series moved to the east back to the Crawford County Fair in Denison, IA. The racing action at this speedway was what you would call as fast and intense. Mike Chasteen had to use a provisional to get into the race as leading the heat race his motor had problems and had to retire early from the heat race. At the time of the B-main was taking the track Chasteen still was working on the motor and failed to make the B-main. Chasteen worked the bottom of the speedway from his 12th row starting spot and picked up his third win of the season. John Anderson who also had the bad luck bug on his side was scheduled to start the race from the fourth row had a flat tire on the parade lap and also had to start at the rear of the field. Anderson raced all the way back up to a third place finish. Another driver had some misfortune was Tommy Myer who spun out on lap 14 and went to the tail and raced his way back to a fourth place finish. John Krajicek started the race from the AFCO pole and lead the race for the first 22 laps until Chasteen went by on the bottom of the speedway. Krajicek had another strong performance and finshed with another top five. Myer beat Krajicek by inches at the line for fourth. Heat races were won by Jeremy Mills, Joe Kramer, Jerry Warner and John Krajicek. Jeremy Mills was clocked going down the back chute at 119 mph. The B-main was won by Johnny Saathoff. Saathoff did have a good race going and was up to second early in the main event, but faded at the end and finished sixth. Chasteen was the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger. Series point leader Kelly Shryock finished twelfth and still holds the point lead over Mike Chasteen. Kevin Peters who started the race from the front row outside had faded early in the race, but came back up to finish second. Peters has taken a fifteen point lead in the Midwest Motorsports Rookie of the Year program.

On Thursday the series went back into Nebraska for the final USMTS event ever at the Sunset Speedway. With the speedway being sold after the season is over. Mike Johnson started the race from the AFCO pole and jumped out to the early lead with challenges coming from Tim Donlinger, Jason Hughes, and Kelly Shryock. These four racers raced side by side for the first twelve laps with Donlinger taking the lead for a couple of laps. On lap 17 Jason Hughes took over the top spot and was pulling away from the field before another yellow was displayed. On the restart Johnny Saathoff had worked his way up into the second position ahead of Shryock. Saathoff tried three times to take the top spot before Hughes started to pull away from the field and looked as if he would be the next winner of the USMTS when the bad luck bug struck and broke the rear end of the Hughes car and that brought out the final yellow flag of the event. On the restart Saathoff pulled away from the field on his way to his third USMTS win of the season. Saathoff was the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger of the race as he started the race from the eighth row outside. Rounding out the top five was Mike Chasteen starting sixth row outside with a third place finish Scott Carlson fourth and Joe Kosiski fifth. Kosiski also started in the seventh row. Heat race winners were Jason Hughes, John Anderson, Scott Carlson, and Kelly Shryock. The B-main was won by Joe Kosiski.

The final night of racing action found the series move north to Jefferson, SD to Park Jefferson Speedway. This was the first ever visit to the speedway for the series. Danny McKeighan started the race from the AFCO pole, but early race misfortune sent him flying off the turn one corner with series point leader Kelly Shryock. McKeighan had to restart the race from the tail and ended up with a nineteenth place finish. Shryock went to the pit area with a broken tie rod and came back on the track eleven laps down and finished twenty-first. When the race restarted Johnny Saathoff went into turn one got into the side of the Mike Johnson car and lost control of the car and went spinning into the infield bringing out another yellow. At the restart of the race Saathoff entered back on the track at the tail. Willy Kraft jumped out into the early lead and was racing with track regulars Reese Coffee and Richard Hesse. The drivers on the move was Mike Chasteen, John Anderson, Tim Donlinger, and Johnny Saathoff. Saathoff worked his way through the field and went by Hesse and had his sights on Kraft for the lead. Saathoff showed Kraft his bumper a few different times and Kraft took the low lane and Saathoff took the Jet Mod powered by Midwest Motorsports right around Kraft on the outside of turns one and two. The final yellow of the evening came out when the Hesse modified broke a wheel and ended his night. At the restart Saathoff pulled away from the field and capped off what was a great week of racing for the Beatrice, NE driver. Rounding out the top five was Kraft second, Chasteen third after starting thirteenth, Donlinger fourth after starting at the tail, and John Anderson fifth starting in the tenth row. Heat races were won by McKeighan, Kevin Peters, Saathoff, and Reese Coffee. The B-main was won by Mike Chasteen. Chasteen has pulled to within 110 points of series leader Kelly Shryock after mod week. Kevin Peters has added to his lead in the Midwest Motorsports Rookie of the Year program as second place Dan Daniels missed the last two races. Kelly Shryock is also leading the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger and also the Home Pride Companies Passing Points award. The next race for the series will be the Illinois Summer Swing, which will have three races in Illinois. The first race will be Wednesday August 2 at the Knox County Fair in Knoxville, IL. This race will pay $2100 to win and also have $300 in lap money. On Thursday the series will move to the Peoria Speedway in Peoria, IL. The final night of the three-race swing will be at the Quincy Raceway in Quincy, IL. Also running at Knoxville will be the two man cruisers and the bomber class. These two classes will also run at Quincy on Friday. This will be the only visit to the Illinois area for the 2000 season for the USMTS so we hope to see everyone there.

RESULTS

Monday, July 24

Thayer County Speedway, Deshler, Neb.

