Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

We go to battle at Battleground NEXT!!! November 19th, 20th and 21st!!! 6 Southern Series Hunt races left for a total of $15,000 to win!!! See the latest post for an update!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2008's top ten from the final USMTS Southern Series point standings:
Jason Hughes 1875
Steve Holzkamper -114
Tommy Weder, Jr. -197
John Whittington -426
Paul White -456
Dereck Ramirez -484
Morgan Bagley -517
Scott Green -579
Shane Hebert -597
Steve Whiteaker, Jr. -646

Going into the 2009 Southern Series Hunt. here's the contenders:

1. Jason Hughes 50 points, Westville, OK

Not much change at the top except, this time it's much closer with 11 races to go thanks to the regional schedules and Hunt format. What a year this guy is again having! The defending Southern Series champion from 2008 has won half of the Southern Series races and in the West Region had 5 wins and 2 thirds in 7 races! Thank USMTS for the chase-like 'Hunt' points format or this thing could already be over! Hughes is coming off his biggest single night paycheck of 2009 as he collected $9500 for winning the Fall Jamboree finale up in Minnesota. If he should any disappointment at all in victory lane, it would have been a slight lament that he came up short of a USMTS National title again but he said "maybe we can win another Southern Series title starting Thursday." You can tell, he doesn't want this one to get away. Jason is a veteran who is really on top of his game but he can't afford a bad race or two in this 11-race Southern Series Hunt. Nobody can!

2. Kelly Shryock -4, Fertile, IA

"The worm will turn baby, the ------' worm will turn."

-- Joe Torre, then New York Yankees manager

Kelly Shryock has to feel totally rejuvinated after the last two weeks. Shryock had the longest winless drought of his USMTS career -- over a year -- finally ended in August with a win up north. Then just two weeks ago Friday he won another feature in the all-important USMTS National Tour Hunt and the timing couldn't have been better. His incredible consistancy kept Kelly on top of the National Hunt point standings throughout the whole thing and at the end, he prevailed over Iowa upstart Ryan Gustin. For the 9th time overall but the for the first time since 2006, Kelly Shryock is again the USMTS National Champion. He won the first USMTS Southern Series title back in 2007.
You could tell it was coming. At the last Southern Series race at Shreveport's Boothill Speedway way back on June 14th, he was only one late race caution away from a win as he had checked out with a masterful drive through lapped traffic only to have a caution wipe it out with 3 laps to go. Again, Kelly's consistency has him a close 2nd going into The Hunt as he finished 2nd in both regions. Kelly didn't compete for the Southern Series title in 2008 although he did run 14 of the events.

Hughes-Shryock battle for the Southern Series title? Safe bet but we'll see. They were Kelly one, Jason two for several races late in the National Hunt this year.

Believe it or not, the top 4 names in the Eastern Region match the top 4 in the Western Region. While the top 2 there above surprise no one -- Hughes and Shryock were just 6th and 7th in Eastern Region points going into Speedweek after the first 5 races but came out first and second. 3rd and 4th however, may be a bit of a surprise although it's probably fitting that one drives a Skyrocket and one drives a Hughes...

3. Rodney Sanders -8, Happy, TX

This young driver from near Amarillo won his first USMTS race ever in the National Tour's Mo-Kan Region La Monte, Missouri and then started the National Hunt off with a runner-up there. It won't be long before he gets one on the Southern Series either and The Hunt would be the perfect time! The Rowland-Skyrocket driver had 8 top fives in the Southern Series regular season.

4. Steve Whiteaker, Jr. -12, Corpus Christi, TX

This young gun Hughes Chassis racer didn't wait for The Hunt to get his first win. He did it with a thrilling drive from the back of the pack at I-30 Speedway during Speedweek. Steve will be a lot closer to home when The Hunt starts so they may want to watch out for that black & orange #89 and he was 10th in the final Southern Series standings last year.

5. Shane Hebert -32, Lafayette,LA

Shane's last name is pronounced A - BEAR, you know, like former New Orleans Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert who played college ball in Lafayette?, OK... Shane leads a tight group of the next 8 drivers who will only be separated by 6 points going in. Shane scored 5 top tens with his Hughes Chassis in the regular season with 4 of them coming in the West Region where he finished 7th in points. He was credited with perfect attandance in the Eastern Region as well (worth 5 points). Hebert looks to improve on last year's 9th place points finish AND he won $3500 on July 3rd when he took a $2000 Modified win and a $1500 Limited Modified win on the same night at Lone Star Speedway!

