“ALL SYSTEMS GO” THIS SUNDAY AT QUAD CITY RACEWAY;
PRACTICE ON SATURDAY
by: Jeff Nun

E. MOLINE, Ill. (April 13) -- While race fans are seeing the white flag being waved by most racetracks in the Midwest, the light is green at the Quad City Raceway and the long-awaited Inaugural Spring Clash is “all systems go” for this Sunday, April 15.

Better get your taxes done a day early because the Inaugural Spring Clash at the E. Moline, Ill., speedplant will see some of the biggest names in Modified racing as the rugged O’Reilly USMTS road warriors travel to the high-banked quarter-mile bullring for the first time to take on the top-shelf competition in the Quad Cities area.

The event will also be the first of the season at the Quad City Raceway, so promoter Brian Stuart will host an open practice session for drivers in all classes on Saturday. Pit gates will open at 3 p.m. and the first practice session will begin at 4. Practice will end at 10:15 or whenever the last practice laps have been run -- whichever comes first. Pit passes are $15 while admission to the grandstands is free for fans wanting to get a “sneak peek” at the competition.

Sunday’s O’Reilly USMTS main event will pay $2,000 to win and a minimum $250 to start. Also on the racing card will be Street Stocks ($250 to win), B-Mods ($250 to win) and 4-Cylinders ($150 to win). Grandstand and pit gates open at 3 p.m., with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6. Reserved seats are $12.50, general admission adult tickets are $12, seniors get in for $10, kids ages 6-12 are $6 and children under 6 get in for FREE. Pit passes are $25.

The Inaugural Spring Clash will serve as the seventh of 60 races on the National Event schedule, and the first of 11 events slated for the Central Region. The Quad City Raceway is located off of I-80 at Exit 7, then 0.9 mile west, then right, then 4.2 miles west on Colona Rd., then east on Archer St. (at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds). For day-of-race information, call the track hotline at (309) 644-1977 or visit www.quadcityraceway.com  online.

NOTEBOOK:

Kelly’s Kingdom: Sunday’s show will be the first and only chance for race fans in the Quad Cities area to see the “King” of Modified racing, Kelly Shryock. What Richard Petty was to NASCAR and Steve Kinser to the World of Outlaws, so is Shryock to the O’Reilly USMTS. He’s won more than four times as many races as any other driver on the circuit, including a string of 11 straight wins last season en route to his unprecedented eighth O’Reilly USMTS National Championship. The 2006 season is shaping up to be another remarkable campaign for the second-generation Fertile, Iowa, veteran and fabricator of the stout Skyrocket chassis. After six National Events, Shryock has one victory among six top-5 finishes in six races. In the newly-formed USMTS Southern Series, he’s been in victory lane three out of four times and leads the points standings in both.

Tommy’s Return: After a rough 2006 season, Tommy Myer took a little time off in the winter to relax and regroup. Minor surgery earlier this year slowed the process of building a new racecar, and the Blooming Prairie, Minn., fan favorite missed the first six races of the season – more than he’s missed in the previous five years. The four-time runner-up to Shryock in the O’Reilly USMTS National Championship will kick off his 2007 season at this Sunday’s race at QCR. Myer will be driving the KraftKar Modified that carried him to 13 wins during the 2005 campaign, and expects to have his new BC Chassis on the track by Memorial Weekend next month.

Big Dogs: In addition to the all-star O’Reilly USMTS regulars, regional racers with stellar pedigrees are also confirmed for Sunday’s Spring Clash. Among the regional entries expected are 1999 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series national champion Jeff Leka, last year's Featherlite Fall Jamboree winner Chad Kinder, Ray Guss Jr., Donovan Lodge, Thad Wilson, Doug Crampton and Milo Veloz.

Top Dogs: Any driver ranked among the top-10 in national points is guaranteed $400 against winnings at each event where that driver is among the top-10 in national points. In a tight points race, the Top Dogs heading into Sunday’s tilt at the Quad City Raceway are Shryock, Al Hejna, Jay Noteboom, Zack VanderBeek, Cale Sponsler, Mark Dotson, Scott Green, Greg Skaggs and Jeremy Rasmussen. Four of these drivers – Noteboom, Sponsler, Green and Rasmussen – are also competing for the 2007 Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar Rookie of the Year award. Among the top-10 drivers there are five different States represented: Iowa (5), Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

To learn more about the O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters office at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online.



= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

USMTS TITLE SPONSOR: O’Reilly Auto Parts.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Race Tires, AMSOIL, Arizona Sports Shirts, Fast Company Performance, Holley Performance Products, Home Pride Companies, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Marsh Racing Wheels, Nitroquest Web Solutions, Olympic Fire Protection, Real Racing Wheels, Reich Concrete, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar, UNIJIG, Yeager Machine.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Bell Racing, Belleville Motorsports, Bert Transmission, Bilstein Shocks, BORCO LP, Boyer’s Engine Development, Day Motor Sports, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Edelbrock, Fast Shafts, GRT Race Cars, Hawk Performance, Hyperco, Intensitee Custom Clothing, Isky Racing Cams, Kraft Kars, KSE Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Racer’s Choice (RCI).