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Runner-up for Vanderbeek in Caney

The 33z Racing Team continued on the Major League Bowhunter Central Region points chase at Osage Casino Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan. In the heat race Zack finished second which set up a sixth place starting position in the feature. Zack moved up in the feature but in the end Rodney Sanders won his fourth straight race with Zack in the second spot. This expanded Sanders points lead in the Central Region points with both Sanders and Zack quite a distance above third place Dylan Smith. Zack will follow the USMTS to the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. for racing on Friday and Saturday night.

Sanders snags fourth straight at Caney, ties Krohn on USMTS all-time wins list
 
CANEY, Kan.—Less than 24 hours after winning the feature race for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by Swan Energy on the half-mile oval at Lakeside Speedway, Rodney Sanders repeated the feat with a victory Wednesday night on the feisty bullring at the Osage Casino Caney Valley Speedway.
 
His third-place finish in C&R racing Heat Race #1 was enough to make the redraw among the top eight passing points earners, and for the second straight night ‘The Rocket’ drew the pole position for the main event.
 
While he led all but one of the 35 laps the previous night, the defending USMTS national champion paced all 40 of the orbits on the quarter-mile of clay in Caney, Kan., to nab his 13th victory of the 2014 campaign.
 
In the 16-year history of the United States Modified Touring Series, Sanders’ triumph also drew several parallels to another former USMTS champ, Jason Krohn, who captured his first and only title in 2007.
 
Sanders has been dating Krohn’s oldest daughter, Samantha, for a little more than three years, and the two drivers often share hauler space and work shops when traveling between their home states of Texas and Minnesota.
 
After tonight, both drivers are now tied for sixth on the all-time wins list with 31 career USMTS victories. Kelly Shryock sits atop the heap with 181 career wins, followed by Jason Hughes (123), Ryan Gustin (68), Tommy Myer (42) and Jon Tesch (36) in the top five.
 
Not far behind, 2004 USMTS Rookie of the Year Zack VanderBeek came up about four car-lengths short of capturing his 27th USMTS victory and settled for the runner-up spot.
 
Joe ‘Big Daddy’ Duvall turned a seventh-place starting spot into a third-place finish to record his career-best USMTS result while John Allen took fourth and current Rookie of the Year candidate Dylan Smith finished fifth.
 
Smith, who started 15th, earned his first Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award and climbed to third in the Major League Bowhunter Central Region behind Sanders and VanderBeek.
 
USRA Modified national points leader Jeremy Chambers garnered a sixth-place finish, nine-time USMTS national champion Kelly Shryock was seventh, 2013 Rookie of the Year Trevor Hunt placed eighth, Lance Town took ninth and Travis Smith rounded out the top 10.
 
Action moves to the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., on Friday and Saturday, July 18-19, for the 4th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals where the USMTS Modifieds will once again share the spotlight with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
 
The event drew rave reviews last year as two-time USMTS national champion Ryan Gustin steered his dirt late model from the 34th starting position to take the lead on lap 47 against the best drivers in the business. Later, Gustin tangled with a lapped car, taking himself out of contention while series champ Jimmy Owens went on to take the $27,000 payday.
Sanders comes into the Silver Dollar Nationals with dollar signs in his eyes. Not only did he sweep both ends of last year’s event for the USMTS, but he returned to I-80 Speedway this past April and won the Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Meltdown driving a dirt late model. He’ll be competing in both classes this weekend.
 
Once again, the USMTS will be running complete shows on both Friday and Saturday nights, culminating with the crowning of the Major League Bowhunter Central Region champion and the last group of drivers to qualify for this year’s USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s National Championship.
 
Friday’s main event pays $3,000 to win and the winner of Saturday’s feature race will pocket a cool $4,000. For those unable to witness the Silver Dollar Nationals in person, both nights will be carried live via pay-per-view at www.dirtondirt.com.
 
The I-80 Speedway is located one block north of I-80 at exit 420, about halfway between Lincoln and Omaha, Neb. The physical address is 13909 238th St., Greenwood, Neb. For more information, visit www.I-80Speedway.com or call 402-342-3453. You can also stay up to speed on Facebook and Twitter.
 