6. Bryan Rowland -33, Woodward, OK

Rowland was a Rookie of the Year contender last year at age 28. This year, he's teamed with 19-year Rodney Sanders in a pair of Skyrockets. He finished 5th in Western Region points but missed perfect attendance in the east by just one-race. His big night came back in April when Bryan scored his first USMTS win at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont and his teammate Sanders finished 2nd.

7.(tie) Dereck Ramirez -34, Woodward, OK

The second contender from Modified-town USA (Woodward's maybe lost a little luster since Tommy Weder moved on???, maybe not...) may be getting used to this Hunt format. Dereck just finished 9th in the national tour Hunt and was 5th in that tour last year. Dereck's #4R will come into The Hunt as the highest ranking Ramirez Race Cars Chassis. Ramirez was also 6th in Southern Series points at the end of 08. He finished 8th in the Eastern Region this year and had perfect Southern Series attendance. Derrick has 2 top 5s and 6 top tens so far this year.

7.(tie) Morgan Bagley -34, Longview, TX

Morgan drives the Stan Rowland-owned WatchModsLive.com #5R Shaw-by-Brooks Chassis. He was 8th in Western Region points and had 3 top 5s and 4 top tens in the Eastern Region but cooled off a little at Speedweek. Morgan was a top Dustin Duncan-JustSayYes RotY contender last year and he'd really like to improve on that 7th place points finish.

9. Jon Tesch -35, Watertwon, SD

This is the guy here who could take it all. This Ramirez Race Cars driver was sixth in National points and got hot at the end of the Hunt with a $3000 win at Brainerd on 9/19, 4 top 5s and all top 10s in the last 5 races of the Hunt! He was 3rd in last year's national Hunt too. Tesch is one of USMTS's all-time best and the regional-Hunt format worked to perfection for Jon. All he needed was 'in' and with that 6th place finish in the Western Region -- the only one he ran -- here he is!

Like Hughes, Shryock, Sanders, Whiteaker, Ramirez and Bagley ahead of him and several more behind him, Tesch may be a little bit 'winded' as they all just race at Deer Creek, Minnesota Saturday night!

9.(tie) Chris Henigan -35, Marshall, TX

It'll be interesting to see how GRT driver Chris Henigan does in the Hunt. He's coming off 2 runner-ups in Speedweeks so he is obviously very close to that first USMTS win and he's won the Outlaw Modified Tour twice along with several track titles too. Finished 6th in the Eastern Region which is the only one he ran in. The two runner-ups are part of 7 top tens in 11 races. AND his record at the Texas Winter Nationals the past two years is very good. Chris probably has a little more incentive too as he races for the Dustin Duncan-JustSayYes Rookie of the Year title as well that was named after his late friend. I feel like he'd really like to win that and he has to outrun some other friends to do it but you know what he named his son? Dustin!

You can pre-enter any USMTS event and save a few $$$. Pre?entries must be postmarked at least six days before event date or must be received via phone, fax or email at least two days prior to event date.

THIS Friday's pre-entry is $90 ($80 for drivers with a USMTS license). Friday's entry at the gate is $100 for $2000 to win. It pays $200 to start with $60 back to non-qualifiers (tow money). If you have a USMTS License, it pays $250 to start with $80 tow money. Other positions pay more too if you have the license but it's still $2000 to win for anyone. (win money is the same for licensed and unlicensed at all of these shows)

If 40 or more cars show, 26 cars start the A-mains. 2 of those 26 will be provisionals from the local track and 2 will be USMTS provisionals with 22 qualifying spots up for grabs. If less than 40 cars, then 24 will start with the same 4 provisionals and 20 qualifying spots available. That's the same for all 8 races.

THIS Saturday's PRE-entry is $110 ($100 for licensed). Saturday's show is $125 entry fee at the gate for $3000 to win and it pays $275 to start with $80 to non-qualifiers ($300 to start and $100 tow money for licensed).

On Nov 19th at Battleground, the PRE-entry will be $60 ($50 for licensed) for the $1000 to win and $75 at the gate for all late entries. It pays $150 to start with $40 back for NQs ($175 and $50 for licensed).

On Nov 20th and Dec 3rd, it's a PRE-entry of $90 each night ($80 for licensed) for $2000 to win and $100 late entry at the gate. It pays $200 to start with $60 for NQs ($250 and $80 for licensed).

On Nov 21st and Dec 4th, it's a PRE-entry of $110 each night ($100 for licensed) for $3000 to win and $125 late entry at the gate. It pays $275 to start with $80 to NQs ($300 and $100 for licensed)

The $4000 to win on Dec 5th has a PRE-entry of $135 ($125 for licensed) and $150 late entry at the gate. It pays $300 to start ($350 for licensed) and they have not specified tow money for that one yet.

