USRA champions honored at awards banquet     

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 31) -- Friday night at the Harrah's Casino & Hotel in North Kansas City, Mo., four first-time USRA Weekly Racing Series national champions and two first-time Iron Man Challenge champions were honored at the annual awards banquet for the United States Racing Association.

Matt Dotson of Clark, Mo. (USRA Modifieds), Donavon Flores of Las Cruces, N.M. (USRA Stock Cars), Troy Hovey of Castalia, Iowa (USRA B-Mods), and Adam Cline of Decorah, Iowa (USRA Hobby Stocks), were celebrated as national champions in their respective divisions while Mitch Hovden of Decorah, Iowa (USRA Stock Cars), and Cory Crapser of Chippewa Falls, Wis. (USRA B-Mods) received accolades as champions of the Iron Man Challenge series.

In the USRA Modified division, three different drivers held the top spot during the last six weeks of competition, but with a surge of strong runs in the month of October, Dotson leap-frogged both John Allen and defending USRA Modified national champion Brandon Davis to claim the title.

Dotson's best 20 efforts included 18 feature wins and two runner-up finishes. Eleven of his victories occurred at the Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, Mo., where he also seized the 2013 track championship.

Davis backed up his 2012 title run with a second-place finish in this year's final standings. He finished 44 points behind Dotson while Allen wound up just six markers behind Davis in third. Early-season national points leader Terry Schultz of Sedalia, Mo., finished fourth and Jacob Gallardo of Las Cruces, N.M., rounded out the top five in the final rankings.

In addition to numerous contingency awards, Dotson earned $10,000 in becoming the 2013 USRA Modified national champion, and each of the eligible drivers among the top 20 in the final standings earned points fund checks.

Final 2013 USRA Modified National Points:
1. 88d Matt Dotson, Clark, Mo. ... 4,497
2. 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn. ... 4,453
3. 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan. ... 4,447
4. 90 Terry Schultz, Sedalia, Mo. ... 4,396
5. J17 Jacob Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4,290
6. 3b Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan. ... 4,255
7. 52 Mitch Keeter, Joplin, Mo. ... 4,249
8. 8s Jon Sheets, Nevada, Mo. ... 4,180
9. 33 Steve Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo. ... 4,174
10. 21 Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo. ... 4,119
11. 52 Ryan McAninch, Wichita, Kan. ... 4,115
12. 14x Josh Landers, Princeton, Texas ... 4,094
13. 15m George Martin, Fort Smith, Ark. ... 4,031
14. 01 Colby Smith, Greenville, Texas ... 4,029
15. 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn. ... 4,011
16. F17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4,006
17. 28 Matt Deaver, Quinlan, Texas ... 4,006
18. 1k Tim Karrick, Basehor, Kan. ... 3,989
19. 34a Aaron Marrant, Orrick, Mo. ... 3,979
20. 11x Wesley Veal, Princeton, Texas ... 3,973

Former USRA Modified national champions include Brandon Davis (2012), Johnny Bone Jr. (2011), Jason Cummins (2010), Greg Skaggs (2009), Brad Waits (2007-08), Larry Herring (2006) and Ron Luitjens (2005).

In the USRA Stock Car division, Donavon Flores enjoyed a remarkable 2013 season, recording 30 feature wins in 45 starts between the El Paso (Texas) Speedway Park and his hometown Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces.

Not only did Flores gather in his first USRA title, but he also became the first driver from the Land of Enchantment to do so. Passing points played a big factor too as Flores started tenth or worse in 18 of those victories.

Fellow Las Cruces racer Brandon Cruse competed primarily at the Southern New Mexico Speedway, but climbed into the national points runner-up spot in the last two weeks of the season. Halfway across the country, two-time defending USRA Stock Car national champ Mitch Hovden of Decorah, Iowa, finished third in the final standings despite amassing an impressive 13 wins this year.

Iowan Lynn Panos finished fourth and another Las Cruces speedster, Jason Ziehl, rounded out the top five. The top 10 saw four drivers each from Iowa and New Mexico, and two from Texas in the final rankings.

In addition to numerous contingency awards, Flores earned $1,500 in becoming the 2013 USRA Stock Car national champion, plus another $1,200 for his track championships. Each of the eligible drivers in top 10 of the final standings earned points fund money.

