Hughes triumphant in Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup clash at I-80 Speedway
GREENWOOD, Neb. (Aug. 11) -- For Jason Hughes, the end of this week's four-night swing for the United States Modified Touring Series ended much better than it began as he claimed victory in the 40-lap main event Sunday night at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.
On Thursday, he was leading at the white flag but saw his chances vanish in the first turn when contact with another car sent him spinning into the infield.
After Sunday's feature, the 2010 USMTS National Champion drove into the infield and back to his pit stall with his 117th career victory and $5,000 richer.
From the outside of the front row, Hughes snagged the lead from the start, but third-row starter Jason Krohn quickly shot to the front and wrestled the lead away from him on the third lap. Rodney Sanders then moved in to challenge Hughes for the second spot.
"We were just driving around there and Krohn kind of snuck under me and checked out," Hughes said. "It gave me an opportunity to search around-I kind of had to search around. Rodney (Sanders) forced me out there a little bit and made me find a line."
Krohn tried to put distance between himself and the pack, but two early-race cautions kept the field close. Hughes fought back after a lap-9 restart but was unable to regain the position. The two raced virtually side by side for the next eight laps before Hughes crossed beneath the flagstand with a bumper-sized advantage on lap 18.
"I got to rolling around out there pretty good and got on the outside of Krohn. He seen it and moved up in that line and I had to move back down. We had a heck of a race up there."
At the halfway mark, Krohn inched back ahead to lead the 20th lap but Hughes came roaring back again to retake the top spot with 21 down. He never gave the lead up again.
Two late-race cautions did not deter Hughes, but made for some exciting battles behind the Watts, Okla., veteran.
After the final restart with ten laps remaining, Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup points leader Johnny Scott executed a couple of slide-jobs and follow-up cross-over moves with Rodney Sanders with Scott getting the upper hand and the runner-up paycheck at the finish.
"It was a really good points night for us," Scott said. "I was a little worried when we got here because I didn't draw very good and had a tough heat. We started tenth in the "A" Main and before we rolled out I was just telling myself 'Go out there and get a top five finish so we can keep that points lead.'
Coming into the event with a one-point cushion over twin brother Stormy Scott, he extended his advantage 18 after four events in the championship chase.
"It's going good for us so far, so hopefully we can finish that out for the rest of the Hunt," Johnny Scott added.
Sanders, who swept both nights or racing here last month during the Silver Dollar Nationals, fended off a hard-charging Zack VanderBeek to take home the third spot while Krohn held on for a top-five finish.
Saturday night's winner, Jeremy Payne, was sixth, Stormy Scott finished seventh, Kelly Shryock came from 17th on the starting grid to get the eighth spot, Chris Brown was ninth and rookie points leader Trevor Hunt rounded out the top 10.
After a two-day rest, the rugged USMTS road warriors are back at it again for five straight nights beginning Wednesday, Aug. 14, at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., for the second half of the rain-delayed 15th Annual Masters.
From there the Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup soldiers on to the Rice Lake (Wis.) Speedway on Thursday; Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., on Friday; Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway on Saturday; and Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minn., on Sunday.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
The Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup - Round 4 of 17
I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.
Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the "A" Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (2) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
3. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (8) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (7) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (6) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
7. (5) 99m Tim Murty, Tama, Iowa.
8. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
JRi SHOCKS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (2) 96j Johnny Saathoff, Beatrice, Neb.
3. (3) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
4. (7) 11 Ryan Peckham, Spirit Lake, Iowa.
5. (1) 5* Casey Penn, Shreveport, La.
6. (4) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa.
7. (8) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (6) 48k Kyle Harpster (R), Omaha, Neb.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (3) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
3. (6) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo.
4. (1) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
5. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
6. (2) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa.
7. (8) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
8. (5) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
5. (8) 22 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (7) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
7. (2) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa.
8. (5) B42 Kevin Betzen, David City, Neb.
REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (7) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (2) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
3. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
4. (1) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
5. (5) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
6. (10) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
7. (8) 99m Tim Murty, Tama, Iowa, Shaw/Yeoman, $100.
8. (9) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., Hughes/BMS, $100.
9. (3) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, Skyrocket/Karl, $100.
10. (6) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa, LG2/Mullins, $80.
REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 22 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
5. (4) 5* Casey Penn, Shreveport, La.
6. (8) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa.
7. (10) B42 Kevin Betzen, David City, Neb., Panther/Jacobs, $80.
8. (6) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa.
9. (9) 48k Kyle Harpster (R), Omaha, Neb., Edge/Charley's, $100.
10. (7) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, Rage/RoushYates, $100.
CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $5100.
2. (10) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/RoushYates, 40, $2100.
3. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 40, $1500.
4. (12) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Hughes/Sput's, 40, $1100.
5. (5) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., MBCustom/Sput's, 40, $900.
6. (8) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 40, $800.
7. (13) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/ProPower, 40, $700.
8. (17) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $850.
9. (6) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $600.
10. (7) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo., GRT/Geddes, 40, $650.
11. (15) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $500.
12. (1) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $450.
13. (9) 96j Johnny Saathoff, Beatrice, Neb., Jet/JRM, 40, $325.
14. (19) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $400.
15. (22) 5* Casey Penn, Shreveport, La., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $375.
16. (21) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim's, 40, $450.
17. (11) 11 Ryan Peckham, Spirit Lake, Iowa, IROC/PerfAuto, 40, $300.
18. (25) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa, Skyrocket/Midstate, 40, $275.
19. (16) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Sput's, 33, $300.
20. (20) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb., GRT/Schmidt, 29, $300.
21. (23) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim's, 26, $500.
22. (24) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa, Skyrocket/RoushYates, 21, $300.
23. (18) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 12, $300.
24. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, 8, $300.
25. (14) 22 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/Yeoman, 7, $300.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-2, Krohn 3-17, Hughes 18-19, Krohn 20, Hughes 21-40.
Total Laps Led: Hughes 24, Krohn 16.
Margin of Victory: 3.230 seconds.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Shryock (started 17th, finished 8th).
Next Race: Wednesday, Aug. 14, Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, Wis.
Points Standings: J. Scott 444, S. Scott 426, Hughes 406, Sanders 403, VanderBeek 378, Shryock 375, Payne 374, Brown 369, Hunt 324, Galloway 314.
Rookie of the Year Points: Hunt 1626, Galloway 1535, Big Eagle 1235, Conner 855, Adam Penn 598.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: ProPower 319, RoushYates 291, Mullins 285, Geddes 272, Sput's 261.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 350, GRT 326, MBCustom 298, Skyrocket 241, LG2 214.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels - Myer.
American Racer - Murty.
Beyea Custom Headers - Krohn.
BSB Manufacturing - Krohn, S. Scott.
Buck Monson Photos - Hughes.
Crane Cams - Hughes.
Dominator Race Products - Grabouski.
Edelbrock - Sanders.
Eibach Springs - Phillips.
FK Rod Ends - Penn.
Forty9Designs.com - Hilsabeck, Schott.
Fuel Safe - Payne.
GRT Race Cars - J. Scott.
Hooker Harness - Saathoff.
JRi Shocks - Sanders.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components - Brown.
Keyser Manufacturing - Hunt.
Marsh Racing Wheels - Phillips.
Mesilla Valley Transportation - Shryock.
MSD Ignition - Hughes, J. Scott.
PBM Performance Products - Brown, Hughes.
Power Lift Racing Products - Peckham.
Real Racing Wheels - all non-qualifiers.
VP Racing Fuels - Hughes.
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