Sanders decimates USMTS field in Mason City

MASON CITY, Iowa (May 26) -- Mother Nature spared the Mason City Motor Speedway Thursday evening, but Rodney Sanders wasn't as kind to his fellow USMTS competitors during the "All-In" 30 presented by Diamond Jo Casino.

When the 26-year-old from Happy, Texas, streaked beneath the checkered flag at the end of the 32-lap Casey's General Stores "A" Main, it was more than eight seconds before runner-Up Jason Hughes followed suit.

And against a stout field featuring the Best of the Best in the sport, the 2013 and 2014 USMTS national champion lapped all but seven cars in a dominating effort.

"I saw a bunch of guys that run well right in front of us," Sanders said. "I figured Hughes was probably there, but I didn't know who else would be there."

Fact of the matter, nobody was close.

Sanders is no stranger to rim-riding around the high side of a dirt track, but it's been a missing element for many years at the North Iowa Fairgrounds facility.

First-year promoter Al Hejna-along with his son-in-law, Ryne Staley, and USMTS founder Todd Staley-took over the promotional duties here shortly after the end of the 2015 season which was ended abruptly due to low car count and miserable fan turnout.

Fixing the neglected racing surface was a primary objective from day one, and the former I-35 Speedway re-opened as Mason City Motor Speedway just four days ago to a packed house and full pits with two- and three-wide racing.

Thursday's show was more of the same despite what looked to be an easy bet on a rain-out early on.

"They've done a lot of work to it, and for the better," Sanders added. "With all the rain they had and how good the track was considering that, I'm sure there will be more specials here."

Nothing could keep Sanders out of Widow Wax Victory Lane on Thursday-not even the weather. For Sanders though it did rain hundred-dollar bills (30 of them to be exact).

Hughes, who came into the contest as the RealTruck.com Northern Region points leader, finished ahead of Johnny Scott, Lucas Schott and Masen Big Eagle in the main event.

Cade Dillard raced from 14th to sixth to claim the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award, Jesse Sobbing placed seventh and Ryan Ruter was eighth.

Dan Ebert and Ricky Thornton Jr. finished one lap down to the leader in ninth and tenth, respectively.

The 9th Annual Guttormson Memorial takes place on Friday at the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn.

Out-Pace USRA B-Mods, Midwest Modifieds and Pure Stocks will round Friday's card at the always-exciting semi-banked 1/3-mile gumbo clay oval.

Pits open at 5 p.m., grandstands open at 5:30 and hot laps begin at 6:30 with racing to follow.

Race fans can find discount coupons good for $2 off adult grandstand admission at Casey's General Stores locations in Austin, Blooming Prairie and Stewartville. To find the location nearest you, visit www.caseys.com.

The Chateau Raceway is a located 5.0 miles north of Austin on US 218 (Lansing Exit), then 1.3 miles east on CR 2, then 0.4 mile south on CR 25, then 0.3 mile east on 266th St. For more information, call 507-272-8906 or 507-440-3680 and check out www.chateauraceway.net online.

On Saturday, the fast fun moves to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., for the 14th Annual Minnesota Spring Challenge presented by A&A Electrical & Underground, and then on Sunday the 9th Annual "Donnybrook in Decorah" takes place at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.

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 and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to 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 S&S Fishing & Rental - RealTruck.com Northern Region presented by Day Motor Sports
"All-In" 30 presented by Diamond Jo Casino
Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa
Thursday, May 26, 2016

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races were locked into the "A" Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

