Hejna, VanderBeek, Dunker and Birck Claim Pepsi / Mt. Dew Mid-America Nationals Opening Night Wins
by Brian Neal

MEMPHIS, MO (Nov. 4, 2006) - The final weekend of the 2006 racing season at the Pepsi Scotland County Speedway concluded with the Pepsi / Mt. Dew Mid-America Nationals, featuring the O'Reilly United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS). Al Hejna (O'Reilly USMTS Modifieds), Zack VanderBeek (USRA Stock Cars), Tony Dunker (Toni Dunker Advance Trading USRA B-Modifieds) and Adam Birck (USRA Hobby Stocks) each taking opening night wins.

The 15 lap USRA Hobby Stock feature was the first of the evening, with Rob Wilsey and Adam Birck drawing the front row for the event. Birck took advantage of his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1. Birck would go on to lead all 15 laps to take the pole position for Sunday's feature. Beau Taylor came from eighth to finish in second, Wilsey held on for third, Nathan Wood started tenth and finished in fourth, Jim Lynch was fifth, Bill Bonnett came from thirteenth to come home in sixth, Bob Lynch was seventh, with Jim Tull holding on for the eighth and final transfer spot. Heat race wins went to Rodger Dresden, Bob Lynch and Birck.

Donovan Lodge and Toby Johnson took the field to the drop of the green flag in the 15 lap USRA Stock Car feature, with Johnson grabbing the lead on lap 1. Johnson held the top spot until lap 4, when Lodge worked by him for the lead. Lodge was working to hold off Jason Cook, as Zack VanderBeek, who started eighth, was working his way towards the front. VanderBeek would over take Lodge for the lead on lap 8 and then held on to claim the pole for Sunday's feature. Jason Cook held on for second, Lodge was third, Ryan Cook finished in fourth, Troy Alexander came home in fifth, Mike Van Genderen was sixth, Larry Winn was seventh, with Johnson holding on for the final transfer spot. Ryan Cook and Johnson took the heat race wins.

The 15 lap Toni Dunker Advance Trading USRA B-Modifieds had Jack Evans Jr. and Jared Fuller on the front row, with Evans Jr. moving out front on lap 1. Evans Jr. would only lead one lap, as he pulled out with mechanical troubles on lap 2. Fuller inherited the lead and then held it until lap 5, when Tony Dunker slipped under him for the top spot. Dunker then went on to lead the final 10 laps to take the pole position for Sunday's feature. Joe Hooper came home in second, Wyatt Lantz came from tenth to finish in third, Brandon Savage was fourth, Fuller came from the rear after a late spin to finish in fifth, Brett Moffitt was sixth, Charles Vanboening was seventh, with Brandon Symmonds taking the final transfer spot in eighth. Heat race winners were Lantz and Evans Jr.

The final feature of the night was the 30 lap O'Reilly USMTS, with Al Hejna and Mike Hejna drawing the front row. Al would take advantage of his starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1, with brother Mike close behind. Al set a fast pace early on, as by lap 18 when the first and only caution came out, he had built up a half a track lead. On the restart, Al once again grabbed the top spot and then pulled away on the final 12 laps to pick up the $2,000 top prize. Mark Burgtorf edged out Mike for the second spot, Zack VanderBeek came from twelfth to finish in fourth, with Michael Long coming from thirteenth to round out the top five. Al Hejna, Mike Hejna, Jon Tesch, David Wietholder and Martin Bennett claimed the heat race wins, while Long and Brian Shaw picked up the semi wins.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
O'Reilly United States Modified Touring Series
Pepsi Scotland County Speedway, Memphis, MO
Pepsi / Mt. Dew Mid-America Nationals Night 1 of 2
Saturday, November 4, 2006

O'Reilly USMTS Modifieds

Heat 1: 1. 7-Al Hejna, Clear Lake, IA (1); 2. 69M-Mark Burgtorf, Quincy, IL (7); 3. 18-Michael Long, Quincy, IL (2); 4. 55x-Brian Shaw, Brownsdale, MN (6); 5. 21M-Russ Olson, Cedar Rapids, IA (8); 6. 18M-Jacob Murray, Hartford, IA (5); 7. 57B-Dennis Betzer, Central City, IA (4); 8. 65-Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, MN (3); 9. 26-Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, IA (9)
 

