(Chris Stepan: November 6, 2011 – Las Cruces, NM) In typical Royal Jones fashion, on Saturday night the racer and promoter decided to add $6,800 to the total purse of over $100,000 by adding $200 to each driver who did not make it out of a the Last Chance Races.
In a great twist, the top ten drivers were put into a bidding war with fans and sponsors, who were allowed to bid on their favorite driver and raised a whopping $9,625, of which half of that went directly to the March of Dimes and the other half went to the fan who bid on the winning driver. In tonight’s case Farmersville, Louisiana Modified driver Brian Craighead bid on Cummins and walked out of the Southern New Mexico Speedway with $4,812.50.
Johnny Scott and Terry Phillips lead the 24-car field to the green in the 50-lap event with Scott sliding across the track into the lead at the drop of the green, relegating Phillips to second. RC Whitwell quickly raced to the inside of Phillips for the runner up spot as Scott began to drive away. Scott lead the first 15 laps until Phillips came back to life and stole the lead on lap 16.
Phillips looked as if he may drive away for his first Fall Modified Nationals victory, but only a single caution flew during the mid-point of the event, which allowed the field to get into heavy lapped traffic at times. This allowed 6th starting Jason Cummins to reel in Phillips and challenge for the lead for several laps before finally stealing it away on lap 40.
Cummins lead the final ten circuits but not without heavy pressure from Phillips in lapped traffic to steal the unlikely victory in his first visit to the state of New Mexico. Phillips ran second with Johnny Scott third. 12th starting Jeremy Payne charged up to fourth at the finish with Stormy Scott coming home in fifth after 50 exciting laps.
12th Annual Mesilla Valley Transportation Fall Nationals
Southern New Mexico Speedway ~ Las Cruces, New Mexico
USRA Modified Event Winners
(Sunday, November 6th 2011)
LCQ 1: Chad Falco, Dustin Hyde, Kellen Chadwick, Butch Reid Jr., Alex Stanford, Chase Junghans, Grant Junghans, Hunter Rasdon, Tom Georges, Larry Fears, Max Sadler, Travis Tipton, Dickie Gorham, Roger Owens, Dana Fite, Wesley Summers, Bo Martinez, AJ Sharpensteen, Luke Driskell
LCQ 2: Philip Houston, Toby Herring, Josh Cain, Jay Rosales, Brian Craighead, Richie Davis, Tristan Sikes, Brett James, Roy Don Mason, Chris Sims, Holly Jones, Greg Jenkins, James Flemming, Danny Dozier, Dennis Gates, Kevin Clark, Kelly Gorham, Robbie Chiles, Richard Johnson, Christy Georges
LCQ 3: Terry Tipton, Garrett Higgins, Peyton Taylor, Zach Vanderbeek, Chad Ayers, Randy Reeser, Bob Sikes, Pat Carney, Mike Petersilie, Donovan Ooley, Dusty Riggs, Rick Ortega, Greg Jelvik, Duane Murphy, Ronnie Salas, Dan Lee, John Calvert Jr., Mercedes Harris, Jake Gallardo
C-Main: Philip Houston, Terry Tipton, Toby Herring, Dustin Hyde, Chase Junghans, Garrett Higgins, Chad Falco, Josh Cain, Jay Rosales, Zach Vanderbeek, Hunter Rasdon, Grant Junghans, Alex Stanford, Peyton Taylor, Richie Davis, Bob Sikes, Randy Reeser, Pat Carney, Brian Craighead, Brett James, Butch Reid Jr., Chad Ayers, Tristan Sikes, Kellen Chadwick
B-Main: Kelly Shryock, Jeremy Payne, Zane DeVilbiss, Chase Allen, Dustin Hyde, Ron Schreiner, Wayne Brooks, Jesse Williamson, Jake O’Neil, Toby Herring, Chase Junghans, Garrett Higgins, Royal Jones, Grant Junghans, Alex Stanford, Zach Vanderbeek, Josh Cain, Jay Rosales, Terry Tipton, Chad Falco, Hunter Rasdon, Peyton Taylor, Philip Houston, Randy Brown
$10,000 to win A-Main: Jason Cummins, Terry Phillips, Johnny Scott, Jeremy Payne, Stormy Scott, Jimmy Ray, Rodney Sanders, Kelly Shryock, Bumper Jones, RC Whitwell, Chase Allen, Jake O’Neil, Grant Junghans, Zane DeVilbiss, Ron Schreiner, Garrett Higgins (-1), Royal Jones (-1), Jesse Williamson (NF), Wayne Brooks (NF), Fito Gallardo (NF), Chase Junghans (NF), Dustin Hyde (NF), Jason Hughes (NF), Toby Herring (NF)
**Total Event Modified Car Count: 85
Albuquerque, New Mexico driver Zach Powell won the $1,500 to win Legends of the Southwest feature. (21 cars)
Las Cruces, New Mexico driver Mike Rosales won the $300 to win Street Stock feature. (33 cars)
Bald Knob, Arkansas driver Wayne Brooks won the $1,000 to win Southwest Super Truck feature in a photo finish at the line. (14 cars)