Chisholm
Rolls Into King of America XIV With Big Momentum
Just a few days after earning a career-defining
financial haul in the Dirt Modified world, Jim Chisholm
knows it’s time to turn the page and focus on the King
of America XIV at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The
three-night United States Modified Touring Series show
opens on Thursday with a $3,000-to-win feature and picks
up momentum with a $5,000 prize to Friday’s winner. Of
course, all eyes will be on the $20,000-to-win prize in
Saturday’s grand finale.
For the 22-year-old
Chisholm, who broke through in 2024 to win the USMTS
National Championship, confidence is running high. The
Osage, Iowa, native took command with a couple of laps
remaining to capture $100,000 at last Saturday’s XR
Dominator at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Pryor, Okla.
“Monetary-wise, the biggest for sure,” Chisholm said
of where the win ranks on his career list. “Definitely
one of the biggest races of my career going forward and
might ever be. Just a really cool thing to have them put
on shows like this and race for that kind of money.
“The confidence is definitely there. It’s a short
turnaround, but we have short turnarounds a lot. You
always come back to the shop and regroup. What happened
last week is last week and you really can’t take that
into consideration this week. You just go at this next
race like it’s another big one and try your best to win
it.”
Dan Ebert of Lake Shore, Minn., is reigning
champion of the USMTS portion of the King of America
with a win in 2023 as last year's event was rained out
at Humboldt Speedway. There have been 11 different
winners over the years as the best of Modified racing
gather for the early season showdown.
The event
will include Iron Man USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods,
each paying $1,000-to-win Thursday, $2,000-to-win Friday
and $3,000 to win Saturday.
For Chisholm, the
move of the King of America to Lucas Oil Speedway for
the first time seems particularly timely. The
south-central Missouri oval is a place that Chisholm
never cared for - until last summer when he swept USMTS
features on back-to-back nights at Wheatland. The opener
saw him prevail over veteran Terry Phillips in a
back-and-forth duel over the last half of the race. That
one was named Lucas Oil Speedway’s 2024 Race of the
Year.
Chisholm said he doesn’t have a good answer
for why his fortunes suddenly took a positive turn at
Wheatland, though a new dirt surface for the 2024 season
could have played a factor.
“It definitely drove
like it was new dirt and reminded a lot of what we run
at home,” Chisholm said. “It’s stuff you can’t push your
stuff that hard. If you push, you go slower. It kind of
fits into my driving style. Just finding the limit of
the car you can run it at and not overstepping that
boundary.
“It raced super good last year. We were
luckily able to start up front some of those shows and
have good runs. That’s kind of the goal we’re setting
for ourselves this time as well. I’m super-excited to
come back there.”
Chisholm returns as the
defending USMTS champion after edging out Jake Timm for
his first championship. The title meant a ton for a
youngster who grew up watching the USMTS stars visit
nearby Deer Creek Speedway in family outings to the
track.
“It was one of those deals you watch them
do the four-wide salute and you’re like ‘one of these
days I want to be able to do that.’ To be able to go out
and win a couple of shows and be a contender in the
points was huge, but to win the championship I’m still
pretty speechless about that,” Chisholm said.
“There are a bunch of guys that are super fast and
really tough to beat week in and week out. It’s always a
lot of fun to run with a group of guys who run so well
together. You kind of know what to expect from them.
They run you really hard and you run them really hard.
At the end of the day, you go over and talk to them and
go on to the next win.”
Which is exactly what he
will try to do, putting that six-figure pay day behind
him.
“As marquee events go this King of America
kind of ranks with the Fall Jamboree,” Chisholm said.
“It’s the two original big Modified races. It’s one of
our biggest races of the year with the USMTS Series.
We’re gonna come out trying to win it, just like
everyone else.”
With only three events in the
books so far on the USMTS schedule, Chisholm is a mere
nine points behind five-time series champ Rodney
Sanders. Not only is it way too early to talk points,
Chisholm said he despises points racing any time of the
year. Winning is the sole focus in his mind.
“To
be honest, I think points racing is dumb and to act like
you’re racing for points will only end up hurting you,”
Chisholm said. “Every time you’re at the race track your
goal is to win. If you keep that in mind, the other
stuff just kind of works out. Our goal every time is to
try and win the race. If we come up short, we come up
short and we’ll try again next week."
Spectator
gates open at 4 p.m. each day with hot laps at 6:30 and
racing to follow.
Action kicks off with a
Wednesday practice session from 6-9 p.m. Pits will open
at 3 p.m. with a drivers' meeting at 5:45. There is no
spectator admission for the grandstands or suites, but
pit passes are $30 ($20 for 5-and-under). Four-day pit
passes are $150 ($75 ages 5-and-under).
Thursday admission:
Adults (ages 17-61) -
$20
Military/Seniors (62 and over) - $15
Youth
(12-16) - $5
Kids (11 & under) - FREE
(All
grandstand seating is General Admission)
Pit Pass - $40
Kids Pit
Pass - $20
3-Day Pit Pass - $125
3-Day Kids Pit
Pass - $60
Friday admission:
Adults (17-61) - $30
Military/Seniors (62 and over) -
$25
Juniors (ages 12-16) $10
Kids (11 & under) -
FREE
2-Day Adults (17-61) - $55
2-Day
Military/Seniors - $45
2-Day Juniors (12-16) - $20
(All grandstand seating is general admission)
Pit Pass (11 and and over) -
$40
Kids Pit Pass - $20
5 & under - FREE
2-Day
Pit Pass - $85
2-Day Kids Pit Pass - $40
Saturday admission:
Adults (17-61) -
$35
Seniors (62 and over)/Military - $30
Juniors
(12-16) - $15
Kids (11-and-under) - FREE
(All
grandstand seating is general admission)
Pit Pass (11 and over) - $45
Kids Pit Pass - $20
CAMPING: DAILY RATES
(Limited Availability)
Dry Camping - $15/Night (up to
6 people, $5 additional per person)
Reserve Dry -
$25/Night (up to 6 people, $5 additional per person)
Reserved Electric & Water- $40/Night (up to 6 people, $5
additional per person)
For information on tickets
or camping for any Lucas Oil Speedway event in 2025,
contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417)
295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com
for more information.
Weekly Series opens
April 5: Weekly racing in the Pitts Homes and
Realty Weekly Racing Series at Lucas Oil Speedway will
feature five divisions - Hermitage Lumber Late Models,
Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto
Parts USRA Stock Cars, Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B Mods
and the new Hickamo Country Store Super Stocks. The
Weekly opener is set for Saturday, April 5th.
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Contact Info:
Jeff Nun
Chief Communications Officer
United States Modified Touring Series, Inc. (USMTS)
1715 W 2nd St, PO Box 905
Webster City, IA 50595
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