This message was edited on
February 02, 2007 at
08:00:18 AM by hook
New USMTS Southern Series in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma & Texas!
The New O'Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series 2007 Southern Tour will begin at Enid Speedway Park in Oklahoma on March 30th & 31st and end at South Texas Speedway in Corpus Christi with three shows in November! The Enid race will pay $2000 to win on Friday and $3000 to win on Saturday. South Texas Speedway's races will pay $1000 to win on Thursday, November 15th, $2000 to win on Friday the 16th and the USMTS Southern Series championship hunt will conclude at South Texas Speedway with a $3000 to win event on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (November 17th).
Two of the stops along the way will be southeast Arkansas's Monticello Speedway on Friday night, July 27th and north Louisiana's Fast Trax Speedway on Saturday night July 28th. Each night pays $2000 to win and $200 to start and has a purse of $12,000 per show. The Chapmans of Monticello (promoters Joe & Michelle Chapman) have built an absolutely beautiful 3/8 mile oval and if you haven't seen it, you need to! Billy and Sandra Bagwell have also made a show-piece out of the historic Chatham, Louisiana quarter-mile oval (formerly Super Bee Speedway in the day!) since purchasing it several seasons ago. My favorite of the many upgrades at Fast Trax is some exceptionally good racing clay, improved banking and great track prep that makes for some excellent Modified racing.
Each show will include passing-point heat races, B-mains and a feature. The top eight from passing points draw for starting positions for rows one through four. The top 12 passing point cars go directly to the A main and everyone else runs one of the B-mains to fill out the 24-car field. They also do a 4-wide salute before the feature with each car carrying a large American flag. If you've never seen them do it, you've missed one of the coolest visuals in all of dirt track racing. A USMTS Modified show is also a well run, fast paced program that you're sure to enjoy. The weekly Modified class at Monticello will have Saturday the 28th off in support of the Fast Trax USMTS show. Hooks Racing Publications & Media will be on hand at both shows for news coverage and announcing. Hope to see you all there. Website links and map locations for Monticello and Fast Trax Speedways are available at www.hooksrpm.com/ADTL07.htm .
Two of the USMTS's biggest stars have already committed to running against the best the south has to offer at the Monticello & Fast Trax shows. Tommy Myer -- all the way from Blooming Prairie, Minnesota -- and the eight-time USMTS champion Kelly Shryock from Fertile, Iowa have committed to both shows. Shryock is the "Steve Kinser" of USMTS! He is to big-time Modified racing what Scott Bloomquist is to Late Model racing. Even with USMTS promoter Todd Staley coming up with the chase-like, "Hunt" last year, Shryock still prevailed but he did have his hands full right up until the final race of the season. Kelly also had a podium finish in last year's biggest paying Modified race (the $50,000 to win event at Batesville Speedway in Arkansas). Shryock had a flat while leading the feature by a large margin. After getting his flat fixed, Kelly charged from 25th position to finish second to Peyton Taylor. Many believe Shryock's Skyrocket Chassis was the fastest car at Batesville that weekend.
The USMTS Hunt is a lot like NASCAR's chase where USMTS drivers compete for a spot in some season ending "playoff" races dubbed "The Hunt" where they then battle it out for the season championship. Iowa's Zack VanderBeek had the point lead in last year's Hunt with just 4 races remaining but then Shryock took his familiar orange & white #3 to victory lane in Bolivar, Missouri on October 28th and grabbed the point lead. In the final weekend of the season, Shryock held on for a narrow 19-point win in the standings over VanderBeek in the closest USMTS title chase ever. Even third place -- Jason Frieson from Nebraska -- wasn't mathematically eliminated from contention until the final race. Myer was a close fourth in the final standings last year and has been close to Shryock before in his own quest for a USMTS title. Tommy would like nothing better than to become the first USMTS champion not named Kelly Shryock!
The USMTS Southern Series will have it's own point fund though with more details about it to be announced later. In addition to the 7 races already mentioned, USMTS is expecting a full schedule of around 15 races or more so expect more dates to be announced soon. USMTS uses American Racer KK704 modified tires, however, ONLY those racers competing for the USMTS Southern Series points title will be required to run only that tire. Others will be allowed to compete with the Hoosier G60 tires if they prefer. No other tires will be allowed. There is also a spec motor option available that's very similar to the one used in SUPR Late Model racing. For information on it or anything else about the O'Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, visit the USMTS website at www.usmts.com . There are contact phone numbers posted there as well.
Monticello Speedway will also hold the second annual Modified Madness on April 6th and 7th (defending champion Jeremy Payne) that would also serve as good test session for the July USMTS showdown. The Madness pays $2000 to win with qualifying heat races on Friday and features on Saturday. Total purse is $18,000! More details to be announced. Fast Trax will not be racing on Saturday night, April 7th.
Fast Trax Speedway will hold the first Doug Murphrey Memorial Modified Race on May 12th. Purse and other details will be announced soon. This would make a good test for their July USMTS show as well. The weekly Modified class at Monticello Speedway will also be off on May 12th in support of this show.
Make your plans now to be at Monticello Speedway and Fast Trax Speedway then and on that last weekend of July for some of the best Modified racing ever seen in these parts! Cya there!
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