Glasgow, KY-November 22, 2013- The Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series recently completed its fourth season of sanctioning UMP Modified special events and Bryan Barber of Greensburg, KY is the first two-time Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series champion.
The 2013 season brought about several changes to the open wheel tour and all were positive. Summit Racing Equipment came on board as the title sponsor for the series, Shane Mugavin would become the series race director, and the tour would visit five new venues during the 2013 season.
The season got started on April 13 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, TN and 2013 series champion Bryan Barber of Greensburg, KY would collect the $3000 payday, in the first three series main event victories in the contest that was a first-time venue for the tour and drew 32 entries at a track that does not host Open Wheel Modified competitors on a regular basis.
The month of May would see only one event and that would take place at Cedar Ridge Speedway in Morgantown, KY and Will Krup of Mount Carmel, IN would take his first-ever series win in an event that drew 39 entries.
The month of June would see a pair of events contested, with the tour visiting Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, OH on June 21 and Bryan Barber would score his second tour victory of 2013 over a field of 34 entries. Florence Speedway in Union, KY would host the tour the next evening on June 22 and 2012 and 2013 UMP Modified national champion Devin Gilpin of Columbus, IN would score his lone win on the tour for the season at this event that saw 49 entries signed in for competition.
One event would be scheduled in the month of July at that would take place on July 13 at Cedar Ridge Speedway in Morgantown, KY and Jimmy Payne of Glasgow, KY would score his biggest career win to date by taking $3000 victory at this event that saw 34 racers be in action.
201 Speedway in Sitka, KY would be the next stop on the 2013 tour and Bryan Barber would solidify his stranglehold on the series points lead by winning the tour’s first ever to the Eastern Kentucky facility in an event that drew 26 entries for competition.
The Labor Day Weekend Triple Shot would see the tour visit three different facilities for the very first time. On August 30, Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, IL would be the scene of the action and Jeff Leka of Buffalo, IL would take the $3000 victory over a strong field of 42 entries. On August 31, the action shifted to the American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, IL and Jeff Curl of Forrest, IL would take $5000 checkered flag first in an event that drew a standout crowd of 52 entries. The weekend would wrap up at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, IL and Jeff Curl would take his second $5000 victory of weekend and become only the second driver to be a repeat winner with the series in 2013 over a field of 49 entries.
The tour concluded its 2013 campaign on October 26 at Florence Speedway in Union, KY and Brian Ruhlman of Clearlake, MI became the seventh different driver to visit victory lane with the tour in 2013 and the first driver from the state of Michigan to claim a $5000 series victory over a season-high number of entries of 63.
During the 2013 Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series season, a total of 221 different drivers from nine states (KY, IN, IL, OH, WV, MI, NC, TN, and MO) earned points with the tour. The car count was the best in series history as the tour averaged 42 entries per event.
The Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series has presented 38 events in the history of the series and a total of 22 different drivers have visited victory lane with the tour over the past four seasons. Two-time series champion (2011, 2013) Bryan Barber has the most tour wins in series history with six victories, followed by Joey Kramer of Hanover, IN with four victories, and Trent Young (2012 series champion) of Hopkinsville, KY with three series wins. Five drivers have two career series victories and they include Devin Gilpin of Columbus, IN, Ryan Thomas of Gosport, IN, Michael England of Glasgow, KY, Mike Harrison of Highland, IL, and John Demoss of Bloomington, IN (2009 series champion).
The Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series would like to thank all of the tracks that hosted events during the 2013 season and also send a special thanks out to all of the tour’s official series sponsors and marketing partners that helped make the tour’s fourth season the most successful to date for the series.
The Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series will officially crown 2013 series champion Bryan Barber and recognize other drivers that competed with the series at the annual UMP DIRTcar banquet that will take place in January 2014.
The Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series will present UMP Modified sanctioned dirt track sports entertainment at racing venues throughout Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, and Tennessee. For more information concerning the Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series, contact series race director Shane Mugavin at (270) 576-6474 or by email at shane@mugavin.com or visit the series webpage at www.americanmodifiedseries.com, along with Facebook and Twitter at American Modified Series.
