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Payne powers to USMTS Southern Series victory at Houston Raceway Park

BAYTOWN, Texas (Feb. 19) – Jeremy Payne powered his way into victory lane Friday night at the Houston Raceway Park, holding off two-time defending USMTS Southern Series champion Jason Hughes and pocketing $3,000 in the process.

Payne started fourth on the grid and quickly moved into the second spot behind Darrell Nelson, who wrestled the lead away from polesitter Shane Killingsworth as the field crossed beneath the flagstand to complete the first lap.

Nelson held his own for 11 laps until Payne swept to his outside down the back-stretch before securing the top spot on lap 12.

Hughes got around Nelson six laps later and closed in on Payne while the top five runners of Payne, Hughes, Nelson, Morgan Bagley and John O Whittington pulled away from the rest of the pack.

Just as the leaders encountered lapped traffic for the first time, the caution flag waved on lap 16 to slow the action and bunch up the field.

On the restart, Payne shut the door on Hughes’ attempt to get by and the pair distanced themselves from the field en route to a nose-to-tail finish at the checkered flag.

“It’s nice to get a win under our belt tonight,” Payne said in victory lane. “Now we can take a little more risk tomorrow for the big money.”

Despite a second late-race yellow flag with ten laps to go, Hughes was never able to find a way around the 24-year-old from Springfield, Mo., and had to settle for the runner-up paycheck.

“After the last caution I knew he (Hughes) was behind us,” Payne revealed. “He’s a great racer and I knew I couldn’t make a single mistake or the race would be his.”

The win was the first for Payne since capturing a USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour main event at his hometown Springfield Raceway last August.

Whittington recoded his second top-5 finish in as many nights with a third-place showing, Nelson held on for a USMTS career-best fourth-place finish and Bagley, who captured the AFCO Pole Award earlier in the evening, rounded out the top-5 finishers.

Mike Hansen, Payne’s teammate Terry Phillips, Shane Hebert, Dereck Ramirez and Thursday night’s winner Kelly Shryock finished sixth through tenth, respectively.

Round 3 of the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals presented by Ed Rinehart for County Commissioner takes place on Saturday, with a top prize of $5,000 awaiting the “A” Main winner.

In addition to the touring titans of the USMTS Southern Series, the racing card will also feature Southern Limited Modifieds racing for $1,500 to win, courtesy of Express Racecars.

On Saturday, the pit gate opens at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4 and the first heat race hits the track at 6 p.m. Hot laps will begin approximately one half-hour before race time.

The Houston Raceway Park is a state-of-the-art 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval with a main grandstand seating capacity of 7,500 which includes fourteen VIP luxury suites and boasts a modern Musco Lighting system suitable for television productions.

The facility is located east of Houston on I-10 to Exit 799, then 2.5 miles south on SH 99 (Grand Parkway), then 0.3 mile west on FM 565 (speedway entrance located at Gate 3). For more information, call the track office at 281-383-RACE or visit www.houstonraceway.com online.

Free grandstand tickets are available by calling the track’s ticket office at 281-383-RACE and requesting free tickets by will-call for the USMTS race. Free event passes that were distributed for the weathered-out December event are still good for Saturday’s show too.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also follow the USMTS on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS Southern Series
3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals presented by Ed Rinehart for County Commissioner – Event #2 of 3
Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas
Friday, Feb. 19, 2010

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 14 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 44 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn.
2. (8) 5r Morgan Bagley, Longview, Texas.
3. (4) R5 Hunter Rasdon (R), Jonesboro, Ark.
4. (5) 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark.
5. (10) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
6. (9) 34 Ben Stephens (R), Hattiesburg, Miss.
7. (6) 7g Mark Smith, Lufkin, Texas.
8. (3) 8 Steve Miller, Georgetown, Texas.
9. (7) 64 Jay Sale (R), Edmond, Okla.
10. (11) 68 Danny Barringer, Lufkin, Texas.
11. (1) 87 John Webb, Pauls Valley, Okla.
12. (12) E Howard Willis, Dayton, Texas.

HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 9 Shane Killingsworth (R), Dallas, Texas.
2. (6) 21 Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City, Mo.
3. (3) 89 Steven Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
4. (9) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
5. (5) 5a Wes Armstrong, Marshall, Texas.
6. (10) 18s Cody Smith, Kaufman, Texas.
7. (7) 186 Jeremy Gossett, Amarillo, Texas.
8. (8) 30 Chase Allen, Midlothian, Texas.
9. (4) 7x Rory Jordan (R), Victoria, Texas.
10. (12) 56 Steve Pugh, Anderson, Texas.
11. (11) 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas.
12. (1) 25 John Allen, Chanute, Kan.

HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (4) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
2. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla.
3. (2) 12c Corey Babbitt, Channelview, Texas.
4. (6) 51 Tracy Denby Jr., Vidor, Texas.
5. (1) 99 Derick Grigsby, Marshall, Texas.
6. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
7. (9) 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan.
8. (3) 51 Jeff Wood, Willis, Texas.
9. (7) 18L Michael Long, Quincy, Ill.
10. (11) 15 Kevin Battarbee (R), Houston, Texas.
11. (10) 5m Joe Mayhew, Highlands, Texas.

EIBACH SPRINGS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla.
2. (8) 12h Mike Hansen, Alton, Iowa.
3. (7) 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La.
4. (11) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (1) 17 Brad Lasater, Garland, Texas.
6. (10) 8j Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, Texas.
7. (9) 82 Joshua Majek (R), Corpus Christi, Texas.
8. (3) JP5 Lee Patton (R), Ruston, La.
9. (4) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
10. (5) 23 Brandon Davis (R), Castle Rock, Colo.
11. (6) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo.

HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 74 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (5) 00 Darrel Dawson (R), Midlothian, Texas.
4. (7) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
5. (8) 20 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla.
6. (4) 10 Kyle Schmidt, Farmington, Ark.
7. (11) 14t Tristan Dycus (R), Midlothian, Texas.
8. (3) 410 Brad Doherty (R), Ennis, Texas.
9. (10) 9 Brent Nicholas (R), Baytown, Texas.
10. (6) 55 Kyle Anderson (R), Tomball, Texas.
11. (9) 190 Shawn Stephenson (R), Howe, Texas.

HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. (2) 5w John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas.
2. (3) 56 David Horner, Houston, Texas.
3. (5) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
4. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
5. (6) 10 Kenny Battarbee (R), Houston, Texas.
6. (10) 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyville, Texas.
7. (8) 58 Nathan Bischel (R), Amarillo, Texas.
8. (4) 9j Darrell Jones, Ashland, Mo.
9. (9) 69 Randy Heston (R), Stinnett, Texas.
10. (1) 2 Jerry Standifer (R), Howe, Okla.
11. (11) 20 Troy Seidl (R), Magnolia, Texas.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (3) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
3. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (2) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
5. (4) 51 Tracy Denby Jr., Vidor, Texas, $100.
6. (5) 18s Cody Smith, Kaufman, Texas, $100.
7. (9) 82 Joshua Majek (R), Corpus Christi, Texas, $100.
8. (6) 10 Kenny Battarbee (R), Houston, Texas, $100.
9. (15) 15 Kevin Battarbee (R), Houston, Texas, $100.
10. (11) 51 Jeff Wood, Willis, Texas, $100.
11. (17) 5m Joe Mayhew, Highlands, Texas, $80.
12. (18) 20 Troy Seidl (R), Magnolia, Texas, $100.
13. (12) 9j Darrell Jones, Ashland, Mo., $80.
14. (13) 7x Rory Jordan (R), Victoria, Texas, $100.
15. (16) 2 Jerry Standifer (R), Howe, Okla., $100.
16. (14) 69 Randy Heston (R), Stinnett, Texas, $100.
17. (7) 99 Derick Grigsby, Marshall, Texas, $100.
18. (10) 186 Jeremy Gossett (R), Amarillo, Texas, $100.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas.
2. (2) R5 Hunter Rasdon (R), Jonesboro, Ark.
3. (11) JP5 Lee Patton (R), Ruston, La.
4. (3) 12c Corey Babbitt, Channelview, Texas.
5. (9) 58 Nathan Bischel (R), Amarillo, Texas, $100.
6. (4) 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark., $100.
7. (17) 85d Mark Dotson, Cameron, Mo., $100.
8. (12) 9 Brent Nicholas (R), Baytown, Texas, $100.
9. (14) 56 Steve Pugh, Anderson, Texas, $100.
10. (6) 34 Ben Stephens (R), Hattiesburg, Miss., $100.
11. (5) 8j Dustin Hyde, Texarkana, Texas, $100.
12. (7) 17 Brad Lasater, Garland, Texas, $100.
13. (13) 18L Michael Long, Quincy, Ill., $100.
14. (10) 8 Steve Miller, Georgetown, Texas, $100.
15. (8) 10 Kyle Schmidt, Farmington, Ark., $100.
16. (15) 23 Brandon Davis (R), Castle Rock, Colo., $100.
17. (16) 87 John Webb, Pauls Valley, Okla., $80.
18. (18) E Howard Willis, Dayton, Texas, $100.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 00 Darrel Dawson (R), Midlothian, Texas.
3. (8) 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan.
4. (18) 25 John Allen, Chanute, Kan.
5. (15) 55 Kyle Anderson (R), Tomball, Texas, $100.
6. (7) 14t Tristan Dycus (R), Midlothian, Texas, $100.
7. (11) 410 Brad Doherty (R), Ennis, Texas, $100.
8. (13) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., $100.
9. (12) 64 Jay Sale (R), Edmond, Okla., $100.
10. (10) 30 Chase Allen, Midlothian, Texas, $100.
11. (14) 68 Danny Barringer, Lufkin, Texas, $100.
12. (17) 190 Shawn Stephenson (R), Howe, Texas, $100.
13. (4) 20 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., $100.
14. (9) 7g Mark Smith, Lufkin, Texas, $100.
15. (5) 15h Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyville, Texas, $80.
16. (3) 74 Mark Noble, Blooming Prairie, Minn., $100.
17. (16) 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas, $100.
18. (6) 5a Wes Armstrong, Marshall, Texas, $100.

