VIVIAN, La.—It was the year of Rodney Sanders in the United States Modified Touring Series, but Saturday night’s finale of the 8th Annual USMTS Winter Nationals was all about Kelly Shryock.

Holding off Sanders for the final 34 laps, the nine-time USMTS National Champion from Fertile, Iowa, wrapped up the season with a $4,000 paycheck and his biggest win since the inaugural King of America in 2011.

Thursday night’s winner, Cade Dillard, sat on the pole for the 50-lap main event, but it was outside front row starter David Winslett grabbing the advantage at the start of the race.

Winslett paced the first 12 laps of the race while Dillard, Shryock, Sanders and Stormy Scott followed close behind as they battled for the first five spots.

Finally on lap 13, Sanders slid up in front of Winslett and seized control of the race while Shryock followed into second place one lap later.

Shryock hounded Sanders the next few laps, getting side by side in the corners on several occasions before making the winning pass when Sanders drifted a bit too high in turn 2 on lap 16.

From there, Shryock settled into a high line around the high-banked Ark-La-Tex Speedway and kept Sanders behind him the rest of the way to score his series-best 182nd career USMTS victory.

“I can’t say enough about Eric (Kirschbaum, Shryock Racing Components co-owner) and everybody back at the shop,” said Shryock. “This car is the result of four or five years of development and hard work, and the guys have really put together a fast race car.”

Since debuting the converted crate modified in last weekend’s Halloween Havoc at the Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Shryock has recorded five top-5 finishes, including two runner-ups and Saturday’s win.

On this same night some 900 miles away, Steve Kinser—the ‘King of the Outlaws’—officially retired from full-time sprint car racing, but Shryock—the ‘King of the Modifieds’—left looking forward to 2015 with high hopes and no signs of slowing down.

Sanders, who held off Shryock for the win eight days ago, had to settle for second-place money at the pay window this time while Dillard brought home third.

Scott got by Winslett at the white flag and held on to finish fourth. Chris Brown, Jake Gallardo, Triston Dycus, Timothy Culp and Jason Hughes rounded out the top-10.

Saturday night’s event closed the curtain on the 2014 season for the United States Modified Touring Series. Stay tuned for some exciting details about what’s going on in 2015.

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
8th Annual USMTS Winter Nationals – Night 3 of 3
Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Vivian, La.
Saturday, November 8, 2014

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races were locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

C&R RACING HEAT RACE #1 (10 laps):
1. (2) 25 Dougie Murphrey, Tullos, La.
2. (4) 15G Geoff Lary, Dubberly, La.
3. (6) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla.
4. (9) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
5. (3) 77 Garrett Gregory, Tomball, Texas.
6. (10) 431 Kyle Cummings, Sibley, La.
7. (7) 4s T.J. Steele, Winnsboro, Texas.
8. (5) 44 Christy Georges-Barnett, El Paso, Texas.
9. (11) 27 Chase Delrio, West Monroe, La.
10. (8) 14x Josh Landers, Princeton, Texas.
11. (1) 117 Eoin Dunn, Belcher, La.
12. (12) 13B Clint Bates, Bossier, La.

JRi SHOCKS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (3) C8 Timothy Culp, Sheridan, Ark.
2. (4) 14t Triston Dycus, Waxahachie, Texas.
3. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
5. (1) 20 Robbie McClain, Hot Springs, Ark.
6. (6) 12B Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark.
7. (7) 24 Sean Jones, Mansfield, Texas.
8. (10) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
9. (9) 25 Toby Hodge, Pulaski, Miss.
10. (12) 5A Josh Beckham, Choudrant, La.
11. (2) 36 Jeff Conner, Panora, Iowa.
12. (11) 96 Michael Knighten, Keithville, La.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (3) 21 David Winslett, Bossier City, La.
2. (6) 44 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (9) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
4. (5) 12 Lucas Lee, Paris, Tenn.
5. (7) 18s Cody Smith, Kaufman, Texas.
6. (2) 5A Wes Armstrong, Marshall, Texas.
7. (10) 8t Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, Texas.
8. (12) 88xxx Clyde Dunn Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas.
9. (4) 28 Josh Mitchell, Many, La.
10. (8) L1 Larry Clevenger, Greenwood, La.
11. (11) 81 Randy Warner, Bossier City, La.
12. (1) 11 Tracy Denby Jr., Vidor, Texas.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (1) 6x Kyle Pleasant, Natchitoches, La.
2. (3) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
3. (7) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (4) 21T Lance Town, Louisburg, Kan.
5. (11) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (6) 10 Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
7. (9) 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas.
8. (10) 33L Charlie Kruithof, Haughton, La.
9. (2) 8 Jodey Reep, El Dorado, Ark.
10. (12) c4 Leon Cloninger, Plumerville, Ark.
11. (5) 43J B.J. Cook, Shreveport, La.
12. (8) 27L Tony Lindsey, Keithville, La.