2013 FINAL Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series Top Ten Point Standings
1. Bryan Barber (Greensburg, KY)- 1,990
2. Trent Young (Hopkinsville, KY)- 1,610
3. Ricky Tinch (Deerlodge, TN)- 1,605
4. Josh Ferguson (Covington, IN)- 1,465
5. Rocky Wilson (Elizabethtown, KY)- 1,360
6. Keith Smith (Clay City, KY)- 1,260
7. Don Adams (London, KY)- 1,075
8. Levi Kissinger (Mount Vernon, IN)- 1,010
9. Chad Kinder (Newton, IL)- 845
Matt Mevert (Steeleville, IL)- 845
Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series 2013 Tour Schedule *April 13- Smoky Mountain Speedway (Maryville, TN)- $3,000 to win/$225 to start (Bryan Barber) *May 18- Cedar Ridge Speedway (Morgantown, KY)- $1,500 to win/$200 to start (Will Krup) *June 21- Moler Raceway Park (Williamsburg, OH)- $1,500 to win/$200 to start (Bryan Barber) *June 22- Florence Speedway (Union, KY)- $1,500 to win/$200 to start (Devin Gilpin) *July 13- Cedar Ridge Speedway (Morgantown, KY)- $3,000 to win/$225 to start (Jimmy Payne) *August 24- 201 Speedway (Sitka, KY)- $1,500 to win/$200 to start (Bryan Barber) *August 30- Farmer City Raceway (Farmer City, IL)- $3,000 to win/$225 to start (Jeff Leka) *August 31- Fairbury’s American Legion Speedway (Fairbury, IL)- $5,000 to win/$250 to start (Jeff Curl) *September 1- Spoon River Speedway (Canton, IL)- $5,000 to win/$250 to start (Jeff Curl) *October 26- Florence Speedway (Union, KY)- $5,000 to win/$250 to start (Brian Ruhlman)
Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series 2013 Official Sponsors *Summit Racing Equipment (www.summitracing.com)- “Title Sponsor for the American Modified Series and Sponsor of Heat Race #1”
*All Star Performance (www.allstarperformance.com)- “Official Hard Charger of the Race” Award Sponsor *Arizona Sport Shirts- “Official Merchandise Vendor” of the Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series (www.arizonasportshirts.com) *Crane Cams Ignition Systems- “Official Ignition System” of the Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series (www.cranecams.com) *Quick Car Racing Products (www.quickcar.net)- “$100 Fast Qualifier Award” at all Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series events *VP Racing Fuels (www.vpracingfuels.com)- “Official Race Fuel” of the Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series
Summit Racing Equipment American Modified Series 2013 Marketing Partners *AFCO Racing Shocks (www.afcoracing.com) *Bad Fast Race Chassis (www.734dirt.com) *Bandit Race Cars (www.banditracecars.net) *Bilstein (www.bilsteinus.com)- Presented by B&B Motorsports *Bob Pierce Race Cars (www.bobpierceracecars.com) *Dale Meers Race Engines *Dyers Top Rods (www.dyersrods.com) *Frankland Racing Equipment (www.franklandracing.com)- “Sponsor of Heat Race #4”
*Hypercoils (www.hypercoils.com)- “Sponsor of Heat Race #3”
*Impressive Race Cars (www.impressiveracecars.com) *Integra Shocks (www.integrashocksprings.com) *Jay Dickens Race Engines (www.jaydickens.com) *Maximum Energy Development *Mullins Race Engines (www.mullinsraceengines.com) *PRO Shocks (www.proshocks.com) *RACEceiver (www.raceceiver.com) *SpeeDecals Racing Graphics (www.freewebs.com/speedecals/) *UMP Dirt Car (www.umpracing.com) *Wehrs Machine (www.wehrsmachine.com)- “Sponsor of B-Mains”
*Wick Oil Company (www.wickoil.com)
*Williams Precision Engines (www.wpespeedshop.com)- “Sponsor of Heat Race #2”