Gustin gets out of the gate quick, wins USMTS ‘Hunt’ opener at Jetmore

JETMORE, Kan. -- In last year’s event at the Great American Dirt Track, Ryan Gustin came up just a few feet short of winning and six weeks later wound up just a few points short of capturing the United States Modified Touring Series crown.

But Gustin, who came into Thursday night’s opening round of the Hunt for the USMTS Championship as the points leader, left with an even bigger margin as he captured the checkered flag in the main event at the high-banked 3/8-mile oval in Jetmore, Kan.

The Marshalltown, Iowa, pilot had his work cut out for him as he sat in the 11th spot for the start of the 40-lap WIX Filters “A” Main.

After a dominating performance in his heat race, polesitter Keith Foss jumped out to lead the first lap of the race with Jason Hughes, Scott Ward, Al Hejna and Johnny Scott battling for the next four positions behind him.

After a caution on lap 2, Scott quickly bolted to the third spot on the restart and challenged Hughes for second place. Two laps later, Hughes made a rare mistake and spun alone as the pair exited the second turn.

Scott turned his attention to Foss after the restart and made the pass for the lead as they raced toward the flagstand to complete the seventh lap. In the ensuing corner, Foss bobbled and slid up the track which allowed five cars to slip past but a timely yellow flag gave him back the runner-up spot for the next restart.

Behind Scott and Foss, a battle was brewing between Jon Tesch, Zack VanderBeek and Gustin while Tommy Myer added his Cheetos-sponsored chariot into the top-5 battle after starting 15th.

The fourth and final caution flag waved on lap 9 when Rodney Sanders slowed atop the corner with mechanical woes. While the first nine laps ate up more than 13 minutes, the incident-free final 31 circuits took less than 11 minutes to complete.

With Scott showing the way, the next 18 laps alone were worth the price of admission. Behind the leader was a position-swapping spree between Tesch, Gustin and Myer. With Tesch working the outside of Scott’s machine, Gustin searched for a way underneath while Myer waited for an opening.

Tesch got a chance to take Gustin’s line away on the low side and settle into the second spot on lap 20, but Gustin jumped on the chance to inherit the unhindered high line in exchange. Myer took the opportunity to fall in behind Tesch and briefly snagged the third spot away from Gustin with 22 laps in the books.

That’s when Gustin found his groove. Blasting high into the corner and feathering the throttle through the middle, he inched his way ahead of Myer and Tesch before locking horns with Scott for the top spot.

After a few side-by-side orbits, Gustin edged in front to lead the 28th lap and then expanded the gap over the field during the final dozen laps as he crossed the finish line 2.745 seconds ahead of Scott.

Myer got by Tesch for the third spot and Kelly Shryock passed nine cars en route to a fifth-place finish. Sixth through ninth were Jason Krohn, Foss, VanderBeek and Corey Dripps while Hughes bounced back to secure the final slot in the top-10 rundown.

HUMBOLDT TOMORROW

Action heads east on Friday for the second visit of the season to Ron and Rhenda Whitworth’s Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kan.

Hughes leads all USMTS drivers with eight career wins at Humboldt, including both ends of a doubleheader in March of last year and a last-lap pass of Shryock at ‘The Hummer’ this past March.

Shryock is a three-time winner at Humboldt and Johnny Bone Jr. has tasted victory twice, including the first event held in 2000. Other former winners include Tesch, Krohn, Scott, Gustin, Steve Holzkamper and Tim Donlinger.

Gates will open at 4:30 p.m. on Friday with the first heat race starting at 7 p.m. B-Mods, Factory Stocks and Pure Stocks will also be on the racing card.

The Humboldt Speedway is a located 0.1 mile west of US 169 at the Humboldt Exit, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east on Georgia Rd. For more information call 620-431-2470 (office) or 620-473-3694 (track) or visit www.humboldtspeedway.com.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
The Hunt for the USMTS National Championship 2nd Annual Magouirk Chevrolet/Federated Auto Parts USMTS Nationals
Great American Dirt Track, Jetmore, Kan.
Thursday, Aug. 11, 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 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.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (1) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
3. (2) 39 Luke Driskell, Stilwell, Kan.
4. (6) 52 Ryan McAninch (R), Wichita, Kan.
5. (5) 36m Logan Martin (R), West Plains, Mo.
6. (8) 5j John Schwab, Liberal, Kan.
7. (4) 12g Jeremy Green (R), Enid, Okla.
8. (7) 94 Jim Graves, Liberal, Kan.

