Dillard tames Salina Speedway for 18th career USMTS victory


SALINA, Kan. (June 8) -- Cade Dillard's most important and only pass of the night Thursday was getting around polesitter R.C. Whitwell on the opening lap. From there, he led the final 39 laps en route to his 18th career USMTS victory in the series' first-ever visit to the Salina Speedway.

Following five fantastic heat races and two rockin' Real Racing Wheels "B" Mains, a field of 26 cars and drivers assembled for a 40-lap main event that saw Dillard fend off the early challenges of Whitwell and a late surge by Stormy Scott.

"I wasn't sure, that's the thing about up front you're s sitting duck," Dillard said. "I felt like there in the beginning we were rolling through the center pretty good and I saw the bottom cleaned off pretty fast.

"People got down in the infield so it dusted the rest of it up. It started latching down and I knew if I just hit my marks and didn't get out of the rubber, I figured I'd be alright. But like I said, when you're out front you don't have any idea what's going on behind you."

Dillard hit every mark in front of a hearty crowd of fans, and at the end of the night the 26-year-old from Robeline, la., was sitting in victory lane with an extra $3,000 in his pocket.

"It's great to come here," Dillard added. "There's a lot of fans here and it's pretty cool to come where you get that kind of support from people."

Scott, who started fourth, pressured Dillard on occasion and pulled to his rear bumper over the final two circuits, but had to settle for runner-up honors while Whitwell's bid for a second win in three days ended with a third-place finish ahead of Zack VanderBeek, who earlier raced from last to first in Edelbrock Heat Race #3.

Ricky Thornton Jr. capped off a frustrating weekend by passing 11 cars in the main event to finish fifth and earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. Tanner Mullens, Tyler Wolff, Dereck Ramirez, Tyler Davis and Dan Powers completed the top 10.

With the three-night swing through the Sunflower State in the rear-view mirror, Friday will be a day off before hitting the Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, on Saturday, June 10, for the next-to-last event in the MSD USMTS Central Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment.

That will leave the RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region slate of races kicking off on Sunday, June 11, at the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa, followed by another day off on Monday before rolling into the Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D., on Tuesday, June 13, and then the make-up race at the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minn., happens on Wednesday, June 14.

Next weekend it's time to make tracks to the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., for the "Modified Masters" which will feature RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region on Thursday night for $3,000 to win, followed by qualifying on Friday night for the $50,000-to-win show on Saturday.

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
Casey's USMTS National Tour powered by S&S Fishing & Rental - MSD USMTS Central Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment
Inaugural
Salina Speedway, Salina, Kan.
Thursday, June 8, 2017


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. (2) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
2. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
3. (1) 25P Mike Petersilie, Hoisington, Kan.
4. (8) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
5. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
6. (4) 15 Andy Wilkinson, York, Neb.
7. (3) 11G Scott Phillips, Salina, Kan.
8. (7) 24 Corey Lagroon, Salina, Kan.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 2S Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (3) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz.
3. (1) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
4. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (4) 81 Mike Densberger, Lincoln, Neb.
6. (5) 747 Corey Burch, Junction City, Kan.
7. (8) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa.
8. (7) 87 John Webb, Pauls Valley, Okla.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (8) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (1) 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan.
3. (5) 20T Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (3) 21T Lance Town, Wellsville, Kan.
5. (4) 8c Chris Clark (R), Jackson, Wyo.
6. (6) 3J Jake Nightingale, Hutchinson, Kan.
7. (7) 2 Joe Cleveland, Delphos, Kan.
8. (2) 2K Darrick Klima, Salina, Kan.

