For Immediate Release
Contact: Ben Shelton (msrmafia@gmail.com)
June 22, 2017

Rodney Sanders Surges to Runner-Up Finish in Modified Masters

Happy, Texas (06/22/17) – Rodney Sanders competed in the inaugural Modified Masters over the weekend in his Wichita Tank Racing #20 DriveWFX.com/ Swan Energy/ MB Customs/ Hatfield Racing Engine Modified. When the final checkered flag dropped on the $50,000-to-win event he was credited with a 2nd-place finish.

“We sure would’ve liked to win the $50,000, but a $20,000 payday for second isn’t so bad either,” Sanders said. “After all the bad luck we had on Wednesday at Ogilvie [Raceway] it says a lot about this team to be able to bounce back so strong at Cedar Lake. I want to thank all of my sponsors, crew, and fans for supporting my program.”

Rodney Sanders kicked off a busy week with the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) on Wednesday night with the 2nd annual Chubbs Performance Midweek Madness presented by Victory Door Systems at Ogilvie Raceway (Ogilvie, Minnesota). With 29 cars on hand for the RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment, Sanders lost three spots in his heat race to place 7th, sending him into the B-Main. Running into mechanical issues before the start of the consolation event, Sanders failed to make it out for the 10-lapper after discovering problems with his oil line.

After getting the problems under the hood straightened out, Rodney Sanders headed to Cedar Lake Speedway (New Richmond, Wisconsin) on Thursday night for the Prelude to The Modified Masters. Jumping up one spot in his heat race, Sanders cruised to 8-lap heat race win, locking him into the 4th-starting position for the USMTS sanctioned feature. With $3,000 on the line, Rodney improved one spot in the 40-lap affair posting a 3rd-place finish behind Zack VanderBeek and Terry Phillips with Cade Dillard and Travis Saurer completing the Top-5 finishers.

On Friday night with two rounds of heat races on the docket for the opening round of the Modified Masters, Sanders held his spot in his first 12-lap heat race scoring a runner-up finish behind Kenny Gaddis. Starting in 9th in his second heat race, Rodney stormed through the field six positions reeling in a 3rd-place finish. His preliminary performances locked him into the Sybesma Graphics Pole Dash.

In the dash Rodney notched a 3rd-place finish locking him into the 3rd-starting spot for the $50,000-to-win A-Main on Saturday.

After completing the first 24 laps, Mother Nature moved in during a caution flag sending all cars pit-side. With the storm showing no signs of letting up, officials postponed the finals 46 laps to Sunday morning.

Returning on Sunday morning to resume action from the 3rd-starting position, Sanders jumped up one spot in the remaining laps registering a runner-up finish behind Ryan Gustin with Zack VanderBeek, Jimmy Mars, and Jake Hartung completing the Top-5 finishers.

For more results from these events, please visit www.USMTS.com .
Rodney will remain idle this weekend before resuming action next weekend – June 30-July 1 – with a Lucas Oil MLRA Super Late Model doubleheader at Salina Highbanks Speedway (Salina, Oklahoma). Friday night’s program will include a $3,000-to-win finale, while Saturday’s program will be headlined by a $5,000-to-win race.

Sanders currently leads the series Rookie of the Year standings and is third in the overall standings. For more information on the events, please visit www.MLRAracing.com .

Rodney Sanders would like to thank all of his sponsors including Wichita Tank Racing, Swan Energy, Kimrad Transport, DriveWFX.com, S&S Fishing and Rental, Krohn Farms, STSI, Mars Race Cars, MB Customs, KBC Graphics, Bergman Tax and Accounting, Hatifeld Race Engines, Deatherage Opticians, VP Race Fuels, C&R Incorporated, Beyea Headers, CMD Race Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Race Shocks, Eibach, Wilwood Brakes, Palmer Painting, D&G Contracting, Driven Oil, 87 Automotive, FK Rod Ends, Allstar Performance, Fikes Transmission, QA1 Driveshafts, Performance Bodies, Day Motorsports, and MSRMafia.com Marketing Services.

For more information on Rodney Sanders, please visit www.RodneySandersRacing.net .