SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. (Aug. 18) – Five straight nights at five different racetracks produced five different winners as Rodney Sanders scored his first win during the Hunt for USMTS Casey’s Cup Sunday night at the Granite City Speedway.

‘The Rocket’ started on the pole but it was his teammate, Jason Krohn who jumped out to lead the first lap. The 2007 USMTS National Champion led the first five laps using the high side of the clay oval, but Sanders inched ahead on lap 6 as the low line began to show signs of taking rubber.

Seeing Sanders’ advantage growing, Krohn moved down behind Sanders just in time to settle into second place ahead of Ryan Gustin, who started sixth.

The race’s first and only caution came at the halfway point of the 40-lapper just as Sanders had caught the rear of the pack, and the restart gave him a clear track ahead to sail away over the final 20 laps to score the win and a $5,000 paycheck.

It looked like Krohn and Gustin would follow in order to the finish line, but a flat right rear tire with one lap to go dropped Krohn to the rear of the running order while Gustin coasted to a runner-up finish-his best in the first nine races in ‘The Hunt.’

Johnny Scott wound up third, Chris Brown was fourth and Daniel Hilsabeck recorded his best finish of the season with a fifth-place effort.

Jeremy Payne, Dave Cain, Stormy Scott, Jason Hughes and Dave Mass rounded out the top 10 finishers.

It was Sanders’ 18 career United States Modified Touring Series triumph and propelled him from fourth to second in the championship points standings. Johnny Scott remains on top with 875 points, Sanders has 857, Hughes is third with 839 and  Stormy Scott is ranked fourth with 836 markers. The rest of the top 10 with eight events remaining are Payne (758), Zack VanderBeek (713), Brown (677), Dereck Ramirez (645), Kelly Shryock (641) and Lucas Schott (628).

After three days off, the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup rolls on with three events in three states on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 22-24. Action kicks off on Thursday at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., and then moves to the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., on Friday. The swing wraps up at the Salina High Banks Speedway in Pryor Creek, Okla., on Saturday.

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.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup – Round 9 of 17
Granite City Speedway, Sauk Rapids, Minn.
Sunday, Aug. 18, 2013

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (1) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
3. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (7) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (2) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
7. (3) 40 Charlie Hillukka, Monticello, Minn.
8. (5) 1x Cody Erickson (R), Ulen, Minn.

JRi SHOCKS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
2. (6) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
3. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (7) 2m Dave Mass, Brainerd, Minn.
5. (5) 31t Trent Follmer, Princeton, Minn.
6. (1) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
7. (2) 9m Dale Mathison (R), Clearwater, Minn.
8. (8) 24jr Jeff Lien Jr. (R), Mora, Minn.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 2c Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
2. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (2) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo.
4. (3) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
5. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
7. (5) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (4) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (6) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
4. (1) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
5. (3) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
6. (5) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn.
7. (7) 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (3) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
4. (6) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
5. (4) 31t Trent Follmer, Princeton, Minn.
6. (5) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, $500.
7. (7) 40 Charlie Hillukka, Monticello, Minn., SSR/Newgard, $80.
8. (9) 1x Cody Erickson (R), Ulen, Minn., Impressive/Mullins, $100.
9. (8) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (1) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo.
3. (3) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (4) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
5. (6) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn.
6. (7) 9m Dale Mathison (R), Clearwater, Minn.
7. (8) 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D., Hughes/G-Force, $80.
8. (9) 24jr Jeff Lien Jr. (R), Mora, Minn., Matrix/Sput’s, $100.
9. (5) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, $200.

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 40, $5000.
2. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $2000.
3. (5) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/ProPower, 40, $1600.
4. (9) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1100.
5. (4) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $900.
6. (8) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 40, $800.
7. (3) 2c Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn., Shaw/Tim’s, 40, $700.
8. (11) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/ProPower, 40, $650.
9. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $700.
10. (12) 2m Dave Mass, Brainerd, Minn., Shaw/Wheeler, 40, $450.
11. (13) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $500.
12. (15) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $550.
13. (17) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., GRT/TriStar, 40, $425.
14. (14) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $400.
15. (19) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $375.
16. (18) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $400.
17. (16) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo., GRT/Geddes, 40, $425.
18. (22) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn., Wheeler/Wagamon, 40, $300.
19. (23) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, 40, $400.
20. (2) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, 39, $300.
21. (24) 9m Dale Mathison (R), Clearwater, Minn., MBCustom/Tim’s, 20, $300.
22. (21) 31t Trent Follmer, Princeton, Minn., Shaw/Tim’s, 13, $275.
23. (7) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, 10, $300.
24. (20) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, 9, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Lap Leaders: Krohn 1-5, Sanders 6-40.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 35. Krohn 5.
Margin of Victory: 2.937 seconds.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Brown (started 9th, finished 4th).
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 22, Valley Speedway, Grain Valley, Mo.
Points Standings: J. Scott 875, Sanders 857, Hughes 839, S. Scott 836, Payne 758, VanderBeek 713, Brown 677, Ramirez 645, Shryock 641, Schott 628.
Rookie of the Year Points: Hunt 1642, Galloway 1542, Big Eagle 1258, Jeff Conner 855, Adam Penn 598.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: ProPower 361, Mullins 325, RoushYates 318, Geddes 312, Sput’s 294.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 395, GRT 370, MBCustom 343, Skyrocket 262, LG2 214.

Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Jensen.
American Racer – Schott.
Beyea Custom Headers – J. Scott.
BSB Manufacturing – Hilsabeck, Cain.
Buck Monson Photos – Sanders.
Crane Cams – Sanders.
Dominator Race Products – Krohn.
Edelbrock – J. Scott.
Eibach Springs – Cain.
FK Rod Ends – Whiteaker.
Forty9Designs.com – Tesch, Big eagle.
Fuel Safe – Payne.
GRT Race Cars – J. Scott.
Hooker Harness – Thatcher.
JRi Shocks – Hilsabeck.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Hughes.
Keyser Manufacturing – Mass.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Steensma.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Brown.
MSD Ignition – Sanders.
PBM Performance Products – Krohn, Sanders.
Power Lift Racing Products – Hunt.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
VP Racing Fuels – Sanders.