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Next Race: Hunt Race #8, Tonight at Cresco Speedway, Cresco, Iowa. Then, the Hunt will be off until August 30th when they visit Highway 3 Raceway in Allison, Iowa.
Hughes Gets 3rd Hunt Win & Expands Lead!
(all points stuff unofficial!)
Jason Hughes may have been a little concerned when he was the only one in this 4 car battle for the championship not to make top eight after the heat races concluded at Steele County Speedway in Owatonna, Minnesota last night and he could only manage a fourth to third run in his heat. Well lay all fears aside Mr. Hughes. He blasted from tenth to win and add at least 13 markers to his points lead in The Hunt for the USMTS National Championship. I wasn't at the race so I can't tell you how he got from tenth to first (and I don't know how many laps he led or who else may have led a lap -- check USMTS website in a little bit for official laps led and points standings!) but I can tell you, it stopped what little bleeding Hughes had going the last two nights and reestablished him as the favorite to win this thing with 9 races to go.
Still, we can't cast his name into the trophy yet because finshing 2nd, 3rd and 4th were 3rd, 2nd and 4th in the standings!
Jon Tesch started 2nd and finished 2nd and is still 3rd in points at (about) -53 (give or take a point). Jason Krohn advanced 5 spots to finish 3rd and is (again unofficially) about 34 points behind the leader. 8-time defending champion Kelly Shryock started and finished 4th...I think. Preliminary USMTS message board results had both he and Zack VanderBeek starting 4th so it's possible that Kelly has a passing point or two missing here but unofficially, I have him -84 to Hughes which is starting to endanger his shot at a ninth title. Remember, there's only a 79 point swing possible per event and that would mean Hughes not qualifying and Kelly winning from 22nd. No one in the top six has used a provisional yet either and I bet they all have 2 or more coming so forget the 5 points you'd gain should one of them not qualify and the most it could swing in one race in that case would be 74! In other words, if this were September 8th and we only had that one $6000 to win race left on night 3 of the USMTS Featherlite Fall Jamboree at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota, Shryock would be mathematically elimnated! He's got to catch it up over the next eight races.
I think Greg Skaggs had a big enough night that the Bixby, Oklahoma racer is now top five in the standings. His sixth place finish with ten passing points should jump him 3 spots in the standings and place him about 15 ahead of VanderBeek who moves up one spot to sixth. I show Gregg about 148 points behind Hughes and VanderBeek at -163. Hughes's teammate Tommy Weder, Jr was looking good when he drew the pole for the feature but he was the 5th of 14 cars to not finish this race (ouch!) and wound up 21st. That should drop him 2 spots in the standings to 7th at -167. (He could have led a lap though and that would be another point for Weder.)
After a bad night on Wednesday when he had to burn a provisional and finished 13th, Tommy Myer came back on Thursday with a 18th to 5th run and jumped 2 spots in the standings to 8th at about -174. Steve Holzkamper's 16th place finish kept him 9th in the standings at about -209.
Surprsingly, Dean Mahlstedt was a no-show. He won on Tuesday night with his Bullet Chassis and naturally gained ground but was the third car out on Wednesday night for a 22nd yet still 6th in the standings. The no-show drops him to 10th in the standings at -233 but worse than that, cost him his Top Dawg Bonus Status which should now go to Kansan and Rookie of the Year leader, Scott Green. Green had a 21st to 7th, hardcharger-winning run on Thursday and moved up 2 spots in the standings to 11th at -253 and hasn't missed a Hunt race yet.
Al Hejna didn't qualify and fell a spot to 12th. He's about 270 points out of the lead but more importantly maybe, he's 18 back of Scott Green for Top Dawg status. Jamie Burford made top 12 in qualifying on Thursday through his 3rd place heat run for a change but unfortunately, was the first car out and only recieved 50 points. He dropped to 13th place in the standings and about 39 behind Green in the battle for Top Dawg. At last report though, Jamie was enjoying racing with those guys up there. Minnesota is a long way from Louisiana!
Illinois racer Donovan Lodge has to be kicking himself a little for no-showing Sunday's race at Monett. It's the only Hunt race he's missed so far and that cost him at least 45 points and his shot at Top Dawg. He was having trouble making races down south but qualified through the heats on Tuesday and Wednesday and won his B main on Thursday and has an average finish of 14th over the last 3 races. He's 78 behind Green but could've had that down to 33 or less had he tried Monett.
