TOP DOG FIGHT: Brad Smith (99) battles with Troy Hovey (inside) at the Valley Speedway Saturday night, Oct. 5. The two are locked in a battle atop the USRA B-Mod national points race.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa -- With just ten days remaining in the USRA Weekly Racing Series, drivers in the two open-wheel divisions are locked in tight battles with razor-thin margins that will come down to the final night of racing while the leaders in the two full-fendered divisions have simply to wait until Oct. 20 to be crowned USRA national champions.

In the USRA Modified division, three different drivers have held the top spot in the last four weeks.

The latest king of the hill is Matt Dotson of Clark, Mo., who leap-frogged both John Allen of Chanute, Kan., and defending USRA Modified national champion Brandon Davis of Medford, Minn., on the strength of his rain-delayed feature win against a stout field of competitors Saturday evening at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

One week earlier at Lakeside, Dotson raced from 19th on the starting grid to finish second against a full field of cars.

Despite winning both Friday and Saturday night at the West Siloam Speedway in Colcord, Okla., Allen dropped one position in the standings with the ‘Medford Monster’ slipping to third.

With two weekends of points racing left to go and several tracks holding late-season special events, it is still wide open and any of the three front-runners emerging with the title would be no surprise.

Terry Schultz is fourth, Nic Bidinger sits fifth, Mitch Keeter holds the sixth spot, seventh is Steve Muilenburg, Jacob Gallardo is eighth, Jon Sheets is ninth and Springfield (Mo.) Raceway track champion Jackie Dalton rounds out the top 10.

In the battle for the USRA B-Mod title, Brad Smith rode his two wins and a runner-up finish this past weekend into the top spot in the standings over Troy Hovey of Decorah, Iowa, with just five points separating the two.

After a second-place finish on Wednesday, Smith won the main event Thursday night at the Lakeside Speedway for his 14th win of the season while Hovey charged from the 17th starting spot to finish second behind the Belton, Kan., racer.

Both drivers were in the line-up Saturday night at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., where Smith rolled to win number 15 of the 2013 campaign.

Not far behind the top pair is J.C. Morton of Springfield, Mo., who lurks in third and just 14 points out of first place.

Jacob Bleess is fourth and Cory Crapser is fifth in the current standings. Sixth through tenth are Toby Thompson, Chad Clancy, Pat Carney, Dan Hovden and Miah Christensen.

There will be a new champion crowned this year in the USRA Stock Car and USRA Hobby Stock divisions.

Donavon Flores of Las Cruces, N.M., has enjoyed a remarkable 2013 season, recording 28 feature wins 40 starts at the El Paso (Texas) Speedway Park and his hometown Southern New Mexico Speedway.

Halfway across the country, two-time defending USRA Stock Car national champ Mitch Hovden of Decorah, Iowa, is a distant second in the standings despite amassing an impressive 13 wins this year.

The top 10 is evenly split between Iowa drivers and those from New Mexico or Western Texas.

Another Las Cruces racer, Brandon Cruse, is third in national points with Hawkeye State hustlers Lynn Panos and Kyle Falck fourth and fifth.

Jason Ziehl is sixth with Miles Widmer sixth and last year’s USRA Hobby Stock national champion, Dillon Anderson, sitting eighth.

Danny Cole Jr. and Jerrad Warhurst round out the top 10.

The only division to never have a repeat champion will retain that distinction going into the 2014 season as Adam Cline has a comfortable lead in the USRA Hobby Stock class.

In his 24 starts to date, the youngster from Decorah, Iowa, has won half of those.

Fellow Decorah driver Steve Larson follows in second with Cresco, Iowa’s Steve Holthaus third.

Josh Ludeking, Steven Dwyer, Scott Spilde, Justin Hanson, Brady Link, Andy Stinson and Zac Mahlstedt complete the top 10.

USRA WEEKLY RACING SERIES
National points as of Oct. 10, 2013:

USRA Modified:
1. 88d Matt Dotson, Clark, Mo. ... 4470 (17 wins)
3. 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan. ... 4449 (19 wins)
2. 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn. ... 4438 (18 wins)
4. 90 Terry Schultz, Sedalia, Mo. ... 4396 (7 wins)
5. 3b Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan. ... 4255 (8 wins)
6. 52 Mitch Keeter, Joplin, Mo. ... 4203 (9 wins)
7. 33 Steve Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo. ... 4165 (11 wins)
8. J17 Jacob Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4147 (8 wins)
9. 8s Jon Sheets, Nevada, Mo. ... 4120 (3 wins)
10. 21 Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo. ... 4119 (5 wins)

