By Ryan Neuharth
Tucson, Ariz (November, 27th 2010) Springfield, MO driver and former Wes Hurst Memorial Champion Terry Phillips found a re-worked USA Raceway to his liking Saturday afternoon, turning in a dominate performance for the win and a Sunday front row starting position for the 50-lap, $15,000 to win main event. After losing an engine on Friday night, Phillips rebounded on Saturday taking the lead on a lap two restart and pulled away for the preliminary feature victory.
Jeremy Thornton would lead away from the pole as Inaugural Wes Hurst Memorial Champion Christy Georges slotted second, Darrell Nelson third, Chad Ayres fourth as a five car battle for fifth developed between Phillips, Jimmy Ray, Terry Belcher, Jr., Robert Adams and Holly Jones. Misfortune would strike Nelson as he lost an engine on lap two, while Georges would spin on the restart triggering a multi-car crash that collected Jake O'Neal, RC Whitwell, Derrick Ramirez and Bryan Rowland.
Phillips would vault from third to first on the restart and the caution would quickly fly again for Nick O'Neal, the races third caution in the first three laps. The biggest benefactor of the slow early pace was Mark Dotson as the Cameron, MO pilot was up to fourth from his 18th starting position.
Dotson's charge was far from over as he moved to third on a lap four restart, then advanced to second on a lap five restart. His time as runner-up was short lived as Thornton re-took the lead chase position on lap six while Ayres, Adams and the Scott twins fought over the final transfer spot. Simultaneously, 19th starting Bumper Jones and RC Whitwell were charging to the front cracking the top ten with eleven complete.
Halfway home Phillips was on cruise control out front as the battle between Thornton and Dotson once again boiled over as the Scott's ganged up on Adams moving him from the final transfer spot to sixth. As Dotson bested Thornton, Stormy edged past Johnny for the final transfer spot, and Whitwell motored to seventh with just ten to go.
The races final caution appeared for a slowing Corey Hosler setting up a nine lap dash to the checkered. On the restart Phillips continued to lead with Dotson second as Stormy moved Thornton to the hot seat just in front of his sibling and a massive scramble ensued throughout the top ten.
Restarting eleventh, Chad Ayres shot to the bottom of the racetrack, grabbing wholesale positions to run fifth with five to go. Close in tow was Whitwell who followed Ayres through traffic towards an automatic birth in Sunday's main event.
Stormy Scott regulated Dotson to third who then became a sitting duck as Ayres and Whitwell steamed past to steal the final two trips to Sunday main with two laps remaining. Despite the turmoil behind him, Phillips raced under the checkered unscathed and will start alongside Ryan Gustin in Sunday's championship feature. Stormy Scott, Ayres and Whitwell rounded out the transfer spots while Dotson, Bumper Jones, Johnny Scott, Jeremy Thornton, Derrick Ramirez and Tim Ward rounded out the top ten.
The Wes Hurst $15k to Win Finale swings into action today at 1pm.
USA Raceway is located east of Tucson off I-10 exit 265, then 1.6 miles south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales. For more information please, contact the track at 520-574-8515 or additional information regarding USA Raceway can be found at www.usaraceway.net
Tucson's, Jeremy Payne, became the 5th winner of the Wes Hurst Memorial as he beat teammate and past winner Terry Phillips in Sunday's 2009 finale keeping Phillips from becoming the first repeat winner.
Christy Georges became the first winner of the Wes Hurst Memorial in 2005 also marking the richest win by a female driver in the Modified ranks while Richie Tosh from Salado Arkansas added his name to the list of Wes Hurst winners as he won the event in 2006.
Tommy Weider and Terry Phillips also captured the esteemed memorial victory in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Phillips and teammate Jeremy Payne, defending WHM champion, will likely both return to fight for the crown with hopes of taking home the 15k prize.