Final 2013 USRA Stock Car National Points:
1. 07 Donovan Flores, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4,560
2. 25 Brandon Cruse, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4,279
3. 15 Mitch Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4,241
4. 97 Lynn Panos, Calmar, Iowa ... 4,153
5. 21z Jason Ziehl, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 4,001
6. 67 Kyle Falck, Decorah, Iowa ... 3,938
7. 35 Miles Widmer, Las Cruces, N.M. ... 3,842
8. 7 Jerrad Warhurst, El Paso, Texas ... 3,746
9. 44 Dillon Anderson, Rudd, Iowa ... 3,720
10. 322 Robert Vega, El Paso, Texas ... 3,632

Former USRA Stock Car national champions include Mitch Hovden (2011-12), Rich Gregoire (2010), Tory Reicks (2009), Tom Schmitt (2007-08) and Scotty Pratt (2006).

In the closest points battle ever for a USRA national championship, the battle for the USRA B-Mod title literally came down to the last lap of the last race on the last night for points.

Troy Hovey led the charge for most of the last half of the season, but Brad Smith rode two wins and a runner-up finish in the first week of October to jump into the top spot.

Smith won the main event on a Thursday night at the Lakeside Speedway for his 14th win of the season while Hovey charged from the 17th starting spot to finish second behind him. Both drivers were in the line-up Saturday night at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., where Smith rolled to another win.

Hovey returned to Northern Iowa for a pair of shows the next weekend. He topped a strong field on Friday, Oct. 11, at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., and then settled for a runner-up finish on Saturday night during the Iron Man Challenge finale at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah.

It was enough to propel Hovey back into the points lead with a deficit that Smith could not overcome the following weekend. In the end, Hovey claimed the crown by a single point over Smith and finished out the 2013 season with 17 main event wins, including two Iron Man Challenge trophies.

J.C. Morton came on strong in the late stages of the season as well, winding up just five points behind Smith in third. Cory Crapser, who captured the Iron Man Challenge title, wound up fourth in the USRA B-Mod national standings while Jacob Bleess completed the top five.

In addition to numerous contingency awards, Hovey earned $2,000 in becoming the 2013 USRA B-Mod national champion. Each of the eligible drivers in the top 10 of the final standings earned points fund checks.

Final 2013 USRA B-Mod National Points:
1. 476x Troy Hovey, Decorah, Iowa ... 4,473
2. 99 Brad Smith, Belton, Kan. ... 4,472
3. 18 J.C. Morton, Springfield, Mo. ... 4,467
4. 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis. ... 4,415
5. 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn. ... 4,405
6. 24t Toby Thompson, Mountain Grove, Mo. ... 4,320
7. 21c Chad Clancy, Smithville, Mo. ... 4,295
8. 5x Pat Carney, El Paso, Texas ... 4,250
9. 16d Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 4,209
10. 7m Miah Christensen, Sioux Falls, S.D. ... 4,190

Former USRA B-Mod national champions include Scott Drake (2012), Brandon Hare (2010-11), Matt Jones (2007-09) and Tony Dunker (2006).

The only class to never have a repeat champion is the USRA Hobby Stock division, and that will remain the same going into the 2014 season as Decorah, Iowa's Adam Cline snagged his first USRA Hobby Stock national championship in 2013.

In his 25 starts at the Upper Iowa Speedway and Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, the youngster won 12 feature races. He finished outside the top eight in just two main events.

Despite winning the track championship at both facilities, fellow Decorah driver Steve Larson had to settle for second in the final USRA Hobby Stock national points. Steve Holthaus was third, Josh Ludeking finished fourth and Steven Dwyer took the fifth spot.

In addition to numerous contingency awards, Cline earned $1,000 in becoming the 2013 USRA Hobby Stock national champion. Each of the eligible drivers in top 10 of the final standings earned points fund checks.

Final 2013 USRA Hobby Stock National Points:
1. 71 Adam Cline, Decorah, Iowa ... 4229
2. 22 Steve Larson, Decorah, Iowa ... 4144
3. 70 Steve Holthaus, Cresco, Iowa ... 4076
4. 81 Josh Ludeking, Decorah, Iowa ... 4002
5. 7 Steven Dwyer, La Crosse, Wis. ... 3759
6. 18 Scott Spilde, Cresco, Iowa ... 3724
7. 23 Justin Hanson, West Union, Iowa ... 3639
8. 29 Brady Link, Waukon, Iowa ... 3542
9. 7k Andy Stinson, Cresco, Iowa ... 3511
10. 4z Zac Mahlstedt, New Hampton, Iowa ... 3189

Former USRA Hobby Stock national champions include Dillon Anderson (2012), Dan Strandberg (2011), Shane Klaassen (2010), Chris Hovden (2009), Jason McDaniel (2008), Mitch Hovden (2007) and Nathan Wood (2006).

