By Bill Kitchen, Hook's Dirt Track Preview (www.hooksrpm.com)

Just to refresh your memories some, last May at Batesville’s version of a Modified Madness, many thought Shryock had the best car at the $20,000-to-win event but wound up a $12,000 second after a flat early in the race with his Skyrocket, and Randy Timms in a Taylor-Shaw -- currently fifth in USMTS Southern Series points but looking to improve on that next weekend -- was a $10,000 third.

Then back in March, it appeared that Jeremy Payne’s GRT may have been the fastest at the end but wound up a $4,000 second at the Mid-America Modified Championship.

But you know who got to the checkered flag first both times— That's right, Peyton Taylor in a Taylor-Shaw (what else would he drive—). Throw in that last August’s $6,500 to go along with that $8,000 MAMC win and I count up $34,500 worth of wins in three races for the guy some call “Pedro” and even saw one guy call him “Snake.” Not sure about where the nicknames come from for Peyton so I'm just gonna call him fast! Shoot, he started 29th in last year’s Madness! Seems like that #01 knows when to go and knows how long he has to go if he’s first when the checkers wave.

Yep, this rematch is gonna be a good one.

The license costs $100. Now, first place pays the same whether you have a license or not but start money is $50 more per race and for other spots the difference may be even more than that. Make two USMTS Southern Series features and the license will pay for itself at the very least. Also, if you pre-enter the races, you save $20 on the entry fee if you’re licensed. Normally that’s five days ahead of the race but promoter Todd Staley also gives you up to 30 minutes after the race to enter the next day’s race at the pre-entry rate.

You must have a license before you can earn USMTS points. The Southern Series has it’s own points fund too. To earn points you must run the American Racer KK704 tires. Stamped Hoosier G60s are also legal but since the American Racer tire is the Official Tire of the USMTS, you don’t receive any points unless you run the ARs.

Now, after the two Batesville races this weekend, the next USMTS Southern Series events will be at Monticello Speedway in Arkansas on July 27 and Fast Trax Speedway in Chatham, La., on July 28. Each night is $2,000 to win. After that, they head for Joe Madore's Clinton Motorsports Park in Oklahoma for a possible $6,000-to-win weekend, Sept. 13-15. Man, is there going to be some passing and racing at these next seven USMTS Southern Series races!

There are several more late season shows scheduled for Texas and maybe another weekend in Louisiana too to end the year so you will have plenty more opportunities to put that license to good use in 2007!

Talking Points

USMTS Southern Series points got real interesting for every position but one after Houston. Naturally after a win, a second and a seventh, not much changed at the top spot as eight-time O’Reilly USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock continues to lead the USMTS Southern Series points. Shryock plans on running all the USMTS Southern Series races as long as he’s in that top spot too. The points fund makes the long tows from Fertile, Iowa, worth the trip and he travels with fellow Iowan 22-year-old Zack VanderBeek -- the 2004 USMTS Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year and 2006 runner-up to Shryock in the points last year. VanderBeek is currently fourth in points and has also taken a liking to Batesville’s big 3/8-mile oval having finished third there on the Friday night of the Batesville Modified Madness week last year.

The two big movers in Houston though were Gentry, Ark., racer and TRE Chassis designer/builder Steve Holzkamper who moved up two spots to second in the standings, and Bixby, Okla., racer Grag Skaggs who jumped up six spots to third! Holzkamper had solid finishes of fourth, fifth and sixth in Houston while Skaggs -- racing in one of Shryock’s Skyrocket Chassis Modifieds -- really got it going with a win, a third and a fifth and came up just two points shy of beating Shryock for the Rinehart Trucking Texas Shootout weekend points bonus ($500) for the three Houston-area races.

Shryock leads the USMTS Southern Series in wins having won four of the seven events so far over an average car count of 56 cars per race. Skaggs, Texan Chris Brown and Iowan Jay Noteboom have the other wins. In USMTS Southern Series dollars, Shryock leads with $13,000 won so far with Skaggs a distant second at $5,575. Third is VanderBeek at $4,625, fourth is Holzkamper with $3,700 and fifth is Timms at $3,625.

