Hello everybody. I know I haven't been blogging much this season, and there is a good reason for that. I was without a computer from the third week of March up until sometime after Labor Day. I won't go into details, but needless to say it was a struggle!
Anyway I've had a lot of people ask me where I've been and how many races I've attended. So I thought I'd give a full-season breakdown of my travels.
For the first time in recent memory, I failed to make it to a race in March. I had plans to attend a USMTS event in Missouri, but those plans changed. That being said, I will outline the chronological order of events I attended. I started off the season with plans to only attend one race per week. However, those plans were adjusted in June when I connected with some new race friends.
April 6 - Frostbuster at Marshalltown
April 7 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Burlington
April 15 - Mason City weekly race
April 22 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Dubuque
May 5 - Webster City weekly race
May 8 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Vinton
May 12 - Webster City weekly race
May 16 - Oskaloosa weekly race
May 19 - Webster City weekly race
May 22 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Marshalltown
May 26 - USMTS at Deer Creek Speedway near Spring Valley, MN
May 28 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Mason City
June 5 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Webster City
June 8 - Marshalltown weekly race
June 9 - Boone weekly race
June 12 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour & IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Tipton
June 16 - Jackson, Minnesota Northstar Series (IMCA mod tour for MN)
June 20 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Oskaloosa
June 21 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Cresco
June 22 - Marshalltown weekly race
June 23 - USMTS at Grain Valley, Missouri
June 26 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Alta
June 27 - USMTS at Deer Creek Speedway
June 29 - USMTS at Allison
June 30 - Cornbelt Clash/MARS/MLRA Late Models at Corning
July 2 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Independence
July 3 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Algona
July 4 - Stock Car Shootout at Oskaloosa
July 7 - Gopher 50 (World of Outlaws Late Models) at Deer Creek Speedway
July 8 - Hogan Memorial at Vinton
July 11 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Mason City
July 12 - USMTS at Winston, Missouri
July 13- USMTS at Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS)
July 15 - IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models at Dubuque
July 17 - Hawkeye Dirt Tour event at Oskaloosa
July 19 - Harris Clash at Knoxville
July 21 - Independence weekly race
July 25 - USMTS World Dirt Track Championships at Deer Creek Speedway
July 28 - USMTS World Dirt Track Championships at Deer Creek Speedway
July 30 - Season Championships at Webster City
Aug 1 - USMTS at Alta
Aug 3 - Marshalltown weekly race
Aug 6 - World of Outlaws Late Models and IMCA modifieds at Independence
Aug 9 - Night of 1,000 Stars (Hawkeye Dirt Tour event) at Britt
Aug 10 - Cornbelt Clash Late Models at Lansing, MN
Aug 15 - Season Championships at Alta
Aug 17 - Marshalltown weekly race
Aug 18 - USMTS at Decorah
Aug 24 - Marshalltown weekly race
Aug 25 - Boone weekly race
Aug 29 - USMTS at Fairmont, MN
Aug 31 - Marshalltown weekly race
Sept 1 - USMTS & Cornbelt Clash Late Models at Deer Creek Speedway
Sept 3-8: IMCA Supernationals at Boone
Sept 13 - Wissota 100 at Huron, South Dakota
Sept 14-15: Yankee 100 at Farley
Sept 16 - Season Championships at Vinton
Sept 20-22: USMTS Fall Jamboree at Deer Creek Speedway
Sept 27-29: Knoxville Late Model Nationals at Knoxville
Oct 5 - Fall Challenge at Oskaloosa
Oct 6 - Liberty 100 at West Liberty
Oct 12 - Bruce Sommerfeld Memorial at Fort Dodge
Oct 13 - Fall Nationals at Hays, Kansas
Oct 19-20: MLRA Late Models and modifieds at Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS)
Oct 21 - Fall Nationals at Donnellson
Oct 27 - Thunder on the Hill at Mayetta, Kansas
Oct 28 - Memphis Fall Nationals at Memphis, Missouri
Nov 3 - Larry Phillips Memorial at Springfield, Missouri
Nov 10 - Atchison, Kansas
Nov 17 - Turkey Classic at Springfield, Missouri
I attended 80 races at 36 different tracks in 5 different states. I finally made it to my first "new" track in September when I made my first trip to the Wissota 100 in Huron, South Dakota. At the beginning of the season, one of my goals was to attend a Wissota show and hopefully watch their modified division.
The biggest highlight of my season is the many different road trips that I took with several different friends. The month of June provided several memorable trips, with a couple being memorable for totally opposite reasons. The Hawkeye Dirt Tour made their way to the Buena Vista Raceway in Alta back on June 26, and I was able to convince two friends (Jessica Miller and Kalena Albert) to tag along with me. Those two sure know how to keep things rockin!! A road trip in July found me venturing south into Missouri and Kansas for two USMTS races. September saw perhaps the wackiest and craziest couple of consecutive days for me. On a Thursday my friend Brett McCollough and I drove to South Dakota to watch the second night of the Wissota 100. After spending the night, we woke up early to drive back on Friday. I was barely home for thirty minutes before I met up with Grant Oskvig and headed east to the Farley Speedway to take in the Yankee Dirt Track Classic.
