MINDEN, La. — With two events in the books and twenty-three to go, the 2008 O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series continues this weekend with a doubleheader blowout in the Bayou State.

After this past weekend's openers at the Golden Triangle Raceway Park and Gator Motorplex with over 60 competitors at each show, there is no doubt that the place to be this Friday night, April 25, is the Champion Park Speedway located east of Shreveport/Bossier City, and a little west of Minden, La., as the Walker family will host the USMTS mud-slinging masters for the first time ever.

The track is a wide quarter-mile clay oval located next to I-20 at Exit 38 (on Goodwill Rd.) ... 38 miles east of the Texas State Line, 149 miles west of the Mississippi State Line and about an hour south of the Arkansas State Line. Take Exit 38, go north, turn right on the service road and you can't miss it. The track phone is 318-371-0077 and the website is www.championparkspeedway.net.

Then on Saturday night, April 26, the USMTS caravan heads south to the edge of Acadian country to the Thunder Valley Speedway in Glenmora, La., located south of Alexandria, then south of Forest Hill and northeast of Lake Charles.

Take U.S. Hwy. 165 to Glenmora and turn west on Hwy. 113. Follow past the intersection of Hwy. 112 at the crossroads community of Union Hill and the track will be ahead on the right. Thunder Valley Speedway is another racy quarter-mile oval that has been witness to everything from Hav-A-Tampa Late Model shows to World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series races, but will host the USMTS Modifieds for the first time Saturday night. For information on the Thunder Valley race, call the USMTS office at 515-832-7944.

Race time at Champion Park Speedway on Friday night is 7:30 p.m. and they will run Limited Modifieds and Factory Stock/Cruisers along with the USMTS cars. At Thunder Valley Speedway, race time is 7:00 p.m. and they will stick to three classes too, with Limited Modifieds and Street Stocks as the support classes.

We'll see you Louisiana dirt track fans this weekend at one or the other or both ... it's a rare opportunity, so don't miss it!

NUTS & BOLTS

Westville, Okla.'s Jason Hughes — the builder and designer of Hughes Racing Chassis — hasn't had much luck qualifying so far but he has been a passing machine in the features. On Friday, Hughes was the recipient of a collision and Saturday he delivered the contact that sent him to the rear of the field. On both nights, Hughes had battled his way into the top-5 when he was forced to try again from the back of the pack. He clawed his way back for a runner-up finish on Friday and took home an eighth-place finish Saturday. Overall, the scoring sheets show that Hughes passed 46 cars in 70 laps of racing.

Hughes is the points leader by 19 markers over another Okie, Randy Timms of Wheatland, who was last year's runner-up in the O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series and the race winner at the Fast Trax Speedway in Chatham, La. Hughes claimed the win at the Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, La., last year. Timms drives one of those fast Larry Shaw by Taylor Chassis, and had a seventh and a second in Texas with some passing points of his own — just not as many as Hughes.

After a thrilling race at Gator that saw nine lead changes with four different leaders in the Holley "A" Main, Gentry, Ark.'s Steve Holzkamper — the designer and builder of TRE Chassis — reversed his misfortune of the previous night when he fell out of a fourth starting spot before the feature ever started and was awarded 24th place. Holzkamper came out on top of Saturday's thriller and sits third in points, 29 behind Hughes.

The next two spots in the standings are familiar names to north Louisiana fans and are also first and second in the Dustin Duncan Memorial "Just Say Yes" Rookie of the Year standings. Longview, Texas, racer Morgan Bagley (Shaw Chassis) and Robeline, La.'s Kyle Pleasant (Kraft/Ramirez Chassis) are tied for fourth in the standings while Bagley holds a slim lead over Pleasant in the rookie standings. Bagley had a fifth at GTRP and ninth at Gator after burning a provisional (you only get one provisional every 10 races) and starting 24th. Unfortunately for Bagley, provisional starters do not earn passing points like someone who qualifies 22nd would get. Pleasant qualified for both shows so he has a provisional in hand on Bagley at the moment. Pleasant went from sixteenth to sixth Friday night and had an eleventh at Gator.

