JEFFERSON, S.D. -- The United States Modified Touring Series is getting ready for a very busy schedule starting in two weeks. After returning back from Wisconsin for three days the USMTS will get ready for five stops on Memorial Weekend.

The series will start with the Harris Auto Racing All Star Challenge at the Park Jefferson Speedway in Jefferson, SD on Thursday May 27th. This will be the first night of five straight nights of racing for $2000 to the winner.

A big field of cars is expected for this swing as drivers will be gearing up for the USMTS National Tour that will begin one week later. The race at Park Jefferson will also feature the B-mods and Chargers racing on Thursday night. Racing action will get underway with hot laps at 6:45pm and racing to follow. Gates will open at 5pm on Thursday night.

On Friday night the series will move to the Murray County Raceway in Slayton, MN for the first of three visits to the track. This will be the regular night of racing at Slayton and a good field of cars is expected here also. Also running will be the Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars, and Sportsman cars. Gates will open at 5pm with hot laps slated for 7pm and racing to follow.

On Saturday the series will make its first stop to the new Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, MN. Deer Creek has made several changes to the speedway and has been having some very good racing the first three weeks of the season. More banking and widening of the speedway have made the track much faster and a lot racier with three and four wide racing happening. Gates will open at 3:00pm on Saturday with hot laps scheduled for 6pm and racing to follow. Also running on Saturday will be Wissota Street Stocks, Super Stocks, and Midwest Mods.

The series will make its first appearance of the season on Sunday May 30th to the Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, MN. The same classes will be running as Deer Creek with gates opening at 3pm and hot laps slated for 5:30.

Last season the first USMTS race of the year at the Dodge County Speedway went fifty laps with no cautions and a record seventy-two cars checked in for the racing action. Nate Wasmund picked up his first ever USMTS win on that night.

The final race of the five day swing will happen at the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna, MN. Racing on Memorial Day will get underway with hot laps slated for 3pm and racing to follow. Gates will open at 1pm on Monday May 31st. The series has had one race at Owatonna, MN this season and the track was in great shape for that race. Tommy Myer picked up his first win of the season at Owatonna on that Thursday evening.

A big field of cars is expected for all of these races. Some of the expected drivers include: Kelly Shryock, Tommy Myer, John Tesch, Mark Noble, Al Hejna, Zack Vanderbeek, Dean Mahlstedt, Mike Hejna, Steve Wetzstein, John Klynsma, Mike Wedelstadt, Bruce Hanford, Corey Dripps, Joey Schaffer, Jay Ihrke, Mike Sorensen, Mike Mashl, Brian Mullen, Mike Wedelstadt, Julie McDermid, Todd Sharkey, Willy Kraft, Craig Scott, Jason Hughes, Johnny Bone, Bob Timm, Tim Donlinger, Nate Wasmund, Chris Spieker, John Vandenberg, Dan Chapman, John Logue, Joe McBirnie, David Siercks, Joey Jensen, Ron Schreiner, plus many more.

This will be the first big weekend of racing before the USMTS national tour starts June 7th. All races will pay $2000 to the winner and American Racer G60 tires will be used at all races. We hope to see everyone at one of these races on Memorial Weekend swing. For more information call the USMTS office at 515-832-7944 or log on to the website at www.usmts.com.