Phillips masters Mason City for 40th USMTS triumph

July 21, 2023 | by Jeff Nun

The best of the best battled for a second night on Friday as the Pritchard Family Auto Stores Mason City Motor Speedway hosted round two of the 10th Annual USMTS North Iowa Nationals presented by Christie Door Store.

After nabbing the Sybesma Pole Award, Terry Phillips set a torrid pace early on as North Iowa’s Action Track provided a completely different racetrack than 24 hours earlier.

Four cautions slowed the action throughout the 40-lap main event, and several attackers took a shot at the 57-year-old superstar from Springfield, Mo., but Phillips never faltered and led the whole way for his second win of 2023 and 40th of his USMTS career.

“We got lucky in that heat race there on the front, and I knew the car has been good, but I’ve been getting a lot of calls asking what's wrong and it’s just kind of circumstances I guess,” Philips said in victory lane. “It felt good though. Tommy Boy (Tony Rogers) got us dialed in tonight.

“I’m already worried about tomorrow, but it feels good. We have fought and worked our butts off.”

The last and only win in Mason City happened on Aug. 12, 2018, for the son of NASCAR hall-of-famer Larry Phillips when the track was a classic fairgrounds-style big, fast half-mile oval.

Friday’s triumph was worth $5,000 while Sanders rebounded from a rough night Thursday to grab the runner-up spot and extend his points lead after 26 events.

Jake O'Neil bested Jeremy Nelson for third after those two battled hard can clean most of the race, and last night’s winner, Jim Chisholm, roared from 18th to fifth at the checkered flag to earn the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.

Also passing 13 competitors from his place on the starting grid, Tyler Wolff clawed his way to a sixth-place finish while Cayden Carter, 16th-starting Tanner Mullens, Jason Hughes and Dereck Ramirez rounded out the top 10.

Return of The King: Nine-time USMTS National Champion Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, finished 14th as he was seeking back-to-back wins, so to speak.

His last win came on Nov. 8, 2014, when he won the finale of the USMTS Winter Nationals at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway in Vivian, La.—his last start with the series before Saturday.

In 1999 when he won his first USMTS title during the debut season for Todd and Janet Staley’s fledgling series, Shryock didn’t win a points race. His only win came on Oct. 7 that year during the inaugural Featherlite Fall Jamboree, which was a non-points race at the time.

There were 18 races that season, and he didn't win his first points race until midway through the third season on June 7, 2001, at the North Fork Speedway in Oronogo, Mo., en route to his third straight USMTS crown.

With 182 career victories, Shryock leads all drivers in titles and wins, and is currently the only driver inducted into the USMTS Hall of Fame—that part will change next month at the 25th Anniversary USMTS Silver Jubilee right here in Mason City when several others will join him.

Two down, one to go: The throttle-smashing USMTS maniacs return for a third day Saturday for championship night at the 10th Annual North Iowa Nationals. The winner will take home a cool $10,000 plus contingencies in the prelude to the 25th Anniversary USMTS Silver Jubilee here Aug. 16-19.

Saturday’s show will also feature the mud-slinging WINS Sprint Car Series racing for $1,200 to win and another night of wild ‘n’ wacky school bus races.

The pits open at 4 p.m. and grandstand gates swing open at 5. Following the drivers meeting at 6:15, hot laps and qualifying begins at 6:30 with racing following the National Anthem around 7. All times are Central Standard Time.

The Mason City Motor Speedway is a 1/3-mile clay oval located 5.1 miles east of I-35 at exit 194 on SR 122 (at the North Iowa Fairgrounds). For more information, call (515) 832-6000 or check out MasonCityMotorSpeedway.com. You can also follow MCMS on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features 45 nights of racing at 15 of America's premier dirt track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.

Watch every USMTS event online live and on-demand from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt.

