SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Officials have announced that the Springfield Raceway will be sanctioned for the fourth straight season in 2012 by the United States Racing Association for the Modified class after another very strong 2011 season.

“The A-Mods are our main event class for the weekly shows at Springfield, and have been for several seasons,” said track co-owner Jerry Hoffman. “USRA has really provided a good strong point fund along with other items in their program.”

Last season, Jackie Dalton of Carthage captured the 2011 Springfield Raceway track championship to mark his second title under the USRA banner in the last three seasons, and his fifth overall track championship.

For his efforts, Dalton took home a $1,500 points fund check from the track along with his 13th-place finish in the USRA Weekly Racing Series national standings grabbing him another $500 along with an American Racer championship jacket.

Track points runner-up Erik Maggard took home $900 just from running Springfield on a regular schedule as the top 10 in the USRA RHS Modifieds received points fund money.

The USRA system helps rewards tracks and drivers who run an inverted weekly system by awarding bonus points for your starting position to your finishing position along with car counts in the national standings based on your best 20 feature finishes.

Pea Ridge, Ark., veteran Johnny Bone Jr. captured the national title worth over $10,000 in 2011. Bone made one appearance at Springfield and captured the Bordertown Casino Octoberfast event which was sanctioned by USRA.

This season, USRA national points are awarded for events from March 2 until Oct. 21, 2012.

“With the USRA you can run your regular points shows and also sanction your season-ending or beginning events and try to help drivers get into the top 20 in the national standings,” added Hoffman. “Last season we had two of our area drivers receive national money as Jackie (Dalton) finished 13th and 2010 track champion Mitch Keeter grabbed the 18th place spot. We finished our regular track points chase the first week of September, but had a couple of late-season specials which helped everyone out in trying to get into those final paying spots.”

Hoffman also noted that he is a strong proponent of the 8,000 RPM chip rule for the USRA RHS Modifieds.

“At Springfield we enforce it (the chip rule) very strong and it has made a big difference as everyone attempts to get a handle on the rising costs of A-Mods.”

The Southwest Missouri area had several drivers in the national standings during 2011 and several more that were just outside the top 20.

Springfield Raceway is tentatively set to begin their 2012 season with the rained-out Turkey Classic on Saturday, March 10, featuring Late Models, USRA RHS Modifieds, B-Mods and Legends Cars. The regular season is slated to begin Saturday, April 21.

For more information on the Springfield Raceway visit the website at www.springfieldraceway.com or contact Hoffman at 417-673-7426.

To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also follow the USRA on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

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USRA OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Race Suits, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, Karl Performance Parts, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, NITROQUEST, RACEceiver, RHS – Racing Head Service, Western Flyer HotMods.

USRA PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boubin Tire & Automotive, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, DAY Motor Sports, DirtKnights.com, SpeedNet Direct.

USRA CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: COMP Cams, Dirthead.com, Eibach Springs, Forty9Designs.com, Genesis Shocks, Hooker Custom Harness, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, New Vision Graphics, PBM Performance Products, Real Racing Wheels, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products.