LANSING, Minn. - Despite a few sprinkles at the end of the evening its was a perfect Friday night for dirt track racing action at the Chateau Raceway by Miners Outdoor & Rec as the track rolled out the red carpet for the 12th Annual Mike Guttormson Memorial.

The night pays tribute to the life of the former driver who had multiple track championships at Lansing and was a former WISSOTA 100 Champion.

A nice field of cars rolled in for the nights action with 18 cars entered for the French's Repair and Fabrication USRA Modifieds.

Mike Sorensen of Rochester, who had picked up one of the three heat wins earlier in the night, drew the pole for the feature event but fell back into the second row during the parade lap to leave the pole position vacant in memory of Guttormson.

However, when the field regrouped for the start of the race, Sorensen wasted no time in going straight to the point and stayed there all the way to the end as he stretched his lead out to almost a full straight-away in between the few yellows that fell during the race.

The final caution set things up for a wild finish. A spinning car with just two laps to go brought out the caution just as a light rain started to fall. Officials quickly reset the field and turned the cars loose for the two-lap shoot-out.

Todd Scharkey of Kasson, who had run second since lap 4, made a run to the inside of Sorensen on the restart but Sorensen was up to the challenge and opened up a lead again and left Scharkey in the middle of a six-car swarm for second on back.

Scharkey held on for second as Doug Hillson of Blooming Prairie and Tyler Clark of Rochester ran side by side on his back bumper all the way to the checkers.

Hillson nosed out Clark for third with Tim Donlinger picking up a couple spots over the final few laps to finish fifth after starting back in row 5.

Along with Sorensen and Donlinger, Steve Wetzstein of West Concord also claimed a heat race win earlier.

Another big night or racing action is set for next Friday night at Chateau Raceway with the Northern Vintage Race Car drivers joining the show for the night. Race time is set for 7:30.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
Friday, May 29, 2009

USRA MODIFIEDS

Feature: 1. Mike Sorensen, Rochester; 2. Todd Scharkey, Kasson; 3. Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie; 4. Tyler Clark, Rochester; 5. Tim Donlinger, Rochester; 6. Ben Mattick, Hayfield; 7. Steve Wetzstein, West Concord; 8. Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie; 9. Mike Lawson, Owatonna; 10. Darwyn Karau, Kasson; 11. Josh Mattick, Austin; 12. Wally Bustad, Austin; 13. Jeremy Misgen, Ellendale; 14. Joe Wernecke, Dodge Center; 15. Brian Shaw, Brownsdale; 16. Dustin Steinbrink, Austin; 17. Tom Paulson, Kasson; 18. Greg Jensen, Albert Lea.

Heat 1: Donlinger, Paulson, Scharkey, B. Mattick, Noble, Steinbrink.

Heat 2: Westzstein, Shaw, Hillson, Misgen Lawson, Jensen.

Heat 3: Sorensen, Clark, Karau, J. Mattick, Wernecke, Bustad.