CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Feb. 6) — The start to the 16th season for the United States Modified Touring Series will have to wait one more day as unseasonably cold weather on the eastern coast of Texas has prompted officials from the USMTS and South Texas Speedway to postpone the season opener back one day.
The 2nd Annual Sparkling City Nationals will now be staged on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7-9, for the first of four straight weekends along America’s southern border. Hot laps begin at 6:30 Friday with racing at 7:00. Saturday and Sunday will see hot laps begin at 5:00 with the first green flag at 5:30.
RacinDirt.TV will carry all of the action live online from every show during the four-week swing with flag-to-flag action from start to finish each night. Visit www.RacinDirt.tv for more information.
The series’ lone journey to the South Texas Speedway came in 2007 with Jason Hughes and David Horner taking the wins on the first two nights before rain thwarted the finale of the tripleheader.
The high-powered open-wheel machines of the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by Swan Energy move to the Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, next for the 5th Annual Double H Bands Texas Spring Nationals presented by Penn Transport on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-15.
The USMTS has visited the Royal Purple Raceway at least once in each of the last seven seasons. Jason Hughes leads all drivers with six career wins at the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval. The state-of-the-art facility has main grandstand seating capacity of 7,500 which includes fourteen VIP luxury suites and boasts a modern Musco Lighting system suitable for television productions.
From there, the series treks to the El Paso Speedway Park for two nights on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, before heading a few minutes up the road to the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M., on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-28 and March 1.
This will be the first-ever visit by the USMTS to El Paso and Las Cruces, but tracks host the similar USRA Modifieds during their weekly Friday and Saturday night programs throughout the year, as well as some well-attended special events that routinely draw the best dirt modified aces on the planet.
Each of the three-day shows will by $2,000 to win Thursday, $3,000 to win Friday and $4,000 to win Saturday. The two-day clash in El Paso will pay $2,000 and $3,000 to win, respectively. An open practice will be held at each track on Wednesday night (Thursday at El Paso) prior to each of the four events.
The February swing of races will be contested in the USMTS MVT Gulf Coast Border Region, which will serve as one of four regions for 2014 with its own lucrative points fund, so by the end of the night on March 1 the season’s first regional champion will be crowned and the first group of drivers will be qualified for the 2014 Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by Swan Energy.
The USMTS MVT Gulf Coast Border Region points champion will also be the lone driver in contention for a $100,000 payoff if that driver can go on to win the points title in the other three regions and ‘The Hunt.’
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.
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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, AMP Energy, Casey’s General Stores, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, MSD Ignition, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, Snickers, SpiderWeb Modular Storage Solutions, Swan Energy.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, ElbowsUp.com, Erson Cams, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Major League Bowhunter, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Penn Transport, S & S Fishing and Rental, United Cellular Services.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Bell Racing Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Brass Monkey Racing Products, BSB Manufacturing, C&R Racing, CPD Racing Tools, Edelbrock, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Hooker Harness, JRi Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, PBM Performance Products, Power Lift Racing Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Sybesma Graphics, Tiger Rear Ends.