DAY MOTOR SPORTS HEAT RACE #5 (10 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
3. (3) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
4. (4) 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La.
5. (11) 22 Ronald Pilkington, Marshall, Texas.
6. (8) 12 Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas.
7. (9) 36M Logan Martin, West Plains, Mo.
8. (5) 18 Caleb Dillard, Robeline, La.
9. (7) 5* Casey Penn, Shreveport, La.
10. (10) 21 Troy Gemmill, Ponca City, Okla.
11. (1) 5A Glen Perry, Bossier City, La.

RACINDIRT.COM HEAT RACE #6 (10 laps):
1. (2) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (1) 12T Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas.
3. (7) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
4. (6) 68 Brandon Watson, Denison, Texas.
5. (10) 5W John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas.
6. (11) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (5) 51 Tim Setzer, Archie, Mo.
8. (4) 77 Brian Craighead, Farmerville, La.
9. (3) 1* Adam Penn, Shreveport, La.
10. (8) 14 Rusty Harris, Shreveport, La.
11. (9) 57J Freddy Hogrefe, Cameron, Okla.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (2) 12T Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas.
3. (4) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
4. (8) 8t Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, Texas.
5. (1) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
6. (6) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Ramirez/Cornett, $100.
7. (5) 12 Lucas Lee, Paris, Tenn., Brucebilt/Mullins, $100.
8. (10) 88xxx Clyde Dunn Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas, MBCustom/Mullins, $100.
9. (7) 77 Garrett Gregory, Tomball, Texas, LG2/Durham, $100.
10. (15) 5A Josh Beckham, Choudrant, La., GRT/Sput’s, $100.
11. (13) 27 Chase Delrio, West Monroe, La., Hughes/Delrio, $100.
12. (11) 51 Tim Setzer, Archie, Mo., Phoenix/Driskell, $100.
13. (9) 10 Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa, LG2/Midstate, $100.
14. (20) 27L Tony Lindsey, Keithville, La., TRE/Lindsey, $100.
15. (16) L1 Larry Clevenger, Greenwood, La., Skyrocket/PTS, $100.
16. (18) 43J B.J. Cook, Shreveport, La., Hughes/Mullins, $100.
17. (17) 117 Eoin Dunn, Belcher, La., Skyrocket/, $100.
18. (19) 13B Clint Bates, Bossier, La., Kraft/PTS, $100.
19. (14) 8 Jodey Reep, El Dorado, Ark., Hoffman/CMS, $100.
20. (12) 44 Christy Georges-Barnett, El Paso, Texas, GRT/Barnett, $100.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
2. (2) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
3. (3) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (11) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (4) 5W John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas.
6. (9) 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas, GRT/Sput’s, $100.
7. (6) 18s Cody Smith, Kaufman, Texas, CAM/Mullins, $100.
8. (16) 21 Troy Gemmill, Ponca City, Okla., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $100.
9. (12) 18 Caleb Dillard, Robeline, La., Sidebiter/PTS, $100.
10. (15) c4 Leon Cloninger, Plumerville, Ark., Shaw/Kraft, $100.
11. (7) 20 Robbie McClain, Hot Springs, Ark., Shaw/Craft, $100.
12. (14) 5* Casey Penn, Shreveport, La., Hughes/Mullins, $100.
13. (5) 21T Lance Town, Louisburg, Kan., Phoenix/Driskell, $100.
14. (17) 36 Jeff Conner, Panora, Iowa, Skyrocket/Durham, $100.
15. (19) 96 Michael Knighten, Keithville, La., Kraft/Knighten, $100.
16. (8) 12B Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark., IROC/Homegrown, $100.
17. (10) 4s T.J. Steele, Winnsboro, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, $100.
18. (13) 25 Toby Hodge, Pulaski, Miss., GRT/Brown, $100.
19. (18) 5A Glen Perry, Bossier City, La., IRP/Craft, $100.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla.
2. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 22 Ronald Pilkington, Marshall, Texas.
4. (6) 431 Kyle Cummings, Sibley, La.
5. (10) 24 Sean Jones, Mansfield, Texas.
6. (4) 68 Brandon Watson, Denison, Texas, GRT/Wornhor, $100.
7. (7) 12 Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas, IRP/PTS, $100.
8. (12) 77 Brian Craighead, Farmerville, La., LG2/Sput’s, $100.
9. (19) 11 Tracy Denby Jr., Vidor, Texas, GRT/Wall2Wall, $100.
10. (8) 5A Wes Armstrong, Marshall, Texas, TRE/PTS, $100.
11. (14) 1* Adam Penn, Shreveport, La., Hughes/Mullins, $100.
12. (15) 14x Josh Landers, Princeton, Texas, Pierce/MachineWorks, $100.
13. (18) 57J Freddy Hogrefe, Cameron, Okla., Hughes/BMS, $100.
14. (17) 81 Randy Warner, Bossier City, La., /, $100.
15. (11) 33L Charlie Kruithof, Haughton, La., /, $100.
16. (5) 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La., LG2/Mullins, $100.
17. (9) 36M Logan Martin, West Plains, Mo., GRT/SCP, $100.
18. (16) 14 Rusty Harris, Shreveport, La., /, $100.
19. (13) 28 Josh Mitchell, Many, La., /, $100.