You can find all of the above and more along with entry forms at:
http://www.usmts.com/Documents/entry_20091023-1205.pdf

Here's the whole paydowns:

$1,000 to win events – Licensed: 1. $1000, 2. $700, 3. $500, 4. $450, 5. $400, 6. $350, 7. $300, 8. $250, 9. $225, 10. $200, 11?26. $175, Tow $50; Non?Licensed: 1. $1000, 2. $600, 3. $400, 4. $350, 5. $300, 6. $250, 7. $200, 8. $175, 9?26. $150, Tow $40.

$2,000 to win events – Licensed: 1. $2000, 2. $1500, 3. $1000, 4. $800, 5. $700, 6. $600, 7. $500, 8. $450, 9. $400, 10. $350, 11. $320, 12. $300, 13. $275, 14?26. $250, Tow $80; Non?Licensed: 1. $2000, 2. $1200, 3. $800, 4. $600, 5. $500, 6. $400, 7. $350, 8.$300, 9. $250, 10. $230, 11. $210, 12?26. $200, Tow $60.

$3,000 to win events – Licensed: 1. $3000, 2. $2000, 3. $1500, 4. $1000, 5. $800, 6. $700, 7. $600, 8. $500, 9. $450, 10. $400, 11. $350, 12. $320, 13?26. $300, Tow $100; Non?Licensed: 1. $3000, 2. $1800, 3. $1200, 4. $800, 5. $600, 6. $500, 7. $450, 8. $400, 9. $350, 10. $300, 11?26. $275, Tow $80.

$4,000 to win event – Licensed: 1. $4000, 2. $3000, 3. $2000, 4. $1500, 5. $1000, 6. $800, 7. $700, 8. $600, 9. $500, 10. $450, 11. $400, 12?26. $350, Tow $??; Non?Licensed: 1. $4000, 2. $2500, 3. $1700, 4. $1000, 5. $700, 6. $600, 7. $500, 8. $450, 9. $400, 10. $350, 11. $325, 12?26. $300, Tow $??.

With his Southern Series 34-race winless streak now officially over following his win at Gator Motorplex in Southern Series Hunt Race #2, 2007 Southern Series Champion and current Hunt point leader Kelly Shryock appears poised to sweep both USMTS Championships this year but the defending Southern Series champ Jason Hughes and a dozen others know that it's far from a done deal and they don't plan on rolling over!

Six big races at two great Houston ovals is where this year's championship will finally get settled. The 3/8 mile Battleground Speedway in Highlands is up first on November 19th, 20th and 21st on the weekend before Thanksgiving and then on the weekend following Thanksgiving weekend, the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown is where the Southern Series champion will get crowned for the third year in a row on December 3rd, 4th and 5th. The six races pay a combined $15,000 to win!

Hughes of Wesville, Oklahoma driving one of his own Hughes Chassis will be just 11 points behind Shryock of Fertile, Iowa who drives one of his own Skyrocket Chassis when Hunt race #3 gets started. On the strength of back-to-back runner-ups, Jon Tesch from Watertown, South Dakota finds himself up to third in points at just 19 points behind Shryock while driving a Ramirez Race Cars Chassis out of Oklahoma. Shryock is now a nine-time USMTS National Champion after sewing up the National Hunt at Deer Creek Speedway's USMTS Fall Jamboree in Minnesota in September for his first National title in 3 years. A hard crash on the next-to-last night at Deer Creek cost Hughes a shot at his first National title but he rallied back for a $9500 win on the final night with a thrilling last second pass on Missouri ace Terry Phillips that also landed him 3rd in the final National points. Tesch was 6th in National points this year.

Lots of points and point-swings are up for grabs in these six USMTS features. There can be as much as a 50-point swing between first and last on positions alone. Add in hard charger passing point and lap leader point bonuses and the difference can go as high as 73. A racer who doesn't make a feature gets 45 points but can loose up to 78 points to the feature winner if that car started 22nd and leads the most laps. Not a likely scenario but not impossible at either one of these tracks. Ninety different Modifieds pulled through the pit gates over the 2nd annual Texas Winter Nationals weekend at HRP in 2008.