THE JOIE OF SEATING HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark.
2. (3) 4 Dan Powers, Wichita, Kan.
3. (7) 1M Cody Gearhart, Turpin, Okla.
4. (2) 55 Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan.
5. (6) 23 Logan Robertson (R), Shamrock, Texas.
6. (4) 53T Tyler Sutton, Beloit, Kan.
7. (1) 20RT Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz.
DNS - 5K Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
2. (3) 23 Logan Robertson (R), Shamrock, Texas.
3. (9) 24 Corey Lagroon, Salina, Kan.
4. (4) 81 Mike Densberger, Lincoln, Neb.
5. (10) 2K Darrick Klima, Salina, Kan.
6. (2) 21t Lance Town, Wellsville, Kan.
7. (7) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa., LG2/Mullins, $90.
8. (5) 15 Andy Wilkinson, York, Neb.
9. (8) 2 Joe Cleveland, Delphos, Kan., 1stClass/AEM, $75.
10. (6) 3J Jake Nightingale, Hutchinson, Kan., Mullens/Mullins, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (3) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
2. (8) 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz.
3. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 747 Corey Burch, Junction City, Kan.
5. (2) 55 Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan.
6. (9) 87 John Webb, Pauls Valley, Okla.
7. (6) 53T Tyler Sutton, Beloit, Kan.
8. (7) 11G Scott Phillips, Salina, Kan., DirtWorks/AEM, $75.
9. (4) 8c Chris Clark (R), Jackson, Wyo., GRT/CNC, $90.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustom/ASI, 40, $3000.
2. (4) 2S Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/Mullins, 40, $1700.
3. (1) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $1200.
4. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput's, 40, $1000.
5. (16) 20RT Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz., Shaw/Mullins, 40, $900.
6. (10) 20T Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $800.
7. (6) 4W Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $700.
8. (18) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 40, $650.
9. (11) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., Hughes/Hatfield, 40, $500.
10. (3) 4 Dan Powers, Wichita, Kan., BillsBuilt/KBS, 40, $550.
11. (14) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustom/Hatfield, 40, $500.
12. (7) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 40, $450.
13. (12) 25P Mike Petersilie, Hoisington, Kan., 1stClass/AEM, 40, $425.
14. (13) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas, MBCustom/CB, 40, $400.
15. (15) 23 Logan Robertson (R), Shamrock, Texas, MBCustom/PPE, 40, $300.
16. (21) 2K Darrick Klima, Salina, Kan., GRT/GMPP, 40, $275.
17. (19) 81 Mike Densberger, Lincoln, Neb., Jet/Speedway, 40, $400.
18. (25) 15 Andy Wilkinson, York, Neb., BMS/Donrich, 40, $250.
19. (23) 21T Lance Town, Wellsville, Kan., MBCustom/Driskell, 39, $300.
20. (20) 747 Corey Burch, Junction City, Kan., GRT/GMPP, 39, $250.
21. (24) 87 John Webb, Pauls Valley, Okla., MBCustom/Wegner, 35, $300.
22. (8) 1M Cody Gearhart, Turpin, Okla., Shaw/GRD, 28, $250.
23. (17) 24 Corey Lagroon, Salina, Kan., BillsBuilt/AEM, 28, $250.
24. (9) 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 11, $250.
25. (26) 53T Tyler Sutton, Beloit, Kan., BillsBuilt/B&J, 11, $250.
26. (22) 55 Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan., Harris/Fisher, 1, $250.

(R) = Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leader: Dillard 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Dillard 40.
Margin of Victory: 0.557 second.
Time of Race: 25 minutes, 7.654 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Town, Webb, Wilkinson (track), Sutton (track).
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Thornton (started 16th, finished 5th).
Entries: 32.
Next Race: Saturday, June 10, Adams County Speedway, Corning, Iowa.
MSD Central Region Points: Dillard 625, VanderBeek 594, Thornton 567, Scott 561, Ramirez 536, Duvall 518, Wolff 450, Whitwell 449, Densberger 432, Kates 379.
Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Points: Whitwell 1894, Travis Saurer 1737, Wolff 1685, Kates 1300, Billy Vogel 982.
Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 287, ASI 237, Sput's 223, Durham 197, Hatfield 172.
Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 285, MBCustoms 282, GRT 247, VanderBuilt 228, LG2 190.

Contingency Awards:
Allstar Performance - Ramirez.
American Racer - Dillard.
Beyea Custom Headers - Scott.
BigDeal Car Care - Dillard.
BSB Manufacturing - Webb.
Casey's General Stores - Frye.
Chix Gear Racewear - Davis.
Day Motor Sports - Sutton, Frye.
Deatherage Opticians - Kates.
Dickson Racing Shocks - Robertson.
E3 Spark Plugs - Whitwell.
Edelbrock - VanderBeek.
Fast Shafts - Scott.
Forty9Designs.com - Mitchell, Town.
Fuel Safe Racing Cells - Mullens.
GRT Race Cars - Burch.
Hooker Custom Harness - Petersilie.
Integra Shocks & Springs - Wilkinson.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts - Densberger.
Keyser Manufacturing - Powers.
KSE Racing Products - Thornton.
Out-Pace Racing Products - Klima.
QA1 - Wolff.
Real Racing Wheels - all non-qualifiers.
Simpson Performance Products - Kates.
Sweet Manufacturing - Gearhart.
Swift Springs - Dillard.
Sybesma Graphics - Whitwell.
Tire Demon - Duvall.
VP Racing Fuels - Dillard.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products - VanderBeek.
Wilwood Engineering - Wolff.