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By Dennis Daniel, DirtModifiedRacer.com (Photos available on website)
March 5, 2010 – Las Cruces, NM……Arriving at Southern New Mexico Speedway for the 10th Annual DIRTCar West Modifieds Winter Meltdown, 69 Modifieds seemed to be the perfect number…..it matched the afternoon temperature. This warm “winter” day was opening day for the Speedway, with day 1 of 3 for the Winter Meltdown/Chub Daniels Memorial ready to be contested.
As a former two-time winner of the Winter Meltdown (2005 & 2008), Oklahoma’s Jason Hughes withstood a late race charge from Missouri’s Terry Phillips to win the preliminary feature on Friday night. The preliminary feature win earns Hughes the pole starting position for Sunday’s $10,000 to win feature, which also pays $1,250 to start the race.
Hughes had firm control of the preliminary feature until a mid-race caution erased his huge lead. Phillips had begun a steady surge forward from his 8th starting spot. With 3 laps remaining, Phillips ran 3rd to Rodney Sanders, who had been running strong on the top groove behind Hughes. Phillips had been running the bottom groove late and got by Sanders with 2 laps left. He put one last surge to at least show Hughes that he was there but Hughes motored to a 1 car length victory in the 20 lapper.
A total of five drivers locked themselves into Sunday’s feature, with Johnny Scott and Darrell Nelson joining Hughes, Phillips and Sanders, making up the inside row for the huge paying finale. Nelson, who finished 5th on Friday, indicated that he would most likely run again on Saturday, trying to better his guaranteed 9th starting spot on Sunday. At stake on Saturday will be the outside row of starters, including outside front row. Each of the other 4 finishers stated they would sit out on Saturday and concentrate on getting ready for Sunday.
The big field of cars was divided into 7 heats, ran over 10 laps each. Heat results allowed drivers to earn passing and finishing points. When the heats finished, the drivers with the most points were divided into the preliminary A, B and two C Mains. The preliminary feature and B main included 24 starters. The same format will be run on Saturday.
Heat wins went to Jacob Gallardo, Sanders, Jake Boles, Steve Holzkamper, Steve Miller, Hughes and Nathan Bischel. The two C Mains were won by R.C. Whitwell and Fito Gallardo, while the 15 lap B Main was won by Bumper Jones.
Official Results:
Southern New Mexico Speedway – Las Cruces, NM – Friday, March 05, 2010
A-Main: (Top 5 to Sunday’s A-main): Hughes, Phillips, Sanders, J. Scott, Nelson, B. Jones, Tesch, Dotson, Weder Jr., Taylor, S. Scott, Holzkamper, Shryock, Payne, Sharpensteen, Bischel, Banghart, C. Barnett, Tipton, Boles, Georges, J. Gallardo, (NF) F. Gallardo, (NF) Miller (NF)
B-Main 1: B. Jones, Taylor, T. Tipton, Dotson, S. Scott, Weder Jr., Sharpensteen, Shryock, Banghart, F. Gallardo, C. Barnett, Payne, Junghans, Whitwell, Jegtvig, Landers, Hansen, Thomas, Gorham, H. Jones, Bob Sikes, Houston, Rowland, R. Jones
C-Main1: Whitwell, Hansen, Gorham, Bob Sikes, H. Jones, Chiles, Ray, T. Tipton, T. Sikes, Mari, S. Barnett, T. Georges, Jenkins, Ramirez, Poppa, DeMartino, Carney, Higgins, Bobby Sikes, Lackey, Cain, Sutton
C-Main 2: F. Gallardo, C. Barnett, Payne, Landers, Thomas, Houston, Culp, Krohn, Rowland, O’Neal, Martin, Mason, Bagley, Tosh, Majek, Robinson, Riggs, Summers, Salas, Gates, Davis, Chadwick
Heat 1: Jacob Gallardo, Johnny Scott, Grant Junghans, Royal Jones, Fito Gallardo, Jason Krohn, Garrett Higgins, Eddie Martin, Dusty Riggs, Morgan Bagley
Heat 2: Rodney Sanders, Bumper Jones, Peyton Taylor, Travis Tipton, Holly Jones, Mike Hansen, Lance Mari, Patrick Carney, Josh Cain, Joe Lackey
Heat 3: Jake Boles, Christy Georges, Terry Tipton, Tim Culp, RC Whitwell, Corky Thomas, Jared Landers, Roy Don Mason, Brian Poppa, Dennis Gates
Heat 4: Steve Holzkamper, Paul Banghart, Terry Phillips, Robbie Chiles, Curt Barnett, Greg Jenkins, Sherman Barnett, Jimmy Ray, Martin Robinson, Chris Sims
Heat 5: Steve Miller, Darrell Nelson, Stormy Scott, Dickie Gorham, Tommy Weder Jr., Richie Davis, Nick O’Neal, Steve Sutton, Derek Ramirez, Richie Tosh
Heat 6: Jason Hughes, Alan Sharpensteen, Blake Jegtvig, Jeremy Payne, Bryan Rowland, Philip Houston, Kellen Chadwick, Levi DeMartino, Wesley Summers
Heat 7: Nathan Bischel, Jon Tesch, Kelly Shryock, Mark Dotson, Bob Sikes, Tom Georges, Tristan Sikes, Josh Majek, Bobby Sikes, Ronnie Salas
15 States Represented (AZ, NM, IA, ND, OK, TX, LA, MO, CA, AR, KS, OR, MN, SD, CO)
March 5, 2010 – Las Cruces, NM……Arriving at Southern New Mexico Speedway for the 10th Annual DIRTCar West Modifieds Winter Meltdown, 69 Modifieds seemed to be the perfect number…..it matched the afternoon temperature. This warm “winter” day was opening day for the Speedway, with day 1 of 3 for the Winter Meltdown/Chub Daniels Memorial ready to be contested.