Positions 4 through 6 in the standings are filled by the first 3 Texas hopes for this year's Southern Series title. Rodney-the-Rocket Sanders of Happy up in the panhandle country drives a Rowland-owned Skyrocket and is 4th at -39. Sanders battled hard for a 5th place finish in USMTS National this year. Longview's Morgan Bagley is 5th at -54 and is Arkansas-based Larry Shaw Race Cars only shot at a USMTS title this year. Bagley drives a Stan Roland-owned Shaw-by-Brooks Chassis. Although Morgan missed 5 of the National Hunt events this year, he still won over $6000 in the 13 events he did make and finished 20th in points. Chris Henigan of Marshall, Texas is 6th in points at -57 after a strong 16th-to-4th run in Hunt race #1. He's the first contender for the Southern title who didn't also run for a National title this year and he's the first contender for another Arkansas-based chassis, GRT Race Cars. Henigan ran only Eastern region Southern Series races to make the Hunt and he's never raced at Battleground before.

Henigan's HRP record is pretty good though. He didn't run this year's May race (it was a Western Region event), but in the 6 Texas Winter Nationals events to date, Henigan has 5 top ten finishes including his best HRP finish -- a 4th -- last year. It'll be interesting to see how he takes to the bigger Battleground oval in 3 weeks.

Shryock had a 16th to 9th run back at Battleground in May and his 22nd to 10th run at HRP in May was his 7th straight top ten finish in the seven races that he's had his own #3 there. Those finishes include 5 top 5s with a win and a second.

Hughes became the first repeat winner in 7 HRP USMTS events when he dominated there in a caution-free event in May. That race saw 23 of the 26 starters finish with Hughes lapping all the way up to the 12th place car on a racetrack where you could run anywhere from top to bottom. Jason has yet to win a Texas Winter Nats A-main though as both of his HRP wins came in May. He does have 3 top tens in the Winter Nats that include 2 top five finishes. At Battleground, Hughes started 14th and finished 3rdon another very racy track.

Tesch has a real good record at HRP too. Jon's third place finish in May was his 3rd top 5 in his last 4 HRP races. He matched his car # at Battleground with a 14th place finish.

Sanders though had a 2nd place finish at that equally good Battleground race in May with only local Cleveland, Texas racer Chris Brown finishing ahead of him. 22 of those 26 starters finished the A at BG with some big moves through the field by several drivers like, for example, Eddie Martin coming from 23rd to finish 6th. Sanders had a 6th at HRP in May and made all 3 A-mains in last year's Winter Nats with a best finish of 9th.

Bagley's best finish at the 2 tracks in May was 11th at BG. Morgan did run all 3 A mains in last year's Winter Nats and finished 10th after starting 26th with a provisional in one for his only HRP top ten.

Seventh through tenth in points are certainly not out of it yet but they will need good runs at Battleground to stay in contention.

Kansan Scott Green from Derby is 7th with a Hughes Chassis at -67. Green made the Hunt through the Eastern Region and like Henigan, didn't run the May races at BG and HRP. Scott ran all 3 2008 Winter Nats A mains with one top ten finish.

New Mexico's representative is Bumper Jones of Las Cruces who is the leading TRE Chassis in the standings at -69. Jones had a top 5 at BG and a 19th at HRP in May. At last year's Winter Nats, Bumper qualified for all 3 A mains and scored two top tens.

Bryan Rowland is the 2nd Oklahoma contender at -70 and runs a Skyrocket. Rowland had an outstanding runner-up to Hughes in May at HRP and had a top ten at BG. Rowland wasn't at last year's Winter Nats.

Houston's lone championship contender is John Whittington of Vidor who won a thrilling Hunt race #1 at Gator with a last lap pass in his Bob Pierce Race Cars Chassis on Tesch. Night #2's finish was not good so John-O is 10th in points at -73. He had a 4th at BG and a 13th at HRP in May but has more races, laps and wins at both of those tracks than anyone else in the top ten. They just don't happen to be USMTS races. His best finish at the 2008 Winter Nats was 11th and he made all 3 A-mains in 2007 with a best finish of 9th.

Others in The Hunt include south Louisiana's Shane Hebert at -77 and Steve Whiteaker, Jr. of Corpus Christi at -86. Both drivers race Hughes Chassis and both had top tens at BG and HRP in May. Northwest Arkansas TRE Chassis builder Steve Holzkamper -- one of USMTS's all-time best -- is at -88. Ramirez Race Cars house car driver Dereck Ramirez (Woodward, Oklahoma) is at -90 with William Gould of Calera, Oklahoma in a Gould Race Cars Chassis at -93. A north Louisiana racer with another Ramirez Chassis, Garrett Durrett is at -98 with Texan Cody Smith of Kaufman in a Dirt Works at -100.