“A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (4) 74 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, 35, $3,000.
2. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $2,000.
3. (9) 5w John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas, Pierce/CB, 35, $1,500.
4. (2) 44 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn., Shaw/Tim’s, 35, $1,000.
5. (6) 5r Morgan Bagley, Longview, Texas, Shaw/Rowland, 35, $800.
6. (7) 12h Mike Hansen, Alton, Iowa, GRT/PerfOnly, 35, $700.
7. (17) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, 35, $600.
8. (11) 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La., Hughes/Wall2Wall, 35, $500.
9. (15) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Ramirez/Sput’s, 35, $450.
10. (10) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $400.
11. (14) 89 Steven Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, Hughes/Rowland, 35, $350.
12. (24) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M., TRE/ASI, 35, $320.
13. (26) 25 John Allen, Chanute, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $300.
14. (19) R5 Hunter Rasdon (R), Jonesboro, Ark., GRT/Dickens, 35, $300.
15. (23) 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $300.
16. (25) 12c Corey Babbitt, Channelview, Texas, TRE/Jeff, 35, $275.
17. (22) JP5 Lee Patton (R), Ruston, La., Harris/tbd, 35, $300.
18. (5) 5t Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $300.
19. (16) 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas, GRT/KHP, 35, $300.
20. (8) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., TRE/Sput’s, 35, $300.
21. (18) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $300.
22. (13) 56 David Horner, Houston, Texas, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $300.
23. (20) 00 Darrel Dawson (R), Midlothian, Texas, Hughes/Rowland, 35, $300.
24. (12) 21 Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, 25, mechanical, $300.
25. (21) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, Hughes/Sanders, 16, mechanical, $300.
26. (1) 9 Shane Killingsworth (R), Dallas, Texas, KillerWorks/BK’s, 2, mechanical, $300.

(R) = “Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year candidate.

Lap Leaders: Nelson 1-11, Payne 12-35.
Total Laps Led: Payne 24, Nelson 11.
AFCO Pole Winner: Bagley.
PBM Performance Products Hard Charger: J. Allen (started 26th, finished 13th).
Next Race: Saturday, Feb. 20, Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas.
Points Standings: Phillips 191, Whittington 188, Payne 186, Hughes 180, Bagley 179, Jones 177, Shryock 174, Ramirez 151, Hebert 146, J. Allen 124.
“Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year Points: Patton 120, Dycus 104, Dawson 96, Killingsworth 95, Stephenson 90, Kevin Battarbee 90, Sale 90, Gossett 90, Stephens 90, Jordan 90, Seidl 90, Standifer 90, Bischel 90, Kenny Battarbee 90, Anderson 90, Nicholas 90, Heston 90, Davis 90.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Hatfield 19, Mullins 15, Rowland 14, Sput’s 13, CB 13.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: GRT 19, Skyrocket 15, Shaw 15, Hughes 15, Pierce 13.

Contingency Awards:Ai-Racing – Ramirez.
American Racer – not awarded.
Eibach Springs – Timms.
Isky Racing Cams – Nelson.
KSE Racing Products – Hughes.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Killingsworth.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Whiteaker.
PBM Performance Products – J. Allen.
Quarter Master – Payne, Hebert.
QuickTime – Phillips.
Real Racing Wheels – C. Smith, Holzkamper, Dycus.

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USMTS TITLE SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Awesome Racewear, AwesomeRaceSuits.com, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, COMP Cams, Intensitee Custom Racewear, Intercomp, Karl Chevrolet, Kevko Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest, PBM Performance Products, RACEceiver.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, Bear Tire, Big Dog Chassis & Fabrication, DandyLand Farms, Day Motor Sports, Dirt Track Racing School, Dirthead.com, Falcon Wind Power, Farm Boy BBQ, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, Yeager Machine.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Ai-Racing, Belleville Motorsports, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Eibach Springs, Fast Shafts, Hyperco, Isky Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.