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FERTILE, Iowa (Oct. 5) – With a 12th-place finish in last Saturday's finale at the 11th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree, Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, garnered his unprecedented ninth USMTS National Championship. Shryock's eighth USMTS National Championship in 2006 moved him ahead of racing legends such as Richard Petty, Michael Schumacher and Dale Earnhardt in career titles, and put Shryock among some elite company in the business of motorsports title collecting. His 2009 title adds another glowing entry in his coveted racing résumé and ties him for fourth all-time in driver championships among major sanctioning bodies and touring series in operation today: • Steve Kinser, World of
Outlaws Sprint Car Series, 20-time champion * Including his 2007 USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series crown, Shryock has ten titles overall under the USMTS banner. The winningest driver in the 11-year history of the United States Modified Touring Series, Shryock earned many of his titles by simply dominating the competition. His latest title, however, was earned with consistency and reliability. With a victory on July 24 at the Elko (Minn.) Speedway, Shryock snapped a career-long winless drought dating back to Aug. 31, 2008, when he captured his 150th career USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour win. The dry spell included 32 National Tour races and 23 Southern Series shows since he was the first to cross beneath the checkered flags at a USMTS-sanctioned event. Shryock captured the Yeager Machine Upper Midwest Region title and finished second, third and fourth in the other three regional battles. He came into the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's General Stores National Championship as the points leader. He lost the points lead briefly on Aug. 13, but regained the top spot the next night and never relinquished it again. Despite having just one more victory during the 18-race 'Hunt,' Shryock never once failed to finish a race — his worst finish was 20th on Friday night at the Featherlite Fall Jamboree — and wound up pocketing the $10,000 champion's check over Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa. Jason Hughes, who had his hopes of claiming the title wiped out with a crash during Friday night's Sunoco "A" Main, ended up third in the final standings with five victories during the 'Hunt,' including Saturday's Featherlite Fall Jamboree finale. Zack VanderBeek finished fourth, followed by Rodney Sanders, Jon Tesch, defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger, Tommy Myer, Dereck Ramirez and Corey Dripps. Final 2009 USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour Standings: 1. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile,
Iowa ... 1,606 Shryock's commitment to all four USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour regions proved to be the difference. Shryock entered the 'Hunt' with 42 more points than Gustin, who concentrated on two regions and finished fourth in both. Shryock ended up with just a 33-point margin over Gustin as the 18-year-old phenom had to settle for the runner-up position in the final rankings. In addition to his cash awards, Shryock will also pocket end-of-season contingency awards from AFCO Racing Products, American Racer Racing Tires, COMP Cams, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, QuickTime Performance Race Parts and Real Racing Wheels. In 1999 when he won his first USMTS title during the debut season for Todd and Janet Staley's fledgling Modified series, Shryock didn't win a single points race. His only win came on Oct. 7 at the inaugural Featherlite Fall Jamboree, which was a non-points race at the time. There were 18 races that season, and he didn't win his first points race until midway through the third season on June 7, 2001, en route to his third straight USMTS crown. Things have changed since then. He has amassed a series-leading 152 victories on the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour — more than twice as many as his closest rival, Jason Hughes, who has 61 National Tour wins. Shryock also owns six USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series triumphs, bringing his overall career win total to 158. Shryock, 42, enjoyed his career-best USMTS season in 2006, scoring 31 wins and a remarkable 51 top-ten finishes in 59 starts against the best Modified drivers on the face of the planet. During one stretch that season, the second-generation pilot notched a series record 11 straight wins. He was no slouch in 2007 either. In 55 USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour events, Shryock recorded 16 wins and 47 top-tens — 32 of which were top-five finishes. During the second year of the 'Hunt' format to determine the USMTS National Champion, however, Shryock could only produce one win during the final 15-race campaign and lost his bid to be the USMTS National Champion for the first time in his career. While Jason Krohn captured the USMTS National Championship that year, Shryock went on to win the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series title with six victories and an amazing 17 top-five finishes in 22 starts. In 2008, Shryock came up one spot short of regaining his seat in the champion's throne after a tight points battle with eventual winner Tim Donlinger that came down to the final night of last year's Featherlite Fall Jamboree. While the USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour has wrapped up business for the 2009 season, the fire is just beginning to heat up in the Lone Star State with the Hunt for the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series Championship presented by Dirt Modified Magazine. The Gator Motorplex in Willis, Texas, will serve as the venue for the opening event on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 22-24. Hughes comes into the event as the defending champion and current points leader in the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series ... but just four points ahead of Shryock. To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = USMTS TITLE SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores. USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Racewear, AwesomeRaceSuits.com, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, COMP Cams, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, PBM Performance Products, Sunoco Race Fuels. USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, Bear Tire, Big Dog Chassis & Fabrication, DandyLand Farms, Day Motor Sports, Diamond Oil Company, Dirthead.com, Farm Boy BBQ, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Lone Star Super Gas, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, WatchModsLive.com, Yeager Machine. USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, SuperFlow, US Brake.
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