Another great field of cars checked into the Humboldt Speedway Friday night as night #4 of a five-night swing was on the card. 55 modifieds were narrowed down to twenty-six for the 4o-lap finale at the end of the night while factory stocks and bmods were also run in support of the USMTS modifieds.
Out of car introductions along with the redraw were held on the front stretch before things got kicked off. And as luck would have it, local favorite John Allen would be the last guy to pick but wound up with lucky number 1. Starting outside of him would be the multi-time champion Kelly Shryock. Allen would hold down the top spot on lap one while Shryock's car pushed up in turn two and allowed a couple cars to scoot by. A quick caution came out on lap two in which Tim Donlinger took advantage of to snare the lead away from Allen. Donlinger, last year's USMTS National Champion, would hold the top spot until he made contact with a tractor tire on the inside of the track and broke the left front suspension, ending his great run.
Kansas driver Dustin Boney took over the race lead, but many eyes were watching Jason Hughes' progress through the field as the Oklahoma hotshoe pedaled his way from seventh into the third spot and eventually second as he was up on the wheel on the top side. As Hughes closed in on Boney for the lead, Hughes would duck to the inside in turn two and got enough momentum to complete the pass. Another driver on the move was Zach VanderBeek. VanderBeek started 16th, but found himself up to sixth after he completed the pass on Rodney Sanders on the outside.
Kelly Shryock's car started to get better for him as he climbed back up to second after passing Boney on the inside before another caution slowed the pace down. The caution worked in VanderBeek's favor as he was able to first pass John Allen and then later Dustin Boney for fourth as the yellow waved once again. Rodney Sanders and Dustin Boney sea-sawed back and forth as the two were racing for the fifth spot as the laps clicked off. Up front Jason Hughes was able to keep his distance as he encountered lapped traffic late to take the win. Kelly Shryock finished second, Zach VanderBeek third, Tommy Myer fourth, and Rodney Sanders fifth. The top five for Sanders improves his Hunt streak to four consecutive top 5's, an accomplishment that no other driver has done.
Derrek Wilson cruised to an easy win in the factory stocks followed by Doug Scism, Travis Barker, Matt Weintz, and Scott Lucke. Paden Phillips checked out on the rest of the field in the bmod feature as he scored the win.
The track stayed in good shape throughout the night. Things did get a little dusty towards the end, but that is expected at a dirt track race. The USMTS point standings closed up a little bit as Kelly Shryock is back on top by a mere four points over Rodney Sanders. Zach VanderBeek, Dereck Ramirez, and Tommy Myer rounded out the top five. For complete results, point standings, and more check out the USMTS website at www.usmts.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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