The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt embarks on what is sure to be one of the most memorable Memorial Day Weekend swings in the 25-year history of the series with four nights of racing at two tracks in Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa and nearly $30,000 earmarked for the winner(s).
The triumphant return of the USMTS to the fabled Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., happens Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 25-27, for the 20th Annual LRS Waste Services USMTS Southern MN Spring Challenge.
This year’s event will feature a $3,000-to-win contest on Thursday followed by a $5,000-to-win feature on Friday and a $10,000 top prize for Saturday’s winner.
On Sunday, May 28, the weekend culminates with the 10th Annual Super Clean War in West Union with another $10,000 going to the winner at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.
More than any other racetrack, the Deer Creek speedway—a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located in the rolling hills of Southern Minnesota—will be hosting the USMTS for the 123rd time on Thursday, and the list of former USMTS winners at ‘The Creek’ could be the names in dirt modified racing’s half of fame.
Nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock won the first-ever contest here in 2002—his first of 10 wins here. Rodney Sanders has garnered 11 checkered flags here but both take a back seat to Jason Hughes who has a series-best 14 victories.
Ryan Gustin has seven wins while Tim Donlinger and Terry Phillips each have five, along with Brandon Davis—the track’s all-time winningest driver—and Jake O’Neil who is a two-time Featherlite Fall Jamboree champ.
Jason Cummins and Brad Waits have four apiece while Lucas Schott, Cade Dillard, Zack VanderBeek and Joey Jensen have tallied three wins. Two-time winners include Corey Dripps, Jason Krohn, Ryan Ruter, Stormy Scott, Johnny Scott, Dustin Sorensen, Dereck Ramirez and Jim Chisholm.
Drivers who have visited victory lane here one time include Mark Noble, Steve Wetzstein, Darin Walker, Tony Fraise, Dan Daniels, Chad Kinder, Mark Burgtorf, Brad McEwan, Randy Timms, Dean Mahlstedt, Tommy Myer, Mike Sorensen, Mike Spaulding, Dan Chapman, Les Duellman, Mike Hejna, Steve Arpin, Jon Tesch, Jordan Grabouski, Jeremy Payne, Craig Thatcher, Tommy Weder Jr., Jacob Bleess, Jake Timm and Cayden Carter.
The track will host an open practice on Wednesday, May 24, from 6-9 p.m. The grandstands will be open all day with free admission for spectators.
USRA B-Mods will also be in action all three nights competing for Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points. For times and ticket information, visit etix.com.
The Deer Creek Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval which sits on 60 acres just 15-miles south of Rochester, Minn., with one of America’s most popular state-of-the-art racing complexes and an adjoining campground. For more information, check out deercreekspeedway.com or call 800-DCS-RACE. Get social with ‘The Creek’ on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
On Sunday, the fast and furious Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, hosts the Summit USMTS National Championship with the second straight $10,000-to-win clash of the weekend.
The first WWU1 was waged on Sept. 16, 2008, with Omaha, Neb.’s Jake Neal—now a Malvern Bank SLMR champion—garnering his one and only USMTS triumph. Ryan Gustin won in 2009 but the series didn’t return until 2016. Zack VanderBeek came out on top that night.
Gustin became the event’s only two-time winner in 2017 and since then victory lane has been graced by Lucas Schott, Rodney Sanders, Dereck Ramirez and Terry Phillips who won for second time here last year.
USRA B-Mods ($500 to win) and USRA Hobby Stocks ($400 to win) will also be in action battling for Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points. For times and ticket information, visit racefayettecountyspeedway.net.
The Fayette County Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located 0.9 mile south of US 18 on SR 150, then 0.1 mile east on SR 56 (Vine St.). For more information, call (563) 380-7075 or (319) 327-2733 and visit racefayettecountyspeedway.net on the World Wide Web. You can also check out the track’s social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter.
For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features 44 nights of racing at 15 of America’s premier dirt track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.
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