BAYTOWN, Texas (Feb. 22) – The nation’s elite dirt Modified drivers begin their quest for a 2012 USMTS National Championship with the season openers for both the USMTS Casey’s Cup and newly-formed USMTS National Championship Series this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-25, at the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas.

With the best names in the business entered for this year’s lidlifter, just making one of the main events will be a feat but one driver could come up smelling like roses and walk away with $10,000 or more from the tripleheader at the state-of-the-art 3/8-mile clay oval located just east of Houston.

USRA Western Flyer HotMods (Limited Modifieds) will also be on the racing card each night battling for $500, $600 and $900 to win, respectively, plus several bonus cash awards up for grabs.

The engines fire up and drivers get an opportunity to fine-tune their machines during an open practice on Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 6-9 p.m. before the green flag unfurls for the first time on Thursday for the year’s first USMTS Casey’s Cup Qualifier with at least $2,000 going to the winner.

With 27 USMTS Casey’s Cup Qualifiers on the schedule, drivers will be battling for a spot in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup, which will begin Aug. 9 at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., and culminate Sept. 20-22 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., during the 14th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree. At the conclusion of the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup, the champion will earn a $15,000 paycheck.

On Friday and Saturday, the inaugural events for the USMTS National Championship Series are on tap with each night carrying a $4,000 top prize and at least $400 to take the green flag in the main event.

The USMTS National Championship Series currently has 29 events and each will pay at least $4,000 to win with up to 30 cars taking the green flag in every feature race. The driver with the best 20 showings during the campaign will be named the 2012 USMTS National Champion and will take home a record $30,000 while the runner-up in the final ranking will get a cool $20,000 in the richest season-ending payoff in USMTS history.

Paul White won the first-ever USMTS event at the Royal Purple Raceway in 2007. Since then, trips to victory lane have also been made by Alan Mondus, Kelly Shryock, Jason Hughes, Tommy Weder Jr., Johnny Bone Jr., Zack VanderBeek, Jeremy Payne, Rodney Sanders, Ryan Gustin, John O Whittington, Chris Brown and Dereck Ramirez.

Hughes leads all drivers with five wins at the former Houston Raceway Park, but Ramirez comes into the event with the momentum after capturing back-to-back wins on the final two nights of the 5th Annual USMTS Winter Nationals in November.

Other drivers on the list for this blockbuster include defending USMTS National Champion Ryan Gustin, nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock, 2007 USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn, Johnny Scott, Rodney Sanders, Rick Beebe, Bryan Rowland, Chase Junghans, Grant Junghans, Shane Hebert, Randy Timms, Jeremy Payne, Steven Whiteaker Jr., Stormy Scott, Tyler Townsend, Dustin “Tater” Hyde, Tracy Denby Jr., Jason Thoennes, Joe Duvall, 2011 Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model Series champ John Anderson, four-time NCRA Modified national champ John Allen, defending Featherlite Fall Jamboree champ Terry Phillips, Jon Tesch, T.J. Herndon, Chris Henigan, Ron Keith, Jimmy Ray, Billy Turner, Rory Jordan, Larry Clevenger, Mike Sorensen, Michael Walker, Ben Stephens, Jay Marshall, Jimmy Ray, the father-son team of Fito and Jacob Gallardo, Southern New Mexico Speedway boss Royal Jones, Mark Dotson, Danny Barringer, Mark Smith, Rob Litton, Rich Loftus, Travis Johnson and Mickey Burrell.

THURSDAY PAYOFF:
Licensed – 1. $2000, 2. $1500, 3. $1000, 4. $800, 5. $700, 6. $600, 7. $500, 8. $450, 9. $400, 10. $350, 11. $320, 12. $300, 13. $275, 14-26. $250, Tow $80.
Non-Licensed – 1. $2000, 2. $1200, 3. $800, 4. $600, 5. $500, 6. $400, 7. $350, 8. $300, 9. $250, 10. $230, 11. $210, 12-26. $200, Tow $60.

FRIDAY PAYOFF:
Licensed – 1. $4000, 2. $2200, 3. $1600, 4. $1200, 5. $1000, 6. $800, 7. $700, 8. $600, 9. $550, 10. $500, 11. $475, 12. $450, 13. $425, 14-30. $400, Tow $100.
Non-Licensed – 1. $4000, 2. $2200, 3. $1500, 4. $1000, 5. $800, 6. $700, 7. $600, 8. $550, 9. $500, 10. $450, 11. $400, 12. $375, 13. $350, 14. $325, 15-30. $300, Tow $100.