Wisconsin racers Jay Poidinger and Scott Vesely have not missed a Hunt race yet but still are having trouble qualifying. They used provisionals but both got respctable top 15 finishes.
Only 29 cars for the worse count of The Hunt so far on Thursday. What's going on up there? Do Modified racers in that region bolt their doors and hide under the bed when they hear USMTS is coming? Hope not. The Hunt returns to Steele County Speedway on Labor Day Monday, September 3rd for Hunt race #13.
Of the 29 cars there, 18 were Hunt participants. Hunt eligible Richie Gustin Jr. of Iowa was making his first Hunt apperance and wound up eighth after running second in his heat while Ryan Gustin made his 2nd straight A main in as many appearances and finished 14th. With Richie's apperances, that means only four of six drivers who were eligible only because of Southern Series points are the only ones not to have run at least one race while one of those -- Burford -- has run all 7 so far. 14 drivers in all have made every Hunt race so far.
Well it looks like the top four in points can all get around Steele County. Who has the hot hand at Deer Creek Speedway? That track hosts a race on Saturday, September 1st and the annual USMTS Featherlite Fall Jamboree for 3 more on September 6th through 8th. Want another twist? Over 105 cars have already entered the Jamboree! And why not? It's a possible $12,000 to win weekend with good start money and even a non-qualifiers race on Saturday that pays $2000 to win! That car count can sure throw a monkey wrench at the points chasers! The Hunt does return to Owatonna on September 3rd. That's 5 of the remaining 9 Hunt races right there and they all come after August 30th.
Hunt Race #7 Results from Steele Co. Speedway, Owatonna, MN
1 12 - Jason Hughes -- Colcord, OK (10)
2 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (2)
3 7k - Jason Krohn -- Slayton, MN (8)
4 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (4)
5 65 - Tommy Myer -- Blooming Prairie, MN (18)
6 27 - Greg Skaggs -- Bixby, OK (16)
7 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (21)
8 19g - Richie Gustin Jr. -- Gilman, IA (3)
9 32 - Donovan Lodge -- Moline, IL (13)
10 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (4)
11 49x - Jay Poidinger -- Somerset, WI (23)
12 83 - Willy Kraft -- Lakefield, MN (5)DNF
13 55 - Brian Shaw -- Brownsdale, MN (19)DNF
14 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (15)DNF
15 58 - Scott Vesely -- Mosinee, WI (24)DNF
16 5h - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (14)DNF
17 3d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (6)DNF
18 74 - Mark Noble -- Blooming Prairie, MN (25)DNF
19 0 - Craig Scott -- Rosemount, MN (12)DNF
20 02x - Jacob Dahle -- Morristown, MN (20)DNF
21 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (1)DNF
22 90 - Steve Wetzstein -- West Concord, MN (22)DNF
23 72 - Doug Hillson -- Blooming Prairie, MN (17)DNF
24 71 - Jason Cummins -- New Richland, MN (9)DNF
25 19B - Jamie Burford -- Keatchie, LA (11)DNF
Unofficial Points
1 NC 12 Jason Hughes 713
2 NC 7k Jason Krohn 679
3 NC 14 Jon Tesch 660
4 NC 3 Kelly Shryock 629
5 +3 27 Greg Skaggs 565
6 +1 33z Zack VanderBeek 550
7 -2 02 Tommy Weder Jr. 546
8 +2 65 Tommy Myer 539
9 NC 5 Steve Holzkamper 504
10 -4 21m Dean Mahlstedt 480 (Missed 1 Hunt Race)
11 +2 25 Scott Green 460
12 -1 7 Al Hejna 442
13 -1 19 Jamie Burford 421
14 NC 32 Donovan Lodge 382 (Missed 1 Hunt Race)
15 NC 49x Jay Poidinger 363
16 NC 58 Scott Vesely 337
17 NC 31 Corey Dripps 251 (Missed 2 Hunt Races)
18 NC 12b Johnny Bone Jr. 205 3 (Missed 4 Hunt Races)
19 NC 31j Jeremy Rasmussen 193 (Missed 3 Hunt Races)
20 NC 11 Brandon Morton 170 (Missed 4 Hunt Races)
21 +1 19r Ryan Gustin 124 (Missed 5 Hunt Races)
22 -1 1f Jason Friesen 78 (Missed 6 Hunt Races)
23 +4 19g Richie Gustin 76 (Missed 6 Hunt Races)
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