That along with all the crazy miles I put on road trips for fall specials. That is why many of my friends used the word "crazy" when they saw me show up at a race.
Throughout the season I had many people ask me if I "quit" writing or why I hadn't been writing. To be honest, I was a bit surprised to hear that many people actually read what I write. While I do plan to get back "into the groove" at some point, I am uncertain when that time will come.
For now, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and will enjoy a festive Christmas and New Year's. Who knows, you may hear from me again before New Year's. Only time will tell.
PS - This blog was not written today. I have been working on it for about a week now, and just completed editing it with a few final thoughts.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
USMTS National Championship Series Recap
The United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) held two separate point championships this season. The higher paying National Championship Series (NCS) was finalized back in early September in Ogilvie, Minnesota where Ryan Gustin collected his second consecutive National Title.
The NCS was comprised of 27 races on the schedule, with drivers' best twenty finishes counting towards the championship. The season got kicked off down in Baytown, Texas in February and concluded in Ogilvie, Minnesota in early September.
Ten different drivers visited victory lane in those twenty-seven races, but Ryan Gustin accumulated the most with ten. Jason Hughes was next with six with other multiple feature winners being Johnny Scott, Chris Brown, and Stormy Scott. Terry Phillips, Kelly Shryock, Mike Sorenson, Joey Jensen, and Jeremy Payne each collected one win apiece.
As I mentioned, the NCS only counted each driver's best twenty finishes. Well, for Gustin that would be rather simple as he had twenty finishes in the top five! Jason Hughes recorded fifteen top 5's to help earn a second place finish in the points. Rodney Sanders finished third in points behind a string of twelve top 5's. Gustin also led the way with 25 top ten finishes while Sanders was just one behind with 24. Hughes had 20.
Gustin's average finishing position was 5.0. His two finishes outside the top ten were a 27th place finish in Kennedale, Texas and a 20th place finish in Alta, Iowa. His average starting spot was 11.1, giving him the most average positions gained of 6.1 cars per race. Terry Phillips gained on average 3.6 cars a race to finish second in that category.
Similarly to the Hunt for the Casey's Cup, the NCS saw six races be won from the pole position. The pole-sitter's average finishing position was 7.52 while the average starting position of the eventual winner was 4.63. The NCS saw an average of 40.7 cars at each race.
That will put a wrap on this recap. Stay tuned for more..
The NCS was comprised of 27 races on the schedule, with drivers' best twenty finishes counting towards the championship. The season got kicked off down in Baytown, Texas in February and concluded in Ogilvie, Minnesota in early September.
Ten different drivers visited victory lane in those twenty-seven races, but Ryan Gustin accumulated the most with ten. Jason Hughes was next with six with other multiple feature winners being Johnny Scott, Chris Brown, and Stormy Scott. Terry Phillips, Kelly Shryock, Mike Sorenson, Joey Jensen, and Jeremy Payne each collected one win apiece.
As I mentioned, the NCS only counted each driver's best twenty finishes. Well, for Gustin that would be rather simple as he had twenty finishes in the top five! Jason Hughes recorded fifteen top 5's to help earn a second place finish in the points. Rodney Sanders finished third in points behind a string of twelve top 5's. Gustin also led the way with 25 top ten finishes while Sanders was just one behind with 24. Hughes had 20.
Gustin's average finishing position was 5.0. His two finishes outside the top ten were a 27th place finish in Kennedale, Texas and a 20th place finish in Alta, Iowa. His average starting spot was 11.1, giving him the most average positions gained of 6.1 cars per race. Terry Phillips gained on average 3.6 cars a race to finish second in that category.
Similarly to the Hunt for the Casey's Cup, the NCS saw six races be won from the pole position. The pole-sitter's average finishing position was 7.52 while the average starting position of the eventual winner was 4.63. The NCS saw an average of 40.7 cars at each race.
That will put a wrap on this recap. Stay tuned for more..
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
USMTS Hunt In Review
The final points battle is now in the books for the United States Modified Touring Series with the conclusion of the Featherlite Fall Jamboree. Ryan Gustin picked up both the National Championship Series title as well as the Hunt for the Casey's Cup crown, earning a cool $30,000 and $15,000 for his efforts. I thought I'd take a minute to break down the Hunt for the Casey's Cup a little bit.
Gustin got off to a hot start as he picked up the opening round win back on August 9 at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri. Jeremy Payne grabbed the win in Humboldt. Terry Phillips took the win the next night in Wheatland, Missouri while Gustin again found victory lane in Monett, Missouri the next night.
