Bleess nails down two top-10s in USMTS northern lid-lifters

The USMTS rolled through Minnesota this past weekend with a threesome of races on the schedule to kick off the RealTruck.com Northern Region action for 2016.

Jacob Bleess brought his #21 EZ Fabricating/MBCustoms machine to the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minn., on Thursday, and was looking to get his feet wet with the toughest dirt modified drivers in the country. He got started off on the right foot by using his right foot and winning the night's first heat race. He started fourth in the 42-lap main event and cruised to a seventh-place finish among the 48 entrants.

Fifty cars and drivers showed up Friday night at the I-94 Raceway in Fergus Falls, Minn. After scoring his second heat race win in as many nights, the USMTS rookie  took off from the pole position and raced out to lead the first 16 laps of the feature race before defending USMTS national champion Jason Hughes ran him down and took control with 17 circuits complete. Bleess, nonetheless, finished strong and recorded a fourth-place finish.

Saturday's scheduled show at the Viking Speedway was rained out. Full story and complete results can be seen at www.usmts.com.

Next weekend, three more events are on the docket, beginning Friday, May 20, at the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn. The team travels to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend on Sunday, May 22, at the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa.