Jason Hughes USMTS winner. Photo by JM Hallas

Paige, TX. – After an exciting opening night of racing that saw “The Reaper” Ryan Gustin go flag to flag for the win holding off a stout challenge near the end from Cade Dillard, it’s was time for another round of the USMTS ‘Road Warriors’ to do battle for $3,000 to win tonight. Gustin added to his impressive wins total, albeit the first win since teaming up with Jason Hughes, who holds a long line of credentials himself.

Last night also saw Johnny Torres take home the hardware in the Limited Modifieds, leading all but the first lap. Tonight the two classes are joined by the CBS Stock Cars for their first points race of the season.

While Thursday night was taken by the younger generation, Friday was a completely different story. Both the USMTS Modifieds and Limited Modifieds saw two of the most experienced guys take home checkers. Not just two regular guys, but two whose win totals probably exceed the entire pit area, combined.

Team Hughes 2, USMTS field 0

Hughes Hustles to USMTS Honors

Jason Hughes (Watts, Okla.) showed the field and the crowd why he is a three-time USMTS champ. Start 16th? No Problem. Yep, that’s not a misprint. After a rather pedestrian heat race on a slick track Hughes was relegated to one of two B-mains. This worked to his advantage finding something to aid his run to the front in the $3,000 to win A-main.

Hughes, who estimated his USMTS wins alone around 150, and 500-600 overall used a line no one else was. Quickly moving up into the top five before halfway, Hughes used a lap 19 restart going three wide with the Scott brothers, grabbing the lead on lap 21. From there he was able to ease away making his way through lapped traffic, in a lane all his own, to take the win by a good margin.

As the 26-car, 40-lap USMTS main took the green it was Travis Saurer up top getting into turn 1 first. Saurer led back to the line chased by RC Whitwell, Johnny Scott, Chris Brown and Stormy Scott. An early caution flew for Cade Dillard, who slowed, and got run over by Eddie Ingram. On the restart, J. Scott got second from Whitwell while his brother Stormy took fourth from Brown.

Scott then snagged third from Whitwell while Brown and Ricky Thornton swapped fifth. J. Scott then got by Saurer for the lead on lap 6. Saurer fought back getting the nose under J. Scott while S, Scott sat looking for a hole on both. J. Scott and Saurer were still dueling for the lead on lap 8 with Thornton getting fourth from Whitwell and Hughes up to eighth passing Sean Jones.

Scott finally shook Saurer who was now alongside S. Scott for second. Behind them Brown was taking fifth from Whitwell as Hughes picked up seventh from Philip Houston. Billy Vogel brought out a lap 11 caution with a spin in turn 4 that saw Ingram stop to miss. Back to green Brown got by Thornton for fourth with Hughes following to fifth.

Saurer then began to fade giving up spots to Brown, then Hughes and Thornton. Hughes then took over third from Brown bringing Thornton along. Steve Whiteaker brought out a lap 17 yellow stopping in turn 2. Hughes capitalized on the restart grabbing second from S. Scott. Using the middle groove, Hughes tracked down J. Scott and got a caution on lap 19.

Once back to green coming to halfway it was J. Scott, Hughes, S. Scott, Brown and Whitwell in the top five. Hughes used the mid-line get by J. Scott on lap 21 followed by S. Scott to second. Last night’s winner, Gustin was making his way forward taking seventh from Saurer. S. Scott then gave Hughes a couple tries low, while Brown was on J. Scott for third.

With eight to go the lead duo hit traffic. Hughes, using the middle, had no one in his way while S. Scott got bogged in slower cars. This allowed Hughes, in his West Siloam Pawn, Redtail Tackle, Murphrey Oil Co., Larry Carburetors, Allstar Performance, Pig-n-Out, McCartney Welding, Cates Recycling, Maxima Oil, Rainbow Graphics, Eastside Cafe, JRI Shocks, Mullins powered, Hughes Chassis to ease away for the win.

“After the B-feature I knew I had a good car,” said Hughes. “I told them they might be in trouble, we’ve got a good racecar. I was expecting to move forward, but I didn’t know that I was going to win it. I found in the B-feature that I could go through the middle of the race track. I knew they’d either be on the top or bottom. You just have to go where they aren’t.”

“The Scott’s were probably wondering where I came from when Todd (Staley) was running through the line up on that restart. I know, I’ve been in their shoes before thinking the same thing when I know someone has started way back in the field. They’re tough, so I doubt they were worried, but they knew they’d have to get up on the wheel like I did.”

“We really didn’t change anything but add fuel to it. The heats were so slimy you pretty much finished where you started unless someone really messed up. In the B-main you could finally move around a bit and by feature time you could go where you wanted pretty good.”

“We know everything that we’re doing on these cars. With this team we come out with one of us wanting to win every night. So we work together to make that happen.”

“He (Lawrence) and I have been around a while. We have gotten our share of wins. I’ve got around 500-600 somewhere in that area. I never really kept track when I started. It’s just experience when you’ve been out here doing it this long. We’ve been through about everything and know where we messed up so we don’t do it again. If you learn from your mistake, you always get a little faster.”