The series then moved north to Rice Lake, Wisconsin where northern hotshoe Joey Jensen collected another impressive win. Jon Tesch then picked up back to back wins at Founatin City, Wisconsin and Decorah, Iowa while Johnny Scott picked up the win in Worthington to conclude that four-race swing.
The Minnesota invasion then started August 29 at the Fairmont Raceway in which Ryan Ruter won in convincing fashion. Jason Krohn would pick up the win the next night in Jackson with Mike Sorenson garnering top honors at Lansing. Ryan Ruter would pick up another win, this time at the Deer Creek Speedway before Jon Tesch picked up his third win on the Hunt at Kasson.
Stormy Scott would put together back-to-back wins in Ogilvie and Sauk Rapids to tighten the points battle with Gustin and Rodney Sanders as they embarked on the final three nights at the Fall Jamboree.
Jeremy Payne would collect his second win of the season on opening night. Rodney Sanders would inch to within four points of Gustin after picking up the win on night two. Stormy Scott still had a mathematical chance of winning the championship, but he would need luck on his side. Scott would have a great run on the final night as he finished third. However, Gustin would finish fourth and Sanders fifth to secure the championship for Gustin.
Through the course of the 18-race marathon, Jon Tesch collected the most wins with three. It would have been interesting to see how close Tesch would have finished had he not missed four nights. Gustin, Stormy Scott, and Jeremy Payne were the only other drivers in the top fourteen in points to have multiple victories. Gustin would garner the most top 5's with eleven while Sanders was tops with sixteen top 10's.
Sanders would boast the best average finishing position of 6.28 compared to Gustin's 6.72. The average car count per Hunt race was 52.0 cars. The pole-sitter won seven of the eighteen races. However, the average finishing position of the pole-sitter was 6.4. The average starting position of the eventual winner was 3.2.
Gustin's average starting position was 10.9 while his average finishing position was 6.7. Rodney Sanders' numbers were 9.7 and 6.3, respectively while Stormy Scott's was 10.5 and 6.3, respectively. Gustin would have a +75 on positions changed while Stormy Scott was a +72.
That puts a wrap on my Hunt recap. I am in the process of putting together more data for the National Championship Series and the Casey's Cup Qualifier races, and then plan to tie all the information together for a cumulative recap. So if this kind of stuff interests you, check back in the near future!
Gustin got off to a hot start as he picked up the opening round win back on August 9 at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri. Jeremy Payne grabbed the win in Humboldt. Terry Phillips took the win the next night in Wheatland, Missouri while Gustin again found victory lane in Monett, Missouri the next night.
The series then moved north to Rice Lake, Wisconsin where northern hotshoe Joey Jensen collected another impressive win. Jon Tesch then picked up back to back wins at Founatin City, Wisconsin and Decorah, Iowa while Johnny Scott picked up the win in Worthington to conclude that four-race swing.
The Minnesota invasion then started August 29 at the Fairmont Raceway in which Ryan Ruter won in convincing fashion. Jason Krohn would pick up the win the next night in Jackson with Mike Sorenson garnering top honors at Lansing. Ryan Ruter would pick up another win, this time at the Deer Creek Speedway before Jon Tesch picked up his third win on the Hunt at Kasson.
Stormy Scott would put together back-to-back wins in Ogilvie and Sauk Rapids to tighten the points battle with Gustin and Rodney Sanders as they embarked on the final three nights at the Fall Jamboree.
Jeremy Payne would collect his second win of the season on opening night. Rodney Sanders would inch to within four points of Gustin after picking up the win on night two. Stormy Scott still had a mathematical chance of winning the championship, but he would need luck on his side. Scott would have a great run on the final night as he finished third. However, Gustin would finish fourth and Sanders fifth to secure the championship for Gustin.
Through the course of the 18-race marathon, Jon Tesch collected the most wins with three. It would have been interesting to see how close Tesch would have finished had he not missed four nights. Gustin, Stormy Scott, and Jeremy Payne were the only other drivers in the top fourteen in points to have multiple victories. Gustin would garner the most top 5's with eleven while Sanders was tops with sixteen top 10's.
Sanders would boast the best average finishing position of 6.28 compared to Gustin's 6.72. The average car count per Hunt race was 52.0 cars. The pole-sitter won seven of the eighteen races. However, the average finishing position of the pole-sitter was 6.4. The average starting position of the eventual winner was 3.2.
Gustin's average starting position was 10.9 while his average finishing position was 6.7. Rodney Sanders' numbers were 9.7 and 6.3, respectively while Stormy Scott's was 10.5 and 6.3, respectively. Gustin would have a +75 on positions changed while Stormy Scott was a +72.
That puts a wrap on my Hunt recap. I am in the process of putting together more data for the National Championship Series and the Casey's Cup Qualifier races, and then plan to tie all the information together for a cumulative recap. So if this kind of stuff interests you, check back in the near future!
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