2007 USMTS Southern Series champion Kelly Shryock—

Not so fast! 

Although it sure seems likely.

Skyrocket Chassis cars are tough to beat in USMTS shows. Whether it's the new O'Reilly USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn, Iowa's Zack VanderBeek, Oklahoma's Greg Skaggs, local Houston boys Chris Brown or David Horner (both now with USMTS Southern Series wins in this inaugural year of the series) or the master chassis builder himself, eight-time O'Reilly USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock, the Skyrocketeers are tough to beat!

Shryock may have lost out in this year's Hunt for the O'Reilly USMTS National Championship to Krohn, and missed being national champion for the first time in the nine-year history of the USMTS, but he can make up for that disappointment by simply averaging fifth-place or better over the final three USMTS Southern Series races this Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Nov. 29-30, Dec. 1) at Houston Raceway Park's Texas Winter Nationals.

If he does that, he's the first USMTS Southern Series champion no matter what anybody else does.

In second place in the points standings is Wheatland, Okla.'s Randy Timms who drives a Shaw-by-Taylor Chassis. Timms got his first USMTS win this summer at Chatham, La., during the Southern Speedweek -- a stretch of four races in Arkansas and Louisiana which got Timms into the points race. Timms is 119 points behind Shryock and needs to average a 40-point gain in each of the last three races. While it's not impossible for Shryock to miss an "A" Main, it is highly unlikely. Assuming Shryock starts all of the final three main events, there will be a possible swing of 74 points per race. A lot has to happen to get all 74 of those.

To gain 74 points, Shryock would have to finish last without leading a lap and Timms would have to start 22nd, take over the lead before halfway and keep it to the end in order to get the maximum passing and bonus points. Without the bonuses though, Timms could gain as much as 50 points by just winning the race and having Kelly finish last. What Timms doesn't need is what happened on the third night down in Corpus Christi -- a rain out. Rain-out's make Shryock that much more likely to lock up the USMTS Southern Series title.

The other two nights in Corpus weren't that great for Timms and the other Shryock-chasers either though. Timms was trailing by 101 points before Corpus so he lost ground. It seemed like they had Shryock where they wanted him on the second night has he was forced to use his second provisional of the year, which meant no passing points for the #3 Modified. It's a good thing for everybody else that he didn't get passing points too because he came from 23rd to finish third. That, combined with the fourth-place finish he had the night before, was the best combined finish of the USMTS regulars in Corpus.

Shryock really has to make sure nothing goofy happens in Houston where he doesn't make a race by running out of provisionals (he will have one remaining after Thursday night's opener). If that happens, the picture could change quickly.

If there is a chassis that has challenged the Skyrocket supremacy this year it's been the Hughes Chassis with it's builder, Jason Hughes, third in the standings (-167) and having to average a 56-point gain over the final three races. A possible match of his O'Reilly USMTS National Championshiop runner-up finish is more likely as he is just 48 points behind Timms.

Hughes scored $3,000 USMTS Southern Series wins at Boothill Speedway in Greenwood, La., and Motorama Speedway in Beaumont, Texas, and also won the big $20,000 race out in California. Hughes also won the first South Texas Speedway race last weekend.

Hughes' teammate, Tommy Weder Jr. is a two-time USMTS Southern Series winner and fourth in points (-179). Kansan Scott Green (seventh in points), Texas panhandle teenager Rodney Sanders (eighth) and lady racer Dena Wilson of Coweta, Okla. (10th) also run the Hughes Chassis brand.

Bixby, Okla., racer Greg Skaggs (Skyrocket) is fifth in points (-214) and is joined in the "barely mathmatically alive" category by TRE Chassis builder Steve Holzkamper of Gentry, Ark., who is sixth in points and 221 behind the leader, Shryock. Holzkamper scored a USMTS Southern Sereis win at Motorama Speedway in October while Skaggs got his second USMTS Southern Series win at Monticello, Ark., over a series-high field of 73 back in July.

When Thursday night's race is over at HRP, we'll know better if anyone has a realistic shot at catching Shryock, or if we're just going to be battling it out for second.

Either way, it'll be fun to watch!

