Strong weekend ends with broken spindle in Vivian

Cade Dillard returned to the site of his first USMTS victory this past weekend at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Feb. 25-27, for round 3 of USMTS Winter Speedweeks and the 5th Annual Cajun Clash presented by Horseshoe Bossier City.

On Thursday, he led wire to wire in his heat race to earn the ninth starting spot in the main event. With no caution flags to help out, he was able to climb three spots to finish sixth.

Friday saw Cade roar from seventh to second in RacerWebsite.com Heat Race #7 and then redrew the sixth starting spot for the feature race. Unfortunately, Cade, along with several other drivers, were late to the track for the parade lap and was penalized to the rear of the field for the start of the race. Undeterred, he passed 16 cars en route to a tenth-place finish.

Another heat win on Saturday set Dillard up for another strong run in the $4,000-to-win main event, but after eight straight top-ten finishes his streak came to an end. After starting the feature seventh, Cade was up to fourth but with six laps to go a caution came out. As the field went back green, Dillard’s No. 97 machine broke a right front spindle and ended his night with a 17th-place finish.

Through nine races, Cade sits fourth in the Production Jars Southern Region points behind Jason Hughes, Ryan Gustin and Zack VanderBeek—just two points out of third.

An open practice session from 6-9 p.m. kicks things off next Wednesday, March 2, at the Southern Oklahoma Speedway in Ardmore, Okla., for the fourth and final tripleheader weekend of USMTS Winter Speedweeks. Racing begins Thursday at 7 p.m. with USMTS Modifieds looking to take home a $2,000 winner’s share of the prize money. On Friday, the first heat race rolls onto the track at 7 p.m. with USMTS Modifieds racing for $3,000 to win, and Saturday’s USMTS Winter Speedweeks finale starts at 6 p.m. USMTS Modifieds race for $4,000 to win.

For unfortunate fans unable to make one or more of these blockbuster events, every lap of every race at every event during USMTS Winter Speedweeks will be broadcast live via pay-per-view at www.RacinDirt.comm/LiveVideo. The Southern Oklahoma Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located 0.7 mile east of I-35 (exit 29) on US 70, then 1.8 miles south on US 77. For more information, call 405-627-1766 or click www.southernoklahomaspeedway.com to visit the track's official website.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.