Heat 2: 1. 7II-Mike Hejna, Clear Lake, IA (2); 2. 82M-Ryan Meyer, Liberty, IL (1); 3. 1F-Jason Friesen, Sutton, NE (6); 4. 85D-Mark Dotson, Cameron, MO (3); 5. 29-Jeff LeBaube, Dittmer, MO (7); 6. 32-Donovan Lodge, Moline, IL (9); 7. 83-Willy Kraft, Lakefield, MN (8); 8. 96-Tim Greif, West Liberty, IA (5); 9. 4G-David Holder, Clarence, IA (4)
 

Heat 3: 1. 14-Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D. (2); 2. 3-Kelly Shryock, Fertile, IA (3); 3. 17-Garry Oskerson, Fairmont, MN (4); 4. 27M-Mark Schulte, Delhi, IA (6); 5. 28R-Robbie Reed, Mexico City, MO (1); 6. 8-Rich Smith, Davenport, IA (5); 7. 6-Virgil Jeffery, Ashland, MO (7); 8. 7G-Chad Goff, Monmouth, IL (8)
 

Heat 4: 1. 05-David Wietholder, Liberty, IL (2); 2. 43-Milo Veloz Jr., Colona, IL (4); 3. X-Mike Wedelstadt, Hortonville, WI (7); 4. B4-Rickey Frankel, Quincy, IL (1); 5. z71-Jim Sandusky, Coal Valley, IL (3); 6. 20/20-Chris Eggers, Lancaster, MO (5); 7. 55-Alan Mondus, Lakeville, MN (8); 8. 25-Butch Weisser, Peoria, IL (6)
 

Heat 5: 1. 99-Martin Bennett, Ankeny, IA (2); 2. 45-Tony Fraise, Donnellson, IA (4); 3. 33z-Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, IA (6); 4. 74-Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, MN (3); 5. 11-Mike Hughes, Rose Hill, IA (7); 6. 49x-Jay Poidinger, Somerset, WI (5); 7. 70-Todd Ihde, Decorah, IA (1); 8. 1-Vance Wilson, Frankford, MO (8); 9. 75-James Parker, Dodge Center, MN (9)
 

"B" Main 1: 1. 18-Long (2); 2. 83-Kraft (10); 3. 82M-Meyer (1); 4. 74-Noble (5); 5. 27M-Schulte (3); 6. 26-McEwan (15); 7. 85D-Dotson (4); 8. 11-Hughes (6); 9. 28R-Reed (7); 10. 96-Greif (13); 11. 18M-Murray (8); 12. 70-Ihde (12); 13. 75-Parker (16); 14. 20/20-Eggers (9); 15. 57B-Betzer (11); 16. 25-Weisser (14)
 

"B" Main 2: 1. 55x-Shaw (2); 2. 29-LeBaube (5); 3. 32-Lodge (6); 4. 17-Oskerson (1); 5. 55-Mondus (10); 6. 6-Jeffery (11); 7. 8-Smith (8); 8. 21M-Olson (3); 9. 4G-Holder (15); 10. B4-Frankel (4); 11. 7G-Goff (13); 12. 65-Myer (12); 13. 49x-Poidinger (9); 14. 1-Wilson (14); 15. z71-Sandusky (7)
 

Holley "A" Main: 1. 7-Al Hejna (6); 2. 69M-Burgtorf (1); 3. 7II-Mike Hejna (2); 4. 33z-VanderBeek (12); 5. 18-Long (13); 6. 3-Shryock (10); 7. 83-Kraft (15); 8. 45-Fraise (8); 9. 27M-Schulte (21); 10. X-Wedelstadt (9); 11. 43-Milo Veloz Jr. (7); 12. 65-Myer (23); 13. 99-Bennett (5); 14. 1F-Friesen (11); 15. 14-Tesch (3); 16. 26-McEwan (24); 17. 82M-Meyer (17); 18. 55-Mondus (22); 19. 29-LeBaube (16); 20. 55x-Shaw (14); 21. 17-Oskerson (20); 22. 74-Noble (19); 23. 05-Wietholder (4); 24. 32-Lodge (18)

USRA Stock Cars

Heat 1: 1. 27R-Ryan Cook, West Point, IA (1); 2. 57v-Mike Van Genderen, Newton, IA (4); 3. 32-Donovan Lodge, Moline, IL (6); 4. 12M-Larry Winn, Oskaloosa, IA (3); 5. 11-Troy Alexander, Memphis, MO (2); 6. 79J-Brian Jackson, Moravia, IA (5)