2007 USMTS SOUTHERN SERIES POINTS STANDINGS:
1. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, IA … 1711 pts.
2. 5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, OK … 1592
3. 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, OK … 1544
4. 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, OK … 1532
5. 27 Greg Skaggs, Bixby, OK … 1497
6. 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, AR … 1490
7. 25 Scott Green, Derby, KS … 1256
8. 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, TX … 1053
9. 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, IA … 1041
10. 54 Dena Wilson, Coweta, OK … 1018
11. 89 Steven Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, TX … 1007
12. 76 Nicholas Littlejohn, Everman, TX … 996
13. 19 Jamie Burford, Keatchie, LA … 955
14. 11 Brandon Morton, Coweta, OK … 775
15. 5w John O. Whittington, Vidor, TX … 703
16. 21b Brandon Kenny, E. Woodward, OK … 683
17. 4r Derek Ramirez, Woodward, OK … 672
18. 4x Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, TX … 665
19. A1 Phil Dixon, Crosby, TX … 641
20. 48 Chase Allen, Midlothian, TX … 609
21. 561 David Horner, Houston, TX … 599
22. 2w Paul White, Temple, TX … 588
23. 83 Willy Kraft, Lakefield, MN … 580
24. 13 David Mitchell, Ashdown, AR … 567
25. 9 Shane Hebert, Scott, LA … 561
26. 8 Steve Miller, Georgetown, TX … 557
27. L1 Larry Clevenger, Greenwood, LA … 533
28. 74 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, MO … 493
29. 05 Michael Robertson, Minden, LA … 450
29. 17 Charles Lasater, Garland, TX … 450
31. 12 Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, AR … 445
32. 21 Chris Brown, Cleveland, TX … 423
33. 98 John Allen, Chanute, KS … 395
34. 1w Howard Willis, Dayton, TX … 375
35. 7m Brandon Melton, Longview, TX … 370
35. 56t Troy Taylor, Fort Worth, TX … 370
37. 5r Sean Jones, Mansfield, TX … 367
38. 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, MO … 356
39. 6x Kyle Pleasant, Robeline, LA … 347
40. 14r Mike Richardson, Red Oak, TX … 320
41. 18 Jack Sullivan, Greenbrier, AR … 311
42. 51 Eddie Martin, Stilwell, OK … 306
43. 33r Mike Roach, Woodward, OK … 290
44. 26 Patrick Linn, Little Rock, AR … 275
45. 156 Steve Pugh, Willis, TX … 271
46. 51w Jeff Wood, Willis, TX … 269
47. 5j Jeff Taylor, Cave City, AR … 257
48. 9x Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, TX … 245
49. 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, TX … 236
50. 777 Jared Landers, Batesville, AR … 232
51. 211 Chad Fitzgerald, Baytown, TX … 225
52. G3 Brendon Gemmill, Ponca City, OK … 215
53. 37 Jeremy Chambers, Oswego, KS … 212
54. 51m Michael Murphree, Little Rock, AR … 208
55. 01 Peyton Taylor, Batesville, AR … 199
56. 31j Jeremy Rasmussen, Bentonville, AR … 194
57. C8 Timothy Culp, W. Monroe, LA … 192
58. 00eh Steve Arpin, Fort Frances, ON, CAN … 188
58. 27x Derek Knowles, Humble, TX … 188
60. 721 Troy Gemmill, Ponca City, OK … 186
61. 7n Jay Noteboom, Hinton, IA … 184
62. 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, OK … 182
63. 23 Brandon Smith, Floral, AR … 181
64. 7m Nathan Sugg, Arlington, TX … 180
64. D6 Chris Huckaby, Monroe, LA … 180
64. 99 Danny Hebert, Duson, LA … 180
64. 38 Jeremy Ross, Locust Grove, OK … 180
64. 0 Jim Ciampi, Enid, OK … 180
64. 88b Brian Boram, Orange, TX … 180
70. 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, IA … 174
71. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, SD … 170
72. 89L Glenn Leuschner, Erving, TX … 168
73. 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, MN … 156
74. 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, MO … 150
75. L51 Jason Wilkey, Batesville, AR … 147
76. 93 Cale Sponsler, Grimes, IA … 145
77. 148 Russell Moore, Conroe, TX … 141
78. 78 Ty Russell, Montgomery, TX … 135
78. 117 Brennan Poole, The Woodlands, TX … 135
78. 45 Shane Killingsworth, Dallas, TX … 135
78. 015 Thomas Blackwell, Crandall, TX … 135
82. 1k Tim Karrick, Bashor, KS … 129
83. 44 Brian Stipe, Baytown, TX … 126
84. 55m Alan Mondus, Lakeville, MN … 124
85. 98 Josh Reisch, Luverne, MN … 123
86. 21w Wayne Brooks, Bald Knob, AR … 114
87. 82 Steve Majek, Corpus Christi, TX … 109
88. 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, MN … 100
89. 91 Joe Duvall, Chelsea, OK … 99
90. 26 Brad McEwan, Storm Lake, IA … 96
91. 222 Dustin Boney, Tonganoxie, KS … 90
91. 49x Jay Poidinger, Somerset, WI … 90
91. 02 Jacob Dahle, Morristown, MN … 90
91. 54 Paul Snyder, Wellswell, KS … 90
91. 9 Brent Nicholas, Baytown, TX … 90
91. 19 Marlin Kracht, Luverne, MN … 90
91. 222 Duane Neel, Whitehouse, TX … 90
91. 5c Steve Crane, Whitehouse, TX … 90
91. 128 Rocky Willis, Beaumont, TX … 90
91. 12h Jeff Huckaby, Texarkana, TX … 90
91. 31 Elias Anderson, Austin, TX … 90
102. B29 Tammy Mitchell, Pea Ridge, AR … 45
102. 60b Mike Bowers, N. Little Rock, AR … 45
102. 52 Trevor Latham, Rogers, AR … 45
105. 5g Rick Gifford, Bakersfield, CA … 0