Bloomington, IN- May 13, 2011- After being weathered out last week, the American Modified Series would present its 2011 series opener on Friday evening with a visit to the Mike and Judy Miles promoted Bloomington Speedway in Bloomington, IN and Ryan Thomas of Martinsville, IN would visit victory lane in the inaugural American Modified Series event of the 2011 race season.
Thomas would lead all 30 laps of the event and survive three caution periods and would stave off the advances of a hard-charging John Demoss in the final laps of the event to capture the $1,500 payday. Thomas would score the victory in his Indiana Stone Works/Troy Truck and Tire/Indiana Decal Company sponsored #T9 Diamond Race Cars, Allen Race Engines powered machine. Defending series champion John Demoss of Bloomington, IN would take runner-up honors, with Shelby Miles of Bloomington, IN finishing third. Jeff Bland, Jr. of Springville, IN and Joey Kramer of Hanover, IN would complete the top five.
The remainder of the top ten would be Bryan Barber of Greensburg, KY, Derek Groomer of Bloomington, IN, Clint Demoss of Bloomington, IN, Richie Lex of Morgantown, IN, and Brad Barrow of Bloomington, IN.
In preliminary action, Shelby Miles was the Williams Precision Engines Top Qualifier among 38 entries at 13.016 seconds. Thomas would also win Hypercoil heat one, while Bryan Barber won Wiles Driveshafts heat two. Shelby Miles would take VP Racing Fuels heat three and Joey Kramer would score Comp Cams/Racing Head Service heat four. B-Main checkered flags fell to Brian Yeatman and Clint Demoss. Series provisional starting positions went to Brian Shaw and Rocky Wilson.
The next scheduled event for the American Modified Series is set for Saturday May 14 at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY. The event is the 11th Annual Mod Squad Bash and will pay $1,500 to win.
The American Modified Series presents UMP Modified sanctioned dirt track sports entertainment at racing venues throughout Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee. For more information concerning the American Modified Series, call series race director Chad Yantz at (606) 510-4836 or via the internet by visiting the series website at www.americanmodifiedseries.com.
American Modified Series Race Summary-Event #1: Bloomington Speedway-Bloomington, Indiana-May 13, 2011
Williams Precision Engines Top Qualifier- Shelby Miles 13.016 Hypercoils Heat #1 (Top 4 Transfer)- Ryan Thomas, Jeff Bland, Jr., Jacoby Hines, Michael England, Brian Yeatman, Rocky Wilson, Jake Houts, Bradley Sterrett, Josh Harris, Josh Mcelyea
Wiles Driveshafts Heat #2 (Top 4 Transfer)- Bryan Barber, Rob Fuqua, Levi Kissinger, Elliott Despain, Joe David Turner, Larry Lambert, Mike Bechelli, Brad Cummings, Nathan Voorhies
VP Racing Fuels Heat #3 (Top 4 Transfer)- Shelby Miles, John Demoss, Derek Groomer, Kelly Warren, Clint Demoss, Brian Shaw, Wes Leigh, Roger Williams, Bennie Smith, Jr., Tom Cox
Comp Cams/Racing Head Service Heat #4 (Top 4 Transfer)- Joey Kramer, Richie Lex, Brad Barrow, Karlie Holt, Greg Amick, Russ Gabbert, Trent Young, Justin Bex, Shane Kelley Racing
Head Service B-Main #1 (Top 2 Transfer)- Brian Yeatman, Bradley Sterrett, Brad Cummings, Josh Harris, Nathan Voorhies, Larry Lambert, Joe David Turner, Jake Houts, Rocky Wilson, Josh Mcelyea, Mike Bechelli
Comp Cams B-Main #2 (Top 2 Transfer)- Clint Demoss, Russ Gabbert, Justin Bex, Roger Williams, Bennie Smith, Jr., Wes Leigh, Shane Kelley, Brian Shaw, Greg Amick, Trent Young, Tom Cox
Bloomington Speedway A-Main– Ryan Thomas, John Demoss, Shelby Miles, Jeff Bland, Jr., Joey Kramer, Bryan Barber, Derek Groomer, Clint Demoss, Richie Lex, Brad Barrow, Bradley Sterrett, Brian Shaw, Michael England, Elliott Despain, Kelly Warren, Rocky Wilson, Rob Fuqua, Levi Kissinger, Jacoby Hines, Karlie Holt, Russ Gabbert, Brian Yeatman
Race Statistics
Entrants- 38
Lap Leaders- 1 (Thomas 1-30)
