ABOVE: Driving the Number 20 car Rodney Sanders soars through turn two at Fairmont Raceway during the USMTS second heat.

FAIRMONT — The United States Modified Touring Series on Thursday night at Fairmont Raceway saw Tyler Davis and Rodney Sanders taking the top prizes.

The USMTS bracket was broken up into three heats and two feature races with points being awarded based on positioning at the end of the race; these points are tracked across all events with the top ten in the series advancing for a shot at the national championship.

“It’s the fastest track around. A lot of people are scared of it,” driver Lee Beemer said. “But it’s the high speed, long half mile, high bank. And it’s what brings the big boys out to pick up a lot of speed.”

The first heat in the USMTS races was taken by driver Kyle Brown out of Madrid, Iowa, putting up a fastest lap 19.548 seconds. He was followed closely by Rodney Sanders, who ran a best lap time of 19.743. Coming in third was Jake Tim with a best lap time of 19.625.

Heat 2 had Gary Christian taking first with a best lap time of 20.055. Right behind him was Brandon Davis, who despite having a faster last lap time of 19.918, was unable to make up the difference to close the gap. Coming in third was Alex Williamson, who again had a fastest lap of 19.829 but fell behind due to two bad laps putting him 2.668 seconds behind Christian.

The third and final heat before the feature events had Dan Ebert first, A.J. Hoff second and Jason Hughes third.

The B Feature 1 race for the Summit USMTS had Davis taking first with a best lap of 20.095. Jacob Hobsscheidt was in second with a best lap of 20.022 but could not overcome a rough second lap that put him back by 23.063 seconds. In third, Lyle Sathoff with a best lap of 20.881.

Heading into the main event of the night, a 25-lap race consisting of all 25 racers who participated in the various heats, driver Jim Chisholm had only two things on his mind: to win and drive fast.

Chisholm, who ranked second heading into the night’s races, said before the race he didn’t get to run on many tracks quite like this.

“From what I’ve heard from people that have run here, it’s really fast and big, so we don’t really get to run on many of those much anymore, so kind of a little bit different, but it should be fun and exciting,” said Chisholm. “Other than a gear change, we’re gonna run it just like we ended on the track last time, so go from there, and if we gotta make a few adjustments, we will.”

Sanders secured the gold in the A Feature 1 race with a final lap time of 23.730 and a best lap of 20.061. Right behind, Chisholm claimed silver with a final lap of 23.069 and a best lap of 20.378. Bronze went to Terry Phillips, whose last lap was 21.565. Phillips put up a best lap of 20.425 to close out the night.

Fairmont Raceway has a storied history. The track, built in 1965, held its first figure-eight race on August 19, 1968. The track saw its popularity boom often with as many as 50 cars showing up to race. In 1984 it rebranded from International Raceway to its Current name Fairmont Raceway

Over time different classes of races were added or dropped allowing for less experienced racers to get experience and advance to higher levels of competition. At this point in time Fairmont Raceway is sanctioned in five classes: Hobby stocks, tunners, B-mods, and Modifieds which has allowed them to host USMTS events.

The USMTS Started back in 1998 the five-year-old United States Modified Series was acquired by Todd and Janet Staley and changed the name to the United States Modified Touring series. Now in its 24th season, it has become one of the fastest growing open wheel modified series in the country.

As of 2023 the league has paid out over 20 million in winnings to 4,600 drivers in over 181 venues spanning 19 states. Broken into the three regions Central, North, and South with the top 10 point leaders advancing to the national championship series with a shot at the grand prize of $100,000.

The league averages 36 shows per season however that fluctuates with weather with some seasons having as high as 50 and some as low as 30.

Fairmont Raceways next event will be Back-to-School night on Aug. 2