SPRING VALLEY, Minn. -- Tommy Myer has loved racing in southeastern Minnesota for, well, longer than he can remember.

So, it was all the more special for the veteran Modified driver from Blooming Prairie when he earned $2,000 for winning a United States Modified Touring Series feature at Chateau Raceway in Lansing on July 14.

"When I was two weeks old, I was at that track," Myer said. "To win a USMTS show there is pretty awesome. It's always special to win at Chateau. I had lots of relatives in the stands. We got the right draw, that always helps.

"And anytime you can get a USMTS win, those don't come easily."

Myer is hoping he can grab another USMTS win at one of his "home" tracks this week. If he can do so on Saturday night at Deer Creek Speedway, he'll earn 10 times what he pocketed at Chateau. The winner of Saturday's inaugural World Modified Dirt Track Championship A Main gets to take home a check for $20,000.

The event begins Wednesday and runs through Saturday. More than 150 of the top Modified drivers in the country will compete, with 30 drivers making Saturday's A Main field.

"It's always fun to be right in your backyard, at one of your home tracks, and run for $20,000," Myer said.

Myer is no stranger to success at big-money shows. Last November, he had a rare opportunity to race for $25,000 at the Fall Modified Nationals at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces. He won a preliminary feature, which guaranteed him a starting spot on the front row for the $10,000-to-win A Main two nights later.

Shortly before the A Main, promoter Royal Jones offered Myer and Stormy Scott — who won a second preliminary feature — the opportunity to move from the front of the field to the tail. If either of them won, they would take home $25,000. Jones guaranteed both drivers $5,000 just to move to the back, so both took the challenge.

Scott finished ninth; Myer was 15th.

"We got up to the top 10, but the track locked down and we finished back a bit," Myer said, "but we already had the $5,000. That's a good night's pay. I think the fans liked that we went to the back and tried it. It was fun for us, too. You never get to race for $25,000."

Myer has had an up-and-down 2011 season. He has locked up a spot in the USMTS Hunt for the National Championship, which begins in two weeks.

"We've probably raced about 20 shows (with the USMTS) this year," he said. "We're trying to save our (equipment) for the last 20 or so shows, when the money's the biggest. And it's been kind of nice to stick around here more, too."

The down side to this season, Myer said, are too many DNFs (did not finish) on his results list. He said they've failed to finish about a dozen features, for various reasons.

"The car has been really good," he said. "We've just been knocked out of some races, had some flat tires and some mechanical problems."

He had more bad luck hit just two nights after his victory at Chateau. On July 16 at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., Myer was attempting to work his way into the top five when two cars collided near him and one clipped the right rear tire on Myer's No. 65 GRT car. His car, which had about 130 races on it, rolled several times.

So, this week, Myer will be in a car that has seen about 10 shows, he said.

"Luckily I've had some time in the car," he said. "It's a lot like the older car, a little more rigid."

Myer has 42 career USMTS victories, the third-most all-time in the series, behind nine-time national champion Kelly Shryock (172) and defending national champion Jason Hughes (100).

www.postbulletin.com