Caution Periods- 3 (Lap 4, Lap 12, Lap 12 restart) Red Flag Periods- None American Modified Series Provisionals- Brian Shaw, Rocky Wilson Track Provisionals- None Time of Race- Not Available Williams Precision Engine Fast Time Award- Shelby Miles ($100) Racing Head Service Slowest Qualifier- Josh Mcelyea ($100 gift certificate) Hypercoils Heat #1 Award- Ryan Thomas (Five Inch Spring) Wiles Driveshaft Heat #2 Award- Bryan Barber ($50 gift certificate) VP Racing Fuels Heat #3 Award- Shelby Miles ($50 gift certificate) Comp Cams/Racing Head Service Heat #4 Award ($50 gift certificate) Racing Head Service B-Main #1 Non Transfer Award- Brad Cummings ($100 gift certificate) Comp Cams B-Main #2 Non Transfer Award- Justin Bex ($100 gift certificate) All Star Performance Hard Charger Award ($100 gift certificate)- Clint Demoss (started 18th-finished 8th- advanced 10 positions) DJ Safety Lucky 13 Award- Michael England ($100 gift certificate) PPM Racing Products Hard Luck Award- Brian Yeatman ($50 gift certificate)
2011 American Modified Series Championship Point Standings (Top 10 after 5/13/11) 1. John Demoss (Bloomington, IN)- 280 2. Ryan Thomas (Martinsville, IN)- 260 3. Joey Kramer (Hanover, IN)- 255 4. Bryan Barber (Greensburg, KY)- 250 5. Shelby Miles (Bloomington, IN)- 230 6. Michael England (Glasgow, KY)- 215 7. Elliott Despain (Campbellsville, KY)- 210 8. Jeff Bland, Jr. (Springville, IN)- 210 9. Kelly Warren (Columbia, KY)- 205 10. Rocky Wilson (Hodgenville, KY)- 200 ®
NOTE: Points include Lake Cumberland rainout show-up points
American Modified Series 2011 Tour Schedule *May 7- Lake Cumberland Speedway (Burnside, KY)- $1,500 to win- Rainout *May 13- Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)- $1,500 to win *May 14- Bluegrass Speedway (Bardstown, KY)- $1,500 to win- 11th Annual Mod Squad Bash *May 27- Moler Raceway Park (Williamsburg, OH)- $1,500 to win *May 28- Lake Cumberland Speedway (Burnside, KY)- $1,500 to win *June 18- Richmond Raceway (Richmond, KY)- $1,500 to win- 2nd Annual Open Wheel Modified Bash *June 25- Florence Speedway (Union, KY)- $1,500 to win- Bandit Race Cars 30 *July 8- Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)- $1,500 to win- JB Salvage, Inc. 30 *July 23- To Be Announced (Kentucky)- To Be Announced *July 30- Bluegrass Speedway (Bardstown, KY)- $1,500 to win- 11th Annual Bluegrass Rumble *August 13- Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)- $1,500 to win- Monster Mod 40 *August 20- Brownstown Speedway (Brownstown, IN)- $1,500 to win- Boknecht Trucking 30 *August 26- Tazewell Speedway (Tazewell, TN)- $3,000 to win *September 16- Moler Raceway Park (Williamsburg, OH)- $1,500 to win
American Modified Series 2011 Sponsors/Supporters *All Star Performance (www.allstarperformance.com)- “Hard Charger of the Race” Award *Arizona Sport Shirts- “Official Merchandise Vendor” of the American Modified Series (www.arizonasportshirts.com) *Bad Fast Race Chassis (www.734dirt.com) *Bandit Race Cars (www.banditracecars.net) *B&B Motorsports *Bilstein (www.bilsteinus.com)- Presented by B&B Motorsports *Boknecht Trucking *Bob Pierce Race Cars (www.bobpierceracecars.com) *Comp Cams (www.compcams.com)- “Sponsor of Heat #4”
*Cruise with the Champions (www.cruisewiththechampions.com) *Dale Meers Race Engines *DART Machinery (www.dartheads.com) *Diamond Race Cars (www.diamondracecars.net) *DJ Safety (www.djsafety.com)- “Lucky 13 Award”
*Dyers Top Rods (www.dyersrods.com)
*Frankland Racing Equipment (www.franklandracing.com) *H & H Computer Services- North Vernon, IN (812) 352-1221 *Hypercoils (www.hypercoils.com)- “Sponsor of Heat Race #1”
*Impressive Race Cars (www.impressiveracecars.com) *Jay Dickens Race Engines (www.jaydickens.com) *JB Salvage, Inc. (www.jbsalvage.com) *JumpStart Communications- “Official Webmaster” of the American Modified Series *Maximum Energy Development *Mullins Race Engines (www.mullinsraceengines.com) *PPM Racing Products (www.ppmracingproducts.com) *RHS Head Service (www.racingheadservice.com)- “Engine Builder of the Year Award and Sponsor of Heat 4”
*UMP Dirt Car (www.umpracing.com)
*VP Racing Fuels (www.vpracingfuels.com)- “Official Race Fuel of the American Modified Series and Sponsor of Heat Race #3”
*Wiles Driveshafts (www.wilesdriveshafts.com)- “Sponsor of Heat Race #2”
*Williams Precision Engines (www.wpespeedshop.com)- “$100 Fast Qualifier Award” at all events