Sanders collects championship trophy, Best of the Best honored at USMTS awards banquet

 

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 31) -- The finest drivers in America clashed more than 70 times last year to compete in the United States Modified Touring Series at nearly 40 of the premier dirt ovals in America.

Friday night at the Harrah's Casino & Hotel in North Kansas City, Mo., the Best of the Best in the USMTS traded in their driver suits for dress suits as they gathered with crew members, sponsors, family and fans to celebrate the 2013 racing season and honor the elite class of their peers at the series annual awards banquet.

Top points earners, regional champs, rookies, crew chiefs and manufacturers were celebrated throughout the night which was capped off by the presentation of the championship trophy and awards to 2013 USMTS National Champion Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas.

After 36 regional events comprising the USMTS Casey's Cup Series, 28 drivers came into the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's National Championship with a shot at becoming the champ.

Entering the final points race in the 17-race grind, three competitors remained in contention and when the checkered flag waved for the last time the last man standing was Sanders.

Sanders entered the final feature to determine the title sitting third in points. He finished second in the race behind two-time defending USMTS national champion Ryan Gustin, but it was enough to secure the championship over Johnny Scott and Jason Hughes.

'The Rocket' was a model of consistency during the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup and throughout the entire season too.

Of the 48 times he rolled onto the track in a USMTS contest, he cashed a top-five paycheck 34 times.

During 'The Hunt,' he finished outside the top 10 just once and was a top-five finisher in 13 events en route to claiming the championship.

"I have to give all the credit to my team and our sponsors," said Sanders, who turned 24 years old just two weeks after clinching the crown. "There is just no way we could possibly have the success that we've had without my car owner, Brandon Davis, Swan Energy and the support that my family and fans give me."

Sanders' first USMTS national championship was worth $15,000 and is the first for chassis builder MB Customs and engine builder Geddes Racing Engines, and the first for a driver from the Lone Star State in the 15-year history of the USMTS.

Johnny Scott finished just seven points behind Sanders in the final standings while Hughes was 11 markers short of capturing his second USMTS crown.

The rest of the top 10 in the final 2013 USMTS Casey's Cup Series points were Stormy Scott, Jeremy Payne, Zack VanderBeek, Gustin, Kelly Shryock, Lucas Schott and Dereck Ramirez.

Grant Snider, who turned wrenches for Sanders and the #20 Swan Racing team during the 2013 campaign, was awarded the CPD Racing Tools Crew Chief of the Year Award.

Prior to Sanders being presented with his accolades by master of ceremonies Lon Oelke, USMTS president Todd Staley took the microphone to make a special announcement that was made public for the first time Friday night.

First, Staley revealed to the banquet attendees that the organization has began work on the creation of the USMTS Hall of Fame.

Staley continued by adding that just one person-nine-time USMTS national champion Kelly Shryock-was being inducted into the USMTS Hall of Fame for 2013.

"This is really a great honor and there are so many people to thank, but my wife, Dawn, would be first as she has been there through thick and thin the entire way," Shryock told the audience. "So many people have helped us along the way, I don't know where to begin. It's incredible thinking back to where it all started and now looking at these young guns we race against night in and night out-they're so talented and fast that it makes it tough for an old man to keep up."

After accepting the induction award to a standing ovation from the banquet attendees, Shryock was presented with a one-of-a-kind plaque, a cash award and a gift from Casey's General Stores.

In addition to his nine USMTS national titles, Shryock also won the USMTS Southern Series championship in 2007. He second-generation racer from Fertile, Iowa, has competed in more than 800 USMTS events with an astounding 180 career wins.

Now in the planning stages, an official announcement with complete details about the USMTS Hall of Fame will be revealed this summer, added Staley, who is the only person to have attended more USMTS events in his lifetime than Shryock.

Three regional champions were honored Friday night, including Jeremy Payne who captured the Arbor Masters Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports.

Despite the Scott brothers winning four of the first six races in the region, Payne put the hammer down and won his first of five features in the region on April 19 at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., and then tacked on four more wins in the next eight races to earn the $5,000 points title.

Rounding out the top 10 in the final standings were Hughes, Johnny Scott, VanderBeek, Shryock, Stormy Scott, Thomas Tillison Jr., Sanders, Trevor Hunt and Austin Siebert.

