Two-day USMTS shoot-out set for June 1-2 at Junction Motor Speedway

McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. (May 29) -- The USMTS Casey's Cup Series powered by Swan Energy will return to action this weekend as the nation's elite open-wheel modified drivers make their annual trek to the Cornhusker State for the ninth straight year this Friday and Saturday, June 1-2, for the 9th Annual Nebraska Shootout presented by Sam's Club at the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb.

Friday's feature winner will garner $2,000 while a top prize of $3,000 is set aside for the driver visiting victory lane on Saturday.

Jon Tesch returns to "The Junction" as the defending champion of the event, winning last year's finale on Saturday while currently retired Dustin Boney picked up the winner's paycheck on Friday.

Tesch is a two-time winner of the event, along with Al Hejna who swept both nights in 2007. Other past winners of the former 'Spring Thaw' include Ryan Gustin, who won his first feature race driving for the Gressel Racing team in 2010. Tommy Myer, John Allen, Justin Boney, Jason Friesen, Johnny Saathoff, Corey Dripps, Jason Hughes and Mark Noble are also past winners, along with nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock, who captured the debut event at the Junction Motor Speedway in 2004.

Rodney 'The Rocket' Sanders leads the points coming into this weekend's blockbuster event, with Gustin currently second followed by Stormy Scott, Hughes and Johnny Scott.

There have been eight different winners in the eleven USMTS Casey's Cup Series events so far in 2012.

Race time is set for 7:30 on Friday with the pits opening at 3:30 and grandstands at 5:30. The first heat race on Saturday takes the green flag at 7:00 while the ticket window opens a half-hour earlier at 5:00.

Cruisers and Four-Cylinders will join the action on Friday while Saturday's racing card will be rounded out with NASCAR Late Models, B-Mods and Hobby Stocks.

Admission is just $15 for adults, $4 for kids ages 6 to 12 and children ages 5 and under get in for free both nights. Pit passes are $30 each day, but NASCAR members get in for $20 on Saturday.

Race fans can pick up discount coupons good for $2 off adult admission each day at Casey's General Stores locations in Aurora, Geneva and York. For more information or to find the location nearest you, visit www.caseys.com online.

Located five miles south of I-80 on US 81, the Junction Motor Speedway is a state-of-the-art facility entering its ninth year of operation. The track is a super-fast, 3/8-mile clay oval boasting 80-foot-wide straight-aways, making for a lot of racing room for the drivers and a lot of wheel-to-wheel action for fans. For more information, call 402-773-5538 or check out www.junctionmotorspeedway.com.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Reigning NASCAR Nationwide Champion Leads Star Studded Field To Eagle Nationals

PETERSEN MEDIA- The Eagle Nationals at the Eagle Raceway in Nebraska have been a staple since 1981, and the 2012 edition will be the third consecutive year its sanctioned by the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MavTv as they invade the worlds fastest 1/3 mile oval on June 8th and 9th.

"Our vision at TBJ Promotions is to bring the ASCS National Tour to premiere racetracks across the country," explained TBJ Promotions owner, Tony Bruce, Jr. "Eagle Raceway and its fan base is second to none and we look forward to having one of the best Eagle Nationals yet in 2012."

Those same awesome fans will now be rewarded for their efforts as reigning NASCAR Nationwide Champion, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr will throw his hat into the mix as he will pilot a second Stenhouse/Jason Johnson Racing entry and team with the always strong Jason Johnson.

"I'm very excited to get back on the dirt, and mix it up," said Stenhouse. "It's been a treat to team up with JJR this year, and I am just itching to hop in one of these strong cars and put on a show."

Stenhouse's teammate, Jason Johnson, enters the event second in the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour standings and took the top prize of this exact event back in 2010.

"This is a great event and I would like nothing more then to get our car back in victory lane and give us a shot in the arm in the standings," said the defending Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour owner's champion. "It will be fun racing with Ricky (Stenhouse), but we've got to rough him up a little and keep him behind us,"

During last year's rain shortened event, it was Nebraska product, Jack Dover using a late race charge to capitalize on a Jordan Boston miscue, and win the Eagle Nationals just one year after taking a hard lick at racy 1/3 mile oval.

