BAYTOWN, Texas – The Hunt for the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series Championship presented by Dirt Modified Magazine heated up on a cold night Thursday with the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals at the Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.

Rain on Wednesday resulted in a sticky fast but bumpy racing surface Thursday, which provided plenty of action for the race fans in attendance who braved the chilly evening at the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval.

Early on, it looked like this night would belong to Randy Timms. The Wheatland, Okla., pilot won a free American Racer racing tire during the pre-race drivers meeting, then had his number selected for the pole position of the first heat race, which he won handily.

Timms redrew the pole position for the start of the 30-lap Sunoco “A” Main and jumped out to an early advantage, but his reign was cut short after just two circuits when World of Outlaws sprint car racer Sam Hafertepe Jr. wrestled the top spot away on lap 3.

After gaining the lead, Hafertepe paced the next ten orbits while USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series title contenders Kelly Shryock and Jason Hughes were working there way to the front of the field.

Hughes worked his way around Shryock on lap 6, then took over second three laps later. The defending USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series champion reeled in Hafertepe and snagged the lead to complete the 13th lap.

Caution slowed the pace on lap 14 when Dereck Ramirez rolled his machine between turns 1-2. Ramirez, who had battled his way to sixth after starting 23rd, was done for the night but walked away from the accident without injury.

Back under green, Hughes bobbled in the first turn which allowed Hafertepe to shoot back into the lead. However, Hughes returned the favor three laps later to regain first place while Shryock followed closely in third.

USMTS Casey's General Stores National Tour runner-up Ryan Gustin started 18th after winning the third Real Racing Wheels “B” Main, and clawed his way to sixth in the main event before a flat tire sidelined the 19-year-old with ten laps to go.

Hafertepe continued to pressure Hughes late in the race, but lost control of his Modified with eight laps to go and watched the remaining eight laps from the infield while Hughes cruised to his tenth USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series win of 2009.

Perhaps more importantly, Hughes came into the night trailing Shryock by nine points in the Hunt for the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series Championship. After taking the checkered flag, Hughes regained the top spot in the points standings and now leads Shryock by just three points.

Hughes' three bonus points for leading a lap and leading the most laps is the difference between himself and Shryock (419 to 416).

Jon Tesch, who entered Thursday's showdown ranked third and 29 points behind the leader, earned the runner-up paycheck in Thursday's nightcap with Shryock hanging on for a third-place finish. Tesch remains third in points, 41 markers behind Hughes.

Rodney Sanders was fourth in points when the green flag flew. He finished fourth in the race and remains fourth in the standings with 356 points.

Timms held on for a fifth-place finish, with Zack VanderBeek, Bumper Jones, Howard Willis, Timothy Culp and Shane Hebert finishing sixth through tenth, respectively.

Morgan Bagley raced to an 11th-place finish after starting 25th on the 26-car starting grid. He remains fifth in points with 345. Jones has 344 and is sixth, followed by Scott Green (324), Hebert (312), Chris Henigan (299) and Ramirez (286).

UPDATE: Due to snow falling in the Houston area on Friday — the earliest ever recorded for the southeast Texas metropolis — plus bitter cold and all around wet and miserable weather conditions, the remaining two nights of the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals featuring the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series has been tentatively postponed for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, 2010.

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.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
Hunt for the USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series Championship presented by Dirt Modified Magazine
3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals - Night 1 of 2
Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas
Thursday, December 3, 2009

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 13 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):
1. 5t - Randy Timms -- Wheatland, OK (1)
2. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (3)
3. 17p - Travis Penrod -- Davis, OK (2)
4. 24t - Glenn Bratti -- Springdale, AR (8)
5. 9n - Brent Nicholas -- Baytown, TX (7)
6. 51 - Tracy Denby Jr. -- Vidor, TX (9)
7. 98 - Darryl Seals -- Vidor, TX (4)
8. 91 - Robert Metz Jr. -- Lumberton, TX (6)
9. 69 - Randy Heston -- Stinnett, TX (5)
10. 7jr - Chad Ewell -- Forney, TX (10)
11. 55 - Kyle Anderson -- Tomball, TX (11)

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 56 - David Horner -- Houston, TX (2)
2. 23 - Matt Gilbertson -- Montevideo, MN (1)
3. 111 - Bumper Jones -- Mesilla Park, NM (8)
4. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (9)
5. 02x - B.J. Robinson -- Shreveport, LA (7)
6. 18 - Jack Sullivan -- Greenbrier, AR (11)
7. 8 - Steve Miller -- Georgetown, TX (5)
8. 18p - Pete Sagmiller -- Spring, TX (3)
9. 68 - Danny Barringer -- Lufkin, TX (4)
10. 54 - Robbie Willis -- Pitkin, LA (10)
11. 58 - Nathan Bischel -- Amarillo, TX (6)

