Three weeks ago the USMTS closed up shop for a summer vacation with Rodney Sanders standing in victory lane. He was back at it again Friday night with a dominating win on the first night of the 5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.

Not even the redraw could stand in the way of ‘The Sandman’ as he used his pole position to evade any chance of a brush-up thwarting his path to victory. In fact, only a few other drivers got next to Sanders-that was while he was briefly lapping them.

Sanders started 13th in Saturday’s United States Modified Touring Series main event, but it took him just 15 laps to take the lead and speed to his second win of the weekend at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., during the 5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals.

Sanders’s 59th career USMTS triumph was his sixth straight in the Silver Dollar Nationals, completing his third straight sweep at the Kosiski family’s crown jewel event at the high-banked 4/10-mile speedplant.

Outside front row starter Jeremy Payne held off polesitter Corey Dripps to lead the first lap, and then built a huge margin between himself and the field over the next eight laps.

A caution on lap 9 erased Payne’s advantage, and two laps after the restart Dereck Ramirez snuck underneath at the flagstand to lead lap 11.

However, the next yellow flag on lap 13 was for Ramirez who slowed quickly with a broken suspension, handing the lead over to Terry Phillips.

Phillips was able to fend off Sanders for one lap, but by lap 15 Sanders had control and never relinquished the lead again, pacing the final 20 laps to score another $3,000 paycheck.

Jason Hughes, who started four spots behind Sanders in 17th, came on strong late in the race and was actually faster than Sanders on the stopwatch but ran out of laps and had to settle for the runner-up finish for the second time in as many nights.

After starting fourth and finishing tenth Friday, USMTS rookie points leader Jesse Sobbing started tenth on Saturday and clawed his way to a third-place finish at the checkers ahead of Phillips.

Brian Green recorded his career-best USMTS finish in fifth, while Zack VanderBeek, Jordan Grabouski, Casey Arneson, Tyler Groenendyk and 21st-starting Daniel Hilsabeck rounded out the top 10.

Although he won from the pole on Friday, Sanders’s stellar run through the pack was nothing new at the I-80 Speedway for the 25-year-old from Happy, Texas.

In last year’s sweep, he came from eighth and twelfth, respectively, and his 2013 feature wins came from the fifth and fifteenth starting spots.

He is now just 12 wins shy of matching Ryan Gustin’s record of 71 career USMTS wins. With 24 race nights remaining on the 2015 calendar, few would be shock to see ‘The Rocket’ challenge for that third spot on the all-time wins list.

Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay raced his way to Casey’s General Stores Victory Lane for the third time in four years Saturday night in the Iowa Corn 300. Hunter-Reay held off the field on a late restart to give Andretti Autosport its sixth consecutive win and its seventh in nine races at The Fastest Short Track on the Planet.

Josef Newgarden was second and rookie Sage Karam was a career-best third, putting Americans in the top three spots for the first time since the 2006 Indianapolis 500.

“My car was on rails until the end. I was driving the snot out of it. It was loose, and I just kept my foot to the floor,” Hunter-Reay said. “It was a lot of work in the cockpit. This was one we really had to work for.”

Verizon IndyCar Series championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya crashed out of the Iowa Corn 300 only 10 laps into the 300-lap race. Montoya, who led Scott Dixon by 54 points going into the race suffered his first DNF (did not finish) of the season. Ironically, the last time Montoya failed to finish a race was last year’s Iowa Corn 300 some 18 races ago.

But no one could make Montoya pay for his early misfortune. The crash threatened to put Montoya’s healthy lead in jeopardy — especially with Scott Dixon running strong. But Montoya’s lead dropped from just 54 points to 42 over Graham Rahal, who moved into second place in the championship standings.

Dixon finished 18th after a mechanical issue and fell to third in the standings, gaining just six points on Montoya.

“Not a big deal,” said Montoya. “Disappointed in our Verizon Chevy because we had a good car.”

Next up for the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet” is the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East / West combination race and the NASCAR XFINITY Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland July 31-August 1. Midwestern tribute band, Rock Godz, will close out the 2015 NAPA Auto Parts Concert Series in style on Friday, July 31.

For ticket information, call (866) 787-8946 or visit www.IowaSpeedway.com.

When the Sprint Cup Series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week, Jeff Kyle – a decorated Marine veteran who served for eight years, and completed multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Africa – will be honored by having his name officially connected to the race name at “The Brickyard.” Kyle is the winner of Crown Royal’s annual “Your Hero’s Name Here” program, which awards naming rights to Indy’s annual Sprint Cup Series race to a deserving American hero. The official name of the July 26th race is the “Crown Royal Presents the Jeff N Kyle 400 at The Brickyard.”