“A” MAIN (50 laps):
1. (3) 44 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ASI, 50, $4000.
2. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 50, $2500.
3. (1) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., LG2/105, 50, $1500.
4. (4) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., LG2/ProPower, 50, $1000.
5. (2) 21 David Winslett, Bossier City, La., IRP/TwinCity, 50, $900.
6. (9) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, LG2/Durham, 50, $800.
7. (12) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., LG2/AOS, 50, $700.
8. (11) 14t Triston Dycus, Waxahachie, Texas, GRT/Wells, 50, $600.
9. (7) C8 Timothy Culp, Sheridan, Ark., Hughes/Sput’s, 50, $500.
10. (18) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 50, $450.
11. (13) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, 50, $425.
12. (27) 24 Sean Jones, Mansfield, Texas, LG2/Brooks, 50, $400.
13. (17) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, 50, $390.
14. (19) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas, MBCustom/PPE, 50, $380.
15. (23) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Ramirez/Cornett, 50, $370.
16. (10) 15G Geoff Lary, Dubberly, La., IRP/PTS, 50, $360.
17. (14) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas, GRT/Sput’s, 50, $350.
18. (8) 6x Kyle Pleasant, Natchitoches, La., MBCustom/Hatfield, 50, $340.
19. (15) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla., Hughes/Geddes, 50, $330.
20. (21) 22 Ronald Pilkington, Marshall, Texas, GRT/AMS, 29, $320.
21. (16) 12T Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas, Hughes/PTS, 24, $315.
22. (25) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., MBCustom/Sput’s, 23, $310.
23. (24) 431 Kyle Cummings, Sibley, La., Impressive/PTS, 22, $305.
24. (22) 8t Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, Texas, TRE/Mullins, 20, $300.
25. (26) 5W John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas, Pierce/CB, 15, $300.
26. (20) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., LG2/AOS, 12, $300.
27. (5) 25 Dougie Murphrey, Tullos, La., Hughes/Mullins, 5, $300.

Lap Leaders: Winslett 1-12, Sanders 13-16, Shryock 17-50.
Total Laps Led: Shryock 34, Winslett 12, Sanders 4.
Margin of Victory: 0.604 second.
Provisional Starters: none.
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: Culp.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Jones (started 27th, finished 12th).
Next Race: TBA.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – not awarded.
Beyea Custom Headers – Murphrey.
Brass Monkey Racing Products – Pleasant.
C&R Racing – Murphrey.
Edelbrock – Winslett.
FK Rod Ends – Ramirez.
Forty9Designs.com – Houston, Tillison.
Fuel Safe – Brown.
GRT Race Cars – Denby.
Hooker Harness – Whiteaker.
JRi Shocks – Culp.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Culp.
Keyser Manufacturing – Hughes.
Marsh Racing Wheels – F. Gallardo.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – not awarded.
MSD Ignition – Shryock, Sanders.
PBM Performance Products – Pleasant, Shryock.
Power Lift Racing Products – Mitchell.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
Sybesma Graphics – Culp.
VP Racing Fuels – Shryock.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, AMP Energy, Casey’s General Stores, Chix Gear, 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.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, ElbowsUp.com, Erson Cams, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Major League Bowhunter, Mesilla Valley Transportation, New Vision Graphics, Olympic Fire Protection, Penn Transport, Road Runner Crane, Road Runner Trucking, S&S Fishing & Rental, United Cellular Services, Widow Wax.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Bell Racing Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Brass Monkey Racing Products, C&R Racing, CPD Racing Tools, Edelbrock, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Hooker Harness, JRi Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, PBM Performance Products, Power Lift Racing Products, Quarter Master, Real Racing Wheels, Sybesma Graphics, Tiger Rear Ends.