BUTLERBUILT HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX (1)
2. 4d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (4)
3. 88xxx - Clyde Dunn Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (2)
4. 5w - John O Whittington -- Vidor, TX (6)
5. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (7)
6. 10 - Kyle Schmidt -- Farmington, AR (10)
7. 115 - Brian Stipe -- Baytown, TX (8)
8. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (5)
9. 57f - Dale Flanagan -- Corpus Christi, TX (9)
10. B15 - Thomas Blackwell -- Crandall, TX (3)
11. 17 - John Baker -- Silsbee, TX (11)

AWESOME RACEWEAR HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (1)
2. E - Howard Willis -- Dayton, TX (3)
3. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (8)
4. 15 - Kevin Battarbee -- Houston, TX (7)
5. 99 - Derick Grigsby -- Marshall, TX (5)
6. 85d - Mark Dotson -- Cameron, MO (9)
7. 16 - Chris Henigan -- Marshall, TX (2)
8. 11 - Brandon Morton -- Coweta, OK (10)
9. 1s - Rony Sigman -- Dallas, TX (6)
10. 76 - Jesse Manning -- Brazoria, TX (11)
11. 20t - Troy Seidl -- Magnolia, TX (4) DNF

INTERCOMP HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (2)
2. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (5)
3. 88xx - Bobby Malchus -- Red Oak, TX (6)
4. 18s - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (7)
5. 87 - John Webb -- Pauls Valley, OK (4)
6. 955 - Chad Comer -- Warren, TX (1)
7. 17 - Brad Lasater -- Garland, TX (8)
8. 00 - Jeff Rowland -- Pauls Valley, OK (9)
9. 5a - Wes Armstrong -- Marshall, TX (3) DNF
10. 22 - Tracy Denby Sr. -- Vidor, TX (10) DNF

AMERICAN RACER HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. 15h - Sam Hafertepe Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (1)
2. C8 - Timothy Culp -- West Monroe, LA (4)
3. 2w - Paul White -- Temple, TX (3)
4. 9k - Shane Killingsworth -- Dallas, TX (2)
5. A1 - Phil Dixon -- Crosby, TX (6)
6. 71 - Mark Smith -- Lufkin, TX (5)
7. 14t - Tristan Dycus -- Midlothian, TX (10)
8. 9 - Shane Hebert -- Lafayette, LA (8) DNF
9. 10k - Kenny Battarbee -- Houston, TX (9) DNF
10. R5 - Hunter Rasdon -- Jonesboro, AR (7) DNF

RACEDAYPRINTS.COM HEAT RACE #7 (8 laps):
1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (1)
2. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (2)
3. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (9)
4. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (3)
5. 21 - Chris Brown -- Cleveland, TX (4)
6. 57 - Jason Armstrong -- Marshall, TX (6)
7. 148 - Russell Moore -- Conroe, TX (8)
8. 12j - Jason Ingalls -- Hallsville, TX (10)
9. 410 - Brad Doherty -- Ennis, TX (5)
10. 12c - Corey Babbitt -- Channelview, TX (7) DNF

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (5)
2. 12c - Corey Babbitt -- Channelview, TX (19)
3. 16 - Chris Henigan -- Marshall, TX (12)
4. 2 - Grant Junghans -- Manhattan, KS (14)
5. 5a - Wes Armstrong -- Marshall, TX (16)
6. 148 - Russell Moore -- Conroe, TX (11)
7. 17 - John Baker -- Silsbee, TX (20)
8. 00 - Jeff Rowland -- Pauls Valley, OK (13)
9. 68 - Danny Barringer -- Lufkin, TX (15)
10. A1 - Phil Dixon -- Crosby, TX (7) DNF
11. 02x - B.J. Robinson -- Shreveport, LA (6) DNF
12. 18s - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (3) DNF
13. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (2) DNF
14. 76 - Jesse Manning -- Brazoria, TX (17) DNF
15. B15 - Thomas Blackwell -- Crandall, TX (18) DNF
16. 57 - Jason Armstrong -- Marshall, TX (10) DNF
17. 2w - Paul White -- Temple, TX (4) DNF
18. 88xx - Bobby Malchus -- Red Oak, TX (1) DNF
19. 14t - Tristan Dycus -- Midlothian, TX (9) DNF
20. 99 - Derick Grigsby -- Marshall, TX (8) DNF

