Hughes marches to ARMI All-American triumph at Arrowhead Speedway

NewsOctober 14, 2023 by Jeff Nun

Hughes marches to ARMI All-American triumph at Arrowhead Speedway

The inaugural ARMI Contractors All-American wrapped up Saturday night and the all-new state-of-the-art Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Oklahoma, did not disappoint.

The 1/3-mile dirt oval delivered for the race fans, and delivered two hometown victories for Jason Hughes, who built the winning chassis and collected $20,023 for his second win of the weekend with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.

Hughes—a four-time USMTS national champion—saw his chance at a fifth title disappear on Friday as Rodney Sanders won the main event to clinch his fifth USMTS crown instead.

Hughes snapped a six-year winless drought on Thursday, and there were no complaints from Hughes on Saturday night as the 49-year-old veteran collected $23,723 along with the 156th and 157th wins of his USMTS career over a 72-hour stretch.

“Thursday night was our first one in a long time, and we knew we had to get that monkey off our back and they'd start rolling around for us,” Hughes said with a grin after his win. “We've had a really good car for quite a while. We just ain't got the luck to finish it up but we got ‘er done this weekend.”

Hughes primarily kept the right rear of his USMTS Modified up against the outside wall, churning for any moisture he could find in the track. Occasionally, however, Jake Timm forced him to move to the middle and bottom of the racing surface, throwing caution to the wind more than a couple of times.

“That was a lot of fun. I've always paid for my own stuff and had a little bit of sponsor help—and we've always appreciated all that—but when you do that you've got to really take care of your equipment so you don't abuse it and you can run it again next week,” Hughes revealed. This damn time I figured out you just got to drive it like you hate it, and if you wreck it you build another one and go on.”

For most of Saturday's 50-lapper, Timm gave Hughes all the pressure he could ask for. In fact, he snuck by Hughes just before the yellow flag appeared for the third and final time with eight laps to go.

Back under green, Hughes was able to keep Timm at bay and crossed beneath the checkered flags with about two car-lengths to spare. It was the third straight runner-up finish of the weekend for the son of hall-of-famer Bob Timm, who also owns the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis.

“I knew I couldn't go out there and make any mistakes because (Jake Timm) ain't going to make many. I could see him driving under there and he slid me once and I had to turn back underneath him. He ran us really clean. We've raced against him a lot, and we'll race against him a lot more like that.”

While Timm settled for the second step on the podium one again, Swift Springs Fast Qualifier Jim Chisholm charged up to third by race's end with Tanner Mullens clawing his way from 18th on the starting grid to cross the finish line in fourth.

Jake O'Neil, who swapped the second spot with Jake Timm for a few laps, fell back to fifth on the final board. Rodney Sanders, Chad Wheeler, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Tom Berry Jr. and Gunner Martin completed the top ten.

And then there were two: Just two races remain for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, beginning with the 7th Annual Grant Junghans Memorial presented by Shop Quik at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, on Friday, October 27.

Rained out earlier this summer, the event features a $12,002 top prize and no less than $1,302 for every racer taking the green flag in the main event.

The 2023 campaign for the USMTS takes place on Saturday, October 28, at the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas, with the fourth running of the Modified Spooktacular.

For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features racing at some of America's premier dirt track racing venues. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.

Watch every USMTS event online live and on-demand from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Download the app at Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TV or on Google Play.

Visit usmts.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
Inaugural ARMI Contractors All-American – Night 3 of 3
Arrowhead Speedway, Colcord, Okla.
Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 14 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.

QUALIFYING GROUP A:
1. 4D Bo Day, Greenville, Texas, 14.645
2. 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn., 14.692
3. 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, 14.767
4. 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn., 14.880
5. 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan., 14.913
6. 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 14.926
7. K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill., 14.949
8. 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 14.971
9. 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 14.972
10. 55 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla., 14.999
11. 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 15.040
12. 96T Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif., 15.101
13. 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark., 15.139
14. 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D., 15.140
15. 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo., 15.225
16. 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 15.235
17. 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan., 15.241
18. 5* John Briggs, Harrison, Ark., 15.300
19. 37D Dakota Dale, Valley Center, Kan., 15.352
20. 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., 15.458
21. 4R Jared Russell, Wagoner, Okla., 15.497
22. 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 15.582
23. 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 15.661
24. 33 Chad Smith, Springdale, Ark., 15.691
25. 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan., 15.727
26. 32 Tyler Barker, Springfield, Mo., 15.953
27. 25C Brandon Huff, Concord, Okla., 16.071
28. 247 Jarret Dotson, Baxter Springs, Kan., 16.071

QUALIFYING GROUP B:
1. 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 14.516
2. 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 14.580
3. 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis., 14.618
4. 396 R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz., 14.639
5. 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 14.651
6. 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., 14.662
7. 88S Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M., 14.680
8. 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla., 14.690
9. 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla., 14.742
10. 08 Dakota Sproul, Hays, Kan., 14.747
11. 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas, 14.753
12. 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 14.754
13. 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla., 14.755
14. 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., 14.757
15. 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 14.772
16. 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan., 14.792
17. 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., 14.829
18. 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., 14.835
19. 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn., 14.838
20. 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla., 14.862
21. 37 Clint Johnson, Neosho, Mo., 14.901
22. 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, 14.928
23. 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 14.959
24. 211 Chase Hatton, De Berry, Texas, 15.002
25. 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan., 15.035
26. 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark., 15.101
27. 01 Peyton Taylor, Batesville, Ark., 15.214

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (4) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
3. (3) 55 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
4. (6) 4D Bo Day, Greenville, Texas
5. (8) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (5) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 37D Dakota Dale, Valley Center, Kan.
8. (9) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan.
9. (2) 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark.
10. (10) 247 Jarret Dotson, Baxter Springs, Kan.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
2. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (2) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
4. (6) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (5) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
6. (1) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.
7. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
8. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
9. (9) 32 Tyler Barker, Springfield, Mo.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.
2. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
3. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
4. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
5. (1) 5* John Briggs, Harrison, Ark.
6. (3) 96T Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
7. (7) 4RJ Jared Russell, Wagoner, Okla.
8. (8) 33 Chad Smith, Springdale, Ark.
9. (9) 25C Brandon Huff, Concord, Okla.

WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla.
2. (1) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
3. (4) 88S Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
4. (3) 08 Dakota Sproul, Hays, Kan.
5. (8) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
6. (6) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
7. (9) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (5) 396 R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz.
9. (7) 15WX Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.

VP RACING HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
2. (6) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (1) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (7) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
6. (4) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
7. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
8. (3) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
9. (9) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.

SUPER CLEAN HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (4) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
4. (6) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
5. (3) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
6. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
7. (7) 37 Clint Johnson, Neosho, Mo.
8. (8) 211 Chase Hatton, De Berry, Texas
9. (9) 01 Peyton Taylor, Batesville, Ark.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
3. (3) 88S Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
4. (8) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
5. (5) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (4) 55 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
7. (13) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
8. (6) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
9. (11) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
10. (7) 08 Dakota Sproul, Hays, Kan.
11. (9) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
12. (17) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
13. (15) 37 Clint Johnson, Neosho, Mo.
14. (14) 37D Dakota Dale, Valley Center, Kan.
15. (16) 33 Chad Smith, Springdale, Ark.
16. (10) 5* John Briggs, Harrison, Ark.
17. (12) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.
18. (18) 32 Tyler Barker, Springfield, Mo.
19. (19) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
DNS – 15WX Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
DNS – 247 Jarret Dotson, Baxter Springs, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
2. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (3) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
4. (7) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
5. (9) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
6. (4) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
7. (12) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
8. (13) 396 R.C. Whitwell, Tucson, Ariz.
9. (6) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
10. (8) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
11. (5) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
12. (15) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan.
13. (14) 4RJ Jared Russell, Wagoner, Okla.
14. (10) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
15. (11) 96T Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
16. (19) 01 Peyton Taylor, Batesville, Ark.
17. (16) 211 Chase Hatton, De Berry, Texas
18. (20) 5 Steve Holzkamper, Gentry, Ark.
19. (17) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
20. (18) 25C Brandon Huff, Concord, Okla.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (50 laps):
1. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (4) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (13) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
4. (18) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (3) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
6. (10) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
7. (5) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla.
8. (16) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (22) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
10. (1) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.
11. (15) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
12. (26) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
13. (9) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
14. (7) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
15. (27) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
16. (23) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
17. (6) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
18. (21) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
19. (25) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
20. (11) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
21. (12) 4D Bo Day, Greenville, Texas
22. (8) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
23. (14) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
24. (19) 88S Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
25. (28) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
26. (17) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
27. (20) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
28. (24) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.

Lap Leader: J. Hughes 1-50.
Total Laps Led: J. Hughes 50.
Margin of Victory: 0.725 second.
Time of Race: 21 minutes, 8.189 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Ebert, Phillips, T. Hughes (track).
Emergency Provisional: VanderBeek.
FK Rod Ends/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Mullens (started 18th, finished 4th).
Entries: 55.
Next Race: Friday, Oct. 27, Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sanders 2736, Hughes 2587, Chisholm 2492, Ramirez 2466, Mullens 2460, O'Neil 2439, Ebert 2358, Wolff 2325, Phillips 2315, VanderBeek 2278.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 1784, Krup 1727, Nelson 1587, Christian 1508, Lavasseur 1321.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Chisholm 180, Sanders 135, O'Neil 116, Mullens 111, Hughes 111.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 232, Mullens 213, Hughes 212, VanderBuilt 155, Skyrocket 150.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 253, Cornett 234, Hatfield 215, Stoen 198, KSE 186.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Chisholm.
American Racer – Nelson.
Beyea Custom Headers – Mullens.
BigDeal Car Care – J. Hughes, Fuqua.
Bryke Racing – VanderBeek.
BSB Manufacturing – Day.
Carquest – Wolff.
Champ Pans – O'Neil.
Collins Brothers Towing – Westover.
Deatherage Opticians – Westover.
Edelbrock – Martin.
Fast Shafts – Wolff.
FK Rod Ends – Mullens.
Hooker Harness – Phillips.
Hyperco – Ebert.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Christian.
Keyser Manufacturing – Martin.
KSE Racing Products – Mullens.
MD3 – J. Hughes.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Timm.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Junghans.
MSD Performance – Chisholm.
Penske Racing Shocks – Krup.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – T. Hughes.
Performance Bodies – Wolff.
QA1 – Krup.
Quarter Master – Ahumada.
RacerWebsite.com – Dale.
Salty's BBQ & Catering – Fuqua.
Simpson Race Products – J. Hughes.
Summit Racing Equipment – Black, R. Brown, Cole, Foley, Gammill, Hatton.
Super Clean – J. Hughes.
Swift Springs – Chisholm, J. Hughes.
Sybesma Graphics – Martin.
VP Racing – J. Hughes.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Dotson.
Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Berry.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Wheeler.