USRA national points were awarded to each driver based on his/her best twenty (20) points nights from Feb. 21 through Oct. 20, 2013. In order to be eligible for USRA track and/or national points funds, each driver must have competed in a minimum of 50% of the events held at any one USRA-sanctioned racetrack.

Although Mitch Hovden was unable to successfully defend his back-to-back USRA Stock Car national championships, he was not, however, without a USRA title as he took down the Iron Man Challenge crown for the USRA Stock Cars to become the fourth different champion of that series in its four-year history.

The Decorah, Iowa, native did it the hard way: by holding off two-time USRA Stock Car national champion and defending Iron Man Challenge champion Tom Schmitt to take the title in the high-powered, full-fendered, too-tough-to-tame class.

In 12 Iron Man starts this year, Hovden picked up four wins to go along with 10 top-five and 11 top-10 finishes while collecting nearly $10,000 in earnings (not to mention another piece of hardware for his ever-expanding trophy room), including $1,500 for winning the Iron Man Challenge title.

In addition to his 2013 Iron Man title and pair of USRA Stock Car national titles, Hovden was also the 2007 USRA Hobby Stock national champion.

Final 2013 USRA Stock Car Iron Man Challenge Points:
1. 15 Mitch Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 943
2. 18 Tom Schmitt, Independence, Iowa ... 927
3. 67 Kyle Falck, Decorah, Iowa ... 894
4. 97 Lynn Panos, Calmar, Iowa ... 774
5. 2J Steve Jackson, Polk City, Iowa ... 739
6. 27 Shawn Peter, Mable, Minn. ... 644
7. 37 Pete Solum, Spring Grove, Minn. ... 548
8. G12 Ryan Goergen, Stacyville, Iowa ... 467
9. 20 Brent Tweten, Chatfield, Minn. ... 461
10. 48 Casey Sebastian, Cresco, Iowa ... 450

While staying consistently inside the top 10, it wasn't until June 6 at the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn., where Cory Crapser of Chippewa Falls, Wis., garnered his first Iron Man Challenge victory of the season. Along the way, he picked up two more wins en route to capturing the 2013 points championship in the Iron Man Challenge for USRA B-Mods.

To go along with his three wins, Crapser was credited with 11 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes in his 18 starts. His efforts earned him the $1,500 series champion paycheck as he narrowly held off 2013 USRA B-Mod national champion Troy Hovey by 11 points to secure the title.

Behind Crapser and Hovey, the final rankings for the top 10 drivers included Dan Wheeler, Jared Timmerman, Jacob Bleess, Dakota Foster, Mason Daughters, 2011 USRA B-Mod National Champion Brandon Hare, Dan Hovden and Jake Richards.

Hovey matched Crapser's three wins to tie for the series best. Other winners during the 2013 campaign included Bleess, Daughters, Brad Smith, Shaun Walski, Cole Queensland, Brian Mahlstedt, Gene Claxton, Anthony Zvorak, Aaron Marrant and Randy Brands.

In all, the Iron Man Challenge saw 250 different USRA B-Mod drivers compete in 2013 with $160,835 total prize money and points funds paid out during the season.

Trevor Hunt was the 2012 Iron Man Challenge champion in the USRA B-Mod division while Cayden Carter captured the title in the first season for the open-wheel machines sanctioned by the United States Racing Association.

Final 2013 USRA B-Mod Iron Man Challenge Points:
1. 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis. ... 943
2. 476x Troy Hovey, Castalia, Iowa ... 927
3. Red1 Dan Wheeler, Savage, Minn. ... 894
4. 7+ Jared Timmerman, Norwalk, Iowa ... 774
5. 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn. ... 739
6. 5 Dakota Foster, Gardner, Kan. ... 644
7. 55 Mason Daughters, Polo, Mo. ... 548
8. 56h Brandon Hare, Elma, Iowa ... 467
9. 16 Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa ... 461
10. 4j Jake Richards, Edwardsville, Kan. ... 450

The fourth season for the Iron Man Challenge boasted 25 dates at 12 of the finest dirt ovals in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota. USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods shared the billing on 11 of those nights, with the USRA B-Mods flying solo at 11 others and frequently running in conjunction with the USMTS Modifieds.

Points for the Iron Man Challenge were determined by the best 10 finishes for USRA Stock Cars and best 15 finishes for USRA B-Mod. Licensed USRA drivers in both classes also earned national points in the USRA Weekly Racing Series.

