<B>LEBANON, Mo. --</B> The O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series brought to the Lebanon I-44 Speedway its largest field of Modified cars to date, including a new feature champion, Chad Kinder.

Kinder, who is from Newton, Ill., said he only got the chance to race with the USMTS "every now and then."

"These tires gave us a little trouble," said Kinder, "but there's no more gratification than running with these guys. We're not really a part of this group, but it's fun to race with them.

"It's the best of the best, so it's a good feeling," he said.

The field of 44 cars was taken down to 24 for the O’Reilly USMTS 35-lap feature race. Cars decked out in American flags lined up four-wide as they took a tour around the track.

Regular speedway drivers in the feature included Rex Merritt of Billings and Erik Maggard of Springfield. Terry Phillips also made the trip from Springfield to race in both the Modified and Late Model divisions.

Kinder and Jason Hughes of Colcord, Okla., immediately jumped out to the front of the pack. Mark Noble of Blooming Prairie, Minn., took the third spot followed by Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa, and Merritt.

On the third lap, Merritt made a run for fourth, only to fall back to fifth by lap 5.

Hughes and Kinder battled back and forth for the first position as they both pulled away by a near straight-away length.

Starting in the 19th position, Phillips moved to ninth place by lap 11. On the 15th lap, Phillips took sixth position and took the high side to put pressure on Merritt.

Hughes was in first, followed by Kinder, Corey Dripps of Waterloo, Iowa, Noble and Phillips. Phillips passed Noble for the fourth-place position on lap 19.

Kinder closed the gap between himself and Hughes on lap 22 as they both encountered lapped traffic.

A caution slowed the traffic down, and as the field lined up for the restart and the go ahead, Tommy Myer of Blooming Prairie, Minn., flipped his car end over end on turn 1, collecting the car of Johnny Bone Jr. of Pea Ridge, Ark. Myer walked away from the accident.

After another large-conflict caution, racing went back underway as Hughes, Kinder and Dripps battled three-wide on the 24th lap. Phillips then took third from Dripps, who kept fourth to the end, and put the pressure on Hughes and Kinder.

Phillips found his needed traction on the inside of the track and permanently took second place from Hughes on the backstretch on the 33rd lap.

Kinder was excited about his $2,000 finish and said racing with Hughes was the model for any race.

"That was incredible," said Kinder, "that door-to-door, never touched anybody, I mean, that's what it's supposed to be like. He's a good driver -- a good, clean racer. I mean, you can't ask for anything better than that."

Kinder also said racing in Lebanon was something to look forward to for future USMTS races.

"When they come back here again, we'll probably be back," he said. "The track is superior; a little rougher than I wanted to, but the rain, I am sure, did that. A black smooth track -- can't get any better than that. It was a good time; I had a lot of fun."

Phillips, who took second in the Modified feature, said his finish wasn't a disappointment.

"It's a lot better when you start 19th," he said. "It makes it more spectacular, but it's a pretty good car once we figured some things out."

<B>NOTES:</B>

-- After being caught up in a mishap in Heat #2, O’Reilly USMTS points leader Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, was forced to take a provisional starting spot for the Holley "A" Main. The six-time O’Reilly USMTS titleist climbed from 23rd to finish ninth in the nightcap, but lost some ground in the points chase to current runner-up Hughes, who finished third.

-- Phillips garnered the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger Award for advancing 17 positions in the feature race. Brad McEwan of Storm Lake, Iowa, who has won the Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger Award multiple times this season, also passed 17 cars to finish fifth, but the honor went to Phillips based on his higher finishing position.

-- The Lebanon event was scheduled to be the meat of an O’Reilly USMTS sandwich this weekend, but rain on Friday forced the cancellation of the event at the Bolivar (Mo.) Speedway. The O’Reilly USMTS teams travel to the Monett (Mo.) Speedway on Sunday to wrap up the annual weekend trek to the southern part of the Show-Me State.

-- Newbies performed well as eight of the 24 starters in the Holley "A" Main made their first O’Reilly USMTS start of the 2005 season, including the top 2 of Kinder and Phillips.

<B>====================================

OFFICIAL RESULTS

O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series

"O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Fling"

Lebanon I-44 Speedway, Lebanon, Mo.

Saturday, May 14, 2005</B>

<I>(Top 12 in Home Pride Passing Points advance from the Heats to the Holley "A" Main; Top 8 redraw for starting positions)</I>

<B>HEAT #1 (10 laps):</B>

1. 25 Rex Merritt, Billings, Mo.

2. 12d Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo.

3. 14x Jeff Roth, Rogers, Ark.

4. 10 George White, Fort Worth, Texas

5. 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.

6. 71 Dave Elson, Springfield, Mo.

7. 66 Darryl Turner, Columbia, Mo.

8. 4g Gary Clark, Walker, Mo.

9. 0 Mike Chasteen, Creve Coeur, Ill.

