HUMBOLDT, Kan.—Reigning USMTS National Champion Rodney Sanders arrived at the Humboldt Speedway on Thursday still winless in 2014. He left on Saturday night with a $10,000 paycheck and now the reigning King of America.

The 26 main event starters performed the four-wide parade lap with fireworks exploding in the background, but it was the fireworks with seven laps to go that will keep fans talking until the fifth running of the event in 2015.

The 24-year-old from Happy, Texas, started the 100-lap main event from the pole position and led the first lap but outside front row starter Jordan Grabouski of Beatrice, Neb., roared past Sanders entering the first turn and swiped the lead away the next time around.

For the next 92 laps, three cautions slowed the action and several drivers got near the lead duo, but the race to sit in the king’s throne and wear the King of America IV crown was between ‘Grabo’ and ‘The Rocket.’

After the first caution on lap 16, Woodward, Okla.’s Dereck Ramirez briefly scooted past Sanders, but two laps later it was Grabouski and Sanders sailing away from the pack again.

2012 USRA Modified National Champion Brandon Davis of Medford, Minn., took third away from Ramirez on lap 25 while Daniel Hilsabeck, Zack VanderBeek and Jason Krohn had a spirited battle for the fifth spot.

Davis eventually ran down the leaders and took the runner-up spot away from Sanders following a yellow flag restart with 34 laps complete, but the ‘Medford Monster’ was unable to mount a serious challenge to Grabouski.

At the halfway mark, it was Grabouski leading Davis, Sanders, VanderBeek, Hilsabeck, Ramirez, Krohn, 17th-starting Stormy Scott, Jason Hughes and 19th-starting Bryan Rowland.

Lap 53 found Ramirez nestled against the concrete retaining wall in turn 2 to bring about the race’s third caution period. Back under green, Grabouski continued to set a blistering pace and pulled out to a sizeable ten-car-length advantage over the next ten laps.

Sanders powered underneath Davis on lap 64 to maneuver back into second, and then reeled in the leader over the next ten laps. Searching for a way to put Austin Theiss a lap down on the 72nd circuit slowed Grabouski’s momentum and allowed Sanders to pull up to his rear bumper.

Grabouski slipped by Theiss on the inside while Sanders worked around the outside underneath the flagstand. The two made contact and Sanders’s #20 MB Customs machine pulled a “wheelie” going into the first corner. The car slammed down on the track just in time for Sanders to crank the wheel to the left and keep it off the wall.

Apparently suffering no damage in the stunt, Sanders again found his way back to the rear bumper of Grabouski’s #75 GRT Race Cars chassis while the rest of the field followed far back in the distance in a race for third on back.

With the racing surface beginning to show signs of taking rubber, passing grew increasingly difficult. Lapped traffic played havoc with Grabouski again on lap 84 and allowed Sanders to slip underneath the leader but Grabouski had the muscle to hold off Sanders’ charge and hang on to the top spot.

With Sanders shadowing Grabouski’s every move but unable to find a way around, the leaders approached a swarm of lapped traffic with seven laps to go. Drag racing down the back-stretch, Grabouski pulled to the outside to pass Chris Brown and Sanders dove to the inside to make it a three-wide race to reach turn 3.

The trio entered the corner side by side but Sanders and Brown bumped which sent Brown’s ride veering into the side of Grabouski’s. When the dust settled, Grabouski was parked with his tail against the wall and Brown sat idle in the middle of the turn.

Under caution, Grabouski expressed his displeasure with Sanders and then exited the racetrack seven laps short of the finish line.

With Sanders setting the pace for the restart, Davis and Hilsabeck shared the row behind with hopes of getting their shot at the crown. But Sanders was too quick and made no mistakes over the last seven laps as he cruised to his first victory of the season.

“Somebody checked up and we got caught up behind those guys there at the end,” Sanders recalled. “He (Grabouski) went high and I went low. I got into Chris Brown there and I guess it caused him to get into the 75 car. I didn’t mean for it to happen; I was just racing for the rubber. He went high, I went low and we just kind of met in the middle.”

Grabouski’s recollection of the lap-93 incident mirrored Sander’s, but their post-race moods were expectedly polar opposites.

“We raced a clean race all night—all weekend for that matter—and then to end it this way really sucks,” Grabouski said. “We’ve been so close to winning one of these USMTS deals a couple times now, and the $10,000 check would sure go a long way with our race team, so obviously we’re not too happy right now.

“The fastest car didn’t win tonight.”

Second place went to Davis, who pocketed $6,000 for his efforts and, perhaps, quieted some of the minority voices who say he can only win close to home.

“We really didn’t have much of a chance there at the end,” Davis said. “We ran some older tires from earlier this week and they took a while to come in. If I had known there were only seven laps left I might have pushed it a little harder, I’ve still got a lot of tire left. We’re happy with our result though.”