USMTS Modifieds

12 Jason Hughes, 2s Stormy Scott, 1st Johnny Scott, 21 Chris Brown, 91w RC Whitwell, 19r Ryan Gustin, 20rt Ricky Thornton, 1s Travis Saurer, 97 Cade Dillard, 4w Tyler Wolff, 71 Philip Houston, 4r Dereck Ramirez, 33z Zack VanderBeek, 4v Billy Vogel, 715 JP Dowell, 91 Joe Duvall, 717 GW Egbert IV, 78e Trevor Egbert, 9 Kevin Rutherford, 1 Eddie Ingram, 78 Corey Weir, 6x Kyle Pleasant, 20 Rodney Sanders, 24 Sean Jones, 89c Steve Whiteaker jr., 26 Austin Huskey,

USMTS Modified B-mains(Top 6 to A-main)

USMTS B-1; 78 Trevor Egbert, 33z Zack VanderBeek, 6x Kyle Pleasant, 20 Rodney Sanders, 19r Ryan Gustin, 9 Kevin Rytherford, 65x Carlos Ahumada jr., 18z Zane Debilbiss, 29 Jamie Campbell, 137 Bill Pittaway, 4m Bobby Mulchus, 18 Terry Tussey jr., 85 Thomas Tillison jr—dns, 64 Jay Sale—dns, 48 Chris Swenson–dns

USMTS B-2; 87 Cade Dillard, 12 Jason Hughes, 4r Dereck Ramirez, 4v Billy Vogel, 89c Steve Whiteaker jr., 91 Joe Duvall, 717 GW Egbert IV, j41 Monte Bolton, 23 Logan Robertson, 12L Cody Leonard, 141 Rob Sanderson, 26 Austin Huskey, 34 Mickey Lassiter, 33f Jardin Fuller

USMTS Heats(Top 12 in passing points to A-main)

Heat 1; 1st Johnny Scott, 2s Stormy Scott, 97 Cade Dillard, 78 Trevor Egbert, 89c Steve Whiteaker jr., 9 Kevin Rutherford, 4m Bobby Malchus, 26 Austin Huskey, 137 Bill Pittaway

Heat 2; 20rt Ricky Thornton jr, 71 Philip Houston, 715 JP Dowell, 34 Mickey Lassiter, 29 Jamie Campbell, 4v Billy Vogel, 12 Cody Leonard, 64 Jay Sale

Heat 3; 21 Chris Brown, 24 Sean Jones, 85 Thomas Tillison jr., 6x Kyle Pleasant, 16 Zane Devilbiss, 12 Jason Hughes, 19r Ryan Gustin, 91 Joe Duvall

Heat 4

91w RC Whitwell, 4w Tyler Wolff, 33 Zack VanderBeek, 717 GW Egbert IV, 141; Rob Sanderson, 18 Terry Tussey jr., 23 Logan Robertson, 48 Chris Swenson.

Heat 5; 1s Travis Saurer, 1 Eddie Ingram, 78 Corey Weir, 4r Dereck Ramirez, 20 Rodney Sanders, j41 Monte Bolton, 65 Carlos Ahumada jr., 33f Jardin Fuller

Lawrence Mikulencak Limited Modified winner. Photo by JM Hallas

Mikulencak Masters Limited Modified Main

Adding to old timers night, was Lawrence Mikulencak (Corpus Christi) who we jokingly guessed had about a bazillion wins in his career. After taking the heat race win, Mikulencak redrew the fourth starting spot in the 20-lap feature. After running wheel to wheel with Gabe Tucker for several laps, Mikulencak ran down early leader JJ Jennings near halfway. Mikulencak got by Jennings on lap 12, held off Jennings’ crossover move, and secured the lead on lap 13. From there he was able to put some distance on Jennings to grab the victory.

It took two tries to get the 24-car Limited Modified field under green as the first attempt saw a stack up in the back of the pack. Once under green it was Jennings jumping out front trailed by Tucker, L. Mikulencak, Johnny Torres and Ross McCartney. McCartney was challenged by Shane Hoefling and Marcus Mikulencak as they went three wide.

After an early caution Tucker and L. Mikulencak stayed side by side for second before L. Mikulnencak got the spot. His son, Marcus got past Hoefling for fifth while holding off Mickey Helms. Following a quick yellow the top three got away while Torres and McCartney fought for fourth. At halfway it was Jennings, L. Mikulencak, Tucker, McCartney and Torres in the top five.

Mikulencak got under Jennings in turn 1 with Jennings trying to crossover in turn 2, but fell in behind. McCartney, who was challenging Tucker for third, slipped and gave up a spot back to Torres. McCartney continued to slide losing positions to Hoefling, Mickey Helms and Don Painter.

With five to go L. Mikulencak was pulling away while Torres was getting past Tucker for third. L. Mikulencak had it on cruise control the final laps taking the win in his Ace Transmissions, Youngs Auto Repair, 3-D Landscaping, Swenson Racing Shocks, All in Designs, Mattress Firm, Texas Battery, Spreen Racing Engines, Frankenstein II Chassis.

