SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Springfield Raceway kicked off the 2012 racing season in grand style as the "quick quarter" lived up to its nickname by holding the weather-delayed O’Reilly Turkey Classic presented by Bad Boy Mowers under near perfect weather conditions.

A stellar field of USRA Modifieds checked in with $1,200 on the line and valuable American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series national points up for grabs.

The redraw placed Brian Green of Pierce City and Terry Schultz of Sedalia on the front row while Archie hot-shoe Tim Setzer and Lebanon top gun Jamie Ragland took row 2 with 2010 track champion Mitch Keeter and Springfield’s Terry Phillips in row 3.

Green brought the field down to the green flag as Schultz stayed with him and took control early on.

After lap 1 was completed, Green and Setzer made contact with Green going around and both going to the rear. On the restart, Schultz found Ragland on his bumper with Keeter, Phillips and a fast-moving Erik Maggard coming forward.

The USRA Modifieds were thrilling the large crowd as Phillips moved around Ragland on lap 3 and gave chase to Schultz.

Caution waved on lap 5 for Jim Black, 2011 track champion Jackie Dalton and Jessy Willard. On the restart, Phillips picked the low lane and put Ragland on the outside.

Schultz, in his #90 Dale’s Towing/GRT by Phillips, was wasting no time in going forward as Phillips and his #75 Andy’s Frozen Custard/GRT by Phillips, Ragland’s #15 East 32 Meat/Allen, Maggard in his #31 BAS Security/Shaw and Mitch Keeter in his #52 Mid-America Rebuilders/Hoffman were swapping spots in the top 5.

By lap 11, Buck and fast-moving Mickey Burrell were moving into the top 5 as Schultz was keeping Phillips at bay up front. Going through lapped traffic, Schultz was withstanding the challenges from Phillips as the field was running without rear spoliers for this event.

Brad Buck (22) and Terry Phillips (75) battle during heat race action.

On lap 23 of the 30-lap feature, Schultz had something break going into turn 2 and slowed as Phillips took over the lead.

In the battle for second place, Burrell was one of the fastest cars in the closing laps but no time to run down the leader as Phillips grabbed the win to become the only driver to ever repeat in the Turkey Classic. He also took top honors in the 2009 event.

Burrell grabbed the runner-up spot with Maggard, Buck and Ragland completing the top 5 as 13 of the 20 starters finished on the lead lap.

Up next at Springfield Raceway will be March Madness on Saturday, March 24, with the MLRA/MARS Super Late Models doing battle along with the USRA Modifieds, B-Mods and Midwest Modz.

For more information visit the website at www.springfieldraceway.com.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
American Racer USRA Weekly Racing Series
5th Annual O’Reilly Turkey Classic presented by Bad Boy Mowers
Springfield Raceway, Springfield, Mo.
Saturday, March 10, 2012

USRA MODIFIEDS

“A” Feature (30 laps): 1. Terry Phillips, 2. Mickey Burrell, 3. Erik Maggard, 4. Brad Buck, 5. Jamie Ragland, 6. Mitch Keeter, 7. Bobby Pearish, 8. Tim Setzer, 9. Andy Morris, 10. Jackie Dalton, 11. Colson Kirk, 12. Brian Green, 13. Jessy Willard, 14. Chris Giles, 15. Curt Rackers, 16. Glenn Bratti, 17. Jim Black, 18. Terry Schultz, 19. Jim Body, 20. Jason Thompson.

“B” Feature #1 (top 4 advance): 1. Dalton, 2. Thompson, 3. Rackers, 4. Giles, 5. Brett Hanson, 6. Steven Martin, 7. Ronnie Woods, 8. Scott Crigler, 9. Nick Whitehead, 10. Tim Simon, 11. Scotty Bough.

“B” Feature #2 (top 4 advance): 1. Pearish, 2. Black, 3. Willard, 4. Kirk, 5. Matt Dotson, 6. Chris Tonoli, 7. Dustin Campbell, 8. Rob Muilenburg, 9. Kyle Schmidt, 10. John Yeoman III.

Heat Race #1: 1. Keeter, 2. Burrell, 3. Body, 4. Bratti, 5. Giles, 6. Dotson, 7. Bough, 8. Muilenburg.

Heat Race #2: 1. Schultz, 2. Setzer, 3. Maggard, 4. Yeoman, 5. Dalton, 6. Kirk, 7. Willard, 8. Crigler, 9. Campbell

Heat Race #3: 1. Phillips, 2. Buck, 3. Black, 4. Thompson, 5. Schmidt, 6. Pearish, 7. Woods, 8. Tonoli, 9. Hanson.

Heat Race #4: 1. Ragland, 2. Green, 3. Morris, 4. Rackers, 5. Simon, 6. Martin, 7. Dotson, 8. Whitehead.