AMARILLO, Texas (May 6) — After just barely making the cut for the main event in his heat race, Ryan Gustin rallied from the 11th starting spot to register his 81st career USMTS victory Saturday night during the 8th Annual Amarillo Ambush at the Route 66 Motor Speedway.

Gustin’s teammate, Jason Hughes, garnered the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award and set the pace for the first dozen trips around the 3/8-mile high-banked clay oval outside of Amarillo, Texas.

Lapped traffic played havoc with Hughes early on which allowed Stormy Scott to quickly close the gap and challenge the three-time USMTS national champ for the lead.

As they completed lap 12, Scott edged even with Hughes at the flagstand. With Scott to his inside, Hughes went upstairs to try and dispose of the troublesome back-marker.

Sliding up in front of the leader, Hughes made contact that sent the lapped car spinning into the path of Scott. The melee, which also collected Chris Brown, sent Hughes to the rear of the field, Scott to the infield and Brown to the point for the restart.

Gustin, who sat seventh before the caution, inherited the fifth spot and immediately blasted into third after the restart. ‘The Reaper’ sped past R.C. Whitwell three laps later and set his sights on Brown.

With 18 laps in the books, Gustin pulled alongside Brown coming out of turn four. He took the lead on lap 20 only to have Brown regain the advantage for the next two laps.

After a side-by-side battle that lasted nearly ten laps, Gustin pulled in front for good on lap 23 and proceeded to pull away over the final 17 laps to collect the $3,000 top prize.

Brown, meanwhile, had his hands full with Whitwell over the final ten laps, eventually settling for third behind the current Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year points leader.

After posting a season-best fourth-place finish one day earlier in Lubbock, Texas, Joe ‘Big Daddy’ Duvall climbed nine spots to repeat the feat Saturday night and earn the Wehrs Machine & Racing Products “Trick Move” of the Race Award.

Austin Bonner finished fifth for his career-best finish in USMTS competition, and Zane DeVilbiss passed 14 cars en route to a sixth-place finish and the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.

Dereck Ramirez wound up seventh, Hughes clawed his way back to salvage an eighth-place finish, local veteran Dee Gossett nabbed the ninth spot and Zack VanderBeek rounded out the top ten at the finish line.

Despite a disappointing 11th-place result, Cade Dillard remains atop the points standings as the series heads into the home stretch for the Summit Racing Southern Region presented by Production Jars.

Next up for the modified maniacs of the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental is a four-night, four-track swing through Texas to wrap up the Summit Racing Southern Region campaign for 2017.

Action kicks off on Wednesday, May 10, at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Elm Mott, followed by a Thursday night gig at the Superbowl Speedway in Greenville. Friday takes the rugged USMTS road warriors to the Kennedale Speedway Park and the curtain closes in Kilgore at the Lonestar Speedway on Saturday.

All four events pay $3,000 to win. The Summit Racing Southern Region champion will earn $10,000 while all drivers ranked among the top 15 in points-along with any others with perfect attendance in the region-are locked in for this year’s Hunt for the Casey’s USMTS National Championship which carries a $25,000 payoff for the 2017 titlist.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental – Summit Racing Southern Region presented by Production Jars
8th Annual Amarillo Ambush
Route 66 Motor Speedway, Amarillo, Texas
Saturday. May 6, 2017

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas.
2. (4) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (5) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
4. (1) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
5. (7) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn.
6. (3) 99n Matt Newkirk, Amarillo, Texas.
7. (6) 23g Jim Gress, Amarillo, Texas.
8. (8) 11m Mark Myers, Clovis, N.M.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 12b Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark.
2. (4) 10 Dee Gossett, Amarillo, Texas.
3. (8) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
4. (2) 9 Vince Lucas, Elk City, Okla.
5. (6) 18z Zane DeVilbiss (R), Farmington, N.M.
6. (5) 78 Trevor Egbert, Salado, Texas.
7. (7) 47x Knick Stewart, Amarillo, Texas.
8. (3) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (3) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz.
2. (2) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (4) 7 A.J. Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
4. (1) 2x Gene Weaver, Amarillo, Texas.
5. (5) F4 Fred Wojtek, Blackwell, Texas.
6. (6) 55 Braden Woods, Amarillo, Texas.
7. (7) 80 David Yanacsek, Amarillo, Texas.