Sixth in points is Woodward, Okla., youngster Tommy Weder Jr., who rebounded from a DNQ Friday night in Beaumont with a 21st to 3rd run at Gator.

Seventh in points is legendary Texas racer and SUPR Late Model contender Howard Willis from Dayton. In a reversal of Holzkamper's weekend, Willis drove his Dirt Works to victory from the pole at GTRP but was the first out of the event at Gator with a 24th. The difference in passing points has Willis 13 behind Holzkamper and 42 behind Hughes.

Another familiar name to Champion Park Speedway fans is David Mitchell of Ashdown, Ark. Mitchell is a former track champion at the Minden oval from back when it was called Webster Speedway. Although the track is quite different today, he won the feature at Champion on April 12 with 32 Modifieds on hand. Mitchell is eighth in points (49 behind the leader) on the strength of a third-place finish at GTRP with his #13 Shaw Chassis.

A more familiar name to Thunder Valley Speedway fans is John O. Whittington of Vidor, Texas. "John-O" has many wins on the Central Louisiana oval but perhaps had the worst luck of the leaders on Saturday. After a 13th on Friday, Whittington advanced from 15th to the lead at Gator. Hughes arrived later to challenge but when contact was made and Whittington spun, both were sent to the back of the field with Whittington only able to make it back up to 12th while Hughes scored an 8th. John-O is 9th in points at -51.

After a near disastrous Friday showing at GTRP, another familiar name to Louisiana fans, Jamie Burford of Keatchie, drove his #19 TRE Chassis to a 4th place finish at Gator. A year ago, Burford was third at Gator and the way he runs USMTS shows there, I'm sure he's counting the days until August 23 when USMTS returns to Willis, Texas. But, Jamie has a lot of wins in both Modifieds and Limiteds at Champion Park as well. Burford sits in the all-important 10th spot in the standings.

Beginning with Friday's race at Champion Park Speedway, the top-10 in points will be guaranteed a minimum of $300 against winnings at each event where that driver is among the top-10 in points. Drivers ranked 11th through 15th will earn a minimum of $200 against winnings. Drivers must have perfect attendance in O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series. Once a driver misses a single race, he/she is no longer eligible for the Top Dog Bonus.

Eleventh through fifteenth in points are known well in Louisiana, and are also in the hunt for the Dustin Duncan Memorial "Just Say Yes" Rookie of the Year title. Like Burford, Dustin "Tater" Hyde of Texarkana drives the #8j TRE Chassis owned by Ducote Motorsports of Alexandria, La. The driver is well known at Champion Park while the car and car owner are better known at Thunder Valley. That may work out well this week for this team. Hyde had the reverse of Burford's weekend as he was top qualifier on Friday and finished 4th at GTRP but had nothing but trouble on Saturday at Gator. He's 11th in points.

There's a tie for 12th in points and both drivers have feature wins in Modifieds at Champion Park Speedway. Michael Robertson will be racing in his back yard Friday night. The rookie contender recovered from a bad Friday when he missed the main event by just one spot to scoring a top-5 finish at Gator after earning the AFCO Pole Award in his #05 Kraft/Ramirez Chassis.

Shreveport's B.J. Robinson took the consistency route this past weekend. He qualified for both features with his #02 Dirt Works and finished 11th and 18th, respectively.

Sitting 15th in points was perhaps the biggest surprise of Saturday night from the region. Marshall, Texas racer, Southern Stock ace and defending Red River Shootout Modified champion from Paris Motor Speedway, Derrick Grigsby had nothing to write home about on Friday but made the top-8 in qualifying on Saturday and finished 6th in his #99 Kraft/Ramirez. Grigsby sits fifth in rookie points while Hyde and Robertson are third and fourth behind Bagley and Pleasant.

