With the march toward the USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup title at the halfway mark, Johnny Scott has set himself up as the man to beat in the battle to become the 20th USMTS national champion and $50,000 richer.

On Thursday night at the Nobles County Speedway, the 28-year-old from Las Cruces, N.M.—now living in Cameron, Mo.—bolstered his position as the leader of the pack with a thrilling victory at the semi-banked 3/8-mile clay oval in Worthington, Minn.

From the outside of the front row, Scott snagged the lead at the drop of the green flag with polesitter and 2007 USMTS national champ Jason Krohn of nearby Slayton, Minn., following close behind.

With drivers from the front of the field to the back maneuvering all over the racing surface, the fans witnessed perhaps the best racing ever staged in the eighth running of the USMTS Summer Slam event.

Scott paced the first 11 laps but lapped traffic impeded his progress just enough on lap 12 to allow Krohn to slip past and assume the top spot, but Scott recovered two laps later and regained the lead with 14 laps in the books.

The third and final caution waved on lap 22, and Scott was never challenged from that point forward in winning by more than four seconds over Terry Phillips, who matched his best finish of the 2018 campaign while still in search of that first checkered flag.

The $2,850 triumph was Scott’s sixth of the year but first at the Nobles County Speedway, and raised his USMTS career wins total to 36 and a tie with Jon Tesch for seventh on the all-time list.

Krohn, who won here in 2011, settled for a third-place paycheck and Jake O’Neil improved from ninth to fourth in the 40-lapper, but the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award went to Ryan ‘The Reaper’ Gustin who finished fifth after rolling off 17th on the starting grid.

Rodney Sanders, Lance Mari, Zack VanderBeek, Stormy Scott and Trevor Anderson rounded out the top 10 finishers in Thursday night’s blockbuster.

FRIDAY: The touring USMTS titans return to the Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D., on Friday for the 3rd Annual Best Western USMTS Modified Showdown with Midwest Modifieds and BCS Pure Stocks joining the on-track racing party.

Stormy Scott won this race last year, and Corey Dripps captured the inaugural event at the high-banked 1/3-mile clay oval on June 10, 2011.

Grandstands open at 5:30 p.m. with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 for fans ages 14 and older, $6 for youth ages 7-13 and free for kids 6 and under.

The Brown County Speedway is located on the east edge of Aberdeen on US 12, then 1.9 miles north on CR 19 (400 24th Ave NW, Aberdeen, SD 57401) at the Brown County Fairgrounds. For more information, call (605) 725-8887 or check out www.browncountyspeedway1.com online.

SATURDAY: The weekend wraps up Saturday with the inaugural USMTS event presented by Ironhide at the Devils Lake Speedway in Crary, N.D. Pure Stocks, Wissota Street Stocks and Wissota Midwest Modifieds will round out the four-division program at the popular dirt oval.

Gates open at 4 p.m., hot laps begin at 6:30 and the green flag waves at 7 p.m. General admission is $20 in advance or $25 on race day. Youth (6-12) are $5 in advance or $10 on race day, and a family pack is available in advance for just $30. Kids under 6 are admitted free of charge. Pit passes are $30.

Fans can get $2 discount coupons on race day at the Casey's General Store located at 309 North U.S. Hwy. 281 in Carrington, N.D.

The Devils Lake Speedway is a 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval located 1.3 miles east of Doyon on US 2 between mile markers 287 & 288, then south. For more information, call (701) 398-3577 or (218) 469-0576 or go to www.dlspeedway.com online.

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 and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup powered by Summit
8th Annual USMTS Summer Slam
Nobles County Speedway, Worthington, Minn.
Thursday, June 28, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main with the top 8 redrawing for the first 8 starting spots.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn.
2. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (5) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (7) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
5. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
7. (6) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
8. (2) X Chris Moore, Madison, S.D.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo.
2. (4) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (2) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif.
4. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz.
5. (3) 10n Keegan Nordquist, Beresford, S.D.
6. (5) 5k Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb.
7. (6) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (6) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
3. (3) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (1) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
5. (5) 777 Aaron Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
6. (7) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn.
7. (4) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D.