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 18 - Jack Sullivan -- Greenbrier, AR (5)
2. 9 - Shane Hebert -- Lafayette, LA (13)
3. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (6)
4. 11 - Brandon Morton -- Coweta, OK (11)
5. 5w - John O Whittington -- Vidor, TX (4)
6. 24t - Glenn Bratti -- Springdale, AR (2)
7. 10k - Kenny Battarbee -- Houston, TX (15)
8. 955 - Chad Comer -- Warren, TX (8)
9. 20t - Troy Seidl -- Magnolia, TX (18)
10. 98 - Darryl Seals -- Vidor, TX (10)
11. 7jr - Chad Ewell -- Forney, TX (16)
12. 57f - Dale Flanagan -- Corpus Christi, TX (14) DNF
13. 55 - Kyle Anderson -- Tomball, TX (17) DNF
14. 91 - Robert Metz Jr. -- Lumberton, TX (12) DNF
15. 87 - John Webb -- Pauls Valley, OK (7) DNF
16. 17p - Travis Penrod -- Davis, OK (3) DNF
17. 23 - Matt Gilbertson -- Montevideo, MN (1) DNF
18. 115 - Brian Stipe -- Baytown, TX (9) DNF
19. 51 - Tracy Denby Jr. -- Vidor, TX (19) DNS
20. 22 - Tracy Denby Sr. -- Vidor, TX (20) DNS

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (15 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (1)
2. 15 - Kevin Battarbee -- Houston, TX (2)
3. 88xxx - Clyde Dunn Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (3)
4. 10 - Kyle Schmidt -- Farmington, AR (6)
5. 21 - Chris Brown -- Cleveland, TX (8)
6. 85d - Mark Dotson -- Cameron, MO (7)
7. 9k - Shane Killingsworth -- Dallas, TX (4)
8. 71 - Mark Smith -- Lufkin, TX (9)
9. 12j - Jason Ingalls -- Hallsville, TX (12)
10. 58 - Nathan Bischel -- Amarillo, TX (18)
11. 410 - Brad Doherty -- Ennis, TX (16)
12. 8 - Steve Miller -- Georgetown, TX (11)
13. 9n - Brent Nicholas -- Baytown, TX (5)
14. 17 - Brad Lasater -- Garland, TX (10) DNF
15. 69 - Randy Heston -- Stinnett, TX (14) DNF
16. 1s - Rony Sigman -- Dallas, TX (15) DNF
17. 18p - Pete Sagmiller -- Spring, TX (13) DNF
18. 54 - Robbie Willis -- Pitkin, LA (17) DNF
19. R5 - Hunter Rasdon -- Jonesboro, AR (19) DNS

SUNOCO “A” MAIN (30 laps):
1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (9)
2. 14 - Jon Tesch -- Watertown, SD (6)
3. 3 - Kelly Shryock -- Fertile, IA (11)
4. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (8)
5. 5t - Randy Timms -- Wheatland, OK (1)
6. 33z - Zack VanderBeek -- New Sharon, IA (14)
7. 111 - Bumper Jones -- Mesilla Park, NM (10)
8. E - Howard Willis -- Dayton, TX (15)
9. C8 - Timothy Culp -- West Monroe, LA (13)
10. 9 - Shane Hebert -- Lafayette, LA (20)
11. 5r - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (25)
12. 88xxx - Clyde Dunn Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (24)
13. 12c - Corey Babbitt -- Channelview, TX (19)
14. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (4)
15. 18s - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (26)
16. 16 - Chris Henigan -- Marshall, TX (22)
17. 15 - Kevin Battarbee -- Houston, TX (21)
18. 15h - Sam Hafertepe Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (5) DNF
19. 19r - Ryan Gustin -- Marshalltown, IA (18) DNF
20. 56 - David Horner -- Houston, TX (3) DNF
21. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (23) DNF
22. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX (7) DNF
23. 18 - Jack Sullivan -- Greenbrier, AR (17) DNF
24. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (16) DNF
25. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (2) DNF
26. 4d - Tim Donlinger -- Rochester, MN (12) DNF

Sunoco Lap Leaders: Timms 1-2, Hafertepe 3-12, Hughes 13-15, Hafertepe 16-18, Hughes 19-30.
Total Laps Led: Hughes 15, Hafertepe 13, Timms 2.
AFCO Pole Winner: Horner.
Provisional Starters: Bagley, Smith.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Dunn (started 24th, finished 12th).
Next Race: Saturday, Dec. 5, Houston Raceway Park.
Championship Points: Hughes 419, Shryock 416, Tesch 378, Sanders 356, Bagley 345, Jones 344, Green 324, Hebert 312, Henigan 299, Ramirez 286.
Dustin Duncan Memorial “Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year Points: W. Armstrong 320, Henigan 304, J. Armstrong 303, Garrett Durrett 282, Robinson 256.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 173, ASI 154, Sput’s 139, Rowland 99, BMS 79.
Chassis Builders Championship Points: Hughes 189, Skyrocket 175, Ramirez 154, TRE 143, GRT 130.

Contingency Awards:
AFCO Racing Products – Horner.
American Racer – Timms.
ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems – Whiteaker.
Isky Racing Cams – Timms.
KSE Racing Products – Dunn.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Donlinger.
Nitroquest – Shryock.
Quarter Master – Hughes, Willis.
QuickTime Performance Parts – Jones.
Real Racing Wheels – Moore, Bratti, Dotson.