As the cars and stars of the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series continue to blaze a trail throughout America’s heartland this summer, fans and drivers alike can expect some added heat and some additional bright stars to light up the nights. …

Randy Timms nailed down his first USMTS Southern Series victory Saturday as he captured the Specialty Contractors 40 presented by Larry Shaw Race Cars, Bad Boy Mowers and Mark Martin Ford at the Fast Trax Speedway in Chatham, La., and pocketed the $3,000 top prize over a field of 62 cars. …

Greg Skaggs of Bixby, Okla., recorded his second USMTS Southern Series victory of the season Friday, winning the Commercial Bank 35 presented by Larry Shaw Race Cars, Bad Boy Mowers and Mark Martin Ford at the Monticello (Ark.) Speedway. With a $3,000 top prize on the line, a whopping field of 73 name-brand drivers showed up — a record car count for the inaugural season of the USMTS Southern Series. …

Peyton Taylor of Batesville, Ark., captured Thursday's main event at the Batesville Motor Speedway to earn a sweep for the locals in USMTS Southern Series competition at the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval. On May 12, Jared Landers of Batesville found victory lane at his hometown track on what was supposed to be the second of two nights. The first night was rained out and Thursday's race was a make-up of that event. …

More than two months have passed since the USMTS Southern Series last sprayed mud, but the dirt is going to be flying again this week as the popular first-year tour for the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series screams back into action with back-to-back-to-back-to-back events at four of the best tracks in Arkansas and Louisiana. …

The O’Reilly USMTS road warriors returned to the Tri-Oval Speedway Friday night in front of another jam-packed grandstand full of fans, and eight-time defending O’Reilly USMTS national champ Kelly Shryock was eager to show what he had learned last time. …

The cream of the crop in dirt Modified racing were in Decorah, Iowa, Thursday night as the Upper Iowa Speedway hosted the 3rd Annual Budweiser Summer Challenge featuring the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series. And, on a super-smooth racing surface with two- and three-wide racing from top to bottom, the cream also rose to the top in the 40-lap Holley "A" Main which saw three lead changes among four drivers. …

Corey Dripps is preparing for a swap — a driver swap, that is. Dripps, from Waterloo, Iowa, and Jack Bateman of Canaan, N.H., will take turns in a one-of-a-kind driver swap that will have the drivers turning a few laps in each others cars. …

The O’Reilly USMTS returned to Kasson Speedway on Wednesday night, and Brad Waits was on top of his game again, leading laps 1-35 of the Holley "A" Main from the pole position. The main event this time, however, was 40 laps. …

Kelly Shryock raced to his 11th National Event victory with the O’Reilly USMTS Tuesday night at Eagle Raceway. The eight-time defending O’Reilly USMTS national champion held off early challenges from Jason Friesen and Jason Krohn, then drove away from the field after a lap 12 caution to score the $2,000 top prize. …