It wasn't until the seventh event at the Texas Thunder Speedway in Killeen, Texas, that Johnny Scott finally got his first win in the Allgayer Inc. Southern Region presented by Day Motor Sports.

He went on to capture four more wins in the next eight races to secure the regional crown, besting Sanders by a wide margin in the final standings and taking home the $5,000 points champ check.

Chris Brown, VanderBeek, Hughes, Shryock, Stormy Scott, Clyde Dunn Jr., Dereck Ramirez and Steve Whiteaker Jr. completed the top 10 in the final regional points standings.

Johnny Scott opened the Farm Boy BBQ Northern Region presented by Day Motor Sports with a thrilling victory at the Fairmont (Minn.) Raceway where he made a last-lap pass of his twin brother to claim the win, but Stormy Scott got the last laugh.

Although he went winless in the region, Stormy Scott's seven top-10 finishes were enough to claim the regional points title and the $5,000 prize accompanying it.

Joey Jensen, VanderBeek, Ramirez, Johnny Scott, Schott, Hughes, Shryock, Hunt and Corey Dripps rounded out the top 10 in the final standings.

At 14 years of age, Trevor Hunt entered his first season with the USMTS as a rookie in the truest sense of the word.

Seven months and more than 2,000 laps later he had developed into a regular front-runner, earned the respect of his fellow competitors and emerged as the 2013 USMTS Rookie of the Year.

In addition to putting $2,000 in his pocket for the accomplishment, Hunt, who turned 15 on Jan. 6, also garnered an ED Series Dirt Series fuel cell from Fuel Safe plus valuable contingency awards from Beyea Custom Headers, Champ Pans, Dominator Race Products, FK Rod Ends, Genesis Racing Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing and more for his rookie title.

Canadian teammates Joey Galloway and Masen Big Eagle pressured the youngster at every event, eventually earning the second- and third-place spots in the rookie standings.

Zack VanderBeek was honored as the 2013 Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award winner.

The COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Award went to Pro Power Racing for the first time while the Tiger Quick Change Manufacturers Championship went to Hughes Racing Chassis for the fourth year in a row.

Drivers competing in the United States Racing Association were also honored at the doubleheader awards celebration. For more on the USRA portion of the banquet, check out www.usraracing.com.

The 16th season for the United States Modified Touring Series and quest for the 2014 USMTS National Championship kicks off at the South Texas Speedway in Corpus Christi for the 2nd Annual Sparkling City Nationals on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-8, for the first of four straight weekends along America's warm southern border.

The high-powered open-wheel machines of the USMTS Casey's Cup powered by Swan Energy move to the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, next for the 5th Annual Double H Bands Texas Spring Nationals presented by Penn Transport on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-15.

From there, the series treks to the El Paso Speedway Park for two nights on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, before heading a few minutes up the road to the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28 and March 1.

Each of the three-day shows will by $2,000 to win Thursday, $3,000 to win Friday and $4,000 to win Saturday. The two-day clash in El Paso will pay $2,000 and $3,000 to win, respectively. An open practice will be held at each track on Wednesday night (Thursday at El Paso) prior to each of the four events.

The February swing of races will be contested in the USMTS MVT Gulf Coast Border Region, which will serve as one of four regions for 2014 with its own lucrative points fund, so by the end of the night on March 1 the season's first regional champion will be crowned and the first group of drivers will be qualified for the 2014 Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup powered by Swan Energy.

The USMTS MVT Gulf Coast Border Region points champion will also be the lone driver in contention for a $100,000 payoff if that driver can go on to win the points title in the other three regions and 'The Hunt.'

RacinDirt.TV will carry all of the action live online from every show during the four-week swing with flag-to-flag action from start to finish each night. Visit www.RacinDirt.tv for more information.

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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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, AMP Energy, Casey's General Stores, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, MSD Ignition, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, Snickers, SpiderWeb Modular Storage Solutions, Swan Energy, VP Racing Fuel.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, ElbowsUp.com, Erson Cams, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Major League Bowhunter, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Penn Transport, S & S Fishing and Rental, United Cellular Services.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Bell Racing Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Brass Monkey Racing Products, C&R Racing, CPD Racing Tools, Edelbrock, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Hooker Harness, JRi Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, PBM Performance Products, Power Lift Racing Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Sybesma Graphics, Tiger Rear Ends.