Past Wes Hurst Memorial Winners
2009 - Jeremy Payne
2008 - Terry Phillips
2007 - Tommy Weider
2006 - Richie Tosh
2005 - Christy Georges
WHM Modifieds - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 5 75T Terry Phillips - 150.00
2 17 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 146.00
3 3 3D Chad Ayers Tucson , Az 144.00
4 15 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 142.00
5 18 85D Mark Dotson - 140.00
6 19 111 Bumper Jones - 138.00
7 13 1ST Johnny Scott - 136.00
8 1 1X Jeremy Thornton - 134.00
9 11 4R Dereck Ramirez - 132.00
10 16 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 130.00
11 12 0 Jake O Neil - 128.00
12 23 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 126.00
13 20 3X Kelly Shryock - 124.00
14 10 50 Robert Adams Tucson , Az 122.00
15 8 18 Terry Belcher Jr Phoenix , Az 120.00
16 24 131 Royal Jones - 118.00
17 9 44N Jason Noll - 116.00
18 22 20R Bryan Rowland - 114.00
19 2 44 Christy Georges El Paso, Tx 112.00
20 7 121 Holly Jones - 110.00
21 6 9 Jimmy Ray Las Cruces, Nm 108.00
22 21 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 106.00
23 14 99 Corey Hosler - 104.00
24 4 110 Darrell Nelson - 102.00
WHM Modifieds - B Feature 2
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 99 Corey Hosler - 0.00
2 2 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 0.00
3 7 85D Mark Dotson - 0.00
4 4 3X Kelly Shryock - 0.00
5 3 20R Bryan Rowland - 0.00
6 5 131 Royal Jones - 0.00
7 6 99G Jason Grimes - 88.00
8 18 21T Wade Simmons - 86.00
9 14 3J Josh Cain - 84.00
10 11 21F Kyle Sweeney - 82.00
11 17 07 Jeff Thomas - 80.00
12 9 J17 Jacob Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 78.00
13 12 19SB Lance Mari - 76.00
14 19 10S Rick Spencer Tucson , Az 74.00
15 13 69M Chris Shannon - 72.00
16 8 18X Chase Junghans - 70.00
17 16 23J Greg Jelvik - 68.00
18 10 20RT Ricky Thorton Jr. Chandler , Az 66.00
19 20 34H Roy Herron - 64.00
20 15 75 Alan Sharpensteen - 62.00
WHM Modifieds - B Feature 1
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 1ST Johnny Scott - 0.00
2 2 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 0.00
3 4 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
4 8 111 Bumper Jones - 0.00
5 6 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 0.00
6 11 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 0.00
7 3 3DX Tim Donlinger - 88.00
8 12 74 Jeremy Payne - 86.00
9 7 G17 Fito Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 84.00
10 20 43 Curt Barnett - 82.00
11 9 E85 Jason Strand - 80.00
12 5 71 Philip Houston - 78.00
13 13 3 Dickie Gorham - 76.00
14 16 2 Art Lacy - 74.00
15 14 88 Chris Olexiewicz - 72.00
16 17 05X Ron Gould Jr - 70.00
17 10 1 Tom Campbell Tucson , Az 68.00
18 15 23 Terry Haven - 66.00
19 19 21G Brian Graf - 64.00
20 18 65 Tommy Myer - 62.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 6
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 75T Terry Phillips - 0.00
2 1 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
3 5 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 0.00
4 2 85D Mark Dotson - 0.00
5 8 71 Philip Houston - 0.00
6 4 74 Jeremy Payne - 0.00
7 7 3 Dickie Gorham - 0.00
8 6 23J Greg Jelvik - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 5
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 110 Darrell Nelson - 0.00
2 9 1X Jeremy Thornton - 0.00
3 2 99G Jason Grimes - 0.00
4 8 99 Corey Hosler - 0.00
5 5 111 Bumper Jones - 0.00
6 1 69M Chris Shannon - 0.00
7 6 88 Chris Olexiewicz - 0.00
8 4 05X Ron Gould Jr - 0.00
9 7 10S Rick Spencer Tucson , Az 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 4
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 44 Christy Georges El Paso, Tx 0.00
2 6 3D Chad Ayers Tucson , Az 0.00
