Johnny Scott secures victory in USMTS debut at Canyon Speedway Park


PEORIA, Ariz. (April 13)--Johnny Scott notched his 33rd career USMTS victory Friday night as the USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup powered by Summit invaded the Canyon Speedway Park for the series' first trip into the state of Arizona.

Scott, who claimed the first two Summit USMTS Southern Series victories in Corpus Christi, Texas, back in February, grabbed the lead from polesitter Lance Mari with four laps complete and then held off a determined Rodney Sanders and rebounding Jake O'Neil during the final 31 circuits to earn the $3,000 winner's share of the prize money.

The 28-year-old from Las Cruces, N.M., was relentless in picking off lapped cars while Sanders and O'Neil followed in his tire tracks. O'Neil followed Scott around Mari on lap 5 but nearly spun seven laps later, dropping back to fourth in the running order.

He clawed his way back to the front to challenge to front two cars and followed Scott and Sanders to the checkered flag with Stormy Scott and Bumper Jones rounding out the top five finishers.

After winning his Real Racing Wheels "B" Main, Stormy Scott started the main event from the 13th position and garnered both the Eibach Spring Forward Award and FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award after advancing nine spots in the nightcap.

Ricky Thornton Jr., who started 15th, came home sixth with Dereck Ramirez seventh, Lucas Schott eighth, Jason Noll ninth in his USMTS debut and Terry Phillips in tenth place.

With the win, Johnny Scott assumed the top spot in the national series points standings heading into the second night of action in the "Showdown at Canyon."

On Saturday, the mud-chucking monsters of modified racing tear back into the semi-banked 3/8-mile clay oval in Peoria, Ariz., with another complete show that also includes Arizona Differential Northern Sport Mods, Desert Restorations Hobby Stocks, Dwarf Cars and Sport Compacts.

Gates open at 5 p.m. and the green flag waves at 7 p.m. General admission is $25 for adults while seniors (60+) and members of the military get in for $20. Kids ages 11 and under are free. Pit passes are $40 for adults, $20 for kids ages 7 to 11 or free for children ages 6 and under.

For those unable to be there in person, tune into www.RacinDirt.com to watch every lap of every race in every division live.

The Canyon Speedway Park is located 25 miles north of Phoenix on I-17 to exit 223-B, and then 6.8 miles west on SR 74, and then 0.2 mile south on N. Lake Pleasant Pkwy., and then 0.2 mile west on W. Carefree Hwy. (9777 W Carefree Hwy, Peoria, AZ 85383). For more information, check out www.canyonspeedwaypark.com or call (602) 258-7223.

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.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup powered by Summit
Canyon Speedway Park, Peoria, Ariz.
Friday, April 13, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Casey's General Stores "A" Main with the top 8 redrawing for the first 8 starting spots.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (4) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif.
2. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz.
3. (2) 44n Jason Noll, Peoria, Ariz.
4. (1) 77x Austin Kuehl, Cave Creek, Ariz.
5. (5) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
6. (6) G3 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
8. (3) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn.
2. (1) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
3. (3) 5m Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz.
4. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (6) 40jr Jeff Stafford, Glendale, Ariz.
6. (7) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
7. (4) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
8. (8) 65s Carlos Ahumada Sr., El Paso, Texas.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (7 laps):
1. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo.
2. (3) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
3. (2) 8 Chase Alves, Chandler, Ariz.
4. (7) 65x Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas.
5. (6) 82 Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas.
6. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
7. (1) 26 Trevor Miller, Chandler, Ariz.
8. (8) 97 Josh Sneed, Sun City, Ariz.

VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (6) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (3) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz.
3. (4) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas.
4. (7) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
5. (1) 92p John Parmeley, Phoenix, Ariz.
6. (5) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
7. (2) 71 Jessie Hoskins (R), Longdale, Okla.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (1) 5m Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz.
3. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (4) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
5. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
6. (9) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
7. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
8. (8) 26 Trevor Miller, Chandler, Ariz., Shaw/ChevPerf, $75.
9. (3) 40jr Jeff Stafford, Glendale, Ariz., Shaw/Klein, $75.
10. (10) 97 Josh Sneed, Sun City, Ariz., BMS/Nicholson, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 8 Chase Alves, Chandler, Ariz.
3. (3) 82 Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas.
4. (5) G3 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (2) 77x Austin Kuehl, Cave Creek, Ariz.
6. (8) 71 Jessie Hoskins (R), Longdale, Okla.
7. (4) 92p John Parmeley, Phoenix, Ariz., Shaw/PerfAuto, $75.
8. (7) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., GRT/Cornett, $90.
9. (9) 65s Carlos Ahumada Sr., El Paso, Texas, LG2/BMS, $75.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT "A" MAIN (35 laps):
1. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Durham, 35, $3375.
2. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 35, $1700.
3. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 35, $1440.
4. (13) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Mullins, 35, $1230.
5. (11) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M., GRT/Sput's, 35, $700.
6. (15) 5m Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz., Shaw/Mullins, 35, $600.
7. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 35, $825.
8. (14) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Hill, 35, $770.
9. (12) 44n Jason Noll, Peoria, Ariz., MRT/Yeoman, 35, $350.
10. (17) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 35, $715.
11. (7) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas, MBCustoms/KPE, 35, $375.
12. (19) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., MBCustoms/Sput's, 35, $660.
13. (18) 82 Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas, GRT/Barnett, 35, $250.
14. (1) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz., Shaw/Keith, 35, $225.
15. (25) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., VanderBuilt/Speedway, 34, $330.
16. (9) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas., MBCustoms/Knowles, 34, $325.
17. (10) 65x Carlos Ahumada Jr. (R), Canutillo, Texas, GRT/BMS, 34, $275..
18. (24) 71 Jessie Hoskins (R), Longdale, Okla., Longhorn/Mullins, 34, $275.
19. (22) 77x Austin Kuehl, Cave Creek, Ariz., Shaw/Klein, 29, $225.
20. (21) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 27, $275.
21. (2) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, 23, $275.
22. (23) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput's, 15, $525.
23. (3) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., BlackWidow/ProPower, 15, $275.
24. (16) 8 Chase Alves, Chandler, Ariz., Shaw/ChevPerf, 10, $225.
25. (20) G3 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., LG2/ProPower, 4, $275.

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

Lap Leaders: Mari 1-4, J. Scott 5-35.
Total Laps Led: J. Scott 31, Mari 4.
Margin of Victory: 0.802 second.
Time of Race: 21 minutes, 49.184 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: VanderBeek, Hoskins, Kates.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: S. Scott (advanced 11 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: S, Scott (started 13th, finished 4th).
Entries: 31.
Next Race: Saturday, April 14, Canyon Speedway Park, Peoria, Ariz..
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup Points: J. Scott 336, Ramirez 322, O'Neil 311, Schott 305, S. Scott 292, Sanders 289, Timm 277, VanderBeek 275, Phillips 272, Cade Dillard 257.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Ethan Dotson 462, Ahumada Jr. 393, Zane Ferrell 324, O'Neil 311, Billy Vogel 304.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Durham 52, Sput's 45, Knowles 43, ChevPerf 37, Cornett 35.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 64, VanderBuilt 60, Hughes 44, GRT 38, BlackWidow 35.