FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. -- Excitement, drama, uncertainty, and patriotism; the 2012 Mid-Summer Shoot Out at Mississippi Thunder Speedway provided race fans with just about every possible emotion as racers hit the high-speed 1/3-mile dark clay oval for the two-day special event to start off the month of August. By the time the final checkered flag had waived Saturday evening, just about every scenario possible had played itself out for the weekend.

Chatfield, Minn.’s Lucas Schott proved his dominance once again and showed how he’d built up a nearly 100 point advantage over the competition in the Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modified Division. Coming into the two-day Mid-Summer Shoot Out at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Schott enjoyed a 96 point cushion over Hank Rollinger Jr. who himself is enjoying a strong 2012. But while Rollinger has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in 2012 with strong top-5 finishes, Schott had four feature wins entering the weekend. By the end of Saturday, the number of visits to the Mississippi Thunder Speedway victory lane by the youngster and his Schott’s Hardwood Floors #69 had increased by two.

On Friday night, after winning the first USRA Modified heat race of the program, Schott jumped from his pole position starting spot to lead every trip across the finish line of the 25-lap feature. Second heat-race winner and defending 2011 track champion Bob Timm provided the best challenge for Schott as he followed the youngster from his inside second row starting position at the drop of the green flag and dogged him for the lead for the first 20 laps. While Timm was definitely a threat, Schott did not give up the lead even once on the way to picking up his fifth feature win of 2012 at Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

After running a hard second for the first 20 laps, Timm was relieved of the position by 2010 track champion Josh Angst who finished second. Timm ended up holding off a challenge by his son, Jake Timm, who’d battled from his starting spot on the inside of the sixth row. The father-son duo finished third and fourth, respectively, just ahead of third heat race winner Adam Hensel.

On Saturday night, Schott did it again. Despite being beaten to the checkered flag by Bob Timm in the third heat race, Schott turned a pole position starting spot in the evening’s 25-lap feature into his sixth feature win. Saturday night’s feature win came down to working past back-markers at the tail end of the lead lap and keeping a cushion between his #69 and the #33 of Adam Hensel. Hensel had worked toward the front of the field from his starting position on the outside of the fourth row, finally moving into second after #24 of Brad Waits dropped out of the main event on lap 13.

Despite Hensel’s near flawless run, he was unable to catch the young superstar and was forced to settle for second as the checkered flag waived. Veteran racer Doug Hillson enjoyed a strong Saturday evening. After dropping as low as sixth in the running order, he enjoyed a satisfying third place finish with his #72.

“This year has been pretty great,” commented Schott after the feature win Saturday night. “The car has been strong every night, the racing out front has been hard but clean, and I’m just happy every night that I can race for a win.”

When asked about the points advantage he holds over the competition, Schott replied that he can’t let it change the way his races through the closing weeks of the 2012 season.

“It’s nice having a points lead like that, but we’ll bring the car back every weekend and still race like we always do for feature wins.”

An impressive side story from Saturday night’s feature was the run through the field by Nate Wasmund. After being turned around in turn two on lap three and cutting down right side tire, Wasmund headed to the pits for attention by his pit crew. Able to make it back onto the track before going a lap down, Wasmund’s #52W started dead last in the field, but then commenced to put on a show of strength racing through the field to an impressive fourth place finish behind Hillson.

BLEESS, KANZ SHARE USRA B-MOD FEATURE WINS

With the announcement earlier in the week of the $10,000-to-win Baehman Law B-Mod Nationals scheduled for September at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, a great group of USRA B-Mods took advantage of the two-night Mid-Summer Shoot-Out to prepare for the big-money special. But despite the appearance of some new cars and competitors, it was two proven front-runners claiming the feature wins both evenings.

Erik Kanz, current point leader in the TheEngineStore.com USRA B-Mod division at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, showed Friday why he’s out front in those point standings with a convincing feature win Friday night. Kanz battled former feature winner Alex Williamson in a multi-lap side by side battle for the win over almost the entirety of the 18-lap feature. Kanz was able to hold on for the win as Williamson spent the final couple circuits duking it out with young Brady Keefe who put in his best performance of the year and just barely beat Williamson to the waiving checkered flag.

Kanz was excited with the win and positive in its meanings for the upcoming special.

“A win like this sure makes me positive when I think about the $10,000-to-win special in September,” said Kanz in victory lane. “Alex is a great driver, he’s really strong and very fast. That was a fun battle with him.”

Saturday night wasn’t as positive for Kanz as he didn’t even make it to the half-way point of the feature before mechanical failure sidelined him for the evening. This opened the door for a new feature win on the second night of the Mid-Summer Shoot-Out, and Chatfield, Minn.'s Jacob Bleess was more than happy to accept the offering.

Like Wojcik and Schott, Bleess worked his way into Victory Lane picking up his sixth feature win of the year with his #21 EZ Fabricating USRA B-Mod.

“The car was strong and it was a fun feature,” said the soft spoken Bleess who’s made a name for himself picking up high-dollar B-Mod feature wins at Mississippi Thunder Speedway this year. “Nobody knows yet who’s gonna win that $10,000 in September, but I think this sixth feature win puts us in the group to watch.”

Iowa’s Brian Mahlstedt Owatonna, Minn.’s Kylie Kath finished second and third Saturday night, just ahead of another great performance by Keefe, who finished fourth ahead of first time visitor Kyle Anderson.

Mississippi Thunder Speedway’s 2012 season continues Friday night August 10th with another night of regular-season action with on-track action for all regular weekly divisions; the Sunshine Sanitation A and B Mini Mods on the “Lightning Speedway”, supporting competition on the fast 1/3-mile comprised of complete programs for the River City Manufacturing USRA Modifieds, Coordinated Business Systems WISSOTA Super Stocks, TheEngineStore.com USRA B-Mods, Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks, REDBOX+ 600 Mods, & Elmer’s Auto Salvage MTS Pure Stocks.

