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Jason Hughes Shryock in USMST at "Battle at the Beaver"


NickHolt

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HUGHES OUTGUNS SHRYOCK IN “BATTLE AT THE BEAVER”

 

ALTA, Iowa (September 4, 2009) – Jason Hughes and Kelly Shryock waged another epic battle Thursday night as the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship rolled into the Buena Vista Raceway for the Battle at the Beaver presented by Cookies Bar “B” “Q” Sauce.

 

The two winningest drivers in the 11-year history of the United States Modified Touring Series came into the night with Shryock holding down the top spot in the points and Hughes in second, trailing by 71 markers.

 

While Shryock has claimed eight of the ten USMTS National Championship trophies and 151 checkered flags, Hughes is still seeking his first crown and has just over one-third as many wins as his nemesis.

 

But the 2009 racing season has belonged to Hughes. it was no different Thursday night as the 35-year-old from Westville, Okla., claimed his ninth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour win of the season and fourth during the first ten races of the 'Hunt.'

 

The night's heat races were a preview of things to come. The first heat saw local favorite Justin Sackett, who won last Wednesday's weekly feature at the track, slide by Zack VanderBeek and go on to a dominating win. His run from fifth to first made him a main event shoe-in, and was eclipsed only by Jason Krohn, who won the second heat from the sixth spot.

 

The third heat rolled onto the track with Shryock on the pole and Hughes to his outside on the front row. Hughes grabbed the advantage entering the first corner and held off Shryock throughout the eight-lapper. Both drivers, however, earned enough passing points to rank among the top-8 and earn a chance to draw for their starting spot in the first four rows of the feature race.

 

Iowa's Colt Mather held off Arizona's R.C. Whitwell from start to finish in the fourth and final heat race which featured drivers from six different States.

 

To the delight of the enormous Thursday night audience, Sackett drew the pole for the 30-lap Sunoco "A" Main while Shryock snagged the outside of the front row and Hughes the eighth slot.

 

Sackett pulled ahead at the drop of the green flag, but the action slowed almost as quickly as it began when third-starting Mather got sideways in the first turn and bounced off of Whitwell's machine. Behind them, the 21 other starters scrambled to avoid the melee that eventually involved eight cars. Of those, only two were unable to restart the race: Mather and defending USMTS National Champion Tim Donlinger, who had squeezed into the main event with the sixth and final transfer spot in the Real Racing Wheels "B" Main.

 

Back under green, Sackett led the field into the first turn and proceeded to lead the first eight laps around the bottom of the racing surface with Shryock glued to his rear bumper. Hughes, meanwhile, was flying around the high side of the oval and moved into third on lap 6.

 

Coming to the flagstand to complete lap 9, Shryock dove underneath Sackett while Hughes powered around the outside to lead the three-wide battle at the stripe.

 

After a couple of side-by-side laps, Hughes ducked down into the low groove with Shryock in tow and Whitwell battling Sackett for third.

 

Several caution flags slowed the pace during the middle of stages of the race, and allowed a couple of young guns to make up ground using the extreme high side in the corners. Nineteen-year old Jake Neal, who started 11th, and 15th-starting Ryan Gustin, 18, moved into the top-5 with a handful of laps to go, then got the break they needed when the yellow flag waved for the final time with four laps to go.

 

For the double-file restart, however, Shryock elected to start on the outside which gave Neal the inside line. Hughes brought the field back to the green flag, but Shryock was unable to close the gap using the unfamiliar top line. Neal edged in front of Shryock, then slid back to his preferred high line while Shryock crisscrossed behind him and returned to the low line.

 

Neither was able to mount a challenge to Hughes over the final laps as he went on to capture the $3,000 top prize and his 60th career USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour triumph.

 

Behind him, Shryock nipped Neal at the line for second while Gustin edged ahead of Whitwell to take the fourth spot.

 

During post-race tech, however, Neal was disqualified for unapproved parts discovered during inspection and Gustin was awarded third place with the rest of the field advancing one spot in the finishing order.

 

Whitwell, who captured the 2007 Barnett Modified Series title racing in the southwest part of the country, qualified for this third straight main event in just his third start with the USMTS and parlayed that into a best-so-far fourth-place finish.

 

Rodney Sanders earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award by racing from 19th on the starting grid to fifth at the checkered flag, while Sackett turned in an impressive sixth-place finish on his home track for a $600 payday driving his regular unaltered weekly car with a flat tappet engine and no spoiler.

 

Krohn scored seventh-place prize money, Corey Dripps passed 10 competitors en route to an eight-place finish, VanderBeek was ninth and Tommy Myer rounded out the top-10.

 

With the win, Hughes closed the gap between himself and Shryock in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship to 56 points (942 to 886). Sanders remains third with 863, followed by VanderBeek (836), Gustin (835), Dereck Ramirez (812), Donlinger (759), Jon Tesch (748), Myer (745) and Krohn (734).

 

FEELING MINNESOTA ...

 

On Friday, it's off to the Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn. for another wheel-to-wheel battle in the 4th Annual Cedar River Race.

 

This will be the eighth time the USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour has visited the 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval. Eight different drivers have tasted victory here, including Mike Chasteen, Kelly Shryock, Jon Tesch, Tommy Myer, Jason Krohn, Tim Donlinger and Jason Hughes, who captured the most recent event back on May 22.

 

Also on the race card will be WISSOTA Midwest Mods, Pure Stocks and Hornets. Pits open at 5:00, grandstand gates open at 5:30, hot laps begin at 7:00 and the first green flag waves at 7:30.