SATURDAY PAYOFF:
Licensed – 1. $4000, 2. $2200, 3. $1600, 4. $1200, 5. $1000, 6. $800, 7. $700, 8. $600, 9. $550, 10. $500, 11. $475, 12. $450, 13. $425, 14-30. $400, Tow $100.
Non-Licensed – 1. $4000, 2. $2200, 3. $1500, 4. $1000, 5. $800, 6. $700, 7. $600, 8. $550, 9. $500, 10. $450, 11. $400, 12. $375, 13. $350, 14. $325, 15-30. $300, Tow $100.

ENTRY FEES:
On Thursday, early entry is $90 for licensed or $100 for non-licensed while at-the-track entry is $110 on race day. On Friday and Saturday, the early entry is $125 for licensed or $135 for non-licensed while entry on race day is $150. Drivers can still get the early entry rate through the end of practice on Wednesday night.

LICENSES:
There is no requirement to purchase a USMTS license to compete in any USMTS event. However, benefits enjoyed by licensed drivers include provisional starting spots, higher event purses and bonus payouts, increased tow money, discounted entry fees, points fund eligibility, increased media recognition, a personalized driver profile page on the USMTS website and more. The cost of a USMTS Casey’s Cup license is $150 and the cost of a USMTS National Championship license is $300.

RULES & PROCEDURES:
All USMTS rules apply. Qualifying will be done by heat race passing points and “B” Mains. Draw for heat race starting spot ends 15 minutes before hot laps. RACEceivers and AMB transponders are mandatory and available for rent or purchase from the USMTS. See complete rules at www.usmts.com.

USRA WESTERN FLYER HOTMOD PAYOFFS:
Thursday – 1. $500, 2. $300, 3. $200, 4. $170, 5. $150, 6. $130, 7. $110, 8. $100, 9. $90, 10. $80, 11. $70, 12. $65, 13. $60, 14. $55, 15-24. $50.
Friday – 1. $600, 2. $400, 3. $300, 4. $200, 5. $170, 6. $150, 7. $130, 8. $110, 9. $100, 10. $90, 11. $80, 12. $75, 13. $70, 14. $65, 15-24. $60.
Saturday – 1. $900, 2. $500, 3. $400, 4. $300, 5. $200, 6. $175, 7. $150, 8. $140, 9. $130, 10. $120, 11. $110, 12. $105, 13-24. $100.

The top-finishing USRA Western Flyer HotMod drivers that have not raced a USMTS Modified or are not currently a USMTS Modified driver will get the following bonus money: Thursday – $100, $75, $50, $25; Friday – $150, $100, $75, $50, $25; Saturday – $200, $150, $100, $75, $50, $25.

A $100 bonus will be paid to any driver racing all three nights and not qualifying for the “A” Main on Saturday, and there is also a Hard Charger Award worth $100 each night too.

EVENT TIMES:
Practice on Wednesday will be from 6-9 p.m. On Thursday and Friday, the pit gate opens at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 5 and racing begins at 7. On Saturday, pit gates open at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4 and the first heat race hits the track at 5:30.

TRACK INFO:
The Royal Purple Raceway is located just east of Houston on I-10 to exit 799, then 2.5 miles south on SH 99 (Grand Parkway), then 0.3 mile west on FM 565. For more information, call the track office at 281-383-7223 or visit www.royalpurpleraceway.com online.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like the USMTS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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USMTS TITLE SPONSORS: Casey’s General Stores, Swan Energy.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Race Suits, Cheetos, Dominator Race Products, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, SLAP Energy, Snickers.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arnold Motor Supply, ASi Racewear, Beebe Heating & Air Conditioning, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DAY Motor Sports, Dirthead.com, Dirt Knights, DrySlik Dirt Trak Racewear, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Karl Performance Parts, Mesilla Valley Transportation, O’Brien Enterprises, Olympic Fire Protection, Ramirez Race Cars, Ruter Farms, Sybesma Graphics, Yeager Machine.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products, COMP Cams, CPD Racing Tools, Eibach Springs, Erson Cams, Fast Shafts, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Harness, Hypercoil Springs, ISKY Racing Cams, The Joie of Seating, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, PBM Performance Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Racing Head Service, Tiger Rear Ends, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, WIX Filters.