USRA Stock Car:
1. 07 Donavon Flores, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4532 (28 wins)
2. 15 Mitch Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4224 (13 wins)
3. 25 Brandon Cruse, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4175 (3 wins)
4. 97 Lynn Panos, Calmar, Iowa ... 4153 (8 wins)
5. 67 Kyle Falck, Decorah, Iowa ... 3926 (3 wins)
6. 21z Jason Ziehl, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 3847 (1 win)
7. 35 Miles Widmer, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 3735
8. 44 Dillon Anderson, Rudd, Iowa ... 3708 (3 wins)
9. 00 Danny Cole Jr., Lansing, Iowa ... 3610 (1 win)
10. 7 Jerrad Warhurst, El Paso, Texas ... 3517 (3 wins)

USRA B-Mod:
1. 99 Brad Smith, Belton, Kan. ... 4466 (15 wins)
2. 476x Troy Hovey, Decorah, Iowa ... 4461 (16 wins)
3. 18 J.C. Morton, Springfield, Mo. ... 4452 (13 wins)
4. 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn. ... 4400 (9 wins)
5. 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis. ... 4388 (10 wins)
6. 24t Toby Thompson, Mountain Grove, Mo. ... 4298 (9 wins)
7. 21c Chad Clancy, Smithville, Mo. ... 4285 (4 wins)
8. 5x Pat Carney, El Paso, Texas ... 4242 (5 wins)
9. 16d Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4205 (6 wins)
10. 7m Miah Christensen, Sioux Falls, S.D. ... 4190 (8 wins)

USRA Hobby Stock:
1. 71 Adam Cline, Decorah, Iowa ... 4229 (12 wins)
2. 22 Steve Larson, Decorah, Iowa ... 4144 (3 wins)
3. 70 Steve Holthaus, Cresco, Iowa ... 4027 (5 wins)
4. 81 Josh Ludeking, Decorah, Iowa ... 3999 (2 wins)
5. 7 Steven Dwyer, La Crosse, Wis. ... 3759 (1 win)
6. 18 Scott Spilde, Cresco, Iowa ... 3703 (1 win)
7. 23 Justin Hanson, West Union, Iowa ... 3639 (1 win)
8. 29 Brady Link, Waukon, Iowa ... 3526 (1 win)
9. 7k Andy Stinson, Cresco, Iowa ... 3437 (1 win)
10. 4z Zac Mahlstedt, New Hampton, Iowa ... 3189

USRA national points are awarded to each driver based on his/her best twenty (20) points nights from Feb. 21 through Oct. 20, 2013. In order to be eligible for USRA track and/or national points funds, each driver must have competed in a minimum of 50% of the events held at any one USRA-sanctioned racetrack.

In addition to dozens of valuable contingency awards from the many USRA sponsors and marketing partners, each driver in the top 10 will rake in a share of one of the most lucrative cash points funds in all of dirt track racing. In addition to providing USRA competitors with second-to-none track and national points funds, the USRA offers a gold-plated insurance program for all of its licensed drivers

The USRA was founded in 2002 with the sanctioning of Modifieds and Stock Cars at the Thunder Valley Speedway in Fayetteville, Ark. The organization grew steadily over the next three years with Hobby Stocks being added to the mix in 2003 while the B-Mod division arrived on the scene in 2006.

Divisional champs were not named during the first four years, but an overall USRA National Champion—Modified driver Ron Luitjens—was crowned in 2005. Since then, USRA Weekly Racing Series National Champions have been crowned in each of the four divisions.

PAST USRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:

USRA Modified – Brandon Davis (2012), Johnny Bone Jr. (2011), Jason Cummins (2010), Greg Skaggs (2009), Brad Waits (2007-08), Larry Herring (2006), Ron Luitjens (2005).

USRA Stock Car – Mitch Hovden (2011-12), Rich Gregoire (2010), Tory Reicks (2009), Tom Schmitt (2007-08), Scotty Pratt (2006).

USRA B-Mod – Scott Drake (2012), Brandon Hare (2010-11), Matt Jones (2007-09), Tony Dunker (2006).

USRA Hobby Stock – Dillon Anderson (2012), Dan Strandberg (2011), Shane Klaassen (2010), Chris Hovden (2009), Jason McDaniel (2008), Mitch Hovden (2007), Nathan Wood (2006).

During the 2013 season, thousands of men and women will compete in USRA-sanctioned events at the finest and most popular dirt ovals in Arizona, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usraracing, follow us at www.twitter.com/usraracing on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usratv.

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