<B>HEAT #2 (10 laps):</B>

1. 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa

2. 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa

3. 2 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla.

4. 33 Stephen Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo.

5. 11 Brandon Morton, Coweta, Okla.

6. 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.

7. 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark.

8. 98E Eddie Edwards, Linn Creek, Mo.

9. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa

<B>HEAT #3 (10 laps):</B>

1. 12 Jason Hughes, Colcord, Okla.

2. 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa

3. 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.

4. 31M Erik Maggard, Springfield, Mo.

5. 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.

6. 7x Jim Roach, Kahoka, Mo.

7. 5M Gary March, Hinton, Iowa

8. j1 James Imler, Eldon, Mo

9. 311 Brandon Maggard, Willard, Mo.

<B>HEAT #4 (10 laps):</B>

1. 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.

2. 83 Willy Kraft, Lakefield, Minn.

3. 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa

4. 5k Kenneth Cox, Greenland, Ark.

5. 0 Jesse Stovall, Galena, Mo.

6. 98 Jeff Cutshaw, Cross Timbers, Mo.

7. 26 Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, Iowa

8. 118 Terry Beckham II, Webb City, Mo.

<B>HEAT #5 (10 laps):</B>

1. 22s Chad Kinder, Newton, Ill.

2. 12b Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark.

3. 10c Justin Cooper, Prescott, Iowa

4. 55 Alan Mondus, Lakeville, Minn.

5. 44 David Grigg, Springdale, Ark.

6. 26L Patrick Linn, Little Rock, Ark.

7. 4J Jordy Nelson, Marysville, Kan.

8. 35 Kevin Kaiser, Cole Camp, Mo.

9. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.

<B>"B" MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):</B>

1. 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa

2. 11 Brandon Morton, Coweta, Okla.

3. 5k Kenneth Cox, Greenland, Ark.

4. 4g Gary Clark, Walker, Mo.

4. 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.

6. 26L Patrick Linn, Little Rock, Ark.

7. 311 Brandon Maggard, Willard, Mo.

8. 4J Jordy Nelson, Marysville, Kan.

9. 5M Gary March, Hinton, Iowa

10. 66 Darryl Turner, Columbia, Mo.

11. 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.

12. 10c Justin Cooper, Prescott, Iowa

13. 0 Mike Chasteen, Creve Coeur, Ill.

14. 14x Jeff Roth, Rogers, Ark.

15. 10 George White, Fort Worth, Texas

16. j1 James Imler, Eldon, Mo

<B>"B" MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):</B>

1. 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.

2. 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.

3. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.

4. 31M Erik Maggard, Springfield, Mo.

5. 26 Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, Iowa

6. 118 Terry Beckham II, Webb City, Mo.

7. 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark.

8. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa

9. 98E Eddie Edwards, Linn Creek, Mo.

10. 44 David Grigg, Springdale, Ark.

11. 35 Kevin Kaiser, Cole Camp, Mo.

12. 55 Alan Mondus, Lakeville, Minn.

13. 0 Jesse Stovall, Galena, Mo.

14. 7x Jim Roach, Kahoka, Mo.

15. 98 Jeff Cutshaw, Cross Timbers, Mo.

16. 71 Dave Elson, Springfield, Mo.

<B>HOLLEY "A" MAIN (35 laps):</B>

<I>Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, laps completed and reason out (if any):</I>

1. (3) 22s Chad Kinder, Newton, Ill., 35.

2. (19) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 35.

3. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Colcord, Okla., 35.

4. (6) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, 35.

5. (22) 26 Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, Iowa, 35.

6. (5) 83 Willy Kraft, Lakefield, Minn., 35.

7. (14) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., 35.

8. (4) 12d Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo., 35.

9. (23) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 35.

10. (12) 2 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., 35.

11. (20) 4g Gary Clark, Walker, Mo., 35.

12. (1) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn., 35.

13. (9) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, 35.

14. (15) 11 Brandon Morton, Coweta, Okla., 35.

15. (8) 25 Rex Merritt, Billings, Mo., 35.

16. (21) 31M Erik Maggard, Springfield, Mo., 35.

17. (13) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, 35.

18. (24) 55 Alan Mondus, Lakeville, Minn., 26, cautions.

19. (18) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., 24, flat tire.

20. (2) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 24, flat tire.

21. (10) 12b Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark., 23, accident.

22. (16) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., 23, accident.

23. (17) 5k Kenneth Cox, Greenland, Ark., 1, accident.

24. (11) 33 Stephen Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo., 1, accident.

<B>Lap Leaders:</B> Kinder 1-4, Hughes 4-31, Kinder 32-35.

<B>Provisional Starters:</B> Shryock, Mondus.

<B>Olympic Fire Protection Hard Charger:</B> Phillips (started 19th, finished 2nd).

<B>Next Race:</B> May 15, Monett (Mo.) Speedway.