3 5 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 0.00
4 7 3DX Tim Donlinger - 0.00
5 1 1 Tom Campbell Tucson , Az 0.00
6 2 19SB Lance Mari - 0.00
7 3 23 Terry Haven - 0.00
8 8 75 Alan Sharpensteen - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 3
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 4R Dereck Ramirez - 0.00
2 5 20R Bryan Rowland - 0.00
3 6 131 Royal Jones - 0.00
4 9 3X Kelly Shryock - 0.00
5 7 18X Chase Junghans - 0.00
6 8 21F Kyle Sweeney - 0.00
7 1 2 Art Lacy - 0.00
8 2 21T Wade Simmons - 0.00
9 3 34H Roy Herron - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 2
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 2 121 Holly Jones - 0.00
2 4 44N Jason Noll - 0.00
3 7 9 Jimmy Ray Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
4 8 1ST Johnny Scott - 0.00
5 1 J17 Jacob Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
6 5 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 0.00
7 9 E85 Jason Strand - 0.00
8 3 65 Tommy Myer - 0.00
9 6 43 Curt Barnett - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 1
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 50 Robert Adams Tucson , Az 0.00
2 4 18 Terry Belcher Jr Phoenix , Az 0.00
3 2 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 0.00
4 9 0 Jake O Neil - 0.00
5 6 G17 Fito Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
6 8 20RT Ricky Thorton Jr. Chandler , Az 0.00
7 5 3J Josh Cain - 0.00
8 3 07 Jeff Thomas - 0.00
9 7 21G Brian Graf - 0.00
Tucson, Ariz (November, 27th 2010) Springfield, MO driver and former Wes Hurst Memorial Champion Terry Phillips found a re-worked USA Raceway to his liking Saturday afternoon, turning in a dominate performance for the win and a Sunday front row starting position for the 50-lap, $15,000 to win main event. After losing an engine on Friday night, Phillips rebounded on Saturday taking the lead on a lap two restart and pulled away for the preliminary feature victory.
Jeremy Thornton would lead away from the pole as Inaugural Wes Hurst Memorial Champion Christy Georges slotted second, Darrell Nelson third, Chad Ayres fourth as a five car battle for fifth developed between Phillips, Jimmy Ray, Terry Belcher, Jr., Robert Adams and Holly Jones. Misfortune would strike Nelson as he lost an engine on lap two, while Georges would spin on the restart triggering a multi-car crash that collected Jake O'Neal, RC Whitwell, Derrick Ramirez and Bryan Rowland.
Phillips would vault from third to first on the restart and the caution would quickly fly again for Nick O'Neal, the races third caution in the first three laps. The biggest benefactor of the slow early pace was Mark Dotson as the Cameron, MO pilot was up to fourth from his 18th starting position.
Dotson's charge was far from over as he moved to third on a lap four restart, then advanced to second on a lap five restart. His time as runner-up was short lived as Thornton re-took the lead chase position on lap six while Ayres, Adams and the Scott twins fought over the final transfer spot. Simultaneously, 19th starting Bumper Jones and RC Whitwell were charging to the front cracking the top ten with eleven complete.
Halfway home Phillips was on cruise control out front as the battle between Thornton and Dotson once again boiled over as the Scott's ganged up on Adams moving him from the final transfer spot to sixth. As Dotson bested Thornton, Stormy edged past Johnny for the final transfer spot, and Whitwell motored to seventh with just ten to go.
The races final caution appeared for a slowing Corey Hosler setting up a nine lap dash to the checkered. On the restart Phillips continued to lead with Dotson second as Stormy moved Thornton to the hot seat just in front of his sibling and a massive scramble ensued throughout the top ten.
