FAIRMONT, Minn. -- Jason Hughes captured the 30-lap main event Wednesday night as the Hunt for the USMTS National Championship invaded the Fairmont Raceway in Fairmont, Minn.
The defending USMTS National Champion had to fight off a couple of young guns during the contest, but the 37-year-old from Watts, Okla., prevailed in the end to pocket the $2,000 top prize and his third win of ‘The Hunt.’
Polesitter Chase Junghans of Manhattan, Kan., led the pack out of the gate to start the 25-car WIX Filters “A” Main. The 18-year-old driver held the point for four laps around the big half-mile clay oval at the Martin County Fairgrounds, but Hughes muscled his way into the lead to complete the fifth lap.
Soon thereafter, points leader Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, moved into second and began reeling in the leader until a caution on lap 17 slowed the action and bunched the field for the final 13 laps.
Gustin, 20, used the restart to his advantage and nosed ahead to lead lap 19, but Hughes fought back and the pair crossed beneath the flagstand side by side with Hughes scored the leader of the 20th lap.
While they raced door to door for the lead, the pack chasing them was embroiled in some battles of their own.
Hughes was able to keep Gustin at bay for the remainder of the distance while Ryan Ruter nipped Jason Krohn by a bumper to take the third-place money.
Fairmont regular Eric Dailey rounded out the top-5 finishers.
Sixth through tenth were Dustin Boney, Kelly Shryock, Dereck Ramirez, Tommy Myer and Zack VanderBeek.
Shryock earned the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award after passing nine cars in the feature.
Although Ramirez passed 17 cars, provisional starters are not eligible for the $100 cash award from the trucking giant of the Southwest.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
The Hunt for the USMTS
National Championship
4th Annual Event
Fairmont
Raceway, Fairmont, Minn.
Wednesday, August 31, 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. (2) 65 Tommy
Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (5) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
3. (4)
63 Josh Meyer, Fairmont, Minn.
4. (6) 99 Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown,
N.D.
5. (3) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (1) 00 Mike Gartner,
Mapleton, Minn.
7. (8) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
8. (7) 74t
Tim Pessek, Hutchinson, Minn.
NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 555
Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
2. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (2) 27
Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa.
4. (7) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces,
N.M.
5. (5) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
6. (6) 4r Dereck Ramirez,
Woodward, Okla.
7. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
8. (4) 90
Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (5) 19r Ryan
Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (3) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
3.
(4) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City, Mo.
4. (8) 7 Eric Dailey (R), Armstrong,
Iowa.
5. (6) 22 Jeff Ignaszewski, Wells, Minn.
6. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders,
Happy, Texas.
7. (1) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
8. (2) 11 Ryan
Peckham (R), Corning, Iowa.
PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 18
Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
2. (4) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
3.
(2) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
4. (6) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile,
Iowa.
5. (3) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (7) 22b Rick
Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
7. (5) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
8. (8) 17 Garry
Oskerson, Fairmont, Minn.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 6
advance):
1. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (4) 56 Chris
Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
3. (7) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.
4.
(2) 99 Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown, N.D.
5. (6) 00 Mike Gartner, Mapleton,
Minn.
6. (1) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa.
7. (8) 74t Tim
Pessek, Hutchinson, Minn., B&B/Pessek, $75.
8. (3) 22 Jeff Ignaszewski,
Wells, Minn., Skyrocket/JP, $75.
9. (9) 11 Ryan Peckham (R), Corning, Iowa,
IROC/PerfAuto, $75.
DNS – 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins,
$90.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 6
advance):
1. (1) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
2. (2) 3 Kelly
Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
3. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4.
(3) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (4) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming
Prairie, Minn.
6. (8) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
7. (6) 4r Dereck
Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
8. (5) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.,
Hughes/Mullins, $90.
9. (9) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.,
Skyrocket/Sput’s, $75.
10. (10) 17 Garry Oskerson, Fairmont, Minn.,
Shaw/Weseman, $75
WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (30 laps):
1. (2) 12 Jason Hughes,
Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 30, $2000.
2. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin,
Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 30, $1610.
3. (6) 555 Ryan Ruter,
Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, 30, $1000.
4. (3) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton,
Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 30, $900.
5. (9) 7 Eric Dailey (R), Armstrong, Iowa,
Skyrocket/Grawmondbeck’s, 30, $700.
6. (11) 22 Dustin Boney, Platte City,
Mo., Hughes/Sput’s, 30, $700.
7. (16) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa,
Skyrocket/ProPower, 30, $860.
8. (25) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.,
Hughes/ProPower, 30, $390.
9. (5) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.,
GRT/GMPP, 30, $550.
10. (18) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa,
Skyrocket/Sput’s, 30, $610.
11. (1) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.,
GRT/Sput’s, 30, $450.
12. (17) 69 Lucas Schott (R), Chatfield, Minn.,
Hughes/Action, 30, $425.
13. (21) 00 Mike Gartner, Mapleton, Minn., 30,
$275.
14. (13) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 28,
overheating, $510.
15. (10) 63 Josh Meyer, Fairmont, Minn., Skyrocket/JR, 28,
mechanical, $250.
16. (15) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa, IROC/PerfMach,
26, mechanical, $300.
17. (7) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.,
Hughes/ProPower, 24, mechanical, $300.
18. (22) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming
Prairie, Minn., Hillson/CRE, 20, mechanical, $300.
19. (19) 99 Jason Grimes
(R), Jamestown, N.D., Hughes/Dakota, 19, mechanical, $300.
20. (12) 1st
Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ASI, 17, fuel regulator, $400.
21.
(20) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Skyrocket/Joe’s, 14, mechanical,
$250.
22. (24) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 12, mechanical,
$400.
23. (14) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 4,
overheating, $250.
24. (23) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa,
Skyrocket/HarryHeads, 1, mechanical, $250.
25. (8) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake,
Iowa, BC/JR, 1, lower a-frame, $300.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leaders: Junghans 1-4, Hughes 5-18, Gustin 19,
Hughes 20-30.
Total Laps Led: Hughes 25, Junghans 4, Gustin
1.
Margin of Victory: 0.802 second.
AFCO Pole
Winner: Gustin.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard
Charger: Shryock (started 16th, finished 7th).
Provisional
Starter: Ramirez.
Next Race: Thursday, Sept. 1,
Highway 3 Raceway, Allison, Iowa.
National Championship
Points: Gustin 1197, Shryock 1082, Hughes 1053, Tesch 1021, Scott 984,
VanderBeek 971, Boney 903, Krohn 889, Myer 852, Sanders 825.
Rookie
of the Year Points: Grimes 1682, Schott 1591, Keith Foss 1571, Clyde
Dunn Jr. 976, Jimmy Ray 971.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year
Points: Mullins 540, ProPower 439, Sput’s 412, ASI 248, Geddes
242.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points:
Hughes 572, Skyrocket 501, GRT 401, BC 235, Sidebiter 156.
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