Daniel Hilsabeck cashed his biggest USMTS check with a $4,000 third-place finish while 2012 King of America winner Stormy Scott finished fourth with a last-lap pass of Zack VanderBeek.

Scott’s teammate, Bryan Rowland, raced to a sixth-place finish, Jason Hughes was seventh, Jason Krohn came home in eighth, Cade Dillard wound up ninth and Jeremy Payne was tenth after racing his way through the “C” and “B” Mains to get into the “A” Main.

The USMTS Modifieds have about two weeks off before they get back to business with a trio of events in the Major League Bowhunter Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports.

The series treks to the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., on Friday, April 11, and then heads for a pair of shows in the Sooner State the next two nights. Saturday, April 12, takes place at the Salina Highbanks Speedway and the weekend tripleheader wraps up on Sunday, April 13, at the Outlaw Motorsports Park near Muskogee.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
King of America IV – Night 3 of 3
Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan.
Saturday, March 29, 2014

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, laps completed and money won.

NEXT-TO-LAST CHANCE RACE (12 laps, top 12 advance to Last Chance Races):
1. (2) 21w Dano Ostrander, New York Mills, Minn., 12.
2. (6) 21 Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo., 12.
3. (8) 525 George Egbert IV, Salado, Texas, 12.
4. (3) 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D., 12.
5. (4) 36 Jeff Conner, Panora, Iowa, 12.
6. (12) 71 Chris Tonoli, Hermitage, Mo., 12.
7. (7) 05 Milt David, Carrier, Okla., 12.
8. (9) E85 Jason Strand, Portland, N.D., 12.
9. (10) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 12.
10. (13) 18jr Chase Sigg, Iola, Kan., 12.
11. (5) 73 Mickey Burrell, Fair Grove, Mo., 12.
12. (14) 15b Bobby Mayfield, Elk City, Okla., 11.
13. (11) 38c Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo., 9, $200.
14. (1) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis., 0, $200.
DNS - 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., 0, $200.
DNS - 14w Dustin Walker, Peculiar, Mo., 0, $200.
DNS - 23 Matt Gilbertson, Montevideo, Minn., 0, $200.
DNS - 12 Jacob Stoll, Mounds, Okla., 0, $200.
DNS - 11s Scotty Bough, Nevada, Mo., 0, $200.
DNS - X Chris Moore, Madison, S.D., 0, $200.
DNS - 21 Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City, Mo., 0, $200.

LAST CHANCE RACE #1 (18 laps, top 6 advance to “C” Main):
1. (1) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn., 18.
2. (4) 91 Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., 18.
3. (3) V2 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., 18.
4. (7) 24s Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D., 18.
5. (10) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., 18.
6. (9) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 18.
7. (5) 36m Logan Martin, West Plains, Mo., 18, $350.
8. (11) 71s Dustin Strand, Grand Forks, N.D., 18, $350.
9. (2) 66 Greg Burt, Enid, Ok., 18, $350.
10. (14) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas, 18, $350.
11. (8) 1x Cody Erickson, Ulen, Minn., 18, $350.
12. (20) 73 Mickey Burrell, Fair Grove, Mo., 18, $350.
13. (16) 525 George Egbert IV, Salado, Texas, 18, $350.
14. (15) 21w Dano Ostrander, New York Mills, Minn., 18, $350.
15. (19) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 18, $350.
16. (12) 06 Jeremy Nelson, Zimmerman, Minn., 18, $350.
17. (17) 36 Jeff Conner, Panora, Iowa, 18, $350.
18. (18) 05 Milt David, Carrier, Okla., 18, $350.
19. (13) 12g Jeremy Green, Enid, Okla., 18, $350.
20. (6) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., 10, $350.
DNS - 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 0, $350.
DNS - 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, 0, $350.
DNS - 4a Josh Lanterman, Wichita, Kan., 0, $350.
DNS - 42L Bud Longpine, Drummond, Okla., 0, $350.