"It's always great getting to race close to home, and to win this race last year during a spotty season was huge," said Dover. "We've been all over the map this year, and I would love nothing more than to grab a win in front of the awesome crowd that always shows up at Eagle."

Though Dover hails from Nebraska, Jordan Boston will lead a strong local contingent into the 2012 Eagle Nationals, and he will do so with a chip on his shoulder.

During last year's event, Boston made his presence felt as he took it to the National boys for the first 28th laps, before he lost the handle exiting turn four, losing the lead, and salvaging a third place finish.

"It would have been huge last year if we could have held on to the lead and picked up that win," said Boston. "They always say you have to lose one before you can win it, so hopefully this year we are in that same position again."

This event typically brings capacity crowds to the Eagle Raceway and TBJ Promotions is currently offering advanced, discounted tickets at our website, www.tbjpromotions.com.

ON TAP: The Eagle Nationals are slated for June 8th and 9th at the Eagle Raceway in Eagle, NE. Racing starts at 7:00pm both nights, and tickets can be purchased at discounted rates at www.tbjpromotions.com

STAY CONNECTED: Keep updated on all TBJ Promotions events, and purchase advance discount tickets to all events by visiting www.tbjpromotions.com.

Editorial: Things I know, Things I think I know and Things I think

I’ve been trolling the boards and results lately. Read a few articles too. I’ll admit at the outset that I have yet to go to a race this season (I know), but I think I can contribute a few things to start.

- Don’t be surprised if the bear being poked with a stick bites back. I was surprised to read and hear of the sprint car folk upset by Eagle Raceway’s Roger Hadan’s strong retort back at the teams’ complaining of a rubber down track the past few weeks. Word from a few people is he was visibly upset and didn’t hold back. Don’t get me wrong: I understand the sprint owner’s plight. A photo from Mitchell Moore showing a rubber-down track top to bottom and the qualified comments of a few drivers should carry weight and be heeded. Tires are expensive. Burning them up on a rubber-down track will drain everyone of money, not just a few guys getting turned over on a rough track. I think things can be fixed, and word is the track was holding up well before the rain last week.

On the other hand, word is very few of the ‘hard’ tires were being bought that night. It’s hard to guess early, but offers have been made to unhook cars with the COS adapter, run harder & narrower tires all to be turned down for reasons having to do with competitiveness with the ASCS. You make your own bed sometimes.

- More disturbing is the rumor that someone has offered $20,000 in sponsorship if Eagle drops sprints from its weekly show. Now I normally would blow this off as a usual tall tale, but knowing who the sponsor could be makes me think there’s a grain of truth. Update: the sponsor I thought it was said they were not planning on doing this. So, I'll just write this rumor off.

- Short track racing, for the most part has become a back-gate driven sport. An article on Race Promoters Monthly’s site suggests this may not be a bad thing. I disagree with that notion. I think that one of the most important methods of sustaining a sport is awareness outside the participation group. The article cited drag racing as an example of a sport that survives the back gate. The problem is, there is a direct analogue to the top level of the sport. There’s a common sanction in NHRA, and the sportsman racer is merely another class of the broad group. The NHRA is built of its weekend members.

NASCAR is not. NASCAR in all respects and despite their meager effort is a different level, with the exception of the Stewarts, Kahne’s and Edwards’s of the world, does not translate back down to the short track save only for turning left. IndyCar racing is just an evolution of karting.

The RPM piece suggests becoming digitally savvy as a way to promote the sport to youth. Nobody has accused short track owners of being pioneers in digital marketing. With the decline of the American car culture...what purpose does short track racing serve today’s technology-leashed youth? Chris Moses had a good point on linking today’s short track adventures with ‘Extreme’ (now called ‘action’) Sports.

Go look at Ken Block - a World Rally Championship (what’s that?) driver who just happens to have some of the ‘sickest’ of viral videos on the internet: the Gymkhana series. Block is THE face of rallying in the U.S. and probably one of the most recognizable people in the entire sport...despite being at best, a middle of the pack driver in the series.

