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After the first six races and in spite of being 'bit by the Gator' down in Willis, Jason Hughes still holds a comfortable 84 point lead as the Castle Rock Recruiting USMTS Southern Series heads for Clinton, Oklahoma Friday night but that lead is not as comfortable as it used to be.
Why?... NO provisionals this year. Should a point leader miss qualifying for an A-main this year, he stands the chance of loosing as much as 80 points in a single night. But there's even more reason for the 2-time Southern Series champion not to feel too settled in at the top even though he's established himself as the perhaps the best Modified driver in the country at the moment.
The reason for that is...mulligans! This year, there is no Hunt or Chase for the USMTS Southern Series. Instead, the best 20 races by any driver is what will determine the final standings when we wind up the 2010 season at Houston Raceway Park in November. That means the real point leader could be well...ANYBODY!
Since Jason has left the door cracked by winning just 3 of the 6 races so far and only scoring 5 top fives, he might not even be the point leader really. It'll take some help from Mother Nature, but with 20 races left on the schedule barring rainouts and/or cancellations (and there's even a couple probable additions to the 2010 Southern Series schedule!), we don't really know who the point leader is yet although I'm not taking any bets against Hughes. So far, 6 races have been run but you could actually start your season this Friday in Clinton and assuming we get 20 races in, you still have the opportunity to win this thing or at least get a top ten points finish. There are a few other racers besides Jason that you're going to have to deal with though....
In case you missed it this past weekend, Friday at Golden Traingle Raceway Park in Beaumont was a real barnburner with Hughes and Kelly Shryock starting 13th and 12th respectively and racing their way through a strong field for a 1-2 finish! Then on Saturday, those same two drivers got together and touched off a mid-pack wreck on the tight 1/4 mile Gator Motorplex oval that left them both as early DNFs for the race -- Hughes's first finish outside the top 5. Dayton, Texas legend Howard Willis drove Mike Wickham's #99 Evolution Motorsports Chassis to the win at Gator and....
Longview, Texas's Morgan Bagley in the Stan Roland Shaw-by-Brooks Team UFO #5R finished 3rd to move into second in the point standings. Iowa's Shryock fell to third in the standings and is 8 points behind Bagley.
After a 9th to 3rd run in this past Friday's A-main followed by an 11th to 5th performance in Saturday's A, John Whittington is now 4th in points, just 15 behind Bagley for 2nd AND...he missed a race too!. The best 20 rule could help John-O win this thing down the road....
The new player from last year -- Bumper Jones of New Mexico -- is 5th in points with Oklahoma's Randy Timms, Kansan Scott Green, the hometown guy this weekend, Rodney Sanders from just outside of Amarillo, Oklahoma's Dereck Ramirez and Arkansas's Steve Holzkamper rounding out the top ten.
Now, while there is no Hunt for the Castle Rock Recruiting USMTS Southern Series this year, the top 10 in points (no mulligans for this...) and the perfect attendance cars when we finish the Southern Series Speedweek up at Ark-La-Tex Speedway on June 13th will be eligible for the Casey's General Stores Hunt for the USMTS National Championship. This year there are 21 Hunt races scheduled across Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The first 18 all pay $3000 to win and take place over a 26-day stretch from August 12th to September 6th (Labor Day). Then it ends with the best Modified show around -- the 12th Annual USMTS Featherlite Fall Jamboree at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota on September 23rd, 24th and 25th.
After a couple of disappointing Hunts in the previous 2 years, Kelly Shryock finally won that 9th USMTS National title to go along with that Southern Series title he also has. Another Iowan, young Ryan Gustin finished a close 2nd in the 2009 Hunt and has a ride in the Gressel Motorsports Hughes Chassis as a teammate to Scott Green so watch out for Ryan this year! In spite of multiple Southern Series titles, Jason Hughes is still seeking that first USMTS National title and was close again in last year's Hunt. He got the last laugh at the 2009 Jamboree though as he pocketed $9,500 in winning the Saturday night finale!
And you just never know...
Who might show up at some of these USMTS Modified races! From NASCAR drivers to World of Outlaw stars, you just can't predict who.
Saturday night at Willis, a couple of IMCA standouts from south central Texas entered. GW Egbert and Trevor Egbert from Salado both made the A main with GW getting an 8th place finish.
Other interesting notes from this past weekend in Beaumont and Willis:
Mike Dillard of Allen, TX scored a top ten in Willis after starting 23rd!
Rory Jordan of Victoria, TX came in to Beaumont as the RotY point leader and made that A. Unfortunately he missed making the A in Willis which...
...handed the RotY point lead over to Ben Stephens who's been racing this tour out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi! Ben made both As in southeast Texas but the Texas panhandle is a long way from south Mississippi. Ben may use 3 'mulligans' next week, we'll see...the next shows are in the DFW-Waco areas on May 14th, 15th and 16th -- still far but considerably closer!
Arkansas's Melvin Pilcher made the A through the heats at both shows last week. Got a top ten at GTRP but was caught up in the Shryock-Hughes wreck in Willis.
Pineville, Louisiana's Rick Duke won a heat in Beaumont and started the A in 7th. Unfortunately, crashed out on lap 11...
New Mexico's Johnny Scott scored a pair of top ten finishes last week!
Kansan Grant Junghans also made the long tow to the Houston area and scored top 15s in both races.
What will be the stories when we get to the High Plains this week????
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Best racing weather anywhere this weekend? I still think so...
Clinton (Wild West Speedway) is not far off of I-40 2 hours west of Oklahoma City. SMP Mods go there in July. The weather is good for them this Friday night. Windy but warm and 10-20% chance of a brief, isolated shower or t-storm. All the heavy weather will be on the east side of OKC.
Then head west on I-40 some more to Amarillo for Saturday. Cooler -- take the jacket -- but the wind dies down at least. Highest rain chance of the 3 days and it's just 30%. Been dry all week out there so it shouldn't hurt.
Sunday, go down I-29 (I think that's it or I-25 or some I...I-??) down to Lubbock. Best weather of the weekend! Upper 70s, light wind (highly unusual!) and 0% chance of rain.
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