The opening weekend for the United States Super Truck (USST) Challenge series started off not as planned. Rain Thursday and Friday forced the series to cancel race one of the racing weekend's double header at Hawkeye Downs (Cedar Rapids, IA). Race two of the weekend at the Iowa Speedway (Newton, IA) on the other hand was a great success. The sun was shining and the teams were able to race, but mother nature was not done, she provided the drivers with a stiff breeze making the 7/8th mile at Iowa Speedway a little more challenging.

John Wood of Sun Prairie, WI driving his #72 Patherfinder & Rockweiler Insulation Ford, started where he left the Iowa Speedway last year, fast. John motored around the speedway with an average speed of 126.500 MPH (24.901 seconds). He was followed by Chris Sevey (Waterloo, IA) and Jess Williams (Hickory Flats, MS).

Bobby Yonkee (Willowbrook, IL) led the field of 19 drivers to the green flag of the USST Pride of Iowa 50. Larry Fitzsimmons of (Crystal, MN) quickly grabbed the lead going into the first turn. Chris Sevey and John Wood, starting in the 12th and 13th positions, quickly worked their way through the field. On lap 11 a mechanical failure caused Gary Joslin (Overland Park, KS) to veer right and crash hard into the the outside wall entering turn 3, one of the fastest places on the track. By the time of the caution, Sevey and Wood were up to 6th and 7th followed by series new commer Alan Mondus. On the restart at lap 18, Wood quickly jumped Sevey at the line and the two of them continued to work through traffic. By lap 24, John Wood was on the rear bumper of the leader Fitzsimmons and shortly thereafter past him for the lead. Fitzsimmons would end up 6th on the night. Wood and Sevey battled nose to tail for almost 20 laps putting on a great show for the the 22,000+ fans that night. John was able to pull away late and went on to win the Pride of Iowa USST 50.

Mondus, who was in his first race in the Super Truck, finished second with a last lap pass of Sevey. They were followed by Jess Williams and Ross Zumbach (Racine, MN) to round out the top 5. Fitzimmons finished 6th trailed by Trista Stevenson (Pocahontas, IL), Gary Gerny (Janesville, WI), Gary Price (Independance, MO) and Mark Pinson. 11-19 included Steve Cooper (Tuttle, OK), Ron Hartford (Raytown, MO), Todd Lockington, Martin Meyers, Jeff Babb (Elgin, IL), Eric Caudell (Piedmont, OK), Bobby Yonkee (Willowbrook, IL), Tim Anderson (Scandia, MN) and Gary Joslin. There were several driver who had mechanical failures earlier in the day and were not able to make the race; Tom Roney (Crystal lake IL), Johnny Spaw, Scott Traylor, & Jerry Ziemieki.

The next race on the schedule for the Challenge series is Saturday June 13th at O'Reilly Raceway Park (Indianpolis, IN) in support of the the ASALM Challenge series. The USST North Series race at Madison International Speedway (Madison, WI) this Friday Night (May 22nd) and again Sunday May 24th at Grundy County Speedway. The USST South hits the track this Saturday at Altus Speedway (Altus OK) for the Texas Vs Okalahoma Shootout. We hope to see you there.