CEDAR RAPIDS, IA -- The top drivers from the Yellow Book USA Midwest AllStar late model stock car series will square off against the top drivers from Iowa and other states when the Miller 100 is held Friday night, June 25 at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids. Practice on the half-mile paved oval begins at 5 p.m. with qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m. It will be the first appearance ever of the 600 horsepower Yellow Book Midwest AllStar cars at Hawkeye Downs. Two of the three top series drivers have never raced previously at Hawkeye Downs.
Point leader Jeff Van Oudenhoven of Kimberly, WI and second
place Blake Bjorklund of Isanti, MN will both be making their Iowa racing debutes
Friday. Van Oudehoven drives for Mike Butz of Green Bay, WI, the same car owner
who fielded cars for NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth when Kenseth raced Wisconsin
short tracks earlier in his career. Van Oudehoven was the Yellow Book Series
champion in 2003 and also won the Red, White & Blue State Championship crown
at Wisconsin International Raceway. Bjorklund, a series rookie, took his first
yellow Book USA feature win two weeks ago at I-94 Raceway in Sauk Center, MN
the day prior to his high school graduation. Jim Duchow of Appleton, WI is third
in the point standings and raced previously at Hawkeye Downs in the early 1990s
in the Mid-American Stock Car Series. Duchow drives for USAC Midget car owner
Denny Lamers. His Ford Taurus is considered one of the fastest Ford powered
short track cars in the nation.
Justin Diercks of Davenport, Johnny Spaw and Dudley Fleck of
Cedar Rapids and Ken Reiser of Waukun present a strong Iowa challenge for the
outsiders. Diercks is a three-time Miller 100 winner while Spaw is a many-time
track champion. Fleck also races at Hawkeye Downs and was a top runner in the
ARTGO Series.
Reiser races primrily at Dells Motor Speedway and will make a rare Hawkeye Downs
appearance.
Other early entries include Kirby Kurth of Wisconsin Rapids, WI; Trent Snyder
of Ironton, MN; Steve Carlson of West Salem, WI; Charlie Menard of Eau Claire,
WI; Dexter Bean of Westby, WI; Chris Grimes and Ryan Manthei of Green Bay, WI.
The program also includes the Yellow Book USA Super Trucks and several local divisions. Call 319-365-8656 for more information.
Series phone 920-823-2856