Thursday, August 13, 2009

Late Caution Propels Gustin To Victory

The old saying "cautions breed cautions" was true last night as the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) made a stop at the Monett Speedway in Monett, Missouri last night. Another stellar field of sixty modifieds checked in with their sights set on improving upon the previous night's efforts. The feature ran thirty-four laps caution-free until the yellow flag was displayed. Three more cautions would be needed before Ryan Gustin drove to victory on the secon stop of the Hunt for the championship.

Six heat races were run along with three bmains once again to determine the qualifiers for the show. Four provisionals were also tagged to the rear of the field to give the field twenty-six starters once again. Jason Krohn, a former series champion, looked to be on his way to the feature after running a solid second in his heat race. However, his luck changed for the worse as he tried to run the outside line on the last lap and race leader Randy Timms slid up in front of him. Contact was made and damage was done with Krohn's left front suspension. The extent of the damage must have been severe as Krohn was unable to make it back out later for his bmain event.

Randy Timms and Jackie Dalton lined up on the front row, but two cautions came out before a lap could be completed. Before the initial green flag, Al Hejna suffered bad luck as his left front tire fell off as the field was getting ready to take the green flag. He was able to limp his car to the infield and his crew quickly put another tire on to allow him to tag the tail of the field. He was scheduled to start eleventh. The green flag would wave momentarily on the restart until Jackie Dalton spun in turn two in front of the field. Dean Mahlstedt and Jason Hughes were also victims of circumstance with Hughes retiring to the pits at that time.

Randy Timms would take control of the race when the green flag dropped for the completion of the first lap. Rodney Sanders hustled into the runner up spot as the field began to spread out. Sanders would close the gap and then later take the lead away from Timms using the bottom side. Sanders would extend his lead as the leaders encountered lapped traffic while Terry Phillips ducked under Glenn Bratti to take over the fourth spot. A caution with six laps to go bunched the field back up. At that time, the top five would be Sanders, Timms, Ryan Gustin, Terry Phillips, and Glenn Bratti.

Gustin took advantage of the double-file restart and drove to the second spot using the high line. The field was able to get in one lap before the caution waved again. Johnny Bone Jr got sideways exiting turn two and Ron VerBeek and Tim Donlinger also got caught up in the mess. While the field was stopped to allow track officials to clear the track, Bone Jr showed his displeasure with Dustin Boney as apparently Bone Jr felt Boney assisted him in getting turned around.

The green would be displayed once again before yet another yellow was displayed instead of the white flag. Before that caution was displayed, Ryan Gustin was able to ride the cushion and take over the race lead from Rodney Sanders. So Gustin would set the pace with Sanders and Terry Phillips right behind him with a two-lap shootout to determine the race winner. Gustin continued to ride the high line around the track while Phillips followed him to get by Sanders for the runner up spot. Phillips tried to close in on the final lap, but Ryan Gustin was able to keep hi momentum up on the top side as he took home the $3,000 top prize and the win. Terry Phillips was second, Rodney Sanders third, Randy Timms fourth, and Glenn Bratti rounded out the top five.

1. 19R Ryan Gustin
2. 75 Terry Phillips
3. 20 Rodney Sanders
4. 5T Randy Timms
5. 24T Glenn Bratti
6. 26 Brian Williams
7. 22 Dustin Boney
8. 3 Kelly Shryock
9. 7 Al Hejna
10. 74 Jeremy Payne
11. 4R Dereck Ramirez
12. 5R Morgan Bagley
13. 31 Corey Dripps
14. 21 Jackie Dalton
15. 22s Chad Kinder
16. 14 Jon Tesch
17. 40 Brian Green
18. 2 Grant Junghans
19. 4R Ron VerBeek
20. 00 Jesse Stovall
21. 65 Tommy Myer
22. 3D Tim Donlinger
23. 12B Johnny Bone Jr
24. 21M Dean Mahlstedt
25. 56 Tony Jackson Jr
26. 12 Jason Hughes

The track also ran four support classes last night. Danny Boyd inherited the bomber lead after the front two cars made contact with each other. One driver was given the black flag for "aggressive driving" while the victim was able to keep going. However a caution flag would come out with the black flag victim going to the tail. Danny Boyd was able to hold on for the win. James Flood led every lap on his way to winning the factory stock feature. Other classes running were the legends and rookies. Those classes were run after the USMTS forty-lap feature, and therefore I didn't keep track of them as Father Time was already closing in on the midnight hour.

It was a little frustrating having to wait for four support classes in anticipation of watching the modifieds. Especially during a mid-week special. I've been to several shows that have done this and the outcome has pretty much been the same. It was 12:15 or after when the final checkered flag waved to conclude the night. It would be a lot easier on everybody if promoters would only run maybe two support classes along with the headlining class to keep the show moving. But enough of my soapbox.

The racing was pretty good all night for the USMTS modifieds. The track had two grooves of racing, evident by Tim Donlinger's efforts in his bmain. Donlinger was rim-riding the top side and actually went over the edge in turn three. Fortunately for him, he was able to bring it back on the track after only losing one position and a caution later helped him out as well. He took advantage of that and rebounded to win that bmain. Kelly Shryock had his difficulties all night as well as he only managed a 5th place finish in his heat race. He looked to be on his way to needing a provisional to qualify, but things fell his way in his bmain and he would take home the third and final transfer spot. Dereck Ramirez and Tuesday night's feature winner Grant Junghans used provisionals to make the call for the finale.

The USMTS travels to the Springfield Raceway tonight for the third of five stops on the first swing of the Hunt. If you're in the area, be sure to check out the action as a good field of cars will be on hand again tonight. I'm sure local favorites Terry Phillips and Jeremy Payne are anxious to get back "home" and defend their home turf.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!

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