For more details, visit the official Mississippi Thunder Speedway website at www.mississippithunder.com.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday-Satruday, Aug. 3-4, 2012

USRA MODIFIEDS

FRIDAY:

Heat #1: 1. Lucas Schott, 2. Lance Hofer, 3. Jimmy Broszeit, 4. Brad Waits, 5. Jay Ihrke, 6. Steve Bangart, 7. Thomas Brink, 8. Chris Oertel.

Heat #2: 1. Bob Timm, 2. Hank Rollinger Jr., 3. John Doelle, 4. Bob Fort, 5. Nate Wasmund, 6. Chris Gilbertson, 7. Leroy Scharkey, 8. Bryan Hessler.

Heat #3: 1. Adam Hensel, 2. Josh Angst, 3. Les Duellman, 4. Jake Timm, 5. Brandon Aggen, 6. Mick Glenn, 7. Phil Wernert, 8. Brian Albrecht.

Feature: 1. Lucas Schott, 2. Josh Angst, 3. Bob Timm, 4. Jake Timm, 5. Adam Hensel, 6. Nate Wasmund, 7. Brad Waits, 8. Hank Rollinger Jr., 9. John Doelle, 10. Jimmy Broszeit, 11. Lance Hofer, 12. Thomas Brink, 13. Les Duellman, 14. Chris Oertel, 15. Chris Gilbertson, 16. Brandon Aggen, 17. Bryan Hessler, 18. Steve Bangart, 19. Phil Wernert, 20. Bob Fort, 21. Mick Glenn, 22. Leroy Scharkey, 23. Brian Albrecht, 24. Jay Ihrke.

SATURDAY:

Heat #1: 1. Josh Angst, 2. Nate Wasmund, 3. John Doelle, 4. Brad Waits, 5. Mick Glenn, 6. Brian Albrecht, 7. Jay Ihrke, 8. Lance Hofer.

Heat #2: 1. Jake Timm, 2. Bryan Hessler, 3. Chris Gilbertson, 4. Bob Fort, 5. Thomas Brink, 6. Steve Bangart, 7. Chris Oertel, 8. Phil Wernert.

Heat #3: 1. Bob Timm, 2. Lucas Schott, 3. Adam Hensel, 4. Doug Hillson, 5. Brandon Aggen, 6. Hank Rollinger Jr., 7. Les Duellman.

Feature: 1. Lucas Schott, 2. Adam Hensel, 3. Doug Hillson, 4. Nate Wasmund, 5. Jake Timm, 6. Brandon Aggen, 7. Hank Rollinger Jr., 8. Jay Ihrke, 9. Les Duellman, 10. John Doelle, 11. Bob Fort, 12. Mick Glenn, 13. Thomas Brink, 14. Chris Oertel, 15. Chris Gilbertson, 16. Phil Wernert, 17. Brian Albrecht, 18. Steve Bangart, 19. Brad Waits, 20. Bryan Hessler, 21. Lance Hofer, 22. Josh Angst, 23. Bob Timm.

USRA B-MODS

FRIDAY:

Heat #1: 1. Alex Williamson, 2. Parker Hale, 3. George Dalbeck, 4. Jeff Matejka, 5. Jacob Bleess, 6. Josh Appel, 7. Leigh Volkman, 8. Darran Jonsgaard.

Heat #2: 1. Troy Langowski, 2. Brandon Reutzel, 3. Tyler Creeley, 4. Tucker Breitung, 5. Matt Appel, 6. Rick Utley, 7. Dean Hoffman.

Heat #3: 1. Shaun Walski, 2. Brady Keefe, 3. Erik Kanz, 4. Matt Buddenberg, 5. Patrick Mccarthy, 6. Scott Guthrie, 7. Robert Carpenter.

Feature: 1. Erik Kanz, 2. Brady Keefe, 3. Alex Williamson, 4. Parker Hale, 5. Jacob Bleess, 6. Shaun Walski, 7. Troy Langowski, 8. George Dalbeck, 9. Dean Hoffman, 10. Brandon Reutzel, 11. Robert Carpenter, 12. Matt Buddenberg, 13. Josh Appel, 14. Tyler Creeley, 15. Leigh Volkman, 16. Scott Guthrie, 17. Patrick Mccarthy, 18. Matt Appel, 19. Jeff Matejka, 20. Tucker Breitung, 21. Rick Utley, 22. Darran Jonsgaard.

SATURDAY:

Heat #1: 1. Parker Hale, 2. Kylie Kath, 3. Shaun Walski, 4. Brandon Reutzel, 5. Tucker Breitung, 6. Taylor Knutson, 7. Josh Appel.

Heat #2: 1. Brian Mahlstedt, 2. Jacob Bleess, 3. Alex Williamson, 4. Erik Kanz, 5. Kyle Anderson, 6. Dean Hoffman, 7. Tyler Creeley.

Heat #3: 1. Brady Keefe, 2. Matt Buddenberg, 3. Leigh Volkman, 4. Casey Knutson, 5. Scott Guthrie, 6. Matt Appel.

Feature: 1. Jacob Bleess, 2. Brian Mahlstedt, 3. Kylie Kath, 4. Brady Keefe, 5. Kyle Anderson, 6. Parker Hale, 7. Matt Buddenberg, 8. Brandon Reutzel, 9. Leigh Volkman, 10. Tucker Breitung, 11. Casey Knutson, 12. Tyler Creeley, 13. Scott Guthrie, 14. Matt Appel, 15. Taylor Knutson, 16. Josh Appel, 17. Alex Williamson, 18. Shaun Walski, 19. Dean Hoffman, 20. Erik Kanz.