As a former two-time winner of the Winter Meltdown (2005 & 2008), Oklahoma’s Jason Hughes withstood a late race charge from Missouri’s Terry Phillips to win the preliminary feature on Friday night. The preliminary feature win earns Hughes the pole starting position for Sunday’s $10,000 to win feature, which also pays $1,250 to start the race.
Hughes had firm control of the preliminary feature until a mid-race caution erased his huge lead. Phillips had begun a steady surge forward from his 8th starting spot. With 3 laps remaining, Phillips ran 3rd to Rodney Sanders, who had been running strong on the top groove behind Hughes. Phillips had been running the bottom groove late and got by Sanders with 2 laps left. He put one last surge to at least show Hughes that he was there but Hughes motored to a 1 car length victory in the 20 lapper.
A total of five drivers locked themselves into Sunday’s feature, with Johnny Scott and Darrell Nelson joining Hughes, Phillips and Sanders, making up the inside row for the huge paying finale. Nelson, who finished 5th on Friday, indicated that he would most likely run again on Saturday, trying to better his guaranteed 9th starting spot on Sunday. At stake on Saturday will be the outside row of starters, including outside front row. Each of the other 4 finishers stated they would sit out on Saturday and concentrate on getting ready for Sunday.
The big field of cars was divided into 7 heats, ran over 10 laps each. Heat results allowed drivers to earn passing and finishing points. When the heats finished, the drivers with the most points were divided into the preliminary A, B and two C Mains. The preliminary feature and B main included 24 starters. The same format will be run on Saturday.
Heat wins went to Jacob Gallardo, Sanders, Jake Boles, Steve Holzkamper, Steve Miller, Hughes and Nathan Bischel. The two C Mains were won by R.C. Whitwell and Fito Gallardo, while the 15 lap B Main was won by Bumper Jones.
Official Results:
Southern New Mexico Speedway – Las Cruces, NM – Friday, March 05, 2010
A-Main: (Top 5 to Sunday’s A-main): Hughes, Phillips, Sanders, J. Scott, Nelson, B. Jones, Tesch, Dotson, Weder Jr., Taylor, S. Scott, Holzkamper, Shryock, Payne, Sharpensteen, Bischel, Banghart, C. Barnett, Tipton, Boles, Georges, J. Gallardo, (NF) F. Gallardo, (NF) Miller (NF)
B-Main 1: B. Jones, Taylor, T. Tipton, Dotson, S. Scott, Weder Jr., Sharpensteen, Shryock, Banghart, F. Gallardo, C. Barnett, Payne, Junghans, Whitwell, Jegtvig, Landers, Hansen, Thomas, Gorham, H. Jones, Bob Sikes, Houston, Rowland, R. Jones
C-Main1: Whitwell, Hansen, Gorham, Bob Sikes, H. Jones, Chiles, Ray, T. Tipton, T. Sikes, Mari, S. Barnett, T. Georges, Jenkins, Ramirez, Poppa, DeMartino, Carney, Higgins, Bobby Sikes, Lackey, Cain, Sutton
C-Main 2: F. Gallardo, C. Barnett, Payne, Landers, Thomas, Houston, Culp, Krohn, Rowland, O’Neal, Martin, Mason, Bagley, Tosh, Majek, Robinson, Riggs, Summers, Salas, Gates, Davis, Chadwick
Heat 1: Jacob Gallardo, Johnny Scott, Grant Junghans, Royal Jones, Fito Gallardo, Jason Krohn, Garrett Higgins, Eddie Martin, Dusty Riggs, Morgan Bagley
Heat 2: Rodney Sanders, Bumper Jones, Peyton Taylor, Travis Tipton, Holly Jones, Mike Hansen, Lance Mari, Patrick Carney, Josh Cain, Joe Lackey
Heat 3: Jake Boles, Christy Georges, Terry Tipton, Tim Culp, RC Whitwell, Corky Thomas, Jared Landers, Roy Don Mason, Brian Poppa, Dennis Gates
Heat 4: Steve Holzkamper, Paul Banghart, Terry Phillips, Robbie Chiles, Curt Barnett, Greg Jenkins, Sherman Barnett, Jimmy Ray, Martin Robinson, Chris Sims
Heat 5: Steve Miller, Darrell Nelson, Stormy Scott, Dickie Gorham, Tommy Weder Jr., Richie Davis, Nick O’Neal, Steve Sutton, Derek Ramirez, Richie Tosh
Heat 6: Jason Hughes, Alan Sharpensteen, Blake Jegtvig, Jeremy Payne, Bryan Rowland, Philip Houston, Kellen Chadwick, Levi DeMartino, Wesley Summers
Heat 7: Nathan Bischel, Jon Tesch, Kelly Shryock, Mark Dotson, Bob Sikes, Tom Georges, Tristan Sikes, Josh Majek, Bobby Sikes, Ronnie Salas
15 States Represented (AZ, NM, IA, ND, OK, TX, LA, MO, CA, AR, KS, OR, MN, SD, CO)
