Assuming you haven't already made plans to run both the East and West regions, which USMTS Southern Series region fits your schedule best?

Together they add up to a 22-race regular season with a combined payout of $48,000 to win and, with a USMTS Southern Series license, a combined $5,500 to start if you can make all the "A" Mains.

Enter each event early and you are guaranteed at least your entry fee back in tow money assuming you are not top-15 in points with perfect attendance in a region. If you are, you get back more through the Top Dog Bonus program.

Beginning with the third event in each region, USMTS Southern Series drivers 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 to be eligible. See the USMTS Rulebook for complete guidelines

Also, together, this would start this Friday at the I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., and end at the Boothill Speedway in Shreveport (Greenwood), La., on June 14.

That would then give you three and a half months off to then prepare for the post-season Hunt for the USMTS Southern Series Championship which starts at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas, on Oct. 1 and ends with the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, Dec. 3-5.

But the whole point is this: you don't have to run both regions to have a real shot at the USMTS Southern Series title. All you have to do is finish among the top-10 in points or have perfect attendance in either 11-race region.

Here's the schedules:

USMTS Southern Series East Region:

Fri Mar 20 … I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, AR ($2,000 to win)
Sat Mar 21 … I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, AR ($5,000 to win)
Fri Apr 24 … Texarkana 67 Speedway, Texarkana, AR ($2,000 to win)
Sat Apr 25 … Champion Park Speedway, Haughton, LA ($2,000 to win)
Sun Apr 26 … Boothill Speedway, Greenwood, LA ($2,000 to win)
Tue Jun 9 … Tri-State Speedway, Pocola, OK ($2,000 to win)
Wed Jun 10 … I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, AR ($2,000 to win)
Thu Jun 11 … Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Vivian, LA ($2,000 to win)
Fri Jun 12 … Drew County Speedway, Monticello, AR ($2,000 to win)
Sat Jun 13 … Fast Trax Speedway, Chatham, LA ($2,000 to win)
Sun Jun 14 … Boothill Speedway, Greenwood, LA ($2,000 to win)

USMTS Southern Series West Region:

Fri Apr 3 … West Siloam Speedway, West Siloam Springs, OK ($2,000 to win)
Sat Apr 4 … West Siloam Speedway, West Siloam Springs, OK ($3,000 to win)
Fri Apr 17 … Golden Triangle Raceway Park, Beaumont, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat Apr 18 … Gator Motorplex, Willis, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sun Apr 19 … 105 Speedway, Cleveland, TX ($2,000 to win)
Fri May 1 … Lake Country Speedway, Ardmore, OK ($2,000 to win)
Sat May 2 … Cowtown Speedway, Kennedale, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sun May 3 … Heart O’ Texas Speedway, Elm Mott, TX ($2,000 to win)
Fri May 8 … Battleground Speedway, Highlands, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat May 9 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($2,000 to win)

-- If you want to run the East Region you need to be ready now. Pre-entry deadline for next weekend (March 20-21) at I-30 Speedway's GRT Race Cars Topless Modified Nationals is this Wednesday, and practice is Thursday night with racing on Friday and Saturday. The West Region gives you two extra weeks to prepare for West Siloam Speedway in West Siloam Springs, Okla.

-- The West Region is more stretched out than the East. If you're a Houston area racer, for example, your long tow comes first as you head for the northeastern corner of Oklahoma on April 3-4. The whole regular West Region season is just four weekends though, with two of those staying around Houston. The other consists of Ardmore, Cowtown and Waco, so you're working your way back home as that first weekend of May moves along.

-- The West Region is more compact calender-wise though. The whole thing gets over in six weeks from April 3 to May 9. That gives you almost five months off before the Hunt for the USMTS Southern Series Championship begins. You can sure join the East Region racers, however, at Southern Speedweek in June just for fun ... and, oh yeah, six straight $2,000-to-win shows in six nights. Easter Weekend is off as is the week of April 25 for the West Region and the regional slate ends with five races in nine days.

-- The East Region only ties up three weekends. It is more stretched out calender-wise, but it's closer between all the tracks. You will need a week off though for a racing vacation come June. After I-30 Speedway this weekend, off for five weeks until April 24, then off for the next six weekends until Southern Speedweek starts in Fort Smith on Tuesday, June 9.

-- The West Region is defintely the home team for the Hunt! Three of their regular season tracks -- Gator Motorplex, Battleground Speedway and Houston Raceway Park -- are also Hunt tracks with the big three-day event at Texana Raceway Park on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving being the neutral turf for the Hunt, although count on the Houston and South Texas area USMTS regulars visiting TRP some this season as their weekly Modified pay is excellent. East Region competitors probably need to make a trip south May 8-9 just for track time. Battleground and HRP make up six of the eleven races in the Hunt for the USMTS Southern Series Championship.

-- The East Region long tow probably comes at Southern Speedweek for most of the Ark-La-Tex based teams as an example (Fort Smith is not far from West Siloam) and six races in six nights although fun, will test your stamina for sure but only ties up three weekends vs. four. That's one extra for the wife or the home track.

Of course, October, November and December is what both regions will be shooting at in the long run. That's when they run another 11 races over just four weekends and the last two of those really combine up for a "Holiday Tour" Speedweek, if you will. Now points don't just qualify you and seed you, they pay! $10,000 to the winner and 15 spots get paid down. Combined with points, the 11 races pay $36,000 to the winners! Here's the Hunt:

THE HUNT FOR THE USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP (11 events):

Thu Oct 1 … Battleground Speedway, Highlands, TX ($1,000 to win)
Fri Oct 2 … Battleground Speedway, Highlands, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat Oct 3 … Battleground Speedway, Highlands, TX ($3,000 to win)
Fri Oct 23 … Gator Motorplex, Willis, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sat Oct 24 … Gator Motorplex, Willis, TX ($3,000 to win)
Fri Nov 27 … Texana Raceway Park, Edna, TX ($1,000 to win)
Sat Nov 28 … Texana Raceway Park, Edna, TX ($2,000 to win)
Sun Nov 29 … Texana Raceway Park, Edna, TX ($3,000 to win)
Wed Dec 2 ... Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX (Practice)
Thu Dec 3 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($2,000 to win)
Fri Dec 4 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($3,000 to win)
Sat Dec 5 … Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX ($4,000 to win)