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo., VanderBuilt/Durham, 40, $2850.
2. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 40, $1825.
3. (1) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., MBCustoms/Sput’s, 40, $1000.
4. (9) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 40, $1000.
5. (17) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/TriStar, 40, $600.
6. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Worthington, Minn., MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $795.
7. (10) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, 40, $450.
8. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput’s, 40, $690.
9. (11) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Mullins, 40, $660.
10. (5) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Victory, 40, $350.
11. (12) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $605.
12. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Hill, 40, $575.
13. (21) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $275.
14. (3) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., VanderBuilt/Speedway, 39, $325.
15. (18) 5k Kyle Prauner (R), Norfolk, Neb., Razor/ChevPerf, 39, $250.
16. (14) 10n Keegan Nordquist, Beresford, S.D., Nordquist/Nordquist, 39, $200.
17. (16) 18 Mick Glenn, Minnesota City, Minn., Skyrocket/JRM, 39, $200.
18. (19) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., GRT/PerfAuto, 39, $250.
19. (13) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D., Dominator/Hansen, 39, $200.
20. (15) 777 Aaron Krohn, Slayton, Minn., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 21, $200.
21. (20) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa, Skyrocket/HarryHeads, 13, $200.
22. (22) X Chris Moore, Madison, S.D., GRT/Vetter, 2, $200.

(R) = Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leaders: J. Scott 1-11, J. Krohn 12-13, J. Scott 14-40.
Total Laps Led: J. Scott 38, J. Krohn 2.
Margin of Victory: 4.670 seconds.
Time of Race: 17 minutes, 38.828 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: None.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: Gustin (advanced 10 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Gustin (started 17th, finished 5th).
Entries: 22.
Next Race: Friday, June 29, Brown County Speedway, Aberdeen, S.D.
USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup Points: J. Scott 1746, O'Neil 1699, Sanders 1635, S. Scott 1592, VanderBeek 1591, Ramirez 1555, Schott 1553, Phillips 1540, Joe Duvall 1158, Kates 1080.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: O'Neil 1612, Carlos Ahumada Jr. 760, Zane Ferrell 692, Billy Vogel 610, Mari 607.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Durham 184, Sput’s 159, Cornett 151, Mullins 137, Hatfield 135.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: VanderBuilt 208, MBCustoms 201, GRT 150, LG2 147, Hughes 147.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Glenn.
Beyea Custom Headers – Glenn.
BSB Manufacturing – Gerritsen.
Casey’s General Stores – Anderson.
Champ Pans – Gustin.
Deatherage Opticians – Schott.
E3 Spark Plugs – J. Krohn.
Edelbrock – J. Krohn.
Eibach – Gustin.
Fast Shafts – J. Scott.
FK Rod Ends – Gustin.
Forty9 Designs – Kates, Erickson.
GRT Race Cars – Moore.
Hooker Harness – Arment.
Integra Shocks & Springs – Clark.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – Prauner.
Keyser Manufacturing – Anderson.
KSE Racing Products – S. Scott.
Maxima Racing Oils – J. Scott.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Clark.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Nordquist.
QA1 – Sanders.
RacerWebsite.com – Moore.
Simpson Performance Products – Sanders.
Swift Springs – J. Scott, Anderson.
Sybesma Graphics – J. Krohn.
Tire Demon – Ramirez.
VP Racing Fuels – J. Scott.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – O’Neil.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Mari.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: Alpinestars, American Racer Racing Tires, Argo Manufacturing, Casey’s General Stores, Chevrolet Performance, CP-Carrillo, Deatherage Opticians, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts, KSE Racing Products, Leaf Racewear & Safety Equipment, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD Performance, Nitroquest Media, Pace Performance, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, Summit Racing Equipment, VP Racing Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Duvall Electric, Eagle Moon Farm, ElbowsUp.com, Evolution Powersports, Oreo Cookies, PBM Performance Products, Production Jars, Rancho Milagro Racing, River’s Edge Scrap Management, Snickers, Spike Hardcore Energy, Top of the World Ranch, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: 905 Ink, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Beyea Custom Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Edelbrock, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance Products, Hooker Harness, Integra Shocks & Springs, Keyser Manufacturing, Maxima Racing Oils, Mr. Gasket, Out-Pace Racing Products, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, RHRSwag.com, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Tire Demon, Wehrs Machine & Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.