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DES MOINES, Iowa (June 22) – The hottest driver this year scored the victory on the hottest day of the year Monday as the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour visited the Iowa State Fair Speedway for the 3rd Annual Duel in Des Moines presented by Karl Chevrolet. The day of the June solstice occurred just shortly after midnight Sunday, and Mother Nature didn't wait long in transforming a cool, wet Spring into a sweltering, humid Summer sauna as temperatures reach 100 degrees Monday while crews prepared their Modifieds to do battle on the historic half-mile oval. It was no sweat for Jason Hughes, however, as he kicked off the new season with his sixth USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour victory of the year and 13th overall when factoring in his additional seven wins in the USMTS Southern Series. The Westville, Okla., chassis builder began the night's program by winning the second heat race and earning his third AFCO Pole Award of the 2009 campaign. After drawing the fifth starting spot for the 25-lap Sunoco "A" Main, Hughes wasted little time in his march to the front as he churned the clay around the high side of the bumpy racing surface. Colt Mather got the jump on polesitter Richie Gustin Jr. at the drop of the green flag and led the first six circuits before the first of three caution flags slowed the pace. n the restart, Mather's machine bounced through a rut in turn 3 which caused his hood to peel back and into his line of vision. One lap later, he pulled to the infield while Hughes assumed the top spot. From there, Hughes maintained about a ten-car-length advantage over Gustin and his younger brother, Ryan Gustin, as they engaged a spirited battle for second. Meanwhile, the top three contenders in the Central States Region — Jon Tesch, Zack VanderBeek and Kelly Shryock — were clawing their way to the front from the back half of the starting field. With five laps to go, the Gustin brothers made contact at the exit of turn 4 with Ryan smacking the front-stretch wall hard enough to end his night and bring out the second yellow flag of the race. On the restart, Shryock scooted into second while Richie Gustin fell back to third ahead of North Dakota's Steven Pfeifer, Tesch and VanderBeek. Shryock challenged Hughes on a couple of occasions but was unable to make the pass prior to the final caution when Ron Ver Beek smacked the wall in turn 3. With Hughes leading the double-wide field to the green-white-checkered finish, Shryock found a hole at the bottom of turn 4 which kicked his racecar sideways and allowed Gustin to slip back into second. Hughes pulled away on the final lap with Gustin in tow while VanderBeek snuck by Shryock for the third spot. Pfeifer finished fifth to record his first top-5 and second top-10 in just his fourth start against the Best of the Best in dirt Modified racing. VanderBeek, who started 17th, earned the PBM Performance Products Hard Charger Award. Tesch, Ryan Dolan, Dean Mahlstedt, Kenny Wallace and Greg Cox rounded out the top-10 at the finish line. UP NEXT ... Kenny Wallace joins the USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour again on Tuesday as the teams roll into the Mineral City Speedway in Fort Dodge, Iowa, for another $2,000-to-win affair in the Central States Region. Past winners of the Fort Dodge Modified Nationals include Kelly Shryock (2006), () and Zack VanderBeek (2008). Gates open at 4:00, with hot laps at 6:45 and the first heat race taking the green flag at 7:30. Stock Cars and 360 Mods will also be on the racing card. Race fans can pick up $2-off coupons for Tuesday's event at Casey's General Stores locations in Fort Dodge. Check out www.caseys.com for more information or to find the location nearest you. The Mineral City Speedway is a 1/2-mile semi-banked clay oval located 0.9 mile north of US 20 on US 169, then 0.5 mile east on 230th. For more information, call the track hotline at 515-574-RACE or check out www.fdspeed.com online. COMING EVENTS ... Tues., June 23 … Mineral City
Speedway, Fort Dodge, Iowa (Central States Region) To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = OFFICIAL RESULTS Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Sunoco “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8. ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT
RACE #1 (8 laps): NEW VISION GRAPHICS
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps): BRODIX HEAT RACE #3 (8
laps): AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT
RACE #4 (8 laps): REAL RACING WHEELS “B”
MAIN (10 laps, top 4 advance): SUNOCO “A” MAIN (25
laps): Lap Leaders:
Mather 1-7, Hughes 8-25. Contingency Awards:
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