Zack VanderBeek

Mammoth Memorial Day Weekend USMTS Modified tripleheader on deck

The Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s embarks on a colossol Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 28-30, with a whopping $30,000 going to the winner(s) of the three main events.

Rollin’ into Rocky Friday: The 72-hour grind begins Friday at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa, for the 13th Annual USMTS Rapid Rumble presented by Real Racing Wheels.

In 2018, fans witnessed a nail-biter when eventual 2018 USMTS national champ Johnny Scott take the checkers despite limping home the final lap with a shredded blown tire.

Rapid Speedway was the site of one of the most thrilling shows in 2019 when both Rodney Sanders and Ryan Gustin spun while racing for the lead. That opened for door for Terry Phillips to sneak in, take the money and run.

Sanders redeemed himself with his third career win here in last year’s event. In the 12 previous USMTS features held here, only Sanders has visited victory lane more than once. One-time former winners include Dereck Ramirez, Cade Dillard, Cory Crapser, Zack VanderBeek, Jason Krohn, Jon Tesch and Kelly Shryock who won the first USMTS show here on June 23, 2006.

General admission spectator tickets for Friday’s show are $25, youth ages 12-16 are $20, kids 6-11 are $10. Pit passes are $40 or $25 for kids 6-10. Those under 6 years old get in free of charge in the grandstands and pits.

The pit gate will open at 4:30 p.m. and grandstands open at 5:30. Hot laps start at 6:45 with qualifying and racing to follow at 7:30.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win and $700 to start, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars presented by Precision Auto Body ($550 to win), USRA B-Mods presented by J&L RV ($475 to win), Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stocks presented by Sybesma Graphics ($400 to win) and Lems Auto Recyclers Sportsmans.

Driver registration ends at 6:15 p.m. and the pit meeting commences at 6:20. Drivers can call (712) 472-2067 to get put in heat race lineups if arriving after 6:15. If you arrive after 6:15 and don't call ahead, you will start at the back of a heat race.

The Rapid Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval located 0.5 mile east of US 75 on SR 9, then 0.5 mile south on South Tama St. at the Lyons County Fairgrounds (400 S Tama St, Rock Rapids, IA 51246). For more information, call (712) 472-2067 or visit rockrapidsspeedway.com.

Saturday show at The Creek: About 3.5 hours to the east of the Rapid Speedway, the 18th Annual USMTS Southern MN Spring Challenge presented by Boomtest Well Service happens Saturday at the legendary Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

The list of former USMTS winners here could serve as dirt modified racing’s half of fame class.

Nine-time USMTS national champ Kelly Shryock won the first-ever USMTS contest here in 2002 but his 10 career wins at Deer Creek puts him second on the list behind Jason Hughes, who has a series-best 14 victories here. Rodney Sanders has also garnered 10 checkered flags here.

Ryan Gustin has seven wins while Tim Donlinger and Terry Phillips each have five, along with two-time USRA Modified national champ Brandon Davis.

Jason Cummins and Brad Waits have four apiece and three wins are noted by Cade Dillard, Zack VanderBeek, Joey Jensen and Jake O’Neil. O’Neil is on a three-race winning streak here after sweeping the Labor Day event and both nights of the Featherlite Fall Jamboree in September. The Memorial Day Weekend event last year fell victim to the pandemic.

Two-time winners here include Corey Dripps, Jason Krohn, Ryan Ruter, Stormy Scott, Lucas Schott, Johnny Scott and Dustin Sorensen.

Drivers who have visited victory lane here one time include Mark Noble, Steve Wetzstein, Darin Walker, Tony Fraise, Dan Daniels, Chad Kinder, Mark Burgtorf, Brad McEwan, Randy Timms, Dean Mahlstedt, Tommy Myer, Mike Sorensen, Mike Spaulding, Dan Chapman, Les Duellman, Mike Hejna, Steve Arpin, Jon Tesch, Jordan Grabouski, Jeremy Payne, Craig Thatcher, Tommy Weder Jr., Dereck Ramirez and 2019 Featherlite Fall Jamboree finale winner Jacob Bleess.

General admission spectator tickets for Saturday’s show are $30. Youth ages 12 and under are $10. Pit passes are $40 or $25 for kids ages 6-15. Those under 6 years old get free admission into the pits with an accompanying adult.

The pit gate will open at 3 p.m. and grandstands open at 4. Hot laps start at 5:30 with qualifying and racing to follow at 6 p.m.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win and $700 to start, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars ($500 to win), USRA B-Mods ($500 to win) and Wissota Midwest Mods.

The Deer Creek Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval which sits on 60 acres with one of America’s most popular state-of-the-art racing complexes and an adjoining campground. The track is located 11.3 miles south of I-90 at exit 209 on US 63 (0.7 mile north of SR 16). The physical address is 25262 US Hwy 63, Spring Valley, MN 55975. For more information, call (507) 754-6107 or 877-DCS-RACE and check out deercreekspeedway.com.

Weekend wraps up in Winneshiek County: The Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader wraps up Sunday with the 13th Annual USMTS Nordic Nationals presented by PBM Performance Products at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.

Zack VanderBeek collected his first of three USMTS wins at the Upper Iowa Speedway during his rookie campaign in 2005. Gustin, Hughes, Tesch, Al Hejna and Johnny Scott are two-time winners here. Jake O'Neil won the last USMTS race in Decorah—his first win here—in 2019. The 2020 running of the Nordic Nationals fell victim to COVID-19 and rain doomed the 2015 and 2013 events.

General admission spectator tickets for Friday’s show are $25. Seniors (62+) and youth (12-16) get in for just $20. Kids (6-11) are $10. Pit passes are $40 and kids (6-10) are $25. Those under 6 years old get in free of charge in the grandstands and pits.

The pit gate will open at 2:00 p.m. and grandstands open at 3:30. Hot laps start at 5:30 with qualifying and racing to follow at 6.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win and $700 to start, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars ($500 to win), USRA B-Mods ($500 to win) and Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stocks ($400 to win).

Driver registration ends at 5 p.m. and the pit meeting commences at 5:05.

The Upper Iowa Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile dirt oval located 1.8 miles east of US 52 on SR 9, then 1.0 mile northwest on Montgomery St., then northeast on E. Main St. at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds (900 E Main St, Decorah, IA 52101). For more information, call (563) 382-0711 or visit upperiowaspeedway.com.

If an asteroid impacts the planet prior to this weekend and/or a large-scale locust infestation blankets our world, thus preventing you from attending one, two or three of these mega-events, you can still watch live at racindirt.tv. We gotcha covered.

Taking dirt to a new level: The 2021 campaign for the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s features 36 nights of racing with the winners of those main events set to take home over $300,000 in earnings from more than $1 million in prize money earmarked for those shows.

Twenty-six of the 36 race nights will pay at least $10,000 to win while the other 10 carry a $5,000 top prize. And if that weren’t enough, more than $230,000 is committed to the top ten finishers in the 2021 points standings with a record $70,000 reserved for the 2021 USMTS National Champion.

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