One week ago, Terry Phillips surpassed the two-year anniversary of his last United States Modified Touring Series win. After Sunday night’s race at the Mason City Motor Speedway, there won’t be a third.

Phillips experienced his share of bad luck during the winless streak, but Sunday night a little good fortune came in the direction of the 52-year-old veteran from Springfield, Mo., when race leader Johnny Scott suffered a flat tire with eight laps to go.

When opportunity knocked, Phillips kicked open the door and pulled away from the pack over the last few laps to notch his 25th career USMTS victory—his first since Aug. 5, 2016.

Scott, on the other hand, was well on his way to scoring his third straight win of the weekend and extend his points lead in the USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup powered by Summit before misfortune struck on lap 17.

While it’s been a dream season for Scott, it’s been a nightmare for Phillips. But what better time than the 7th Annual Diamond Jo Casino “All-In 77” to turn his luck around?

Scaling back his successful late model program this year to focus on chasing the $50,000 USMTS national championship, the title is all but out of reach at this point. But that hasn’t stopped him from digging—and the miles on his tow vehicle are no fewer than if he had one every race this season.

Commitment and tenacity paid off to the tune of $2,875 Sunday night, but the cold-blooded murder of the monkey on his back was priceless.

For the second time in as many nights, “Cool Hand” Lucas Schott wound up second at the finish line. Rodney Sanders earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award by racing from ninth to third in 25 laps and early race leader Zack VanderBeek held off Dereck Ramirez for fourth.

Johnny Scott rebounded to finish sixth while twin brother Stormy Scott followed him in seventh. Cory Crapser, Joe Duvall and Adam Kates completed the top ten.

In nine USMTS events held at the North Iowa Fairgrounds half-mile dirt oval, Phillips became the eighth different driver to visit victory lane. Only Ryan Gustin has two wins—both of them coming on the same night last August after an early-season rain-out forced the double-features night.

From the track formerly known as the I-35 Speedway, the series heads south on said interstate highway to invade the still-known-as I-35 Speedway in Winston, Mo., this Thursday, Aug. 16.

Then on Friday, the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., hosts the 3rd Annual Grant Junghans Memorial with a $10,002 top prize up for grabs.

The weekend wraps up Saturday at the Salina Highbanks Speedway in Pryor Creek, Okla.

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
7th Annual Diamond Jo Casino “All-In 77”
Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa
Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. All drivers transferred to the Casey’s General Stores “A” Main with the top 8 in heat race passing points redrawing for the first 8 starting spots.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (3) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo.
3. (5) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz.
5. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (2) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif.
7. (6) 65D Dustin Brown, Thornton, Iowa
8. (8) 32 D.J. Shannon (R), Merced, Calif.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (2) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (6) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (7) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
7. (3) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (25 laps):
1. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 25, $2875.
2. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Hill, 25, $1850.
3. (9) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 25, $1325.
4. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Stoen, 25, $1020.
5. (5) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 25, $915.
6. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Cameron, Mo., VanderBuilt/Hill, 25, $810.
7. (8) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., VanderBuilt/Mullins, 25, $755.
8. (7) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustoms/Troy’s, 25, $400.
9. (11) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 25, $675.
10. (10) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 25, $550.
11. (13) 65D Dustin Brown, Thornton, Iowa, Skyrocket/ASI, 25, $225.
12. (14) 8c Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., GRT/ChevPerf, 25, $300.
13. (12) 19sb Lance Mari (R), Imperial, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, 16, $275.
14. (2) 0 Jake O'Neil (R), Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 3, $545.
15. (15) 32 D.J. Shannon (R), Merced, Calif., LG2/ChevPerf, 0, $250.

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

Lap Leaders: VanderBeek 1-7, J. Scott 8-17, Phillips 18-25.
Total Laps Led: J. Scott 10, Phillips 8, VanderBeek 7.
Margin of Victory: 2.406 seconds.
Time of Race: 18 minutes, 20.066 seconds (5 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: Sanders (advanced 8 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Sanders (started 6th, finished 2nd).
Entries: 15.
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 16, I-35 Speedway, Winston, Mo.
USMTS Hunt for the Casey’s Cup Points: J. Scott 2590, S. Scott 2401, Sanders 2401, VanderBeek 2327, Schott 2301, O'Neil 2298, Phillips 2256, Ramirez 2240, Kates 1647, Duvall 1614.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: O'Neil 2014, Mari 1088, Carlos Ahumada Jr. 760, Zane Ferrell 692, Billy Vogel 610.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Durham 252, Mullins 208, Cornett 194, Hatfield 193, Sput’s 180.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: VanderBuilt 295, MBCustoms 279, GRT 210, Hughes 207, LG2 192.

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

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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.