Jason Hughes notched his first win of the 2013 campaign Saturday night as the USMTS Casey’s Cup Series invaded the West Plains Motor Speedway.
Once this season the 2010 USMTS national champion has been on his way to victory when a mechanical failure sidelined him late in the race, and on another occasion he actually made it to victory lane—big trophy, flash bulbs, big winner’s check and all—but was disqualified when it was discovered that his team had forgotten to swap chips during an engine change earlier in the day.
Saturday night, however, the 38-year-old chassis builder from Watts, Okla., left nothing to chance and left West Plains, Mo., with the accolades and the $4,000 top prize.
Starting on the pole, Hughes got beat to the first corner by Jeremy Payne and followed him for the first nine laps before making his move.
Once out front, Hughes was flawless as he maneuvered around the legendary red clay oval and beat Payne to the finish line with two-tenths of a second to spare.
It was the 112th career USMTS win for Hughes and his first since Aug. 1, 2012. Only Kelly Shryock and his 178 victories top Hughes on the USMTS all-time win list. Shryock won the USMTS debut at West Plains last year.
While Hughes and Payne stayed up front the entire race, the third- and fourth-place finishers had to claw their way to the top.
Coming out of the Real Racing Wheels “B” Mains, Rodney Sanders and Ryan Gustin started deep in the field but found a way to claim a pair of tip-5 finishes. Sanders passed 10 cars en route to a third-place finish while Gustin passed 13 drivers to earn the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award and a fourth-place paycheck.
Shryock, who started 11th, finished in the fifth spot while Dallas Everett, Dereck Ramirez, Rick Beebe, Logan Martin and Austin Siebert completed the top 10.
With his runner-up finish, Payne remains the points leader in the Arbor Masters Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports while Hughes jumped into second. Stormy Scott is third, Johnny Scott fell to fourth and Shryock is fifth.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series – Arbor Masters Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports
West Plains Motor Speedway, West Plains, Mo.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed 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.
BEYEA CUSTOM HEADERS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Arroyo Hondo, N.M.
2. (1) 12 Scott Crigler, Alton, Mo.
3. (5) 26 Bill Frye, Greenbrier, Ark.
4. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (6) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (3) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo.
7. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
8. (2) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa.
9. (9) 32 Brandon Ball, West Plains, Mo.
JRi SHOCKS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
2. (3) 0x Steve Picou, High Ridge, Mo.
3. (1) 36m Logan Martin (R), West Plains, Mo.
4. (7) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
5. (5) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
6. (8) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
7. (6) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla.
8. (4) 9x Mikey Bell, Quitman, Ark.
9. (9) 18k Kyle Cotter, Mountain Home, Ark.
EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
2. (4) E26 Dallas Everett, Beebe, Ark.
3. (2) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
4. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
5. (3) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
6. (6) D97 Daryl Hay, Doniphan, Mo.
7. (5) 56 Jonathan Rowan, Jackson, Tenn.
8. (8) 1 Joey Smith, Pomona, Mo.
PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
2. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (5) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
4. (4) 22 Brad Buck, Paragould, Ark.
5. (3) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
6. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
7. (1) 9 Brint Hartwick, Quitman, Ark.
8. (7) 29 Jeff LeBaube, Dittmer, Mo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (3) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (4) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (7) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (2) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
6. (5) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, $90.
7. (6) D97 Daryl Hay, Doniphan, Mo., GRT/Robinson, $75.
8. (9) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa, Skyrocket/RoushYates, $90.
9. (8) 56 Jonathan Rowan, Jackson, Tenn., GRT/Rowan, $75.
10. (10) 1 Joey Smith, Pomona, Mo., TRE/Patriot, $75.
11. (11) 32 Brandon Ball, West Plains, Mo., GRT/Smith, $75.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (4) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada.
2. (1) 36m Logan Martin (R), West Plains, Mo.
3. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (2) 22 Brad Buck, Paragould, Ark.
5. (5) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo.
6. (3) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
7. (7) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla.
8. (8) 9 Brint Hartwick, Quitman, Ark., Shaw/Wooley, $75.
9. (9) 9x Mikey Bell, Quitman, Ark., Shaw/Wooley, $75.
10. (10) 29 Jeff LeBaube, Dittmer, Mo., Impressive/LeBaube, $75.
11. (11) 18k Kyle Cotter, Mountain Home, Ark., TRE/Cotter, $75
“A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $4000.
2. (2) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, 40, $1500.
3. (13) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 40, $1000.
4. (17) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1000.
5. (11) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 40, $800.
6. (5) E26 Dallas Everett, Beebe, Ark., Shaw/Kuntz, 40, $600.
7. (19) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, 40, $650.
8. (8) 22b Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $600.
9. (16) 36m Logan Martin (R), West Plains, Mo., GRT/SCP, 40, $550.
10. (12) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., GRT/Mullins, 40, $500.
11. (14) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, 40, $450.
12. (18) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $425.
13. (24) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Sidebiter/Mullins, 40, $400.
14. (23) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla., Hughes/Geddes, 40, $400.
15. (22) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo., GRT/Yeoman, 40, $400.
16. (20) 22 Brad Buck, Paragould, Ark., TRE/SCP, 40, $300.
17. (21) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., Hughes/BMS, 40, $300.
18. (10) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, Hughes/RoushYates, 34, $300.
19. (15) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., LG2/ProPower, 24, $400.
20. (4) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., LG2/ProPower, 20, $250.
21. (6) 12 Scott Crigler, Alton, Mo., Hughes/Patriot, 20, $250.
22. (3) 1st Johnny Scott, Arroyo Hondo, N.M., GRT/RoushYates, 18, $400.
23. (7) 0x Steve Picou, High Ridge, Mo., TRE/SCP, 15, $300.
24. (9) 26 Bill Frye, Greenbrier, Ark., Shaw/Kuntz, 12, $250.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Lap Leaders: Payne 1-9, Hughes 10-40.
Total Laps Led: Hughes 31, Payne 9.
Margin of Victory: 0.271 second.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Gustin (started 17th, finished 4th).
Provisional Starters: Hilsabeck, Tillison.
Next Race: Wednesday, May 22, I-35 Speedway, Mason City, Iowa.
Arbor Master Central Region Points: Payne 626, Hughes 596, S. Scott 553, J. Scott 551, Shryock 540, VanderBeek 533, Tillison 504, Gustin 459, Galloway 453, Siebert 442.
Rookie of the Year Points: Galloway 882, Hunt 881, Big Eagle 708, Shane Sprinkle 380, Conner 326.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: ProPower 129, Mullins 113, Geddes 108, RoushYates 101, Sput’s 95.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 139, Skyrocket 104, MBCustoms 104, GRT 104, LG2 87.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Frye.
American Racer – Beebe.
Beyea Custom Headers – J. Scott.
BSB Manufacturing – Shryock, Ramirez.
Buck Monson Photos – Hughes.
Crane Cams – Hughes.
Dominator Race Products – Rowland.
Edelbrock – Sanders.
Eibach Springs – Beebe.
FK Rod Ends – Hunt.
Forty9Designs.com – Tillison, S. Scott.
Fuel Safe – Everett.
GRT Race Cars – Payne.
Hooker Harness – Hilsabeck.
JRi Shocks – Payne.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Martin.
Keyser Manufacturing – Siebert.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Picou.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Gustin.
MSD Ignition – Hughes, Payne.
PBM Performance Products – Rowland, Hughes.
Power Lift Racing Products – Duvall
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
VP Racing Fuels – Hughes.
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