Heat 1 - Kelly Shryock, Willy Kraft, Greg Metz, Jerry Breeden, Dale Funk

Heat 2 - Mike Chasteen, Dan Daniels, Jason Brase, Bob Loveless, Larry Sutton

Heat 3 - Jason Hughes, Johnny Saathoff, Tommy Myer, Joe Kosiski, Kevin Peters

B-main - Kevin Peters, Darrick Klima, Brandon Monson, Michael Meyer, Rodger Peck

A-main - Willy Kraft, Johnny Saathoff, Kelly Shryock, Mike Chasteen, Dan Daniels, Greg Metz, Jason Hughes, Jason Brase, Kevin Peters, Joe Kosiski, Michael Meyer, Rodger Peck, Darrick Klima, Brandon Monson, Phil Penney, Jerry Breeden, Tim Watts, Scott Smith, Dale Funk, Larry Sulton, Bob Loveless, Chris Buck, Tommy Myer

Tuesday, July 25

U.S. 30 Speedway, Columbus, Neb.

Heat 1 - Joe Kosiski, Dan Daniels, Dave Trauernicht, Kevin Peters, T.J. Artz

Heat 2 - Tommy Myer, Michael Meyer, Johnny Saathoff, Mike Chasteen, Tom Svoboda

Heat 3 - Damian Smith, Chris Alcorn, Jason Hughes, Darrick Klima, Ken Eckhoff

B-main - Tom Svoboda, Brandon Monson, TJ Artz, James Kleinheskel, Phil Penney

A-main - Johnny Saathoff, Mike Chasteen, Tommy Myer, Kevin Peters, Jason Hughes, Michael Meyer, Kelly Shryock, Chris Alcorn, T.J. Artz, Dan Daniels, Dave Trauenicht, Brandon Monson, Ron Dake, Tom Svoboda, Phil Penney, James Kleinheskel, Luke Cochran, Willy Kraft, Joe Kosiski, Darrick Klima, Damian Smith

Wednesday, July 26

Crawford County Speedway, Denison, Iowa

Heat 1 - Jeremy Mills, Danny McKeighan, Dan Daniels, Dan Mueller, Phil Penney

Heat 2 - Joe Kramer, Dan Chapman, Kevin Peters, Randy Foote, Jeremy Houck

Heat 3 - Jerry Warner, Doug Hillson, Tim Donlinger, Kelly Shryock, Brian Foote

Heat 4 - John Krajicek, John Anderson, Tommy Myer, Johnny Saathoff, Willy Kraft

B-main - Johnny Saathoff, Kelly Shryock, Willy Kraft, Dan Mueller, Jason Hughes

A-main - Mike Chasteen, Kevin Peters, John Anderson, Tommy Myer, John Krajicek, Johnny Saathoff, Dan Chapman, Jason Hughes, Greg Porth, Dan Mueller, Brandon Monson, Kelly Shryock, Dan Daniels, Mike Johnson,Brian Foote, Danny McKeighan, Jeremy Mills, Randy Foote, Willy Kraft, Tim Donlinger, Doug Hillson, Phil Penney, Jerry Warner, Joe Kramer

Thursday, July 27

Sunset Speedway, Omaha, Neb.

Heat 1 - Jason Hughes, Mike Johnson, Jon Schwartz, Jerry Warner, Joe Kosiski

Heat 2 - John Anderson, Brandon Monson, Craig Spetman, Michael Meyer, Ken Eckhoff

Heat 3 - Scott Carlson, Todd Myers, Tim Donlinger, Dan Demay, Robert Wilson

Heat 4 - Kelly Shryock, Willy Kraft, Phil Penney, Mike Chasteen, Kyle Berck

B-main - Joe Kosiski, Jon Schwartz, Johnny Saathoff,Kevin Peters, Phil Penney

A-main - Johnny Saathoff, Kelly Shryock, Mike Chasteen, Scott Carlson, Joe Kosiski, Tim Donlinger, Michael Meyer, John Anderson, Kevin Peters, Tommy Myer, Willy Kraft, Kyle Berck, Mike Johnson, Brandon Monson, Phil Penney, Todd Myers, Ken Eckhoff, Jason Hughes, Luke Cochran, Jerry Warner, Robert Wilson, Craig Spetman

Friday, July 28

Park Jefferson Speedway, Jefferson, S.D.

Heat 1 - Danny McKeighan, Rich Hesse, Willy Kraft, Mark Wenzlaff, Doug Snyder

Heat 2 - Kevin Peters, Gary March, Mike Johnson, Doug Hillson, Nick Mitchell

Heat 3 - Johnny Saathoff, Jeff Berens, Mike Jensen, Mike Chasteen, Kyle Koster

Heat 4 - Resse Coffee, Kelly Shryock, Wally Wagner, Mark Neal, John Anderson

B-main - Mike Chasteen, Doug Hillson, Kyle Koster, Nick Mitchell, Mark Neal

A-main - Johnny Saathoff, Willy Kraft, Mike Chasteen, Tim Donlinger, John Anderson, Wally Wagner, Resse Coffee, Kevin Peters, Kyle Koster, Mike Johnson, Charlie Clark, Doug Hillson, Gary March, Mark Neal, Doug Snyder, Brandon Monson, John Klynisma, Rich Hesse, Danny McKeighan, Joe Kosiski, Kelly Shryock, Jeff Berens, Paul Hemmingson, Nick Mitchell