Visit usmts.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
10th Annual USMTS North Iowa Nationals presented by Christie Door Store – Night 2 of 3
Pritchard Family Auto Stores Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa
Friday, July 21, 2023

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 14 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (10 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (6) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
4. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
5. (1) R Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (8) 65D Dustin Brown, Clear Lake, Iowa
7. (3) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
8. (7) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
9. (9) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
2. (4) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
3. (6) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa
4. (1) 5D Devon Havlik, Waterloo, Iowa
5. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
6. (3) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
8. (8) 96T R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz.
DNS – 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (1) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
2. (2) 23 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
3. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (3) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (7) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
8. (8) 16B Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.

WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 24 Aaron Benson, Clear Lake, Iowa
3. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (4) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
5. (5) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
6. (7) 1G Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa
7. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (8) 60X Tyler Wirtjes, Mason City, Iowa

VP RACING HEAT RACE #5 (10 laps):
1. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
3. (3) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
4. (4) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
6. (8) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
7. (7) 29D Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa
8. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (5) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
6. (4) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
7. (9) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
8. (10) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
9. (7) 65D Dustin Brown, Clear Lake, Iowa
10. (11) 29D Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa
11. (13) 60X Tyler Wirtjes, Mason City, Iowa
12. (12) 96T R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz.
13. (8) R Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa
14. (14) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (5) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (2) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (7) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
5. (10) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
6. (11) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
7. (9) 1G Pat Graham, Ankeny, Iowa
8. (12) 16B Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
9. (13) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
10. (3) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
11. (4) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
12. (14) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
13. (8) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
14. (6) 5D Devon Havlik, Waterloo, Iowa

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
4. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (18) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
6. (19) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
7. (10) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
8. (16) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
9. (14) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
10. (15) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
11. (8) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
12. (6) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
13. (13) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
14. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa
15. (21) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
16. (22) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
17. (12) 24 Aaron Benson, Clear Lake, Iowa
18. (4) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
19. (26) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
20. (11) 23 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
21. (25) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
22. (24) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
23. (23) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
24. (17) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
25. (9) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
26. (20) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.

Lap Leader: Phillips 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Phillips 40.
Margin of Victory: 0.716 second.
Time of Race: 19 minutes, 16.446 seconds (4 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Thornton, Hejna.
Emergency Provisionals: none.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Jim Chisholm (started 18th, finished 5th).
Entries: 37.
Next Race: Saturday, July 22, Pritchard Family Auto Stores Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sanders 2079, Hughes 1986, Chisholm 1969, O'Neil 1944, Ramirez 1884, Ebert 1864, Mullens 1864, Berry 1825, Wolff 1817, Carter 1805.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 1769, Krup 1645, Nelson 1502, Christian 1276, Lavasseur 1229.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Chisholm 116, O'Neil 97, Sanders 93, Hughes 76, Givens 64.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 177, Mullens 163, Hughes 157, VanderBuilt 128, Skyrocket 122.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 192, Cornett 179, Stoen 170, Hatfield 162, KSE 148.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Thornton.
American Racer – Jim Chisholm.
Beyea Custom Headers – Nelson.
BigDeal Car Care – Phillips, Hansen.
Bryke Racing – K. Brown.
BSB Manufacturing – Thornton.
Champ Pans – Jim Chisholm.
Collins Brothers Towing – Berry.
Deatherage Opticians – Schlichting.
Edelbrock – Lavasseur.
Fast Shafts – Nelson.
FK Rod Ends – Jim Chisholm.
Hooker Harness – Krup.
Hyperco – Ebert.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Lavasseur.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ramirez.
KSE Racing Products – Jim Chisholm.
MD3 – Phillips.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Sanders.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Hansen.
MSD Performance – O’Neil.
Penske Racing Shocks – Ebert.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Timm.
QA1 – Sanders.
Quarter Master – Mullens.
RacerWebsite.com – Shryock.
Salty’s BBQ & Catering – Wolff.
Simpson Race Products – Sanders.
Summit Racing Equipment – R. Brown, Havlik, Melton, Plowman, Whitwell.
Super Clean – Phillips.
Swift Springs – Ebert, Shryock, Phillips.
Sybesma Graphics – Phillips.
VP Racing – Phillips.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Havlik.
Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Hughes.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Carter.