FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. -- While other tracks were cancelling due to rains and cold temperatures, Mississippi Thunder Speedway staff and management once again showed their determination to provide an active destination for racers and fans alike. Sure, the temperatures were a bit chilly, but as opening ceremonies were underway at the beginning of the seven o’clock hour, the skies began clearing and sunshine greeted the racers who rolled onto the track for the evening’s program.

And what a program it was!

Twenty-nine drivers lined up for the Black Horse Bar & Grill USRA B-Mod Feature with only a couple of cautions to slow the on-track battles. Battles for position completely circled the big 1/3-mile, but all of the attention was riveted upon the front of the field as a pack of no fewer than 10 cars continuously challenged each other for an opportunity to get close to the front. At the front for most of the main event was outside pole sitter Dan Hovden, who continuously held off advances by first heat race winner Bob Fort, fourth heat race winner (and defending Track Champion) Jacob Bleess, two-time former track champion Ben Anderson, and the previous week’s feature winner Jon Van Minsel.

Hovden kept his #16 out front for 16 of the evening’s 18 laps before first Fort, and then Van Minsel stole the top position; Van Minsel leading the most important lap – the last – to claim his second feature win in as many weeks! “The track was smooth and the car was fast up top,” said Van Minsel in the Mississippi Thunder Speedway Victory Lane, “that was some great racing by everyone up front and all the way through the field. A very fun feature.”

Hovden had to settle for what must have seemed like a disappointing second place finish, after leading so long, while Fort, Anderson and Bleess completed the top five finishing positions.

DAVIS AND CUMMINS WOW THE CROWD

Brandon Davis is fast, and he wins races. That about sums up every results article covering a race in which Davis and his #50III modified were in the starting lineup; and that’s pretty much the tail of Friday night’s 25-lap Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modified feature.

While it’s true Davis took the lead from last Friday night’s feature winner Lance Hofer on lap three and quickly distanced himself from the rest of the 19-car field, another driver was also turning heads threw the entire feature. As Davis lead lap after lap, the #71 of New Richland, WI’s Jason Cummins was putting on a driver’s clinic for the field and the fans.

On the pace lap, Cummins lined up inside of the NINTH ROW! And combined with his last place finish in the evening’s third USRA Modified heat race, many thought that perhaps this just wasn’t going to be the night for Cummins to shine; but shine he did – like the brightest meteor blazing across the night sky at unmatched speeds.

By lap 2 Cummins was up to 12th. Lap 4, 10th. Lap 5, 9th. Lap 7, 8th. Lap 10, 6th. Lap 13, 5th. Lap 15, 4th. Lap 16, 3rd. Lap 17, 2nd.

And over the final 8 laps, Cummins was visually reeling in the leader, Davis. Nobody will ever know if 5 more laps would have changed the outcome of the finishing order . . . but by the way the #71 was closing in on the #50III, many might agree that perhaps it might have.

While no one will ever celebrate a second place finish more than a feature win, Cummins and his crew are sure to be smiling with the run he made through the pack. But it was Davis who got the face time and photos in the Mississippi Thunder Speedway Victory Lane. A strong performance rewarded with not 1, but 2 bonuses; Davis collected the $100 “Wehrs Winner’s Bonus” given the USRA Modified feature winner every Friday night through the 2014 season, and then was surprised with a second $100 bonus which was handed to him as a wad of 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, & 20’s which was collected by friends and family of the late Blake Hauser who had been memorialized earlier in the evening during opening ceremonies.

“A win like this is great”, said Davis in Victory Lane, “Thank you to Wehrs Machine for their bonus and also a special thank you very much to those fans, friends and family members who pulled this extra bonus money together in memory of their friend.”

Just behind Cummins was Brad Waits completing the top three.

Racing resumes next Friday night May 23rd with Severson Sinclair night at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. The first green flag is scheduled to wave at 6 PM with the Sunshine Sanitation Midwest Mini Mods on the 1/10 mile “Lightning Speedway” which is located within the infield of Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Action on “The Big 1/3 Mile” starts immediately following the 7 PM Opening Ceremonies with on-track competition provided by Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modifieds, Coordinated Business Systems WISSOTA Super Stocks, Black Horse Bar & Grill USRA B-Mods, Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks, & Elmer's Auto Salvage MTS Pure Stocks – highlighted by the first appearance at MTS by the all new Liquid Nitro 600 Mod Touring Series!

• Pit gate & Grandstands Open at 5:00 PM
• Family Friendly General Admission Prices continue at: Adults $12, Senior Citizens $10, College Students 23 & under (with current Valid Student ID) and Children 17 & Under are admitted ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Mississippi Thunder Speedway is located 3.0 miles north of Fountain City on Wisconsin Highway 35. For more information, call 608-687-3282 or visit www.MississippiThunder.com on the World Wide Web.

