CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Late afternoon rain showers on Saturday have forced USMTS Southern Series officials to cancel the third and final night of the inaugural South Texas Fall Nationals at the South Texas Speedway in Corpus Christi, Texas. The race will not be rescheduled.

The USMTS Southern Series will be back in action in two weeks at the Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, for the season finale on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29-30 and Dec. 1. The inaugural 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.

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.

Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, will lead the points chase coming into the season-ending tripleheader as he leads Randy Timms of Wheatland, Okla., by 119 points (1711 to 1592). Jason Hughes of Westville, Okla., who won Thursday's feature race at South Texas Speedway, sits third in the standings with 1544 points, while his teammate, Tommy Weder Jr. of Woodward, Okla., is fourth with 1532. Fifth through 10th in the standings are Greg Skaggs of Bixby, Okla. (1497), Steve Holzkamper of Gentry, Ark. (1490), Scott Green of Derby, Kan. (1256), Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas (1053), Zack VanderBeek of New Sharon, Iowa (1041) and Dena Wilson of Coweta, Okla. (1018).

Houston Raceway Park is a 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval located east of Houston on I-10 to Exit 798, then 3.0 miles south on SR 146, then 0.8 mile southeast on FM 1405, then 1.5 miles northeast on FM 565. For more information, call Houston Raceway Park at (281) 383-RACE or check them out online at www.houstonraceway.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.

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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).