O’REILLY USMTS RAINED OUT AT HUMBOLDT, POSTPONED UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT
by: Jeff Nun

HUMBOLDT, Kan. (March 23) -- The O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series races scheduled for Friday, March 23, at the Humboldt Speedway have been rained out. The event is postponed until tomorrow night (Saturday, March 24). Hot laps will begin at 7 p.m. with racing at 7:30.

The previously scheduled event is still a go for Saturday afternoon, where drivers will dish it out for the first time on the new dirt track at the historic I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo. Adjacent to the historic half-mile asphalt oval, the I-70 Speedway dirt track will be christened by the O’Reilly USMTS as they embark on their first full season of racing on the clay. The event at the virgin 3/8-mile semi-banked oval will pay $2,000 to win and is expected to draw a large field of both O’Reilly USMTS regulars and local drivers looking to get a feel for the new track prior to the start of weekly racing.



Pit gates will open at 11 a.m. and grandstand gates will swing open at 12 noon. Hot laps are set for 1:30 p.m. and the first green flag is scheduled to wave at 2:00. Adult tickets are $15, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and children under 6 are admitted FREE. A full program of Stock Cars and B-Mods will round out Saturday’s divisional line-up.

The I-70 Speedway is located 35 miles east of Kansas City on I-70 at the Lexington-Mayview Exit (#41), then north to N. Outer Rd., then east, then north. For race day information, call the track hotline at (816) 230-0080 or visit www.i70speedway.net  online

From there, teams will load ’em up and haul ’em to the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kan., for the second event of the day. Last year’s tilt at the quarter-mile semi-banked clay oval saw defending O’Reilly USMTS national champion Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, score his ninth win of the 2006 season en route to his unprecedented eighth season-ending title. With one win and three bridesmaid finishes in four races so far in 2007, Shryock leads the rugged road warriors into Humboldt with both the National and Southern Region points lead.

Gates will open at 5 p.m., hot laps are at 7:30 and racing starts at 8 p.m. Adult tickets are $15, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and children under 6 are admitted FREE. Friday’s $2,000-to-win O’Reilly USMTS feast will be supported by action in the Factory Stock and E-Mod classes.

The Humboldt Speedway is located just 0.1 mile west, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east from the Humboldt Exit on U.S. Hwy. 169. For more information call the Humboldt Speedway office at (620) 431-2470 or the track hotline at (620) 473-3694 on race day. More information is available online at www.humboldtspeedway.com

Race fans will gobble up the final event of their weekend three-course meal with the 5th Annual Kansas Spring Fling at the Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kan. Last year at the super-fast 4/10-mile high-banked clay oval, Mark Noble of Blooming Prairie, Minn., ended a two-year drought with a victory on the first of two days at Thunderhill. Saturday’s checkers waved for Clear Lake, Iowa’s Dean Mahlstedt. Other former O’Reilly USMTS winners at Thunderhill Speedway include inaugural winner Dustin Boney, Tommy Myer and Kelly Shryock, who won five straight at the facility from March 19, 2004 to March 19, 2005.

Once again, $2,000 is up for grabs for the winner of the Holley “A” Main in this Western Region tilt. Fresh off back-to-back season-opening wins at the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., March 9-10, Clear Lake, Iowa’s Al Hejna leads the Western Region rankings heading into Sunday’s battle.

Gates open at 1 p.m. Hot laps are slated for 3:30 and the mud starts flying at 4 p.m. Adult tickets are $15, kids ages 6-12 are $5 and children under 6 are admitted FREE. The O’Reilly USMTS Modified aces will be joined by Thunderhill’s own highly-competitive Factory Stock and Hobby Stock classes.

The Thunderhill Speedway is located 14.6 miles north of U.S. Hwy. 24 on U.S. Hwy. 75 to 142nd St., then 2.2 miles west. The track’s business office can be reached at (785) 966-2575 and race day info is available by calling the track hotline at (785) 966-2844. Thunderhill Speedway is on the World Wide Web at www.thunderhillmayetta.com .

To learn more about the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters office at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online.