The United States Modified Touring Series was looking forward to hosting the first ever Spring Challenge this year at Burlington, Iowa’s 34 Raceway, but it’s since been moved.
The track announced that the challenge, featuring the top tour modified series in the United States would not be meeting up at 34 this weekend, but rather at another Iowa race track.
The official statement from the track included:
“Having watched several Midwestern racing surfaces fall apart over the past two weeks, the USMTS and 34 Raceway feel it’s best to postpone our event until the fall. We want to give the fans and drivers a good show and do not feel our track is in the condition to do so at this time. Every racetrack is different in drainage and drying time, and ours is still very wet—last week’s rain did not help. We have not yet had any cars on the track and do not feel that having one hundred-plus cars from all over the U.S. on it in just four days is the best way to test the new dirt out. Junking equipment and putting drivers at risk is not acceptable to USMTS or 34 Raceway.”
Instead, the event will go on, just up north at Webster City’s Hamilton County Speedway. Meanwhile, the original challenge will be delayed to a later date this fall.
The action kicks off on Friday night with a pair of nights scheduled this weekend paying $5,000-to-win on Friday and $10,000-to-win during Saturday night’s finale.
There’s no word as to how many UMP modifieds will make the trip to Iowa, but the entirety of the USMTS roster will be on board for the racing action.
Terry Phillips comes into things, four races into the season, with the points lead. He’s picked up a win along with four top 10’s as well as three top 5’s to start the year.
He sits seven points in front of Dereck Ramirez and eight in front of defending USMTS champion Rodney Sanders.
The trio have separated themselves from the rest of the field, but with a number of invaders coming into Iowa this week, things could get shook up.
All of the action can be streamed live on RacinDirt and coverage can be found on ARD throughout the race weekend.