Despite only being at two shows all year, Jeremy Payne, who is racing out of Missouri with Terry Phillips in 2007, is sixth in money won with $3,500 on the strength of two second places.

Wheatland, Okla.’s Timms had a good weekend going in Houston with a sixth and a seventh, but wound up the first DNF in the last race at Cleveland, which hurt him in the points and dropped him to fifth in the standings. The narrow groove at 105 Speedway made racing tough but Timms made a provisional-saving pass in the Real Racing Wheels “B” Main on Josh Landers (a heartbreaker for Josh though) with one lap to go. The USMTS allows each driver one provisional in the USMTS Southern Series for every 10 events. Of the top-10 drivers, only Shryock, Timms and Tommy Weder Jr. have not used a provisional yet. Timms is very strong in his Taylor-Shaw at Batesville though as evidenced by his third in last year's Madness final and he was closing on pole winner Shryock at the end of the Wednesday night Madness feature there last year and was runner-up to Kansan David Murray in Monday's No-Arkies race last year as well.

Woodward, Okla.’s Weder stayed at sixth in points while his 2007 teammate, Jason Hughes, slipped one position to eighth. Hughes has had some success at Batesville in the past though. Rodney Sanders missed a feature in Houston and had already burned his provisional earlier in Oklahoma. The 17-year-old Happy, Texas, high school senior is still seventh in points though and, last I heard, was planning on making this weekend his first ever visit to the Batesville Motor Speedway.

A couple of Ark-La-Tex area racers round out the top-10 in points and each moved up in the standings. After burning his provisional on Friday at Motorama despite having a fast car, Jamie Burford of Keatchie, La., rebounded with a third-place finish in his TRE-by-Baby-Bone Chassis at Gator Motorplex after a thrilling battle at the front of the pack with Skaggs and Shryock. Burford then put it in the show at 105 and moved from 15th to ninth in points at the weekend’s end. Ashdown, Ark.’s David Mitchell in a Taylor-Shaw made all three shows and burned his provisional at Gator, but with a 13th and a 14th after the weekend, he moved up three spots to 10th in points. Mitchell and crew chief Scott Young, along with Burford and his crew chief most nights, Jim Burford, seem to help each other quite a bit on this tour and both teams seem to be making gains. Jamie doesn't have a great track record at Batesville though. He did have a top-10 at the No-Arkies race last year but that’s about it. Mitchell has had some decent Batesville runs in the past and now he’s driving the very car that won the Alltell 100 in 2004 with Scott Bloomquist at the wheel, so you know they are looking forward to Batesville this week! On top of that, Mitchell just got married Saturday night! The same fate, uh, I mean pleasure (ha ha, just kidding Amanda!) awaits Jamie Burford in the not-too-distant future but this past Saturday he was finishing fourth in the Doug Murphrey Memorial at Fast Trax where the USMTS Southern Series will invade on July 28. Hey, I've seen Amanda handle a rivet gun at Motorama so that impending marriage … will work out just fine!

Back to the points though, Kansan Scott Green has been to all seven USMTS Southern Series events so far, has a top-5 finish and is 11th in points. He's followed by Texan Chase Allen, Okie Brandon Morton and another Texan, Steve Whiteaker Jr. and all three also have perfect attendance so far. In 15th is Red Oak, Texas, racer Bobby Malchus who had a pretty good weekend in Houston that concluded with a fine fourth-place effort at 105. Despite of missing one of the Oklahoma shows, Malchus vaulted up to 15th place in points with that fourth and he's averaging over $300 payback per USMTS Southern Series show which can help keep you on the road in Modified racing. Lady racer Dena Wilson, Brandon Kenny and Derek Ramirez -- all three from Oklahoma -- are 16th through 18th in the points and only Ramirez has missed a show. Texans Charles Lasater and 2006 Red River Shootout winner Brandon Melton are tied for 19th in points and neither one has missed a USMTS Southern Series race yet.