THE JOIE OF SEATING HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (3) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
4. (7) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
5. (1) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (5) 88r A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich.
7. (2) 77 Ronnie Yanacsek, Amarillo, Texas.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
2. (3) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn.
3. (5) 99n Matt Newkirk, Amarillo, Texas.
4. (2) 9 Vince Lucas, Elk City, Okla.
5. (6) 55 Braden Woods, Amarillo, Texas.
6. (4) F4 Fred Wojtek, Blackwell, Texas.
7. (7) 23g Jim Gress, Amarillo, Texas, GRT/McCabe, $75.
8. (9) 11M Mark Myers, Clovis, N.M., MBCustom/PPE, $75.
9. (8) 80 David Yanacsek, Amarillo, Texas, Hughes/Sanders, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (2) 2x Gene Weaver, Amarillo, Texas.
2. (1) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
3. (4) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
4. (3) 18z Zane DeVilbiss (R), Farmington, N.M.
5. (5) 78 Trevor Egbert, Salado, Texas.
6. (9) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark.
7. (6) 88R A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich., LG2/Farris, $75.
8. (7) 77 Ronnie Yanacsek, Amarillo, Texas, Rocket/PPE, $75.
DNS – 47x Knick Stewart, Amarillo, Texas, Smiley’s/Herring, $75.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (11) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $3000.
2. (5) 96 R.C. Whitwell (R), Tucson, Ariz., MBCustom/Hatfield, 40, $1700.
3. (8) 21 Chris Brown, Spring, Texas, MBCustom/Durham, 40, $1200.
4. (13) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustom/Hatfield, 40, $1000.
5. (2) 21 Austin Bonner, Elk City, Okla., GRT/Knowles, 40, $800.
6. (20) 18z Zane DeVilbiss (R), Farmington, N.M., DeVilbiss/DeVilbiss, 40, $800.
7. (10) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 40, $700.
8. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $650.
9. (7) 10 Dee Gossett, Amarillo, Texas, GRT/Carroll’s, 40, $500.
10. (9) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput’s, 40, $550.
11. (6) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustom/ASI, 40, $500.
12. (3) 12b Johnny Bone Jr., Pea Ridge, Ark., Shaw/Yeoman, 40, $375.
13. (22) 78 Trevor Egbert, Salado, Texas, GRT/Mullins, 40, $425.
14. (19) 9 Vince Lucas, Elk City, Okla., Shaw/KSE, 40, $325.
15. (18) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 40, $375.
16. (23) 4w Tyler Wolff (R), Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustom/Hatfield, 40, $350.
17. (24) F4 Fred Wojtek, Blackwell, Texas, Hughes/Wegner, 40, $250.
18. (15) 1s Travis Saurer (R), Elizabeth, Minn., MBCustom/Dakota, 29, $400.
19. (14) 2x Gene Weaver, Amarillo, Texas, GRT/PPE, 27, $250.
20. (17) 99n Matt Newkirk, Amarillo, Texas, Hughes/Willie, 22, $250.
21. (12) 7 A.J. Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas, SRP/PPE, 14, $250.
22. (4) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/Mullins, 12, $400.
23. (16) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas, SRP/GMPP, 10, $250.
24. (21) 55 Braden Woods, Amarillo, Texas, Hughes/Carroll’s, 7, $250.

(R) = Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year contender.

Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-12, Brown 13-19, Gustin 20, Brown 21-22, Gustin 23-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 19, Hughes 12, Brown 9.
Margin of Victory: 3.544 seconds.
Time of Race: 22 minutes, 13.086 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: DeVilbiss (started 20th, finished 6th).
Entries: 30.
Next Race: Wednesday, May 10, Heart O’ Texas Speedway, Elm Mott, Texas.
Summit Racing Equipment Southern Region Points: Dillard 1554, Hughes 1507, Gustin 1505, Brown 1487, Scott 1408, VanderBeek 1386, Ramirez 1342, Saurer 1281, Whitwell 1270, Ricky Thornton Jr. 1264.
Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Points: Whitwell 1478, Wolff 1351, Saurer 1275, Kates 993, Billy Vogel 929.
Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 201, Durham 166, ASI 154, Sput’s 137, Hatfield 126.
Manufacturers Championship Points: Hughes 200, MBCustoms 194, GRT 181, VanderBuilt 141, LG2 139.

Contingency Awards:
Allstar Performance – Hughes.
American Racer – Gossett.
Beyea Custom Headers – Gossett.
BigDeal Car Care – Gustin.
BSB Manufacturing – A.J. Sharpensteen.
Chix Gear Racewear – Bonner.
Day Motor Sports – Alan Sharpensteen, Woods.
Deatherage Opticians – Bonner.
Dickson Racing Shocks – Kates.
E3 Spark Plugs – Brown.
Edelbrock – Whitwell.
Fast Shafts – Bone.
Forty9Designs.com – Lucas, Weaver.
Fuel Safe Racing Cells – DeVilbiss.
GRT Race Cars – Weaver.
Hooker Custom Harness – Egbert.
Integra Shocks & Springs – Saurer.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – Wojtek.
Keyser Manufacturing – VanderBeek.
KSE Racing Products – DeVilbiss.
Out-Pace Racing Products – Wolff.
QA1 – Gustin.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
Simpson Performance Products – Brown.
Sweet Manufacturing – Scott.
Sybesma Graphics – Hughes.
Tire Demon – Dillard.
VP Racing Fuels – Gustin.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Duvall.
Wilwood Engineering – Ramirez.