TESCH TURNS 33, SPANKS THE FIELD AT PARK JEFFERSON SPEEDWAY
Jeff Nun
(06/17/09)
JEFFERSON, S.D. -- Jon Tesch of Watertown, S.D., celebrated his 33rd birthday with the USMTS Caseys General Stores National Tour Tuesday night at the Park Jefferson Speedway, but it was Tesch that gave the spanking.
The Wizard of Watertown started seventh in the 35-lap Sunoco A Main, took the lead from Chris Abelson on lap 11 then proceeded to run away and hide from the field as he took the checkered flag while a three-way tussle for the runner-up spot was taking place half a lap behind on the back-stretch.
Jay Noteboom, who won the inaugural USMTS event at the Jefferson, S.D., 4/10-mile oval in 2005, grabbed the top spot from polesitter Jake Neal on the first lap as he powered around the extreme high side of the racing surface with Abelson following into the second position.
The pair of local favorites waged a fierce battle for the first eight laps before Noteboom pulled off the track with a flat tire, handing the lead over to Abelson.
Back-to-back cautions on laps 9 and 10 revealed that Abelson's engine was sputtering as he was unable to get up to speed quickly on the restarts. Tesch took the lead away on the second restart while Abelson completed just two more laps before exiting the race with a broken motor.
From that point on it was a dominating birthday celebration for Tesch as he lapped up to the seventh-place finisher in scoring his fifth USMTS Caseys General Stores National Tour event of 2009.
Despite Tesch's attempt to turn the contest into a yawner, a spirited fight for second place kept the fans in the seats as NASCAR veteran Kenny Wallace held off Mike Hansen and Al Hejna to take the runner-up spot. For Wallace, it was his best finish in 26 career starts with the USMTS.
Bobby Moore grabbed the fifth spot, while Corey Dripps earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award by racing to a sixth-place finish from 21st on the starting grid. Tommy Myer finished seventh as the final car on the lead lap, with Dereck Ramirez, Grant Junghans and Mike Lineberry rounding out the top-10 at the checkered flag.
The win was worth $2,000 to Tesch and wrestled the Great Plains Region points lead away from Myer. Tesch's advantage is 12 points over Myer (391 to 379), with Hejna in third with 362 markers. Fourth is Dripps (360), followed by Kelly Shryock (334), Lineberry (283), Neal (283), Ramirez (274), Rich Lewerke (266) and Mike Steensma (257).
Tesch is also the current points leader in the Central States Region and is ranked second in the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region.
