The Summit USMTS Southern Series powered by Production Jars kicked off the 2018 campaign Friday with the first round of the 9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks presented by MSD Performance, and Johnny Scott becoming the first driver to dance in victory lane.

The 28-year-old from Las Cruces, N.M., and now residing in Cameron, Mo., appeared to be heading for a runner-up finish in the season’s first 40-lap main event, but mechanical troubles for race-long leader Rodney Sanders with just five laps remaining cleared the path for Scott.

“We had a really good car tonight, but no doubt Rodney had the fastest car tonight,” Scott said in victory lane. “I hate it for his guys but we’ll take them however we can get them. These wins are so hard to come by.”

While Sanders was dominant from the start of the first heat race until his undoing late in the feature race, several others gave the wind-blown Corpus Christi crowd plenty of action to witness.

Jon Mitchell, who started next to Sanders on the front row, battled inside the top three positions the whole race and eventually held off hard-charging Cade Dillard for second-place money.

Tenth-starting Joe Duvall registered a fourth-place result while Dereck Ramirez roared from 15th on the grid to notch the final spot in the top five.

Logan Robertson, Bobby Malchus, Ethan Dotson, Carlos Ahumada Jr. and Bryan Rowland completed the top 10.

The win was the 31st of Scott’s career, and worth $3,000.

Round 2 of the 9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks continues at the South Texas Speedway on Saturday. Spectator gates open at 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30.

Then on Sunday, the action moves to the Texana Raceway in Edna. Gates open at 1 p.m., hot laps start at 4:30 and racing begins at 5. General admission tickets are $20 and pit passes are $35. Limited Mods and Pure Stocks are racing for $750 and $500 to win, respectively,

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 and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS Southern Series powered by Production Jars
9th Annual Summit USMTS Winter Speedweeks presented by MSD Performance – Round 1 of 9
South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christi, Texas
Friday, February 23, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (4) 174 Ethan Dotson (R), Bakersfield, Calif.
2. (3) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas.
3. (8) 24z Zane Ferrell (R), Hermitage, Ark.
4. (2) A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, Texas.
5. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (9) 20t Jordan Weaver, Woodward, Okla.
7. (6) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas.
8. (1) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
9. (7) 33f Jardin Fuller (R), Memphis, Mo.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn.
2. (1) 24m Manuel Williams II (R), Fouke, Ark.
3. (3) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas.
4. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
5. (5) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (8) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
7. (7) 9 Kevin Rutherford, Flower Mound, Texas.
8. (2) 137 William Pittaway (R), Corpus Christi, Texas.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (3) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo.
2. (1) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
3. (7) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas.
4. (6) 110 Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo.
5. (5) 9 Jared Fuller, Memphis, Mo.
6. (2) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla.
7. (8) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
8. (4) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, all advance):
1. (1) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
2. (2) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla.
3. (3) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
4. (4) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas.
5. (6) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (5) 9 Kevin Rutherford, Flower Mound, Texas.
7. (7) 137 William Pittaway (R), Corpus Christi, Texas.
8. (9) 33f Jardin Fuller (R), Memphis, Mo.
9. (8) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo., VanderBuilt/Durham, $3000.
2. (2) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas, MBCustoms/Sput’s, $1600.
3. (16) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustoms/Knowles, $1100.
4. (10) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, $900.
5. (15) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, $700.
6. (8) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas, MBCustoms/Knowles, $600.
7. (9) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, Rocket/Wells, $500.
8. (5) 174 Ethan Dotson (R), Bakersfield, Calif., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, $450.
9. (7) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas, GRT/BMS, $425.
10. (18) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., BlackWidow/ProPower, $400.
11. (6) 24z Zane Ferrell (R), Hermitage, Ark., MBCustoms/ASI, $375.
12. (20) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., VanderBuilt/Speedway, $350.
13. (12) A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, Texas, Elite/CB, $325.
14. (13) 20t Jordan Weaver, Woodward, Okla., BlackWidow/ProPower, $225.
15. (14) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Mullins, $275.
16. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn., MBCustoms/Hatfield, $275.
17. (11) 110 Kelly Buckallew, Memphis, Mo., Rage/Adams, $225.
18. (24) 24 Manuel Williams Sr. (R), Fouke, Ark., Bandit/Kraft, $275.
19. (17) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla., MBCustoms/Karl, $275.
20. (22) 137 William Pittaway (R), Corpus Christi, Texas, Shaw/Wells, $275.
21. (23) 33f Jardin Fuller (R), Memphis, Mo., Hughes/Mullins, $275.
22. (19) 4 Bo Day (R), Greenville, Texas, MBCustoms/Mullins, $275.
23. (21) 9 Kevin Rutherford, Flower Mound, Texas, MBCustoms/ASI, $275.
24. (3) 24m Manuel Williams II (R), Fouke, Ark., Bandit/Kraft, $275.
DNS – 9 Jared Fuller, Memphis, Mo., GRT/Mullins, $75.

(R) = Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leaders: Sanders 1-35, J. Scott 36-40.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 35, J. Scott 5.
Margin of Victory: 0.795 second.
Time of Race: 40 minutes, 34.013 seconds (8 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: Dillard (advanced 17 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Dillard (started 17th, finished 3rd).
Entries: 25.
Next Race: Saturday, February 24, South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christi, Texas.
Summit USMTS Southern Series Points: J. Scott 101, Mitchell 95, Dillard 91, Duvall 87, Ramirez 84, Robertson 81, Malchus 78, Dotson 76, Ahumada 74, Rowland 72.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Dotson 76, Ahumada. 74, Ferrell 70, Williams Sr. 56, Pittaway 54.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Durham 10, Sput’s 9, Knowles 8, ChevPerf 7, Cornett 6.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: VanderBuilt 10, MBCustoms 9, Hughes 8, Rocket 7, GRT 6.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Kates.
Beyea Custom Headers – Buckallew.
Deatherage Opticians – Kates.
Edelbrock – J. Scott.
Eibach Springs – Dillard.
Fast Shafts – Sanders.
FK Rod Ends – Dillard.
Forty9 Designs – Weaver, Bonner.
GRT Race Cars – Ahumada.
Hooker Custom Harness – Dixon.
Integra Shocks & Springs – Williams II.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – S. Scott.
Keyser Manufacturing – Rowland.
KSE Racing Products – Ahumada.
Maxima Racing Oils – J. Scott.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Sanders.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Sanders.
QA1 – Sanders.
RacerWebsite.com – Weaver.
Simpson Performance Products – Dotson.
Swift Springs – J. Scott, Pittaway.
Sybesma Graphics – Sanders.
Tire Demon – Ferrell.
VP Racing Fuels – J. Scott.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – J. Scott.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Malchus.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: Alpinestars, American Racer Racing Tires, Argo Manufacturing, Casey’s General Stores, Chevrolet Performance, CP-Carrillo, Deatherage Opticians, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts, KSE Racing Products, Leaf Racewear & Safety Equipment, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD Performance, Nitroquest Media, Pace Performance, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Duvall Electric, Eagle Moon Farm, ElbowsUp.com, Evolution Powersports, Oreo Cookies, PBM Performance Products, Production Jars, Rancho Milagro Racing, River’s Edge Scrap Management, Snickers, Spike Hardcore Energy, Top of the World Ranch, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: 905 Ink, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Alpine Stars, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, BSB Manufacturing, Edelbrock, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance Products, Hooker Harness, Integra Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, Maxima Racing Oils, Mr. Gasket, Out-Pace Racing Products, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, RHRSwag.com, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Tire Demon, Wehrs Machine & Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.