There are about 30 regulars following the tour at this time, and between the two shows this past weekend more than 70 different teams competed. Well-known names such as Timothy Culp, Larry Clevenger, Jeff Huckaby, Paul White, Shane Hebert, Billy Robinson, Mark Smith, Bobby Malchus, Tracy Denby, Phil Dixon, Brandon Kenny, Derick Ramirez and many more were on hand, but local racer Corey Babbitt posted a top-10 at Gator — the highest among drivers without a O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series license.

Will there be wild cards at Champion Park or Thunder Valley? You bet! Who might they be? Not sure, but here's a list we can start from: Wes Armstrong (who finished 8th at GTRP and then returned home to take a $1,000-to-win race at Ark-La-Tex Speedway Saturday night), John Armstrong, Chris Henigan, David Winslet, Tom Wiggins, Jody Davidson, Rick Hearnsberger, Bryan Mewborn, Joel Couvillion, Dougie Murphrey, Rick Duke, Darryl Seals, Jerry Franks Jr., Tippy Bickham, Jonathan Maxwell, Aaron Jordan, Chris Shown, Stephan Chevalier, Justin Ingalls, John Riley, Michael Knighten and many more.

RULES: All USMTS rules apply. The American Racer KK704 is the Official Tire of the USMTS; however drivers may use the Hoosier G60 but will not earn points or be eligible for contingency awards. Qualifying will be done by heat race passing points and B-mains. Draw for heat race starting spot ends 15 minutes before hot laps start. Roll bar padding plus a window net or arm restraints are required. Aluminum heads are legal, but must have 25 lbs. in front of motor plate. Total weight rule is 2,400 lbs.

LICENSES: There is no requirement to purchase a USMTS license to compete in any USMTS event. However, benefits enjoyed by licensed drivers includes higher event purses and bonus payouts, increased tow money, discounted entry fees, contingency awards, points funds, provisional starting spots, increased media recognition, a personalized driver profile page at www.USMTS.com and more. The cost of a license is $200 for the O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series.

ENTRY FEES: Pre-entry is $90 for non-licensed drivers or $80 for drivers with an O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series license. Late entry for all drivers is $100. Drivers can still pre-enter up until this Thursday by calling the USMTS office at 515-832-7944.

O’REILLY USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES
Points Standings (top 20) as of April 21, 2008

1. 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, OK … 195 pts.
2. 5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, OK … 176
3. 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, AR … 166
4. 17 Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX … 161
4. 6x Kyle Pleasant, Robeline, LA … 161
6. 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, OK … 154
7. 1w Howard Willis, Dayton, TX … 153
8. 13 David Mitchell, Ashdown, AR … 146
9. 5w John O. Whittington, Vidor, TX … 144
10. 19 Jamie Burford, Keatchie, LA … 136
11. 8j Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, TX … 132
12. 05 Michael Robertson, Minden, LA … 130
12. 02 B.J. Robinson, Shreveport, LA … 130
14. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, SD … 128
15. 99 Derick Grigsby, Marshall, TX … 126
16. 22 Tracy Denby, Vidor, TX … 119
16. A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, TX … 119
16. 38r Jeremy Ross, Locust Grove, OK … 119
19. 97j Jeff Hoegh, New Caney, TX … 117
20. 703 David Smith, Copperas Cove, TX … 115

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS — America's Hottest Ticket on Dirt.

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TITLE SPONSOR: O’Reilly Auto Parts.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Race Tires, Arizona Sport Shirts, Awesome Race Suits, Bear Tire Company, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Childhelp, Gressel Racing, Houston Specialty Products Co., KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest Web Solutions, Q.E.M., Inc., TrackTek Racing Fuel, Western Flyer Xpress.

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boom Drilling, Day Motor Sports, Kraft/Ramirez Race Cars, Olympic Fire Protection, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar, Ruter Farms, Yeager Machine.

CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Belleville Motorsports, Bert Transmission, BSB Manufacturing, COMP Cams, Duralite Racing Wheels, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, GRT Race Cars, Hawk Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.