Kansan John Allen and Pea Ridge, Ark.’s Johnny Bone Jr. both skipped the Houston shows and fell to 21st and 22nd in points. If Bone doesn't have a Late Model ride at Wheatland this weekend, we could see him in Batesville.

John Whittington of Vidor, Texas, missed all the Oklahoma races because he was welcoming his new born son, Jaxon, to the world. John-O said earlier he planned on making all the USMTS Southern Series races left in 2007. He’s 24th in points now after making two of the three Houston races and finishing fourth and eighth in those! So, look for perhaps the best finish in a long time by a Hot Chassis this weekend at Batesville. Whittington runs Batesville pretty well when he has all four wheels on the ground!

Kyle Pleasant of Robeline, La., made all three Houston features for his first USMTS Southern Series starts of the year, scored a top-10 and is 26th in points. He also made that Alltell 100 field in Batesville out of 300 entries that year and has the car that won the $100 grand in 2005 for Terry Phillips.

Bentonville, Ark., racer Jeremy Rasmussen had some good runs in the beginning of the year including a qualifying feature win in that 200-car Texas Motor Speedway field. Rasmussen skipped Houston and is 27th in points.

Chris Brown of Cleveland, Texas, entered all three Houston shows with his Skyrocket for his first USMTS Southern Series starts of the year and only made one feature. He made that one count though as he won at 105 Speedway and concluded a Skyrocket Chassis sweep of the weekend! That has Brown 28th in points and he runs very well at Batesville and made the Alltell 100, the $100 Grand and the Madness features.

Ranked 30th in points is Michael Robertson of Minden, La. He took his KraftKars to Houston for his first USMTS Southern Series events of the year and scored a top-5 in the one he was able to finish. He’s been strong every where he’s raced at recently, including Batesville where he won the Friday night part of the 2006 Madness to start on the front row. In fact, he outran Bill Frye and VanderBeek that night to do that. Later at the Topless 100 support shows, he reportedly blew up a V6 motor while running away with a heat race win.

In addition to the AR tires also being legal for USMTS as well as the stamped Hoosier G60s, quick change rearends being legal and the BRODIX spec head motor package option, another rule difference between USMTS and Batesville track rules is the weight limit. In USMTS is all cars must weigh 2,400 pounds (vs. 2,350 I believe) and aluminum head engines must have 50 of that bolted on in front of the motor plate.

I’ll preview some of the home boys next. They are about the toughest bunch to beat anywhere in the country and you know this is Shaw-GRT country and not Skyrocket-land. Hmmmm …

Who will defend the home turf—

There’s a long list of likely & probable answers.

In addition to the obvious choices of Mid-America Modified champion Peyton Taylor and his brother Jeff Taylor (the Taylor in Taylor-Shaw), Brandon Smith of Floral, Ark., has to jump out next. He ran fourth at the MAMC and has won three of the four features run since then.

The Batesville points leader though is Shaw driver Ronnie Jeffrey who is running stronger than ever now in car No. 28. A youngster named Tyson Franks is second in points in car No. F1 on the strength of three top-5 finishes. Both made the finals of the MAMC back in March too.

The Bad Boy Mower colors are being carried on the No. 777 Shaw being driven by the always tough Jared Landers -- the 2005 MAMC champion and sixth in this year’s version.

There’s a new name to me at Batesville Motor Speedway that maybe some of you Batesville folks can fill me in on: James Emerson No. 99. He was the feature winner on April 21 with Batesville Shaw drivers Kevin Salter and Jason Wilkey in second and third so he can't be no slouch! I see where Emerson has had a fourth and sixth too, and he's fourth in track points with the always tough to beat Salter, fifth in track points.