Restarting eleventh, Chad Ayres shot to the bottom of the racetrack, grabbing wholesale positions to run fifth with five to go. Close in tow was Whitwell who followed Ayres through traffic towards an automatic birth in Sunday's main event.
Stormy Scott regulated Dotson to third who then became a sitting duck as Ayres and Whitwell steamed past to steal the final two trips to Sunday main with two laps remaining. Despite the turmoil behind him, Phillips raced under the checkered unscathed and will start alongside Ryan Gustin in Sunday's championship feature. Stormy Scott, Ayres and Whitwell rounded out the transfer spots while Dotson, Bumper Jones, Johnny Scott, Jeremy Thornton, Derrick Ramirez and Tim Ward rounded out the top ten.
The Wes Hurst $15k to Win Finale swings into action today at 1pm.
USA Raceway is located east of Tucson off I-10 exit 265, then 1.6 miles south on Craycroft Road, which turns into Los Reales. For more information please, contact the track at 520-574-8515 or additional information regarding USA Raceway can be found at www.usaraceway.net
Tucson's, Jeremy Payne, became the 5th winner of the Wes Hurst Memorial as he beat teammate and past winner Terry Phillips in Sunday's 2009 finale keeping Phillips from becoming the first repeat winner.
Christy Georges became the first winner of the Wes Hurst Memorial in 2005 also marking the richest win by a female driver in the Modified ranks while Richie Tosh from Salado Arkansas added his name to the list of Wes Hurst winners as he won the event in 2006.
Tommy Weider and Terry Phillips also captured the esteemed memorial victory in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Phillips and teammate Jeremy Payne, defending WHM champion, will likely both return to fight for the crown with hopes of taking home the 15k prize.
Past Wes Hurst Memorial Winners
2009 - Jeremy Payne
2008 - Terry Phillips
2007 - Tommy Weider
2006 - Richie Tosh
2005 - Christy Georges
WHM Modifieds - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 5 75T Terry Phillips - 150.00
2 17 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 146.00
3 3 3D Chad Ayers Tucson , Az 144.00
4 15 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 142.00
5 18 85D Mark Dotson - 140.00
6 19 111 Bumper Jones - 138.00
7 13 1ST Johnny Scott - 136.00
8 1 1X Jeremy Thornton - 134.00
9 11 4R Dereck Ramirez - 132.00
10 16 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 130.00
11 12 0 Jake O Neil - 128.00
12 23 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 126.00
13 20 3X Kelly Shryock - 124.00
14 10 50 Robert Adams Tucson , Az 122.00
15 8 18 Terry Belcher Jr Phoenix , Az 120.00
16 24 131 Royal Jones - 118.00
17 9 44N Jason Noll - 116.00
18 22 20R Bryan Rowland - 114.00
19 2 44 Christy Georges El Paso, Tx 112.00
20 7 121 Holly Jones - 110.00
21 6 9 Jimmy Ray Las Cruces, Nm 108.00
22 21 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 106.00
23 14 99 Corey Hosler - 104.00
24 4 110 Darrell Nelson - 102.00
WHM Modifieds - B Feature 2
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 99 Corey Hosler - 0.00
2 2 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 0.00
3 7 85D Mark Dotson - 0.00
4 4 3X Kelly Shryock - 0.00
5 3 20R Bryan Rowland - 0.00
6 5 131 Royal Jones - 0.00
7 6 99G Jason Grimes - 88.00
8 18 21T Wade Simmons - 86.00
9 14 3J Josh Cain - 84.00
10 11 21F Kyle Sweeney - 82.00
11 17 07 Jeff Thomas - 80.00
