Hughes in right place at right time, takes down USMTS Series win at Highway 3 Raceway

 

ALLISON, Iowa -- Jason Hughes had the best seat in the house to watch a dazzling battle between Johnny and Stormy Scott midway through the USMTS National Championship Series main event Friday night at the Highway 3 Raceway, and he also had the best spot on the track to take advantage of Stormy Scott’s mechanical woes on the next-to-last lap.

Johnny – the younger of the 22-year-old Scott twins – took command of the 35-lap Swan Energy “A” Main from the outside of the front row and quickly built a four-car-length advantage over polesitter Dan Bohr, Hughes, Zack VanderBeek and Jon Tesch.

Hughes disposed of Bohr on the second go-around and closed the distance between himself and Johnny Scott by the tenth lap. Meanwhile, Rodney Sanders and defending USMTS National Champion Ryan Gustin were picking off cars on their way to the front after starting deep in the field.

Back-to-back brief cautions with eight laps in the books and another on lap 11 helped keep the pack bunched tightly, and Sanders used the third to his advantage to get around Tesch and Stormy Scott for third.

But trying to make a charge around the high side, ‘The Rocket’ missed his mark in turn 3 and was unable to keep his Modified under control. With 19 laps in the books, his spin brought out the third caution with Hughes, Stormy Scott, Tesch and Gustin falling in behind the leader.

Back under green, Stormy Scott powered around Hughes for the runner-up spot and then set his sights on his sibling. Another brief yellow flag waved two laps later to set up a wild tussle for the final 13 laps.

Shooting to the low side on the restart, Stormy Scott drove deep into turn 1 and slid up in front of Johnny Scott, who cut back and pulled to the low side. The pair raced side by side down the back-stretch with Johnny returning the “slide job” through the next corner and retaining his lead with 23 laps complete.

Again in turn 1, Stormy Scott made a power move down low and then slid up in front of Johnny Scott. Again, Johnny reversed lines and the two were neck and neck down the long back straight-away, but this time Stormy Scott’s momentum into turn 3 was enough to keep Johnny on the low side of the racing surface.

With 24 laps down, Stormy Scott passed the flagstand as the leader and then proceeded to run away and hide from the field.

Five previous cautions extended the number of laps that the drivers were circling the track, and it may have been just enough to spoil Stormy Scott’s impressive run as he became the cause of the sixth and final yellow flag when smoke and sparks preceded him stopping at the top of turn 4 with the white flag ready to wave.

Hughes inherited the lead for the restart, and he took care of any notion his pursuers had of spoiling his victory party as he executed a perfect restart and pulled out to a four-car-length advantage by the time he reached the first corner.

Two laps later, Hughes crossed the finish line first for the fifth time this season to pocket the $4,000 winner’s share of the prize money and celebrate in victory lane with his wife, Julie, on the two-month anniversary of their new daughter, Jacie.

Gustin was impressive again tonight, racing to a second-place finish from 16th on the starting grid. Tesch got by Johnny Scott to grab the third position, while Ryan Ruter bounced back from a spin on lap 8 to score a top-5 finish.

Sanders made his way back to sixth during the final 16 laps after his miscue, with Chris Brown, VanderBeek, Kelly Shryock and Chase Junghans rounding out the top-10.

The month of June and the five-race weekend wraps up with the popular “Donnybrook in Decorah” at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa, on Saturday night. Hot laps begin at 6:30 with racing to follow. Also on the racing card will be the Iron Man Challenge for USRA B-Mods plus USRA Stock Cars.

The Upper Iowa Speedway is a 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval located 1.8 miles east of US 52 on SR 9, then 1.0 mile northwest on Montgomery St., then northeast on E. Main St. (at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds). For day-of-race information, call the track hotline at 563-382-9984 or check out www.upperiowaspeedway.com online.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS National Championship Series
Highway 3 Raceway, Allison, Iowa
Friday, June 29, 2012

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.

BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 91 Shawn Ryan, Waterloo, Iowa.
5. (3) 99m Tim Murty, Tama, Iowa.
6. (5) 26 Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa.
7. (7) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
8. (6) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan.

