McCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. -- The USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour 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 eighth straight year this Friday and Saturday, June 3-4, for the 8th Annual Nebraska Spring Thaw at the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb.

Originally scheduled for early March but postponed by inclement weather, 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.

Ryan Gustin scored the first of his series-best sixteen wins last year at the Junction Motor Speedway. Making just his second start in his new ride with the Gressel Racing team, “The Reaper” started on the pole and beat Jon Tesch to the turn at the drop of the green flag, then fought off every challenge from the “Wizard of Watertown” for the entire 30-lapper.

Gustin returns to JMS this weekend for the 2011 season’s first points race in the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region. The 20-year-old phenom from Marshalltown, Iowa, has collected 11 feature wins this season already, and 26 altogether since last year’s triumph at the 3/8-mile high-banked JMS oval.

He currently leads the points in four of the other five USMTS regions and is on a three-race win streak after capturing three of the four main events this past Memorial Day Weekend.

In addition to Gustin and Tesch, other past Nebraska Spring Thaw champions expected this weekend include two other stars of the Dirt Knights television show – two-time winner Al Hejna and 2005 event champion Corey Dripps – along with nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock, who captured the debut event at the Junction Motor Speedway in 2004, plus dozens more of the rugged USMTS road warriors.

Race time is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The first heat race on Saturday takes the green flag at 7 p.m. Hobby Stocks and Four-Cylinders will join the action on Friday while Saturday’s racing card will be rounded out with NASCAR Late Models, NASCAR B-Modifieds and NASCAR Stock Cars.

Located five miles south of I-80 on US 81, the Junction Motor Speedway is a state-of-the-art facility entering its eighth 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.

For more information, visit the USMTS web site