UTTER, PINKERTON, GREINER, GIBSON TAKE SIS CHECKERS; PINKERTON, WOOD SECURE TITLES
By Tony Paris

OSKALOOSA, IA (Sept. 13, 2006) - The 2006 Coca-Cola Season Championships at the Southern Iowa Speedway are in the books and the long-awaited return of the Keith's Foods Late Models to the Oskaloosa, Iowa, speedplant were finally spared by Mother Nature. The result was an action-packed four-division night of racing with three first-time visitors to victory lane.

Bill Gibson of Knoxville topped the field in the USRA Hobby Stock division for his first win at the Mahaska County Half-Mile Monster, while the USRA Stock Car feature win went to Washington driver Matt Greiner. The lightning-fast Late Models saw Jason Utter of Columbus Junction take the win. The only repeat winner was Brad Pinkerton of New Sharon, who won the Musco Lighting USRA Modified main event and secured the track championship in both the Modified and Stock Car divisions. USRA Casey's General Stores Weekly Racing Series national points leader Nathan Wood of Keswick took the USRA Hobby Stock track championship.

The USRA Stock Car feature was a battle between Colt Mather of Webster, Rick Gustin of Marshalltown and Greiner. All three drivers swapped the lead with Gustin's night ending with mechanical problems on the John Hunnell-owned No. 62 machine. Greiner powered his No. 29 machine past Mather with nine laps remaining in the 18-lap event to take the checkers. Brian Mitrisin of Oskaloosa took the runner-up spot with Mather in third and Pinkerton fourth.

In the USRA Hobby Stock feature, Bobby Greene of Eddyville looked to have the feature win in hand until his night ended prematurely in the turn 4 fence after breaking a left front wheel. Greene's misfortune turned over the lead to Gibson, who led the final three laps for his first win at SIS. Gibson held off Mike Shelton of Ottumwa, Rick Landgrebe of Sigourney taking third. The fourth spot went to Todd Reitzler, who rolled his machine on lap 3 but was able to get it repaired and race his way back to a fourth-place finish.

The Musco Lighting USRA Modified feature was won by Pinkerton, who powered his way from 10th to the lead in three laps with Chris Spieker of Massena taking second after starting 11th. Scott Dickey of Packwood took third after going to the back earlier after contact with Brandon Banks on lap 6 of the 20-lap event. Defending track champ Steve Stewart of Washington took a hard fought fourth-place finish after running second for the first seven laps.

In the Keith's Foods Late Model feature, Utter snagged victory by mere inches, beating veteran driver Gary Webb of Blue Grass by a whisker at the finish line. The third spot went to Tommy Elston of Keokuk, who started 11th, followed by Todd Shute of Des Moines, who took fourth after starting 16th. Local favorite T. J. Criss of Oskaloosa led the first three laps before mechanical problems made him race his way from the tail to finish in seventh.

In less than 48 hours, the Oskaloosa air will be once again filled with the roar of engines as the 5th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will take place on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15-16, with many of the region's top drivers looking to capture the title, while others look to defend their crowns. This year will feature four classes in action with the USRA B-Modifieds added to the racing schedule along with the USRA Hobby Stocks, USRA Stock Cars and the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series highlighting the action.

2004 O’Reilly USMTS Rookie of the Year Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa, sits atop the ranking in ‘The Hunt’ for the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship, which is comprised of the final 16 events of the season. VanderBeek leads the ‘The Hunt’ standings with a 21-point cushion (492 to 471) over Watertown, S. D. 's Tesch, while Shryock is 38 markers behind the leader. Jason Friesen of Sutton, Neb. , who squeaked into ‘The Hunt’ with a 10th-place finish in the Dirt Works Southern Region, is fourth with 428 points and Myer rounds out the top-5 with 410 points. The 5th Annual Musco Lighting Fall Challenge will be the sixth and seventh events of ‘The Hunt’ for the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship.

Gates open at 4 p. m. on Friday, with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:15. On Saturday, gates open at 4 p. m. , hot laps are at 6 and the mud starts flyin' at 6:30. Friday's main event winner will earn $2, 000 and Saturday's event will carry a top prize of $3, 000.

Both USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA B-Mods will race for $200 to win on Friday, with $500 earmarked for each winner on Saturday. USRA Stock Car drivers will battle for a $300 top prize on Friday and Saturday's main event will feature a $1, 000 winner's share of the purse. All cars will draw on Friday and Saturday night. Modifieds will re-draw each night. In Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and B-Mods, the top-6 qualifiers will run a dash to establish starting positions in the "A" Main Saturday night. The Dash will pay $100 to win in each class. No USRA license is required for this race. For complete rules go to www. sispeedway. com and click on the Info link.

The Southern Iowa Speedway is located 0. 5 mile west of US 63 on SR 92, then 0. 3 mile north on N. I St. (at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds) in Oskaloosa, Iowa. For day-of-race information, call the track hotline at (507) 634-4281 or visit www. rlpromotions. com/oskaloosa online. For more information about the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www. usmts. com online.



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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USRA Casey's General Stores Weekly Racing Series
Coca-Cola Season Championships
Southern Iowa Speedway, Oskaloosa, Iowa
Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006



USRA HOBBY STOCKS

Heat #1: 1. Wade Francis, Eddyville; 2. Todd Reitzler, Grinnell; 3. Bill Gibson, Knoxville; 4. Jim Tull, Redding; 5. Robert Veldhuizen, Oskaloosa.

Heat #2: 1. Shawn Colman, Packwood; 2. Shannon Sherwood, Oskaloosa; 3. Chase Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 4. Don Nunnikhoven, Sully; 5. Brent Ricker, Mt. Ayr.

Heat #3: 1. Bobby Greene, Eddyville; 2. Mike Shelton, Ottumwa; 3. Joe Ferguson, Tracy; 4. A.J. Johnson, Oskaloosa; 5. Jason VanZomeren, Oskaloosa.

A-Feature: 1. Gibson; 2. Shelton; 3. Landgrebe; 4. Reitzler; 5. Nunnikhoven; 6. Jared Sanders, New Sharon; 7. S. Sherwood; 8. Travis Sherwood, Ottumwa; 9. Dave Breuklander, Oskaloosa; 10. Mary Drake, Knoxville; 11. Nathan Wood, Keswick; 12. Ricker; 13. Greene; 14. Veldhuizen; 15. Ferguson; 16. Steve Allem, Oskaloosa; 17. S. Colman; 18. VanZomeren; 19. Johnson; 20. Mitrisin; 21. Paul Underwood, Ottumwa; 22. Tull; 23. Francis; 24. Scott Alderson, Gibson; 25. Rick Wilson, Ottumwa; 26. Andy Colman, Packwood.



USRA STOCK CARS

Heat #1: 1. Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon; 2. Jim Brown, Fremont; 3. Brad Pinkerton, New Sharon; 4. Rick Gustin, Marshalltown; 5. Colt Mather, Webster.

Heat #2: 1. Brian Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 2. Steve Landgrebe, Oskaloosa; 3. Kyle Harwood, Oskaloosa; 4. Matt Greiner, Washington; 5. Eric Flander, Barnes City.

A-Feature: 1. Greiner; 2. Mitrisin; 3. Mather; 4. Pinkerton; 5. Landgrebe; 6. Louis Lynch, Glenwood, Mo; 7. VanderBeek; 8. Josh Newell, Oskaloosa; 9. Carl Yaw, Des Moines; 10. Bobby Greene, Eddyville; 11. Flander; 12. Nathan Wood, Keswick; 13. Gustin; 14. Harwood; 15. Jared Miller, Pulaski; 16. Les Blakely, Fairfield; 17. Brown; 18. Mark Steinke, Gibson.



MUSCO LIGHTING USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1: 1. Brad Pinkerton, New Sharon; 2. Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake; 3. Scott Dickey, Packwood; 4. Brandon Banks, Washington; 5. Dustin Clark, Eldon.

Heat #2: 1. Chris Spieker, Massena; 2. Brad Stephens, Bussey; 3. Steve Stewart, Washington; 4. Jim Brown, Altoona; 5. John Fellman, Blue Grass.

Heat #3: 1. Bruce Hanford, Davenport; 2. Todd Inman, Des Moines; 3. Russell Stewart, Mt. Ayr; 4. Matt Greiner, Washington; 5. Terry Walker, Riverside.

A-Feature: 1. Pinkerton; 2. Spieker; 3. Dickey; 4. S. Stewart; 5. Stephens; 6. Brown; 7. David Ott, Ankeny; 8. Inman; 9. Clark; 10. R. Stewart; 11. Fellman; 12. Roger Baxter, Oskaloosa; 13. Tom Lathrop, Ottumwa; 14. Banks; 15. Mahlstedt; 16. Greiner; 17. Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon; 19. Walker.



KEITH'S FOODS LATE MODELS

Heat #1: 1. Kurt Kile, Nichols; 2. Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 3. Jason Utter, Columbus Junction; 4. Tommy Elston, Keokuk; 5. Jason O'Brien, Atlantic.

Heat #2: 1. Darrell DeFrance, Marshalltown; 2. Chris Spieker, Massena; 3. Jamie Kinyon, Kent; 4. Todd Johnson, Mitchelville; 5. Ryan Vickers, Creston.

Heat #3: 1. Paul Glendenning, Mt. Ayr; 2. Gary Webb, Blue Grass; 3. T.J. Criss, Oskaloosa; 4. Gordy Grubb, Oskaloosa; 5. Russell Stewart, Mt. Ayr.

A-Feature: 1. Utter; 2. Webb; 3. Elston; 4. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 5. Glendenning; 6. DeFrance; 7. Criss; 8. Grubb; 9. Johnson; 10. Stewart; 11. Spieker; 12. Kurt Kile; 13. Kevin Kile; 14. Curt Schroeder, Des Moines; 15. Kinyon; 16. Vicker; 17. O'Brien; 18. Chris Smyser, Lancaster, Mo.; 19. John Bagby, Johnston.