Heat 2: 1. 4-Toby Johnson, Eldon, IA (4); 2. 27J-Jason Cook, Mt. Pleasant, IA (2); 3. 05-David Wietholder, Liberty, IL (6); 4. 33z-Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, IA (1); 5. 28x-Chip Kohl, Marion, IA (5); 6. 57-Keith Kuder, Rose Hill, IA (7); 7. 29-Matt Greiner, Washington, IA (3)

Feature: 1. 33z-VanderBeek (8); 2. 27J-Jason Cook (3); 3. 32-Lodge (1); 4. 27R-Ryan Cook (4); 5. 11-Alexander (9); 6. 57v-Van Genderen (5); 7. 12M-Winn (7); 8. 4-Johnson (2); 9. 28x-Kohl (10); 10. 79J-Jackson (11); 11. 57-Kuder (12); 12. 05-Wietholder (6); 13. 29-Greiner (13)

Toni Dunker Advance Trading USRA B-Modifieds

Heat 1: 1. 22-Wyatt Lantz, Bowen, IL (1); 2. 7s-Brandon Savage, Keokuk, IA (3); 3. 11-Gary Wilson, Holiday, MO (7); 4. 6v-Charles Vanboening, Paris, MO (8); 5. 39-Brandon Symmonds, Keokuk, IA (4); 6. 8-Brad Iverson, Grinnell, IA (6); 7. 66-Cliff Powell, New London, MO (2); 8. 1x-T.J. Sammons, Kahoka, MO (5)

Heat 2: 1. 00-Jack Evans Jr., Keokuk, IA (5); 2. 1-Joe Hooper, Mendon, IL (7); 3. 4-Tony Dunker, Quincy, IL (3); 4. 77-Jared Fuller, Memphis, MO (6); 5. 13-Brett Moffitt, Grimes, IA (1); 6. 28R-Todd Reed, Quincy, IL (4); 7. 19-Jason Riegel, Memphis, MO (2)

Feature: 1. 4-Dunker (7); 2. 1-Hooper (3); 3. 22-Lantz (10); 4. 7s-Savage (8); 5. 77-Fuller (2); 6. 13-Moffitt (4); 7. 6v-Vanboening (5); 8. 39-Symmonds (6); 9. 8-Iverson (11); 10. 28R-Reed (12); 11. 11-Wilson (9); 12. 00-Evans Jr. (1); 13. 66-Powell (13); 14. 19-Riegel (14); 15. 1x-Sammons (15)

USRA Hobby Stocks

Heat 1: 1. 1-Rodger Dresden, Keokuk, IA (3); 2. 2J-Beau Taylor, Canton, MO (4); 3. 12M-Mike Leffler, Altoona, IA (1); 4. 03-Rob Wilsey, Keokuk, IA (6); 5. 19-Bill Bonnett, Knoxville, IA (2); 6. 3z-Jason VanZomeren, Oskaloosa, IA (7); 7. 89-Brian Howerton, Hurdland, MO (5)

Heat 2: 1. 4J-Bob Lynch, Ottumwa, IA (2); 2. 22T-Ryan Vicker, Redding, IA (1); 3. 06J-Kyle Schmauss, Eagle Grove, IA (4); 4. 22-Jim Tull, Redding, IA (5); 5. 12B-Jessie Buss, Quincy, IL (3); 6. 2k-Derek Kirkland, Centerville, IA (7); 7. c21-Dan Wenig, Burlington, IA (6)

Heat 3: 1. 2T-Adam Birck, Canton, MO (2); 2. 52-Nathan Wood, Sigourney, IA (1); 3. 4L-Jim Lynch, Donnellson, IA (3); 4. 3s-Steve Allen, Oskaloosa, IA (5); 5. 20-Keith Reed, Fowler, IL (4); 6. 73-Randy Reed, Quincy, IL (6)

Feature: 1. 2T-Birck (2); 2. 2J-Taylor (8); 3. 03-Wilsey (1); 4. 52-Wood (10); 5. 4L-Jim Lynch (5); 6. 19-Bonnett (13); 7. 4J-Bob Lynch (6); 8. 22-Tull (4); 9. 3z-VanZomeren (16); 10. 22T-Vicker (3); 11. 12B-Buss (14); 12. 2k-Kirkland (17); 13. 20-Keith Reed (15); 14. 73-Randy Reed (18); 15. 12M-Leffler (11); 16. 1-Dresden (12); 17. 06J-Schmauss (9); 18. 89-Howerton (19); 19. 3s-Allen (7); 20. c21-Wenig (20)