2013 USRA Track Champions:
Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn. - Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn. (USRA Modified); Kadden Kath, Owatonna, Minn. (USRA B-Mod).
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn. - Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn. (USRA Modified); Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn. (USRA B-Mod).
El Paso Speedway Park, El Paso, Texas - Austin Adams, El Paso, Texas (USRA Modified); Donovan Flores, Las Cruces, N.M. (USRA Stock Car); Pat Carney, El Paso, Texas (USRA B-Mod).
Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa - Lynn Panos, Calmar, Iowa (USRA Stock Car); Dan Hovden, Decorah, Iowa (USRA B-Mod); Steve Larson, Decorah, Iowa (USRA Hobby Stock).
Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan. - Ryan McAninch, Wichita, Kan. (USRA Modified).
Huset's Speedway, Brandon, S.D. - Miah Christensen, Sioux Falls, S.D. (USRA B-Mod).
I-90 Speedway, Hartford, S.D. - Tim Dann, Hartford, S.D. (USRA B-Mod).
Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan. - Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan. (USRA Modified); Aaron Marrant, Orrick, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
LA Raceway, La Monte, Mo. - Terry Schultz, Sedalia, Mo. (USRA Modified); Jacob Ebert, Oak Grove, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo. - Terry Schultz, Sedalia, Mo. (USRA Modified).
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis. - Josh Angst, Winona, Minn. (USRA Modified); Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn. (USRA B-Mod).
Monett Speedway, Monett, Mo. - Mitch Keeter, Webb City, Mo. (USRA Modified); Toby Thompson, Mountain Grove, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
NAPA Speedway, Albuquerque, N.M. - Josh Cain, Albuquerque, N.M. (USRA Modified).
Nevada Speedway - Kevin Morrow, Bronaugh, Mo. (USRA Modified).
North Central Arkansas Speedway, Yellville, Ark. - Steve Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo. (USRA Modified); Steve Muilenburg, Sparta, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
Randolph County Raceway, Moberly, Mo. - Matt Dotson, Clark, Mo. (USRA Modified); Derrick Agee, Moberly, Mo. (USRA Stock Car); Scott Van Buskirk, Hedrick, Iowa (USRA B-Mod); Jim Brown, Hannibal, Mo. (USRA Hobby Stock).
Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa - Rich Gregoire, Russell, Minn. (USRA Stock Car); Cullen Deruyder, Ruthton, Minn. (USRA B-Mod); Chad Lonneman (USRA Hobby Stock).
Royal Purple Raceway, Baytown, Texas - Neil Manchester, Spring, Texas (USRA Modified); Ed Fowler, Dayton, Texas (USRA Limited Mod).
RPM Speedway, Crandall, Texas - Charlie Smith, Forney, Texas (USRA Modified).
Southern New Mexico Speedway, Las Cruces, N.M. - Christy Georges, El Paso, Texas (USRA Modified); Donovan Flores, Las Cruces, N.M. (USRA Stock Car); Pat Carney, El Paso, Texas (USRA B-Mod).
Southern Oklahoma Speedway, Ardmore, Okla. - Kevin Clement, Bonham, Texas (USRA Modified).
Springfield Raceway, Springfield, Mo. - Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo. (USRA Modified); J.C. Morton, Springfield, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
Superbowl Speedway, Greenville, Texas - Wesley Veal, Princeton, Texas (USRA Modified).
Tri-State Speedway, Pocola, Okla. - George Martin, Fort Smith, Ark. (USRA Modified); Brandon Wilson, Fort Smith, Ark, (USRA B-Mod).
Tucson International Raceway, Tucson, Ariz. - Ron Schreiner, Tucson, Ariz. (USRA Modified); Brandon Farrington, Tucson, Ariz. (USRA B-Mod).
Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa - Dillon Anderson, Decorah, Iowa (USRA Stock Car); Troy Hovey, Castalia, Iowa (USRA B-Mod); Steve Larson, Decorah, Iowa (USRA Hobby Stock).
Valley Speedway, Grain Valley, Mo. - Jim Moody, Odessa, Mo. (USRA Modified); Scotty Martin, Independence, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
West Plains Motor Speedway, West Plains, Mo. - Scott Crigler, Alton, Mo. (USRA Modified); Toby Thompson, Mountain Grove, Mo. (USRA B-Mod).
West Siloam Speedway, Colcord, Okla. - Randy Payne, Watts, Okla. (USRA Modified).

Drivers competing in the United States Modified Touring Series were also honored at the doubleheader awards celebration. For more on the USMTS portion of the banquet, check out www.usmts.com.

To learn more about the USRA, visit www.usraracing.com or call 515-832-6000. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usraracing, follow us at www.twitter.com/usraracing on Twitter and check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usratv.

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