 

Tommy Myer and his Snickers-sponsored Modified will be at the Casey's General Store located at 1702 12th St. SW in Austin from 12:00 to 2:00. Fans can pick up $2-off discount coupons for Friday night's races at Casey's General Stores locations in Austin, Owatonna, Rochester and Stewartville.

 

The Chateau Raceway is located 5.0 miles north of Austin on US 218 to the Lansing Exit, then 1.3 miles east on CR 2, then 0.4 mile south on CR 25, then 0.3 mile east. For more information, call the track hotline at (507) 433-4578 or log on to www.chateauraceway.net.

 

Remaining events in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship:

 

Fri Sep 4 … Chateau Raceway, Lansing, MN - 4th Annual Cedar River Race ($3,000 to win)

Sat Sep 5 … Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, MN - 5th Annual BP Labor Day Dual presented by Baudoin Oil ($3,000 to win)

Sun Sep 6 … Dodge County Speedway, Kasson, MN - 8th Annual Kasson Klash ($3,000 to win)

Fri Sep 18 … North Central Speedway, Brainerd, MN - Inaugural Event ($2,000 to win)

Sat Sep 19 … North Central Speedway, Brainerd, MN - Inaugural Event ($3,000 to win)

Thu Sep 24 … Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, MN - 11th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree ($2,000 to win)

Fri Sep 25 … Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, MN - 11th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree ($4,000 to win)

Sat Sep 26 … Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, MN - 11th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree ($6,000 to win)

 

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS.

 

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OFFICIAL RESULTS

Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship - Event #10 of 18

Battle at the Beaver presented by Cookies Bar “B” “Q” Sauce

Buena Vista Raceway, Alta, Iowa

Thursday, September 3, 2009

 

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Sunoco “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

 

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):

1. 17 - Justin Sackett -- Schaller, IA (5)

2. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (1)

3. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (4)

4. 22 - Dustin Boney -- Tonganoxie, KS (8)

5. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (2)

6. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (6)

7. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (7)

8. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (3)

 

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):

1. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (6)

2. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (4)

3. 51 - Eddie Martin -- Stilwell, OK (5)

4. 32 - Leon Mulder -- Doon, IA (2)

5. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (3)

6. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (1) DNF

7. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (7) DNF

 

BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):

1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (2)

2. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (1)

3. 111 - Bumper Jones -- Mesilla Park, NM (3)

4. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (5)

5. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (7)

6. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (4)

7. 29g - Rich Hesse -- Hinton, IA (6) DNF

 

AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):

1. 8 - Colt Mather -- Webster, IA (1)

2. 96t - R.C. Whitwell -- Tucson, AZ (2)

3. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (4)

4. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (7)

5. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (5)

6. 10 - Mike Steensma -- Luverne, MN (3)

7. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (6)

 

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 6 advance):

1. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (1)

2. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (6)

3. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (4)

4. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (5)

5. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (7)

6. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (9)

7. 10 - Mike Steensma -- Luverne, MN (8)

8. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (12)

9. 29g - Rich Hesse -- Hinton, IA (11)

10. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (2)

11. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (10)

12. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (3) DNF

13. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (13) DNF

 

SUNOCO “A” MAIN (30 laps):

1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (8)

2. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (2)

3. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (15)

4. 96t - R.C. Whitwell -- Tucson, AZ (4)

5. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (19)

6. 17 - Justin Sackett -- Schaller, IA (1)

7. 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (5)

8. 31 - Corey Dripps -- Waterloo, IA (18)

9. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (7)

10. 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (13)

11. 7 - Al Hejna -- Clear Lake, IA (17)

12. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (23)

13. 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (6)

14. 111 - Bumper Jones -- Mesilla Park, NM (14)

15. 12h - Mike Hansen -- Alton, IA (21)

16. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (12)

17. Z3 - Mike Albertsen -- Audubon, IA (25)

18. 32 - Leon Mulder -- Doon, IA (16)

19. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (24) DNF

20. 22 - Dustin Boney -- Tonganoxie, KS (10) DNF

21. 51 - Eddie Martin -- Stilwell, OK (9) DNF

22. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (20) DNF

23. 8 - Colt Mather -- Webster, IA (3) DNF

24. 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (22) DNF

25. 14j - Jake Neal -- Omaha, NE (11) DQ

 

Lap Leaders: Sackett 1-8, Hughes 9-30.

Total Laps Led: Hughes 22, Sackett 8.

AFCO Pole Winner: Krohn.

Provisional Starters: Ramirez, Bagley, Albertsen (track).

PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: Sanders (started 19th, finished 5th).

Next Race: Friday, Sept. 4, Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.

Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Championship Points: Shryock 942, Hughes 886, Sanders 863, VanderBeek 836, Gustin 835, Ramirez 812, Donlinger 759, Tesch 748, Myer 745, Krohn 734.

DandyLand Farms Rookie of the Year Points: Junghans 741, Hansen 585, Mather 348, C. Junghans 339, Dolan 303.

COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Sput’s 426, Mullins 294, JR 216, Pro Power 185, ASI 175.

Chassis Builders Championship Points: Skyrocket 419, Ramirez 352, Hughes 325, GRT 252, Harris 213.

 

Contingency Awards:

AFCO Racing Products – Krohn.

American Racer – VanderBeek.

Isky Racing Cams – Sackett.

KSE Racing Products – Hughes.

PBM Performance Products – Sanders.

Marsh Racing Wheels – Donlinger.

Nitroquest – Gustin.

Out-Pace Racing Products – Hejna.

Quarter Master – Hughes, Dripps.

QuickTime Performance Parts – Krohn.

Real Racing Wheels – Donlinger.

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