HOOKER HARNESS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
2. (2) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
3. (3) 60 Kurt Krauskopf (R), Decorah, Iowa.
4. (7) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (6) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
6. (4) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa.
7. (5) 13 Parker Brumm (R), Rockford, Iowa.
8. (8) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa.
2. (5) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
5. (6) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
6. (2) 70 Jerry King, Waterloo, Iowa.
7. (7) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
8. (8) R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa.
2. (4) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
3. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (6) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa.
5. (7) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
6. (5) 7 Eric Dailey, Armstrong, Iowa.
7. (3) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 8 advance):
1. (2) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
2. (1) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
3. (8) 7 Eric Dailey, Armstrong, Iowa.
4. (4) 99m Tim Murty, Tama, Iowa.
5. (5) 26 Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa.
6. (10) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa.
7. (3) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
8. (11) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa.
9. (12) 25 Ron Keith (R), Shawnee, Kan., GRT/Mullins, $100.
10. (6) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JRM, $100.
11. (9) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
12. (7) 70 Jerry King, Waterloo, Iowa, $100.
DNS - 13 Parker Brumm (R), Rockford, Iowa, Skyrocket/ASi, $100.
DNS - 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, $100.
DNS - R21 Ryan Schaffer, Corning, Iowa, IROC/Mullins, $100.

SWAN ENERGY “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $4000.
2. (16) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 35, $2300.
3. (5) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, 35, $1600.
4. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 35, $1200.
5. (14) 555 Ryan Ruter, Kanawha, Iowa, Sidebiter/Sput’s, 35, $1000.
6. (12) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 35, $800.
7. (9) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Skyrocket/RoushYates, 35, $700.
8. (4) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $600.
9. (17) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/RoushYates, 35, $550.
10. (23) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., GRT/Sput’s, 35, $500.
11. (1) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, 35, $475.
12. (13) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 35, $450.
13. (11) 60 Kurt Krauskopf (R), Decorah, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $425.
14. (6) 20s Stormy Scott (R), Las Cruces, N.M., Hughes/ProPower, 33, mechanical, $400.
15. (10) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/Action, 22, overheating, $400.
16. (19) 7 Eric Dailey, Armstrong, Iowa, Skyrocket/Grawmondbeck’s, 22, engine, $400.
17. (24) 21m Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake, Iowa, GRT/Midstate, 20, suspension, $400.
18. (21) 26 Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa, Sidebiter/KSE, 20, mechanical, $400.
19. (8) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa, GRT/AEM, 17, mechanical, $300.
20. (22) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, Victory/JRM, 11, mechanical, $300.
21. (18) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 8, mechanical, $400.
22. (20) 99m Tim Murty, Tama, Iowa, 8, mechanical, $300.
23. (25) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 8, mechanical, $100.
24. (7) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, 7, handling, $300.
25. (15) 91 Shawn Ryan, Waterloo, Iowa, Kazzbuilt/AEM, 4, flat tire, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Integra Lap Leaders: J. Scott 1-23, S. Scott 24-33, Hughes 34-35.
Total Laps Led: J. Scott 23, S. Scott 10, Hughes 2.
Margin of Victory: 0.945 second.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Gustin (started 16th, finished 2nd).
Dominator Race Products Hard Luck: Krumm.
Provisional Starters: Beebe.
Next Race: Saturday, June 30, Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa.
USMTS National Championship Series Points: Gustin 1273, Sanders 1202, Hughes 1181, S. Scott 1127, Shryock 1109, J. Scott 1098, Junghans 1020, Brown 976, Ramirez 973, VanderBeek 923.
Rookie of the Year Points: S. Scott 1952, Hilsabeck 1297, Keith 1025, Casey Penn 956, Thomas Tillison Jr. 627.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Geddes 254, Mullins 252, ProPower 217, Sput’s 192, RoushYates 128.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 311, GRT 282, Skyrocket 222, Sidebiter 101, Shaw 99.