The number 99 is a popular number for contenders up that way too. Allen Motorsports Chassis driver Eric Turner of Hermitage, Mo., had a sixth-place finish at the MAMC. Second-generation racer Brad Buck also runs the number and has a top-5 at Batesville this year and Memphis racer Brandon Poppenheimer has a Shaw No. 99 and runs Batesville well too.

Northeast Arkansas’ Robby Arnold has a Taylor-Shaw now which as you all know are Taylor-made for Batesville and he had a ninth at this year’s MAMC along with dozens of other wins and top finishes in many classes throughout the area in the past decade. One of his runnin’ buddies, T.J. Herndon out of Atwood, Tenn., is also close to the Taylor-Shaw camp and had a third on April 6.

Ash Flat’s Shawn Walsh is very fast with his Shaw at Batesville as well. He was fourth behind that trio of Peyton Taylor, Shryock and Timms in the Madness last year and was pressuring Timms at the end of that one. Had an 11th at the MAMC and I think made the two $100,000-to-win shows as well.

Can’t forget the Shaw Modified master Wayne Brooks. If it weren’t for bad luck last November, Brooks could have collected a $10,000 pay day at Southern New Mexico’s Fall Nationals. He drives a lot for the Waughs now -- Jerry and Greg who, by the way, make their share of the big shows at their hometrack in Batesville as well.

And we can’t forget Micheal “The Kid” Murphree from Little Rock! He’s the Modified track champion for two years running now. Correct— And he’s also made a lot of them big money features at Batesville too. And speaking of Little Rock drivers, Patrick Linn had a third at Batesville last Saturday. Is Tim Crawley going to get a Modified again— If he has one, that would be another Little Rock racer to contend with.

On the GRT side of things, the possibilities are 2006 Oklahoma Open champion Mike Bowers from North Little Rock, Texas Motor Speedway Pro-Cuts winner over a field of 200 Johnny Virden who was 13th in the MAMC, two-time World Modified Champion Jack Sullivan and former Late Model pilot Chuck McGinty. One has to wonder if O’Reilly USMTS star Jon Tesch from South Dakota would also brong his GRT down as he runs very well at Batesville. Of course, GRT’s two biggest Modified guns should be Late Model racing in Missouri this weekend.

Stilwell, Okla.’s Eddie Martin may be the best shot D&M Chassis has at Batesville. He was 10th at the MAMC this year and won that $10,000 show last November at Las Cruces. He might have Alan Sharpensteen from Dumas, Texas, with him if he does come.

In addition to Poppenheimer and Herndon, Tennessee has also had Ashley Newman in a Batesville field this year and from the Arkansas side of the river, Dustin Billingsly from Marion. Bart Richardson used to come a lot but haven’t seen him at Batesville in a while and the same can be said for Ricky Arms who I think is Late Model racing.

Hot Springs driver Robbie McClain likes Batesville a lot and enough that he’s pretty much been a regular there the last few years. Robby is seventh in track points this year. Odie Green from Fouke, Ark., missed last week's Murphrey Memorial after finding a suspected problem with the rear gear and sure enough broke one at SWASS last week but could end up at Batesville this weekend.

Shay Knight’s been over from Mississippi this year as have the Brock Brothers -- Jason and Bryan -- in their Shaws. Missourian Jesse Stovall put his Hoffman Chassis into the MAMC main event this year and tends to run the USMTS stuff whenever it comes to southwest Missouri, as does Terry Beckham Jr.

Who else— There’s no telling! How about Micah Gavin, Jonathan and Jeremy Russell, Brandt Barksdale, Heath Davenport (the runner-up to Virden at TMS), Alvin Maple, Billy Shearer, etc. The list is big!

Got some rule differences that these guys need to notice: five-inch spoilers allowed in USMTS and 2,400-pound weight limit. I’m sure there are still a lot of American Racer tires still around Batesville these days even though it’s not legal at the weekly shows. The locals’ Hoosiers are also legal for USMTS.