March 26, 2025 | By Lyndal Scranton

Chisholm rolls into King of America XIV with big momentum

WHEATLAND, Mo. — 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 USRA Stock Cars paying $1,000-to-win Thursday, $2,000-to-win Friday and $3,000 to win Saturday. USRA B-Mods will be 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 5th: 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.