FARGO, N.D.-They say there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but for Austin Arneson there could be a pot of gold waiting for him at the end of the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental.
The 23-year-old from Fargo, N.D., earned $5,000 for winning the MVT Gulf Coast Border Region presented by Day Motor Sports, but that could be just one small step toward a possible $150,000 payday if he can pull off the nearly impossible.
Arneson was impressive during the first eleven races of the 2015 campaign, and making it even more remarkable is the fact that he’s a genuine rookie in United States Modified Touring Series competition, having raced just a handful of shows last season.
He picked up his career-first USMTS win on the third night of the season-opener at the Shady Oaks Speedway in Goliad, Texas, and snagged a couple more wins the following week at the El Paso Speedway Park.
But despite winning three of the first eight events, Arneson led two-time winner Dereck Ramirez by just six points entering the region’s final three-race swing at the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M.
Ramirez flipped the points after the first night but Arneson charged back on the second night to rebuild a 28-point lead over Ramirez going into the final race. On the last day, Jason Hughes was eliminated from title contention when Arneson took the green flag in his heat race while Ramirez saw his hopes dashed when he was the first driver to drop out of the main event.
Arneson finished 13th to win the regional points title and the accompanying $5,000.
“I knew I had to hang around him, and I knew if he didn’t get too far ahead and I didn’t get too far back we’d have the points deal,” Arneson said. “I don’t know what happened to Dereck; I just saw him go into the infield there. It sucks because everybody kind of wants a close finish for the deal, but we’re happy to get it and we’ll just go from here.”
In the final MVT Gulf Coast Border Region standings, Arneson bested Ramirez by 44 markers. Third through tenth in the final regional rankings were Jesse Sobbing, Philip Houston, Cade Dillard, Jason Hughes, Zack VanderBeek, Jake Gallardo, Daniel Hilsabeck and Grant Junghans.
Arneson is now the sole competitor with the opportunity to walk away $150,000 richer from the season-ending USMTS awards banquet. All he has to do now is win three more regional titles, and then win the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental while becoming the 2015 USMTS National Championship.
Each of the four USMTS regional champions will earn $5,000 while the winner of the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental and subsequent USMTS National Champion will earn $20,000.
That’s $40,000 to win all four regions and ‘The Hunt,’ but for any driver who can complete such an unheard of feat, there’s a $110,000 bonus to make the champion’s check an incredible $150,000.
There’s also bonuses in place if the USMTS National Champion can win multiple regions. If a driver can win three regions and ‘The Hunt’ that driver gets a $50,000 bonus to make his take-home pay $100,000 for the feat. Win two regions and ‘The Hunt’ and you’ll walk away with $50,000, including a $30,000 bonus.)
Arneson also leads the USMTS Rookie of the Year standings over Sobbing and his younger brother, Casey Arneson.
WHAT’S ON TAP?
The Best of the Best modified drivers in this solar system will be orbiting a pair of dirt ovals in Kansas and Missouri this weekend as the USMTS Casey’s Cup Series powered by S&S Fishing & Rental kick off action in the ultra-tough MSD Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports.
With the track still burning hot from this past weekend’s B-Mod Nationals, Saturday’s ‘USMTS Spring Fling @ The Bullring’ will be the 39th occasion that the Humboldt Speedway has hosted the fire-breathing USMTS Modifieds.
Johnny Bone Jr. won the first-ever race here on June 28, 2000, and also captured a second win eight years later, but nobody has come close to matching the success of Jason Hughes at ‘The Hummer.’
The 2010 USMTS National Champion has ten wins at Humboldt since 2001, but has not been to victory lane here since 2012 (13 feature races ago).
Kelly Shryock has five wins while Sanders and Stormy Scott have four wins apiece. Ryan Gustin has three checkers to his credit, Jason Krohn and Johnny Scott have two wins to their credit and one win each have been scored by Tim Donlinger, Jon Tesch, Steve Holzkamper, William Gould, Terry Phillips and Jeremy Payne.
Along with the Holley Iron Man Series featuring USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods, local Pure Stocks will also be in action. Gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Tickets are $17, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and children 5 and under get in for free with a paid adult. Pit passes are $35.
Saturday’s show will also be available to watch at home with live pay-per-view action provided by RacinDirt.com. Check out www.RacinDirt.com for ordering information.
The Humboldt Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile clay oval located off of US 169 to the Humboldt exit, then 0.1 mile west, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east. For more information call 620-431-2470 or 620-473-3694. You can also visit www.humboldtspeedway.com or get social at www.facebook.com/thehumboldtspeedway.
The weekend wraps up at the I-35 Speedway in Winston, Mo., on Sunday, March 22. The USMTS visited the former Winston Speedway seven times between 2002-03, and returned six more times between 2011-14.
Shryock has three wins here and Gustin has two. John Allen, John Van Den Berg, Scott Drake, Mark Noble, Johnny Scott, Ron Ver Beek, Stormy Scott and Sanders each have one win.
Pit gates open at 3 p.m. this Sunday with grandstands opening at 4 p.m., hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6 p.m. Adult tickets are $18, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and those under 6 years old get in for free. Pit passes are $35.
The I-35 Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval located 10 miles north of Cameron on SR 6 (Exit 64). For more information call 660-749-5317 or check out their website at www.i-35speedway.net. You can also like the track on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/I-35-Speedway-Winston/182581628549406.
The mega-popular Holley Iron Man Series featuring USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods will share the spotlight both days during the ‘Modified March Madness’ swing.
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 subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.
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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Casey’s General Stores, Chix Gear Racewear, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Deatherage Opticians, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, MSD, Nitroquest Media Group, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, VP Racing Fuels.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, Duvall Electric, ElbowsUp.com, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Rivers Edge Scrap Management, Schwab’s Tinker Shop, UMotors Motorsports & Marine, Velocita-USA.
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