MSD HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 00 Masen Big Eagle, Manor, Sask., Canada.
2. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (1) N81 Mike Densberger (R), Lincoln, Neb.
5. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
6. (4) 28 Cole Hall, Sheffield, Iowa.
7. (9) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
8. (5) 01 Joey Galloway, Manor, Sask., Canada.
9. (3) 37 Mike Jergens (R), Plover, Iowa.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
2. (4) 01 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
3. (8) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (1) 99 Jett Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
5. (9) 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr. (R), Chandler, Ariz.
6. (6) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa.
7. (7) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
8. (5) 11 Alex Hanson, Kensett, Iowa.
9. (3) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (6) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (5) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (9) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa.
4. (2) 20r Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo.
5. (1) 4 Cody Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.
6. (3) B1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
7. (7) 6s Casey Skyberg, Rapid City, S.D.
8. (8) 65 Logan Brown, Clear Lake, Iowa.
9. (4) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN (8 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (2) B1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
2. (6) 01 Joey Galloway, Manor, Sask., Canada.
3. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (1) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa.
5. (8) 65 Logan Brown, Clear Lake, Iowa.
6. (9) 37 Mike Jergens (R), Plover, Iowa.
7. (5) 6s Casey Skyberg, Rapid City, S.D., Shaw/Mullins, 32, $75.
8. (10) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
9. (7) 11 Alex Hanson, Kensett, Iowa, BMS/KSE, 32, $75.
10. (4) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustom/Tim's, 32, $90.
11. (11) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (32 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 32, $3000.
2. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 32, $1700.
3. (5) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Lethal/Durham, 32, $1200.
4. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 32, $1000.
5. (4) 00 Masen Big Eagle, Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim's, 32, $900.
6. (14) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustom/ASI, 32, $800.
7. (6) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa, Harris/GMPP, 32, $700.
8. (9) 01 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput's, 32, $550.
9. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., Impressive/Speedwerx, 31, $600.
10. (10) 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr. (R), Chandler, Ariz., Victory/Karl, 31, $550.
11. (18) 01 Joey Galloway, Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/ProPower, 31, $500.
12. (19) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/Sput's, 31, $450.
13. (17) B1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., Shaw/Sput's, 31, $425.
14. (13) 20r Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo., Rage/KSE, 31, $400.
15. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/BK, 31, $375.
16. (16) 28 Cole Hall, Sheffield, Iowa, Sidebiter/Durham, 30, $275.
17. (21) 65 Logan Brown, Clear Lake, Iowa, /, 30, $250.
18. (15) 4 Cody Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill., GRT/Mullins, 27, $300.
19. (22) 37 Mike Jergens (R), Plover, Iowa, Harris/KSE, 18, $300.
20. (24) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/Fast, 17, $300.
21. (20) 45 Levi Nielsen, Evansdale, Iowa, Harris/KSE, 9, $250.
22. (23) 6 Brock Bauman (R), Eureka, Ill., GRT/Mullins, 3, $300.
23. (12) 99 Jett Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/ProPower, 0, $300.
24. (11) N81 Mike Densberger (R), Lincoln, Neb., Jet/Speedway, 0, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Lap Leader: Sanders 1-32.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 32.
Margin of Victory: 8.180 seconds.
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 11.989 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starters: Hillson, B. Bauman.
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: Hughes.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Dillard (started 14th, finished 6th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: Friday, May 27, Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
RealTruck.com Northern Region Points: Hughes 301, J. Scott 271, Dillard 250, Schott 230, Ebert 229, Bleess 228, VanderBeek 218, Sobbing 214, M. Big Eagle 182, Galloway 182.
Rookie of the Year Points: B. Bauman 1296, C. Bauman 1228, Tyler Wolff 1092, Billy Vogel 723, Kevin Rutherford 664.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 217, Geddes 176, Durham 141, GMPP 126, Sput's 125.
Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 214, MBCustoms 204, LG2 163, Harris 143, GRT 133.

Contingency Awards:
Allstar Performance - Ruter.
American Racer - Brown.
Bell Helmets - Brown.
Beyea Custom Headers - M. Big Eagle.
BSB Manufacturing - Nielsen.
Day Motor Sports - J. Big Eagle, Densberger.
Deatherage Opticians - Hillson.
Edelbrock - Hughes.
Eibach Springs - VanderBeek.
Fast Shafts - Bleess.
FK Rod Ends - Bleess.
Forty9Designs.com - Marriott, Jergens.
Fuel Safe - Dillard.
GRT Race Cars - Hillson.
Hooker Harness - Larson.
Integra Shocks & Springs - C. Bauman.
Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service - Hall.
Kevko Oil Pans & Components - Ebert.
Keyser Manufacturing - Thornton.
KSE Racing Products - Dillard.
Midwest Sheet Metal - Densberger.
MSD - M. Big Eagle, Sanders.
Out-Pace Racing Products - Hall.
PBM Performance Products - J. Scott.
QA1 - Hughes.
Real Racing Wheels - non-qualifiers.
Sybesma Graphics - Hughes.
VP Racing Fuels - Sanders.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products - Galloway.
Wilwood Engineering - Sobbing.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Argo Manufacturing, Casey's General Stores, Chix Gear Racewear, COMP Cams, CP-Carrillo, Day Motor Sports, Deatherage Opticians, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, Jerovetz Motorsports Shock Service, Kevko Oil Pans & Components, KSE Racing Products, Leaf Racewear & Safety Equipment, Malvern Trust & Savings Bank, MSD, RacerWebsite.com, RacinDirt.com, RealTruck.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, The Joie of Seating, VP Racing Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: AMP Energy Drink, Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Duvall Electric, ElbowsUp.com, Erson Cams, I-29 Trailer Sales, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Oreo, Production Jars, Rivers Edge Scrap Management, Snickers, Sour Patch Kids, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, BSB Manufacturing, Driven Racing Oil, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe Racing Cells, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance Products, Hooker Custom Harness, Integra Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, Midwest Sheet Metal, Out-Pace Racing Products, PBM Performance Products, QA1 Precision Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Sybesma Graphics, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Engineering.