HOUSTON, Texas – Jason Hughes was the most dominant USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series driver in 2009, and he capped off a personal-best record-setting season with his second straight title last week.

The defending USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series champ garnered 10 wins in 2009 — none more important than his win on the opening night of the 3rd Annual Texas Winter Nationals last Thursday, Dec. 3.

2007 USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series titleist Kelly Shryock used the same consistency that helped earn him his unprecedented ninth USMTS Casey's General Stores National Championship in September to carry a nine-point lead over Hughes coming into the tripleheader finale at the Houston Raceway Park.

Hughes went on to claim his 19th overall checkered flag of the season while Shryock settled for a third-place finish. Hughes' three bonus points for leading a lap and leading the most laps was the difference between himself and Shryock in the final standings.

Jon Tesch, who entered Thursday's showdown ranked third, earned the runner-up paycheck and wound up ranked third. Rodney Sanders was fourth in points when the green flag flew, finished fourth in the race and remained fourth in the final standings

Morgan Bagley raced to an 11th-place finish after starting 25th on the 26-car starting grid and grabbed a fifth-place finish in the final points tally with a one-point advantage over Bumper Jones. Scott Green finished seventh, Shane Hebert was eighth, Chris Henigan took ninth and Dereck Ramirez rounded out the top-10 in the final 2009 USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series points standings.

Hughes added several other accolades along the way during the 2009 campaign. His own Hughes Racing Chassis captured the Chassis Builders Championship while his powerplant builder — Mullins Race Engines — laid claim to the COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Award for the second straight year.

Additionally, Hughes captured the Sunoco Lap Leader Award with 205 laps led during the 22 races staged in 2009, and dominated the AFCO Pole Award with 229 points to the 92 of runner-up Shryock.

Wes Armstrong captured the Dustin Duncan Memorial “Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year Award. The 42-year-old led a trio of Marshall, Texas, mudslingers with Chris Henigan finishing second and Armstrong's younger brother, Jason, settling for third in the final standings after a season-long sibling rivalry.

FINAL 2009 STANDINGS & STATISTICS

USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series (top 15):
1. 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla. ... 419
2. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa ... 416
3. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D. ... 378
4. 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas ... 356
5. 5r Morgan Bagley, Longview, Texas ... 345
6. 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M. ... 344
7. 25 Scott Green, Derby, Kan. ... 324
8. 9 Shane Hebert, Lafayette, La. ... 312
9. 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas ... 299
10. 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla. ... 286
11. 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla. ... 265
12. 18 Cody Smith, Kaufman, Texas ... 254
13. 5w John O Whittington, Vidor, Texas ... 251
14. 89 Steven Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas ... 245
15. 18 Jack Sullivan, Greenbrier, Ark. ... 231

Dustin Duncan Memorial “Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year (top 5):
1. 5a Wes Armstrong, Marshall, Texas 320
2. 16 Chris Henigan, Marshall, Texas 304
3. 57 Jason Armstrong, Marshall, Texas 303
4. 58 Garrett Durrett, Simsboro, La. 282
5. 02x B.J. Robinson, Shreveport, La. 256

COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year (top 5):
1. Mullins Race Engines, Mt. Olive, Ill. ... 173
2. ASI Racing Engines, Lubbock, Texas ... 154
3. Sput’s Racing Engines, Owatonna, Minn. ... 139
4. Rowland Racing Engines, Cedar Hill, Texas ... 99
5. BMS Racing Engines, Hulbert, Okla. ... 79

Chassis Builders Championship (top 5):
1. Hughes Racing Chassis, Colcord, Okla. ... 189
2. Skyrocket Chassis, Fertile, Iowa ... 175
3. Ramirez Race Cars, Woodward, Okla. ... 154
4. TRE Race Cars, Fayetteville, Ark. ... 143
5. GRT Race Cars, Greenbrier, Ark. ... 130

Sunoco Lap Leaders (top 5):
1. 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla. ... 205
2. 12b Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark. ... 115
3. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa ... 74
4. 777 Jared Landers, Benton, Ark. ... 66
5. 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D. ... 48

AFCO Pole Award (top 5):
1. 12 Jason Hughes, Westville, Okla. ... 229
2. 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa ... 92
3. 18 Jack Sullivan, Greenbrier, Ark. ... 74
3. 561 David Horner, Houston, Texas ... 74
5. ME2 Buddy Pifer, Little Rock, Ark. ... 72

Due to snow falling in the Houston area last 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 were postponed for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-20, of next year. The tripleheader will kick off the 2010 USMTS Dirthead.com Southern Series slate of events.

The season opener for the USMTS Casey's General Stores National Championship is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 5-6, at the Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., for the 7th Annual Nebraska Spring Thaw.

The complete 2010 schedule of events, along with other exciting announcements and the release of the 2010 USMTS rulebook will be forthcoming in the next two weeks.

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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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, Sunoco Race Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ASi Racewear, Bear Tire, Big Dog Chassis & Fabrication, DandyLand Farms, Day Motor Sports, Diamond Oil Company, Dirthead.com, Gressel Oil Field Service, Just Say Yes, Ramirez Race Cars, Lone Star Super Gas, Olympic Fire Protection, Ruter Farms, SuperFlow, Yeager Machine.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, Fast Shafts, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Out-Pace Racing Products, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.