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (6) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
3. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (4) 16 Austin Siebert (R), Grandview, Mo.
5. (7) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
6. (8) UFO David Brock, Great Bend, Kan.
7. (2) 66d Dylan Sherfick, WaKeeney, Kan.
8. (5) 1n Nicholas Link (R), Rolla, Kan.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (3) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D.
2. (5) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (8) 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa.
5. (1) 311 Adam Schrag, Hutchinson, Kan.
6. (7) 77 Cody Agler, Emporia, Kan.
7. (2) 21c Cody Schniepp, Wichita, Kan.
8. (4) 8 Dusty Robbins (R), Enid, Okla.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn.
2. (3) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
3. (4) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
4. (6) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
5. (7) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
6. (8) 9 Ken Schrader, Concord, N.C.
7. (5) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
8. (2) 25p Mike Petersilie, Hoisington, Kan.

HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (5) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City, Mo.
3. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (2) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
5. (4) 12t Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas.
6. (8) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
7. (7) 96 Jon Herring, Woodward, Okla.
8. (3) 12 Jim Armstrong, Liberal, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (3) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
2. (7) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
3. (5) 12t Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas.
4. (1) 52 Ryan McAninch (R), Wichita, Kan.
5. (2) 16 Austin Siebert (R), Grandview, Mo.
6. (10) 96 Jon Herring, Woodward, Okla.
7. (12) 25p Mike Petersilie, Hoisington, Kan., 1stClass/AEM, $75.
8. (9) 21c Cody Schniepp, Wichita, Kan., BillsBuilt/Dave’s, $75.
9. (4) 36m Logan Martin (R), West Plains, Mo., GRT/GMPP, $90.
10. (6) UFO David Brock, Great Bend, Kan., Fastmaster/Crough, $75.
11. (8) 12g Jeremy Green (R), Enid, Okla., Ramirez/Janes, $90.
12. (11) 1n Nicholas Link (R), Rolla, Kan., $90.
DNS - 8 Colt Mather, Webster, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $90.
DNS - 39 Luke Driskell, Stilwell, Kan., GRT/Driskell, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
2. (2) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
4. (5) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
5. (4) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
6. (8) 9 Ken Schrader, Concord, N.C.
7. (11) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
8. (7) 5j John Schwab, Liberal, Kan., Ramirez/Cline, $90.
9. (13) 8 Dusty Robbins (R), Enid, Okla., Kraft/Robbins, $90.
10. (9) 77 Cody Agler, Emporia, Kan., Skyrocket/Specialty, $75.
11. (14) 12 Jim Armstrong, Liberal, Kan., Hughes/Allen’s, $75.
12. (6) 311 Adam Schrag, Hutchinson, Kan., GRT/Crissman, $75.
13. (12) 94 Jim Graves, Liberal, Kan., SRP/JR, $75.
14. (10) 66d Dylan Sherfick, WaKeeney, Kan., $75

WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (11) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $2110.
2. (6) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, 40, $1600.
3. (15) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., GRT/GMPP, 40, $1100.
4. (8) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 40, $900.
5. (14) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $910.
6. (13) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $800.
7. (1) 95 Keith Foss (R), Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Brink, 40, $750.
8. (5) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 40, $700.
9. (12) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 40, $650.
10. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $600.
11. (19) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $450.
12. (16) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $425.
13. (7) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City, Mo., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $400.
14. (24) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $475.
15. (17) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/GMPP, 40, $450.
16. (23) 9 Ken Schrader, Concord, N.C., Impressive/JR, 40, $250.
17. (20) 16 Austin Siebert (R), Grandview, Mo., GRT/Mullins, 39, $300.
18. (22) 96 Jon Herring, Woodward, Okla., 39, $250.
19. (9) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., GRT/Sput’s, 28, mechanical, $400.
20. (21) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa, IROC/PerfMach, 25, mechanical, $400.
21. (18) 52 Ryan McAninch (R), Wichita, Kan., Custom/McAninch, 16, mechanical, $300.
22. (10) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Sput’s, 9, engine, $510.
23. (4) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JR, 7, fuel line, $300.
24. (3) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 7, drive shaft, $300.
25. (25) 12t Tyler Townsend, Longview, Texas, Hughes/PTS, 0, did not start, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Integra Lap Leaders: Foss 1-6, Scott 7-27, Gustin 28-40.
Total Laps Led: Scott 21, Gustin 13, Foss 6.
Margin of Victory: 2.745 seconds.
AFCO Pole Winner: VanderBeek.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Myer (started 15th, finished 3rd).
Provisional Starter: Beebe.
Next Race: Friday, Aug. 12, Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan.
National Championship Points: Gustin 181, Shryock 159, VanderBeek 142, Scott 139, Hughes 130, Sanders 119, Dripps 112, Krohn 110, Tesch 107, Myer 103.
Rookie of the Year Points: Jason Grimes 1672, Schott 1187, Foss 1156, Clyde Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 441, ProPower 356, Sput’s 321, Geddes 205, ASI 183.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 464, Skyrocket 409, GRT 308, BC 181, Sidebiter 102.