The month of July wraps up the following week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 24-26, the USMTS joins forces with the United States Racing Association (USRA) for the 4th Annual World Modified Dirt Track Championship at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., with no less than $15,000 going to the winner of Saturday’s 100-lap main event.
 
From there, the USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s National Championship powered by Swan Energy begins on Friday, Aug. 1, at the Batesville Motor Speedway near Locust Grove, Ark.
 
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.
 
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by Swan Energy – Major League Bowhunter Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports
Osage Casino Caney Valley Speedway, Caney, Kan.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
 
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. All drivers were locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 in heat race passing points re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
 
C&R RACING HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 48s Travis Smith (R), Parsons, Kan.
2. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (6) 9 Kinzer Edwards, South Coffeyville, Okla.
5. (7) 99h Trevor Hunt, Kearney, Mo.
6. (3) 27 Dan Morris, Fort Gibson, Okla.
7. (5) 11n Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
 
JRi SHOCKS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
2. (2) 23 Justin Rexwinkle, South Coffeyville, Okla.
3. (4) 21t Lance Town (R), Louisburg, Kan.
4. (3) 127 Andy Morris, Okay, Okla.
5. (5) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Waukee, Iowa.
6. (6) 11 Josh Griggs, Dewey, Okla.
 
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 17 Jeremy Chambers, Parsons, Kan.
2. (1) 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan.
3. (3) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
4. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (5) 95 Dylan Smith (R), Osceola, Neb.
6. (6) 10 Jerry Reeves, Wann, Okla.
 
CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 40, $2000.
2. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/Sput’s, 40, $1500.
3. (7) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $1000.
4. (3) 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan., GRT/Hatfield, 40, $900.
5. (15) 95 Dylan Smith (R), Osceola, Neb., Jet/Woods, 40, $800.
6. (4) 17 Jeremy Chambers, Parsons, Kan., Venom/Sput’s, 40, $700.
7. (12) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ASI, 40, $650.
8. (13) 99h Trevor Hunt, Kearney, Mo., GRT/Spanel, 40, $600.
9. (2) 21t Lance Town (R), Louisburg, Kan., Hughes/Driskell, 40, $550.
10. (5) 48s Travis Smith (R), Parsons, Kan., GRT/Yeoman, 40, $500.
11. (14) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Waukee, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $450.
12. (11) 127 Andy Morris, Okay, Okla., TRE/BMS, 39, $300.
13. (19) 11n Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark., TRE/BMS, 39, $275.
14. (17) 11 Josh Griggs, Dewey, Okla., Shark/C&C, 26, $250.
15. (10) 9 Kinzer Edwards, South Coffeyville, Okla., Hughes/Wornhor, 24, $250.
16. (18) 10 Jerry Reeves, Wann, Okla., GRT/Jack’s, 23, $250.
17. (16) 27 Dan Morris, Fort Gibson, Okla., TRE/BMS, 18, $250.
18. (9) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., MBCustom/Mullins, 18, $300.
19. (8) 23 Justin Rexwinkle, South Coffeyville, Okla., Shark/Outlaw, 1, $300.
 
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
 
Lap Leader: Sanders 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 40.
Margin of Victory: 1.435 seconds.
Provisional Starters: none.
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: T. Smith.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: D. Smith (started 15th, finished 5th).
Next Race: Friday-Saturday, July 18-19, I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.
Major League Bowhunter Central Region Points: Sanders 963, VanderBeek 928, D. Smith 775, Stormy Scott 751, Hilsabeck 686, Dereck Ramirez 673, Shryock 661, Austin Siebert 642, Johnny Scott 618, Duvall 567.
Rookie of the Year Points: Jake Gallardo 1736, Adam Penn 1298, Cade Dillard 1188, D. Smith 1122, Shane Sprinkle 874.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: ProPower 324, Sput’s 310, Geddes 275, Mullins 208, ASI 151.
Tiger Quick Change Manufacturers Championship Points: LG2 354, MBCustom 326, Ramirez 283, GRT 261, Hughes 223.

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