“It’s been so long, this was a good win” replied Mikulencak. “My car was good. I felt like it was just a matter of time. I really wanted to take a little more time but Johnny (Torres) was putting the heat on me. It was time to go. My car was quite a bit better than theirs. I just had to get out in the clear where I could use the track the way I wanted.”

“I’ve run here once before. I came a few years ago trying out a crate motor. As a matter of fact I led that race till about two to go and JJ (Jennings) passed for the win. This was a good win for me to retaliate.”

“I think Jason (Hughes) heard that I won so he probably thought that an old guy could have a chance. I didn’t watch his feature, I was too tired to even walk up there. I heard he started sixteenth and ‘schooled’ them. With the way they call out numbers on restarts you can tell whose coming and whose going.”

“I felt like JJ or Johnny were going to be the two I had to beat. They’ve got good equipment, drive good and they run here a lot. I liked the line up so I could see what JJ was doing. I saw Johnny drive up inside before that caution. I knew where the track was good then and on the restart I knew I could get by Gabe (Tucker) and be able to get by JJ.”

“I didn’t do any changes. I rolled my car off the trailer and checked the tire pressures. I don’t run here to know how the track changes. I was good in the slimy hot laps and good in the heat. I haven’t touched it and may not change a thing.”

“This car is similar to my old car that you called the Frankenstein. I bent the rear clip on that one so we built a new one like it and cut up the old one. That car was too old to trust the roll cage or I could have rebuilt it. I’m sure you’ll come up with a new name for it.”

Limited Modifieds

87 Lawrence Mikulencak, 26g JJ Jennings, 66 Johnny Torres, 95 Gabe Tucker, 63 Shane Hoefling, 174 Mickey Helms, 10d Don Painter, 42k Ross McCartney, 37 Jeffrey Abbey, 90k Dustin Butcher, 777 James Hanusch, 55 Rusty Head, 21t Taylor Florio, 21 Chris Florio, 55g Gerald Henderson, 25x Heath Stewart, ok Thomas Bennett, 8c Will Carter, 03 Marcus Mikulencak, 12 Cody Leonard, 511 Cory Williams, 56 Broc Bowen, 21b Brandon Kenny, 58c Hunter Flanagan

Limited Modified B-main (Top 4 to A-main)

56 Broc Bowen, 90k Dustin Butcher, 55g Gerald Henderson, 58c Hunter Flanagan, 24 Robby Minten, 58 Sid Kiphen, r1 James Kemp, 28 Scott Talley, r3w Rick Wolfe, 84 Douglas Wiggins, 17s James Skinner, 42w JR Watt, 43 Jeremy Petty, 10 Dustin Robinson, 01 Derek Scott jr., 11t Tom Grothues—dns

Limited Modified Heats (Top 5 to A-main)

Heat 1; 511 Cory Williams, 95 Gabe Tucker, 8c Will Carter, 10d Don Painter, 21b Brandon Kenny, 17s James Skinner, 42w JR Watts, 28 Scott Talley, 84 Douglas Wiggins

Heat 2; 87 Lawrence Mikulencak, 21 Chris Florio, 66 Johnny Torres, ok Thomas Bennett, 21t Taylor Florio, 56 Broc Bowen, 90k Dustin Butcher, r1 James Kemp, 11t Tom Grothues—dns

Heat 3; 26g JJ Jennings, 37 Jeffrey Abbey, 63 Shane Hoefling, 12 Cody Leonard, 25x Heath Stewart, 55g Gerald Henderson, 58c Hunter Flanagan, 24 Robby Minten, 58 Sid Kiphen

Heat 4; 03 Marcus Mikulencak, 42k Ross McCartney, 174 Mickey Helms, 777 James Hanusch, 55 Rusty Head, r3w Rick Wolfe, 43 Jeremy Petty, 01 Derek Scott jr., 10 Dustin Robinson

As the 15-lap CBS Stock Car feature took the green Andrew Bennett and Bryan Mayeux stayed side by side going into turn 1. Coming off turn 2 it was Danny Bennett shooting between to grab the lead quickly. D. Bennett then motored away from his son and Mayeux, who battled for second. Mayeux was able to get by A. Bennett while Drake Pruitt and Ed Hall played bumper tag. D. Bennett was untouchable as built a comfortable lead going on to take the checkers.

CBS Stock Cars

r4j Danny Bennett, 0* Bryan Mayeux, 00 Andrew Bennett, 98 Ed Hall, 56 Drake Pruitt, 2x Casey Crane

CBS Stock Car Heat

Heat 1; 56 Drake Pruitt, r4j Danny Bennett, 98 Ed Hall, 0* Bryan Mayeux, 00 Andrew Bennett, 2x Casey Crane—dns

Racing continues Saturday night with pits opening at 3:00pm, Grandstands @ 4:00pm. Hot laps start at 6:10pm while the racing begins at 6:30pm. For more info visit the tracks website www.cottonbowlspeedway.com or their facebook page www.facebook.com/CottonBowlSpeedway.

You can follow the USMTS on their website www.usmts.com or www.facebook.com/usmts on facebook.