12 9 J17 Jacob Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 78.00
13 12 19SB Lance Mari - 76.00
14 19 10S Rick Spencer Tucson , Az 74.00
15 13 69M Chris Shannon - 72.00
16 8 18X Chase Junghans - 70.00
17 16 23J Greg Jelvik - 68.00
18 10 20RT Ricky Thorton Jr. Chandler , Az 66.00
19 20 34H Roy Herron - 64.00
20 15 75 Alan Sharpensteen - 62.00
WHM Modifieds - B Feature 1
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 1ST Johnny Scott - 0.00
2 2 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 0.00
3 4 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
4 8 111 Bumper Jones - 0.00
5 6 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 0.00
6 11 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 0.00
7 3 3DX Tim Donlinger - 88.00
8 12 74 Jeremy Payne - 86.00
9 7 G17 Fito Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 84.00
10 20 43 Curt Barnett - 82.00
11 9 E85 Jason Strand - 80.00
12 5 71 Philip Houston - 78.00
13 13 3 Dickie Gorham - 76.00
14 16 2 Art Lacy - 74.00
15 14 88 Chris Olexiewicz - 72.00
16 17 05X Ron Gould Jr - 70.00
17 10 1 Tom Campbell Tucson , Az 68.00
18 15 23 Terry Haven - 66.00
19 19 21G Brian Graf - 64.00
20 18 65 Tommy Myer - 62.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 6
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 75T Terry Phillips - 0.00
2 1 2S Stormy Scott Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
3 5 4TW Tim Ward Gilbert , Az 0.00
4 2 85D Mark Dotson - 0.00
5 8 71 Philip Houston - 0.00
6 4 74 Jeremy Payne - 0.00
7 7 3 Dickie Gorham - 0.00
8 6 23J Greg Jelvik - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 5
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 3 110 Darrell Nelson - 0.00
2 9 1X Jeremy Thornton - 0.00
3 2 99G Jason Grimes - 0.00
4 8 99 Corey Hosler - 0.00
5 5 111 Bumper Jones - 0.00
6 1 69M Chris Shannon - 0.00
7 6 88 Chris Olexiewicz - 0.00
8 4 05X Ron Gould Jr - 0.00
9 7 10S Rick Spencer Tucson , Az 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 4
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 44 Christy Georges El Paso, Tx 0.00
2 6 3D Chad Ayers Tucson , Az 0.00
3 5 002 Rc Whitwell Tucson , Az 0.00
4 7 3DX Tim Donlinger - 0.00
5 1 1 Tom Campbell Tucson , Az 0.00
6 2 19SB Lance Mari - 0.00
7 3 23 Terry Haven - 0.00
8 8 75 Alan Sharpensteen - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 3
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 4 4R Dereck Ramirez - 0.00
2 5 20R Bryan Rowland - 0.00
3 6 131 Royal Jones - 0.00
4 9 3X Kelly Shryock - 0.00
5 7 18X Chase Junghans - 0.00
6 8 21F Kyle Sweeney - 0.00
7 1 2 Art Lacy - 0.00
8 2 21T Wade Simmons - 0.00
9 3 34H Roy Herron - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 2
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 2 121 Holly Jones - 0.00
2 4 44N Jason Noll - 0.00
3 7 9 Jimmy Ray Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
4 8 1ST Johnny Scott - 0.00
5 1 J17 Jacob Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
6 5 88N Nick O Neil Tucson , Az 0.00
7 9 E85 Jason Strand - 0.00
8 3 65 Tommy Myer - 0.00
9 6 43 Curt Barnett - 0.00
WHM Modifieds - Heat Race 1
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 50 Robert Adams Tucson , Az 0.00
2 4 18 Terry Belcher Jr Phoenix , Az 0.00
3 2 6 Dane Jorgenson Sierra Vista, Az 0.00
4 9 0 Jake O Neil - 0.00
5 6 G17 Fito Gallardo Las Cruces, Nm 0.00
6 8 20RT Ricky Thorton Jr. Chandler , Az 0.00
7 5 3J Josh Cain - 0.00
8 3 07 Jeff Thomas - 0.00
9 7 21G Brian Graf - 0.00
