DQ SENDS DONLINGER TO DEER CREEK WINNER'S CIRCLE By Jeff Nun
SPRING VALLEY, Minn. Sep 02, 2008 - Alan Mondus led all 35 laps of the O'Reilly USMTS National Tour main event Saturday night at the Deer Creek Speedway for what appeared to be his first O'Reilly USMTS National Tour victory.
Unfortunately for the 20-year-old from Lakeville, Minn., his celebration was cut short when his Modified rolled across the scales and failed to meet the minimum weight requirement, resulting in his disqualification.
His loss was Tim Donlinger's gain as Donlinger was awarded the win after finishing second to Mondus on the track. The win was Donlinger's second in a row and third in the Casey's General Stores Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship.
Donlinger, who has six USRA Modified wins during weekly racing action at Deer Creek this season, pocketed $2,000 for his efforts. Perhaps more important, the win propelled the Rochester, Minn. veteran to the top of the rankings in 'The Hunt' as he seeks to become just the third driver in the 10-year history of the USMTS o take the title.
Fertile, Iowa's Kelly Shryock, who possesses eight of the nine O'Reilly USMTS National Championship crowns and has nine career USMTS victories at Deer Creek, came into Saturday night's 5th Annual Labor Day Dual as the points leader. He started 15th in the main event, went to the rear of the field early in the race after changing a flat tire, then raced back through the pack to finish fourth.
Despite his efforts, Shryock dropped two spots in the standings behind Donlinger and Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa, who started next to Shryock in 16th, but finished two spots ahead in second.
With nine races in the books and six more to go, a mere eight points separate the trio at the top of the standings. Donlinger has 849 points, VanderBeek 845 and Shryock 841. Jon Tesch is fourth with 793 markers, followed by Al Hejna (760), Dereck Ramirez (689), Tommy Weder Jr. (664), Brandon Kenny (637), Corey Dripps (628) and Alan Mondus (621).
The second-winningest driver in USMTS history behind Shryock, Tommy Myer finished third in Saturday's Holley "A" Main, while Mike Sorensen finished fifth. Sixth went to Layne Meyer, Richie Gustin Jr. was seventh, Nate Wasmund finished eighth, Jason Cummins was ninth and Jeff Schluetter rounded out the top-10.
Wasmund started 21st on the 24-car grid and earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award by passing 13 cars in the 35-lapper.
A jam-packed grandstand was on hand Saturday night as the WDRL Late Models were also on the racing card. With 52 USMTS Modifieds checked in for action, this was the final tune-up race before the 10th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree, Sept. 17-20 at the Deer Creek Speedway.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
The four-race weekend wraps up with the ninth race of the Casey's General Stores Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship on Sunday, Aug. 31 at the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, Minn.
The 7th Annual Kasson Klash will be the 22nd USMTS event staged at the 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval.
Gates open at 3 p.m. and the mud starts flying at 5 p.m. Late Models, Super Stocks, Midwest Mods and Street Stocks will also be featured.
The Dodge County Speedway (formerly Kasson Speedway) is located 1.1 miles north of US 14 on SR 57 (at the Dodge County Fairgrounds). For more information, call Track: (507) 634-4281 or check out www.dodgecountyspeedway.com.
Fans can pick up $2-off discount coupons at Casey's General Store locations in Austin, Owatonna, Rochester and Stewartville, Minn.
Kelly Shryock fans can meet the man and his machine at the Casey's General Store location at 4500 18th Ave. NW in Rochester from 12-2 p.m.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS—America's Hottest Ticket on Dirt.
