Night #2 of the Memorial Day swing for the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) was held at the Highway 3 Raceway in Allison Thursday night. Also running with the open modifieds were the USRA Dart Ironman Challenge stock car series along with the USRA hobby stocks and USRA bmods.
First to hit the track would be the USRA hobby stocks. Only seven cars made the call to start the event with Scott Spilde jumping out front. Dan Sacquinte would challenge Spilde late, but Spilde was able to fend off every challenge and pick up the win. Doug McCollough finished third, Dan Hovden fourth, and Kyle Anderson round out the top five.
The Dart Ironman Challenge series for USRA stock cars would be next on the slate of events. A hefty field of nineteen cars were on hand and Dan Trimble wasted no time grabbing the lead from the pole. Nathan Wood and Steve Jackson engaged in a battle for the fourth spot in the early parts of the race while Mike VanGenderen was working his way forward after starting eighteenth. VanGenderen methodically moved into seventh using the outside groove before a caution bunched the field up. Nathan Wood used this caution period to his advantage as he passed a couple cars to move into the second position. Following another yellow flag VanGenderen moved to the outside and passed Wood and Larry Portis for the runner up spot. The caution waved one more time after the white flag had appeared, but that set up a two lap shootout with Trimble still out front. VanGenderen elected the outside groove on the double-file restart and made the pass exiting turn two on the final lap to steal the win from his eighteenth starting spot. Trimble would settle for second, Larry Portis third, Steve Jackson fourth, and Todd Staley rouned out the top five.
That would bring us to the USRA bmod feature. I believe I counted right at thirty cars that hot lapped with the field dwindled down to twenty-four starters. Matt Lettow would take the lead from the start while youngster Cayden Carter followed in his tire tracks. Following a couple yellow flags, the distance was cut from fifteen laps down to twelve on account of time. This didn't phase Lettow as he took home the win followed by Cayden Carter, Brandon Hare, Rocky Caudle, and Brandon Leeman.
The USMTS modifieds would then take to the track and prepare for their pre-race ritual. Every car had either an American flag or a USMTS flag while "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood played over the speakers. For those who haven't witnessed it, it's definitely a great site and sound! It always brings goosebumps to my skin.
Corey Dripps and New Mexico driver Johnny Scott graced the front row at the start with Dripps taking the helm. Dripps would open up a good advantage before a caution for Tommy Weder slowed the pace. After restarting fifth, Kelly Shryock motored to the outside and passed Tommy Myer and Al Hejna to take over the third spot. A bit further back Ryan Gustin was on the charge. After being disqualified in his heat race, Gustin fought back through and won his b-main event and started thirteenth on the grid. He found himself up to fifth and later passed Hejna on the outside for fourth. Gustin would drift high and lose two spots before getting back by Hejna for fifth before the yellow flag was displayed again.
Kelly Shryock used that restart to slip by Johnny Scott for second while Gustin followed to third. Johnny Scott would lose a couple spots late in the race to Tommy Myer and Al Hejna, but the story of the night was Corey Dripps' dominating performance. He was followed across the line by Kelly Shryock, Ryan Gustin, Tommy Myer, and Al Hejna.
The USMTS will now travel into the Land of 10,000 Lakes as they invade the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minnesota on Friday night. For their complete schedule and more complete results, check out www.usmts.com.
I'd also like to point out that Ryan Clark, a member of the Positivelyracing.com group, was the announcer for the night. Todd Narveson was scheduled to be on hand to announce the USMTS portion of the show, but came down ill prior to the event starting. Ryan filled in nicely on short notice! Check out his viewpoints from high atop the announcer's stand at "In Staging" on www.positivelyracing.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive
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