Scott smokes Winston field

WINSTON, Mo. -- Johnny Scott wired the field Thursday night as the USMTS Modifieds made an encore appearance at the I-35 Speedway in Winston, Mo., for Round 9 of the Hunt for the USMTS  National Championship.

The 21-year-old from Las Cruces, N.M., drew the pole position for the WIX Filters “A” Main, beat Kelly Shryock to the first corner at the drop of the green flag and then held on to score his fourth feature race win this season.

Shryock lost the runner-up spot to Dustin Boney early on, but regained the position after a mid-race caution flag and finished second behind the 2010 Rookie of the Year in the 40-lapper while Boney garnered a third-place finish ahead of 2007 USMTS National Champion Jason Krohn.

Zack VanderBeek finally broke through for his first top-5 finish during ‘The Hunt’ and put an extra $100 bill in his pocket by earning the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award. He started 17th on the 24-car grid and passed 12 cars.

Jon Tesch was sixth to make it nine top-10s in nine ‘Hunt’ races so far, Al Hejna came home in seventh, 15-year-old Rookie of the Year contender Lucas Schott turned in his best performance of the post-season title chase with an eight-place result.

Oklahomans Dereck Ramirez and Jason Hughes rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Hughes, the defending USMTS National Champion, finished one spot ahead of points leader Ryan Gustin, who suffered his worst result of the championship campaign. Gustin was the winner at the I-35 Speedway earlier this spring and Hughes finished second that night.

Mechanical problems in his heat race put Gustin in the rear of the Real Racing Wheels “B” Main, where he worked his way to the front to earn the 19th starting spot in the main event.

Gustin had worked into the top 10 near the midway point of the race when contact between him and Tommy Myer sent both drivers to the back of the pack. Gustin battled his way back to an 11th-place finish and Myer rebounded to 15th.

On Friday, race fans will see the debut of the USMTS Modifieds at the historic Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa, as America’s best Modified drivers make their inaugural visit to Al & Kathy Dlouhy’s high-banked quarter-mile oval.

The USMTS regulars will face a stiff challenge from the local contingent such as Ryan Dolan, Brad Dierks, Noah, Coppess, Chris Zogg and Bruce Hanford.

Gates open 5 p.m., hot laps start at 7 and the first heat race takes to the track at 7:30. Local 4-Cylinders, B-Mods, Hobby Stocks and Legends Cars will also be competing.

The Cedar County Raceway is located at the west edge of Tipton on 9th St. (at the Cedar County Fairgrounds). For more information, call 563-886-2328 or visit www.cedarcountyraceway.net

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
The Hunt for the USMTS National Championship I-35 Speedway, Winston, Mo.
Thursday, August 25, 2011

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 16 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.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (6) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (3) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
3. (2) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan.
4. (1) 5c Don Crnkovich, Olathe, Kan.
5. (4) 11 Darren Shaw, Lathrop, Mo.
6. (8) 99 Martin Bennett, Ankeny, Iowa.
7. (7) 4d Shawn Lee, Spickard, Mo.
8. (5) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (6) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
4. (3) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
5. (5) 67d Isaac Dotson, Lathrop, Mo.
6. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
7. (4) 5j John Schwab, Liberal, Kan.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (2) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
3. (6) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
4. (3) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
5. (5) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (4) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo.
7. (7) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City, Mo.
2. (3) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (2) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
4. (4) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
5. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
6. (6) 55d Michael Dotson, Lathrop, Mo.
7. (5) 42 Sam Florence, Trimble, Mo.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (12 laps, top 8 advance):
1. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
3. (13) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (11) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
6. (3) 67d Isaac Dotson, Lathrop, Mo.
7. (7) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo.
8. (9) 4d Shawn Lee, Spickard, Mo.
9. (5) 99 Martin Bennett, Ankeny, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $75.
10. (8) 55d Michael Dotson, Lathrop, Mo., Skyrocket/Walker, $75.
11. (12) 42 Sam Florence, Trimble, Mo., Allen/Yancy’s, $75.
12. (2) 11 Darren Shaw, Lathrop, Mo., Shaw/Yancy’s, $75.
13. (10) 5j John Schwab, Liberal, Kan., Ramirez/Cline, $90.

WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, 40, $2000.
2. (2) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $1610.
3. (3) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City, Mo., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $1000.
4. (7) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $900.
5. (17) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $1010.
6. (5) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $700.
7. (10) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JR, 40, $650.
8. (4) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Action, 40, $600.
9. (20) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $550.
10. (9) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $500.
11. (19) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $560.
12. (23) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo., GRT/KSE, 40, $425.
13. (18) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 40, $510.
14. (8) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $375.
15. (6) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/GMPP, 40, $400.
16. (15) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa, IROC/PerfMach, 40, $300.
17. (16) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $300.
18. (11) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $300.
19. (13) 5c Don Crnkovich, Olathe, Kan., Rocket/Sput’s, 40, $300.
20. (24) 4d Shawn Lee, Spickard, Mo., 40, $250.
21. (22) 67d Isaac Dotson, Lathrop, Mo., Skyrocket/Walker, 38, mechanical, $250.
22. (12) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., GRT/Sput’s, 19, mechanical, $300.
23. (21) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 18, bird cage, $300.
24. (14) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, 17, mechanical, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Integra Lap Leader: Scott 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Scott 40.
Margin of Victory: 1.656 seconds.
AFCO Pole Winner: Krohn.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 17th, finished 5th).
Next Race: Friday, Aug. 26, Cedar County Raceway, Tipton, Iowa.
National Championship Points: Gustin 923, Shryock 847, Tesch 789, Krohn 757, Hughes 756, Scott 743, VanderBeek 716, Boney 690, Myer 642, Sanders 613.
Rookie of the Year Points: Jason Grimes 1672, Keith Foss 1571, Schott 1539, Clyde Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 512, ProPower 419, Sput’s 385, ASI 229, Geddes 228.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 542, Skyrocket 476, GRT 377, BC 217, Sidebiter 137.