CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A special event takes on even greater meaning this weekend when the USMTS Southern Series invades the South Texas Speedway in Corpus Christi, Texas, this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15-17.

Friday night is designated as Childhelp Night, and race fans can help play a direct role in the treatment and prevention of child abuse by simply attending the races. For every ticket sold in the grandstands on Friday, a donation of $1 will go to Childhelp to help carry out their mission of meeting the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children.

Founded in 1959, Childhelp is a leading national non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect, while their approach focuses on prevention, intervention and treatment. Childhelp also operates a National Child Abuse Hotline that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This hotline receives calls from the United States, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico. Please contact them if you or some one you know is being abused at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).

To make a donation to help abused children, contact Childhelp at (480) 922-8212 or visit them online at www.childhelp.org.

This weekend's inaugural South Texas Winter Nationals will feature some of the top Modified drivers in the country as the battle to be crowned the first USMTS Southern Series champ comes down to the wire.

A top prize of $1,000 awaits Thursday night's feature winner while Friday’s main event winner will earn $2,000 and Saturday’s top dog will pocket $3,000. Each night, race fans will be treated to some great Modified racing with heat races, last-chance races and a 24-car feature event.

On Thursday and Friday, gates open at 5 p.m. with racing slated for 7:30. On Saturday, gates open at 4 p.m. and the first green flag waves at 6:30.

Limited Mods will also be running all three days, paying $500 to win Thursday, $700 to win Friday and $1,000 to win Saturday.

Despite of being shut out of victory lane at the last three races, Fertile, Iowa's Kelly Shryock expanded his USMTS Southern Series points lead over Wheatland, Okla.'s Randy Timms coming into next weekend's South Texas Speedway clash. Shryock continues to hold the top spot in the USMTS Southern Series rankings with a 101-point advantage (1533 to 1432) over Timms with six events remaining.

Jason Hughes of Westville, Okla., who captured the most recent event at the Motorama Speedway in Beaumont, Texas, sits third with 1387 markers, followed by his teammate, Tommy Weder Jr. of Woodward, Okla. (1376). Greg Skaggs of Bixby, Okla., is fourth (1337), followed by Steve Holzkamper of Gentry, Ark. (1323), Scott Green of Derby, Kan. (1073), Jamie Burford of Keatchie, La. (955), Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas (897) and New Sharon, Iowa's Zack VanderBeek (889).

Each of the top-10 are expected be in action at South Texas Speedway, along with USMTS Southern Series standouts Dena Wilson, Nicholas Littlejohn, Steve Whiteaker Jr., Paul White, Jon O. Whittington and many more.

Local aces Danny Brown, Lawrence Mikulencak, Steve Majek, Eddy Ross, Mike Riley, Chuck Perry, Nick Hardcastle, Dale Flanagan, Joey Heinaman, Darin Leonard, Bryan Rye and David Schury are expected to be on hand to deliver a knockout blow to the USMTS Southern Series invaders.

South Texas Speedway is located 2.0 miles southwest of SR 358 on Old Brownsville Rd. (CR 665) in Corpus Christi, Texas. Voted one of the best 50 racetracks in America by Behind The Wheel Magazine, South Texas Speedway features ultra-clean facilities, aluminum seating for over 3,000 fans and bright stadium lighting which provides great views of the action on the exciting semi-banked 1/4-mile clay oval.

For more information, call the South Texas Speedway offices at (361) 548-0669 or (361) 808-RACE on race day. The track's website is located at www.southtexasspeedway.com.

All USMTS rules will apply. American Racer is the Official Tire of the USMTS, and any driver seeking to receive USMTS Southern Series points and/or contingency awards must use the American Racer KK-704 racing tire. The Hoosier G60 tire will also be allowed for this race, but must be mounted on all four wheels with no grooving allowed.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online.

USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES - TOP-20 POINTS

1. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA … 1533 (5 wins)
2. 5t - Randy Timms -- Wheatland, OK … 1432 (1 win)
3. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK … 1387 (2 wins)
4. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK … 1376 (2 wins)
5. 27 - Greg Skaggs -- Bixby, OK … 1337 (2 wins)
6. 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR … 1323 (1 win)
7. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS … 1073
8. 19 - Jamie Burford -- Keatchie, LA … 955
9. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX … 897
10. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA … 889
11. 54 - Dena Wilson -- Coweta, OK … 882
12. 76 - Nicholas Littlejohn -- Everman, TX … 874
13. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX … 850
14. 11 - Brandon Morton -- Coweta, OK … 775
15. 5w - John O. Whittington -- Vidor, TX … 703
16. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- E. Woodward, OK … 683
17. 4r - Derek Ramirez -- Woodward, OK … 672
18. 4x - Bobby Malchus -- Red Oak, TX … 665
19. A1 - Phil Dixon -- Crosby, TX … 641
20. 48 - Chase Allen -- Midlothian, TX … 609
Other winners: Jay Noteboom (1), Chris Brown (1), Jared Landers (1), Peyton Taylor (1)

USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES - REMAINING 2007 SCHEDULE

Thu Nov 15 … South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christi, TX ($1,000 to win)
Fri Nov 16 … South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christi, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat Nov 17 … South Texas Speedway, Corpus Christ, TX ($3,000 to win)
Thu Nov 29 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($1,000 to win)
Fri Nov 30 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat Dec 1 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($3,000 to win)

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USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Race Tires, AMSOIL, BORCO LP, Day Motor Sports, Fast Company Performance, Holley Performance Products, Home Pride Companies, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Kraft Kars, Marsh Racing Wheels, Nitroquest Web Solutions, Olympic Fire Protection, Real Racing Wheels, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar, Yeager Machine.

USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Boyer’s Engine Development, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Edelbrock, Fast Shafts, GRT Race Cars, Hawk Performance, Hyperco, Isky Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Pflugerville Machine, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Racer’s Choice (RCI).