Mississippi Thunder Speedway is presenting its 6th season of top-notch dirt track action in Fountain City, WI. The high-banked 1/3 mile dark-clay oval is quickly becoming known as one of the best speedways in the upper Midwest presenting dirt track racing in a fan and family friendly atmosphere every Friday night throughout the racing season.
For all details, continue visiting the Mississippi Thunder Speedway web site: www.MississippiThunder.com.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
USRA Weekly Racing Series
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, May 16, 2014

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (3) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
2. (5) 50III Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn.
3. (2) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
4. (4) 54 Jeremy Houle, Ham Lake, Minn.
5. (1) 59X Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn.
6. (7) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (6) 15 Chris Loberg, Menomonie, Wis.

Heat #2:
1. (2) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
2. (4) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis.
3. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (3) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
5. (5) 89X Paul Harelstad
DNS - 97 Bob Fort, Fountain City, Wis.

Heat #3:
1. (2) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
2. (1) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
3. (5) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
4. (3) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis.
5. (4) 49X Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
6. (6) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.

Feature:
1. (4) 50III Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn.
2. (17) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
3. (7) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn.
4. (1) 11 Lance Hofer, Cochrane, Wis.
5. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (5) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
7. (10) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
8. (3) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
9. (2) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis.
10. (11) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
11. (12) 54 Jeremy Houle, Ham Lake, Minn.
12. (13) 59X Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn.
13. (9) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
14. (16) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
15. (14) 89X Paul Harelstad
16. (18) 15 Chris Loberg, Menomonie, Wis.
17. (15) 49X Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
18. (8) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn.
DNS - 97 Bob Fort, Fountain City, Wis.

USRA B-MODS

Heat #1:
1. (4) 97X Bob Fort, Fountain City, Wis.
2. (6) 39 Ben Anderson, Winona, Minn.
3. (8) 98 Kyle Anderson, Decorah, Iowa
4. (2) 12 Tucker Breitung, Prior Lake, Minn.
5. (3) 35X Phillip Dunbar, Rushford, Minn.
6. (7) 2 Andrew Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
7. (5) 00R Chad Rosendahl, Houston, Minn.
8. (1) 44 Brandon Reutzel, Winona, Minn.

Heat #2:
1. (2) 83X Kadden Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
2. (1) 16 Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa
3. (6) 83 Kylie Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
4. (7) 23K Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
5. (5) 90 Tyler Creeley, Winona, Minn.
6. (3) 80J Lee Jonsgaard, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (4) 88 Troy Langowski, Winona, Minn.

Heat #3:
1. (1) 12K Casey Knutson, Spring Grove, Minn.
2. (5) 1 Jon Van Minsel, Spring Grove, Minn.
3. (2) 1K Parket Kessel, Waukon, Iowa
4. (4) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (6) 56H Brandon Hare, Elma, Iowa
6. (3) 55P David Pitz
7. (7) 13 Ryan Konkel, Winona, Minn.

Heat #4:
1. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 85 Ben Moudry, Cottage Grove, Minn.
3. (3) 95X Shaun Walski, Winona, Minn.
4. (7) 5WX Kyle Jumbeck, Houston, Minn.
5. (5) 51 Blake Arndt
6. (4) 20K Kyle Brown, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (2) 20J Jackson Hale, Grand Meadow, Minn.

Feature:
1. (1) 1 Jon Van Minsel, Spring Grove, Minn.
2. (2) 16 Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa
3. (6) 97X Bob Fort, Fountain City, Wis.
4. (8) 39 Ben Anderson, Winona, Minn.
5. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (9) 95X Shaun Walski, Winona, Minn.
7. (4) 83 Kylie Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
8. (14) 23K Erik Kanz, Winona, Minn.
9. (15) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
10. (5) 85 Ben Moudry, Cottage Grove, Minn.
11. (10) 98 Kyle Anderson, Decorah, Iowa
12. (13) 12 Tucker Breitung, Prior Lake, Minn.
13. (18) 90 Tyler Creeley, Winona, Minn.
14. (19) 56H Brandon Hare, Elma, Iowa
15. (11) 83X Kadden Kath, Owatonna, Minn.
16. (12) 1K Parket Kessel, Waukon, Iowa
17. (20) 51 Blake Arndt
18. (7) 12K Casey Knutson, Spring Grove, Minn.
19. (16) 5WX Kyle Jumbeck, Houston, Minn.
20. (27) 13 Ryan Konkel, Winona, Minn.
21. (22) 80J Lee Jonsgaard, Minnesota City, Minn.
22. (29) 44 Brandon Reutzel, Winona, Minn.
23. (24) 20K Kyle Brown, Minnesota City, Minn.
24. (25) 00R Chad Rosendahl, Houston, Minn.
25. (21) 2 Andrew Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
26. (23) 55P David Pitz
27. (28) 20J Jackson Hale, Grand Meadow, Minn.
28. (26) 88 Troy Langowski, Winona, Minn.
29. (17) 35X Phillip Dunbar, Rushford, Minn.