- By the way, Sebastien Loeb is the best driver on the planet.

- There is no great sprint hope coming to buy Eagle.

- A friend of mine (I don’t name them unless they post publicly) suggested that the “A” Modifieds could die before the sprints due to the escalating costs. Barring any more altercations with the promoter...I could see that. I’m not willing to bet the farm on it, but the influx of former “A Mod” drivers to the SportMod class suggests that the Big Boys may have trouble sustaining themselves, just like the sprints. The car counts, at Eagle anyway, are still decent.

- I-80 had an online daily deal offering two-for-the-price-of one tickets for its ASCS National show. Not a mention on dirtdrivers.com or the tracks own website. If you want to promote attendance, at a track who made a move to Friday’s, you need to promote deals like this. I don’t think they’re in a position to do A-B testing. If you’re worried about cannibalizing ticket sales - why bother doing this at all?

- The ASCS National Tour has a 48 hour/250 mile rule for its National Tour participants. Essentially, if a team races any non-ASCS National event at a track within 250 miles, or within 48 hours of a National event, they are docked tow money for the next three races. This however, applies to ASCS REGIONAL events as well, and thus prevents teams from running Junction Motor Speedway on Friday night. One can’t even run a regional event? I guess there’s ASCS and there’s, um, ASCS. Someone has to explain that one to me. I get if it’s IMCA, NCRA, WoO even. But if it’s to protect car counts maybe running nearby shows under your own banner isn’t the issue.

- I’m toying with what to do this weekend. I have Saturday evening off from Dad duties, but going out to a Free Ticket night at Eagle in 100-degree weather sounds less than appealing. I’ve avoided those for the past couple years. A trip to KAM sounds more interesting right now. I may take the long way down Highway 6, a route I find very relaxing. We'll see though. The 45 minutes to Eagle may be easier to swing.

Two Big Shows this week at I-80

On Thursday, May 24 the ASCS Sprints will be at I-80 for a show co-sanctioned by the ASCS National & Midwest divisions. The race will feature the best 360 drivers in the country. Also racing that night will be non-sanctioned Grand Nationals, B Mods and Pro Ams. There will be no entry fee if you pre enter for those three classes, so call (402)-342-3453. Races start at 7:15pm.

Then on Sunday, May 27 its the 11th annual Alphabet Soup Race paying $5,000 to win co-sanctioned by the CornBelt Clash and Midwest Late Model Racing Association. Also racing will be non-sanctioned A Mods for $1,200 to win and Hobby Stocks for $500 to win. There is no entry fee for those two classes if pre registered so call (402)-342-3453 to get pre registered. Races start at 6:35pm.

ASCS Memorial Day Weekend Lineup and Future Events

ASCS Midwest Region Update #7

May 15, 2012
Thursday May 24th
I-80 Speedway * Greenwood, NE
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
vs
Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest

Friday May 25th
Junction Motor Speedway
McCool Junction, NE
Speedway Motors ASCS Midwest
Watch for more info on ASCS Midwest Update next Monday May 21st
__________________________________________________________________________

ASCS Midwest Region On-Deck:
Fri. June 8th * Eagle, NE (National & Midwest)
Sat. June 9th * Eagle, NE (National & Midwest)
Fri. June 15th * Cameron, MO (ASCS Midwest)
Fri. June 22nd * McCool Junction, NE (ASCS Midwest)
Fri. June 29th * Greenwood, NE (ASCS Midwest)

Jeff Osborn 1973-2012

Sprint car driver and regular Eagle Raceway competitor Jeff Osborn of Savannah, MO lost his life in a racing accident Saturday night in Grain Valley, MO.

Memorial service information is as follows:

Celebration of Life: 10:00 AM Thursday, May 17, 2012 at Breit-Hawkins and Gladden Funeral Home, Savannah, Missouri. Interment in Savannah Missouri Cemetery. Public visitation and family receiving hours 5 to 8 PM Wednesday.

Memorials are suggested to Trust Fund care of Bank Midwest 801 North 36th Street St. Joseph, Mo.

Eagle Raceway drivers raised over $3000 for Jeff during a helmet pass-around Saturday night.