Eagle Raceway 7/17 - Big wins from Shryock and Hiatt

Shryock and Hiatt Win Mod Madness at Eagle Raceway

Story by Greg Soukup

Although the temperatures in the afternoon approached 100 degrees, it still was cooler than the last time that the United States Modified Touring Series was at Eagle Raceway, America’s Home Track. Also, despite the heat and winds the track was still tacky at the end of the evening.

By the time the sun was setting, and the Feature races began the temperatures were almost mild.

The USMTS Modified B Feature saw the #33z of Zack Vanderbeek take the early lead, followed by Tommy Weder Jr. in the 02, the 12 of Johnny Bone Jr. That was the finishing order as the top 3 held their positions.

In the Valentino’s Pizza Hobby Stock A Feature Kyle Vanover jumped into first, followed by the #32 of Trevor Kropp and the 14 of Ron Novak. Unfortunately, the yellow flag flew, resulting in a complete restart. The caution flag flew again on the restart when a piece of debris was noted in turn 2. Again, a complete restart was called. When the green flag flew Vanover again took the lead with Kropp, Novak and the 21H of Shane Hiatt. On the third lap Hiatt and the 01 of Kent Husted both passed Novak to take over 3rd and 4th. However, on the following lap the 01 was forced to the pits with engine troubles. On the restart the running order was Vanover, Kropp, Hiatt and the 3K of Jerry Keaton. With 6 laps left the yellow flag was displayed once more, forcing yet another restart. On the restart Hiatt moved around Kropp to grab the 2nd spot. As the flagman signaled 2 laps to go Vanover retired with engine problems. This moved Hiatt to the lead, and he held the top spot at the completion of the race. At the checkered flag it was Hiatt, Kropp, Keaton and the 11X of Rich Small.

Shane had started on the inside of the 3rd row, and moved quickly to the front. “The track maybe wasn’t the best in the heats, but by the time the A Feature came around it was really fast and tacky, just the way I like it. In fact, I’d say that was the best track we’ve had all year” Shane said. “With 3 laps to go I really didn’t think I could get into the lead, and then when it happened I was more worried about all of the fast cars coming up behind me” he added. “I’m really glad we won, because we’ve had a really tough couple of weeks. Without my crew we wouldn’t even be here tonight. We worked all day Sunday and all day Monday just to make it here tonight. I want to thank Mom and Dad, Shawn, Nathan, Kloke, Harms, Scott Bivens and Bill’s Machine. Also my cousin Adam, his wife and son for being here every week” he finished.

Shane’s sponsors include Scribb’s House Moving, Spark Electric, Hildy Construction, Kneaded Pampering, KlubLisa, Sonora Carriage Company, Slick Graphix, Don’s Bar, Woolsey Electric, Seward Electronics, Benes Service, Hlavac Farms and Just One More Bar & Grill.


The final race of the evening was the USMTS A Main event. Current points leader Kelly Shryock pulled the #1 frisbee, putting him on the pole. After the traditional 4-wide salute to the fans, with each driver flying an American flag it was time to decide a winner.

Shryock took advantage of his pole position to take the lead in his #3. He was followed closely by the 1F of Jason Friesen, the 14J of Jake Neal and the 7K of Jason Krohn. On lap #3 Tommy Wedner Jr. suffered a flat tire and spun in turn 4. On the lap following the restart the 18S of Jason Bohmont suffered severe front-end damage and was forced to retire to the pits. The running order after the green flag flew again was Shryock, Friesen, Krohn and the #25 of Scott Green. Al Hejna moved his #7 into 4th place with only 6 laps down. 2 laps later Neal again took over 4th from Green. A yellow flag flew on the 11th lap when the 3A of Chris Alcorn and the #95 of Dylan Smith tangled in turn 1. At the green flag it was Shryock, Friesen, Krohn and Green; however just 2 laps later Friesen stopped in turn 2 with an expired motor. Again Shryock held off Hejna, Krohn and Green. 5 laps later Alcorn moved around Green to take the 4th spot. Another 5 laps went by when Alcorn was spun in turns 1 & 2 by Green. The race then went the distance with Shryock winning, Krohn in 2nd, Hejna and Wedner.

Kelly is the defending and 8-time Champion of the USMTS, as well as the current points leader. “We got lucky with the track position tonight, drawing the pole position. We had a really good car and held everyone off” Kelly stated. “The track was a little rough in spots, but when you win you really can’t complain” he added. “It’s too bad more fans didn’t brave the heat, because they missed some really great racing tonight” he finished.

Kelly’s sponsors include Extreme Powder Coating, Aero Race Wheels, American Racer, Afco Racing shocks, Skyrocket Chassis, JR Motorsports, D.K. Arndt PC, Rent-A-Dent, Shryock Painting and Champion Race Oil.

Eagle Raceway Results for July 17th, 2007:

USMTS Modifieds-
A Feature
1) 3 Kelly Shryock
2) 7k Jason Krohn
3) 7 Al Hejna
4) 02 Tommy Weder Jr
5) 33z Zack VanderBeek
6) 14j Jake Neal
7) 33z Kyle Berck
8) 80 Brad McEwan
9) 3a Chris Alcorn
10) 4t Jerry Trejo
11) 52 Sean Manning
12) 1m Mannix Winningham
13) 25 Scott Green
14) 12 Jason Hughes
15) 95 Dylan Smith
16) 1f Jason Friesen
17) 3b Aaron Pella
18) 72 Mike Lineberry
19) 18s Brent Bohmont
20) 14 Jon Tesch
21) 30 Jordan Grabouski
22) 49x Jay Poidinger
23) 4 Chevy Hadan

Hobby Stocks-
A Feature
1) 21h Shane Hiatt
2) 32 Trevor Kropp
3) 3k Jerry Keaton
4) 11x Rich Small
5) 22 Nick Beckman
6) 14 Ron Novak
7) 86 Justin Wulf
8) 94 Mike Hansen
9) 38c Casey Moyer
10) 93 Thom Marsh
11) 19 Kyle Vanover
12) 28b Rick Bradley
13) 10k Lee Kracht
14) 4r Ryan Hoesche
15) 1r RJ Macku
16) 01 Kent Husted
17) 34 Max Harder
18) 40 Mike Mass
19) 17j Danny Lane