LAST CHANCE RACE #2 (18 laps, top 6 advance to “C” Main):
1. (2) R5 Hunter Rasdon, Jonesboro, Ark., 18.
2. (8) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 18.
3. (1) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D., 18.
4. (6) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., 18.
5. (3) 311 Adam Schrag, Hutchinson, Kan., 18.
6. (10) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 18.
7. (5) 14 Aaron Olson, Mekinock, N.D., 18, $350.
8. (7) 52 Chad Davis, Tulsa, Okla., 18, $350.
9. (11) 78 Trevor Egbert, Salado, Texas, 18, $350.
10. (18) 71 Chris Tonoli, Hermitage, Mo., 18, $350.
11. (15) 17 Jeremy Chambers, Parsons, Kan., 18, $350.
12. (16) 21 Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo., 18, $350.
13. (19) 18jr Chase Sigg, Iola, Kan., 18, $350.
14. (20) 15b Bobby Mayfield, Elk City, Okla., 18, $350.
15. (4) 40 Jessy Willard, Pleasanton, Kan., 16, $350.
16. (12) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, 15, $350.
17. (17) 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D., 14, $350.
18. (13) 71 Jim Body, Diamond, Mo., 12, $350.
19. (9) 8s Jon Sheets, Nevada, Mo., 9, $350.
20. (14) 9d8 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan., 0, $350.
DNS - K6 Joe Adams, Enid, Okla., 0, $350.
DNS - 21t Lance Town, Louisburg, Kan., 0, $350.
DNS - 38r Jeremy Ross, Locust Grove, Okla., 0, $350.
DNS - E85 Jason Strand, Portland, N.D., 0, $350.

“C” MAIN (20 laps, top 12 advance to “B” Main):
1. (6) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., 20.
2. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 20.
3. (3) 48s Travis Smith, Parsons, Kan., 20.
4. (1) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla., 20.
5. (14) R5 Hunter Rasdon, Jonesboro, Ark., 20.
6. (10) 29d Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa, 20.
7. (16) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 20.
8. (5) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla., 20.
9. (11) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 20.
10. (4) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn., 20.
11. (17) V2 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., 20.
12. (24) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 20.
13. (9) 33 Stephen Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo., 20, $500.
14. (13) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn., 20, $500.
15. (22) 311 Adam Schrag, Hutchinson, Kan., 20, $500.
16. (15) 91 Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., 14, $500.
17. (23) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 13, $500.
18. (19) 24s Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D., 12, $500.
19. (20) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., 10, $500.
20. (8) 9e Don Eischens, Richmond, Minn., 10, $500.
21. (21) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., 9, $500.
22. (18) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D., 9, $500.
23. (7) 95 Dylan Smith, Osceola, Neb., 9, $500.
24. (12) 86 Brian Franz, Halstead, Kan., 8, $500.

“B” MAIN (20 laps, top 14 advance to “A” Main):
1. (3) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., 20.
2. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 20.
3. (4) 99 Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D., 20.
4. (5) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, 20.
5. (7) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 20.
6. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 20.
7. (9) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., 20.
8. (6) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., 20.
9. (11) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 20.
10. (13) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., 20.
11. (10) 7d Austin Theiss, Hockley, Texas, 20.
12. (15) 48s Travis Smith, Parsons, Kan., 20.
13. (19) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 20.
14. (17) R5 Hunter Rasdon, Jonesboro, Ark., 20.
15. (12) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., 20, $700.
16. (21) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 20, $700.
17. (20) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla., 20, $700.
18. (14) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 20, $700.
19. (22) 52w Nate Wasmund, Rochester, Minn., 20, $700.
20. (16) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla., 20, $700.
21. (24) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 20, $700.
22. (23) V2 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., 18, $700.
23. (1) 23 Justin Rexwinkle, South Coffeyville, Okla., 15, $700.
24. (18) 29d Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa, 11, $700.

“A” MAIN (100 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 100, $10,000.
2. (6) 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn., 100, $6000.
3. (3) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Waukee, Iowa, 100, $4000.
4. (17) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 100, $2700.
5. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 100, $2200.
6. (19) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., 100, $1800.
7. (14) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 100, $1500.
8. (8) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., 100, $1400.
9. (7) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., 100, $1300.
10. (22) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., 100, $1200.
11. (18) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 100, $1150.
12. (26) R5 Hunter Rasdon, Jonesboro, Ark., 100, $1125.
13. (15) 99 Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D., 100, $1100.
14. (20) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., 100, $1075.
15. (13) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., 100, $1050.
16. (9) 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan., 100, $1025.
17. (16) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, 100, $1000.
18. (21) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 100, $1000.
19. (25) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 100, $1000.
20. (2) 75g Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb., 93, $1000.
21. (11) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, 92, $1000.
22. (23) 7d Austin Theiss, Hockley, Texas, 92, $1000.
23. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 53, $1000.
24. (24) 48s Travis Smith, Parsons, Kan., 47, $1000.
25. (12) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., 43, $1000.
26. (10) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 16, $1000.

Lap Leaders: Sanders 1, Grabouski 2-93, Sanders 94-100.
Total Laps Led: Grabouski 92, Sanders 8.
Margin of Victory: 0.896 second.
Next Race: Friday, April 11, Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, AMP Energy, Casey’s General Stores, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, MSD, Nitroquest Media Group, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, Snickers, SpiderWeb Modular Storage Solutions, Swan Energy, VP Racing Fuels.

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