WESTERN STATES MODIFIEDS Race Results Thursday, Friday, Saturday September 27th, 28th, 29th WESTERN STATES MODIFIEDS Hughes takes 20 grand back to Oklahoma after winning U.S. Western Modified Nationals By Gary Thomas Tulare, CA - September 29, 2007...After making a miraculous charge from 20th to 2nd during the opening day preliminary main event held Friday afternoon, Colcord, Oklahoma?s Jason Hughes came back on Saturday and led the final 25 laps of the A-main to become the first winner of the $20,000 to win U.S. Western Modified Nationals. The driver of the Boom Drilling, Hughes Chassis No. 12h started from the inside of the second row on Saturday evening and played his cards right to get up into the top spot and held off a late charge by Salinas driver Bobby Hogge IV to pick up the huge win at the 1/3 mile clay oval Thunderbowl Raceway. The 40 lap U.S. Western Modified Nationals main event presented by Budweiser began with the two preliminary night winners sharing the front row. On the pole was this year?s Western States Modified champion & prelim race #1 winner Tim Balding from Prunedale, CA; and on the outside was Batesville, Arkansas racer Richie Tosh who picked up the win in preliminary main event #2. When the green flag was waved by starter Willie Williams it was Tosh who jumped out into the lead aboard the Jeremy Newberry owned No. 62n. Tosh was shadowed by Balding however, and on lap five Balding would make the move off the second corner to claim the lead, but a caution would appear immediately thereafter and it put Tosh back into the top spot. A couple more laps would be completed after going back green, before a red flag flew on lap seven. The restart order saw Tosh leading Balding, Jay Note Boom, Hughes and Kellen Chadwick who rounded out the top five. This is when Hughes made his move to the front as he took third from Note Boom on lap eight and dispatched of Balding for the runner up spot on the 11th circuit. There was no doubt that Hughes was the fastest car on the track at this point and he closed in quickly on Tosh. After running side by side on a couple different occasions, Hughes made the move in turn three to take over the top spot on lap 15. Balding followed suit and was also able to get by Tosh for second before Tosh slowed to a stop on lap 16 with a flat tire to end his bid at the $20,000. The rest of the race saw Hughes have to deal with a handful of more caution periods which kept the rest of the field glued to his back bumper. Hogge IV made his presence known on lap 23 as he carved his way into the second spot and looked like he might have had something for the leader of the race. Hogge applied heavy pressure to the back of Hughes as the laps ticked off, but both competitors ran each other clean and showed a lot of respect for one another. Before the final caution of the night flew on lap 35, the battle for the lead had heated up and featured the top four cars running tightly bunched as they put on a great show for the lead. With a clear track ahead it made it tough task for Hogge and the rest of the field, but the Salinas driver gave it all he had with just a handful of laps remaining. Hughes remained committed to the high side in turns three and four as Hoggue IV stuck to the low side. When the white flag was unveiled from the starter Hughes held a three to four car length advantage over second and as he rounded the final set of corners, Hoggue tried a final last ditch effort, but it came up short and Hughes took the checkered flag to pick up the first U.S. Western Modified Nationals. Hogge IV finished a very respectable second to earn $10,000 and the podium was rounded out by Hughes' teammate Tommy Weder Jr. from Woodward, OK. The Oklahoma team took home a whopping $25,000 for the evening of competition. Oakley, CA?s Kellen Chadwick finished the main event in fourth and 20th starter Alan Sharpensteen from Amarillo, TX completed the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Bumper Jones, Balding, Rich Denman, Robert Miller and Steve Arpin. A total of 16 out of state drivers qualified for the A-main event on Saturday night. The first ever U.S. Western Modified Nationals tire change challenge was held on Saturday afternoon and the $500 top prize sponsored by MTZ was won by the team of Chris Ennis. Showing great generosity the team donated $200 back to the Make A Wish Foundation. The weekend as a whole was a learning experience for all involved and although there were some rocky moments, there were some very good ones as well and great racing was seen throughout the three days. With a few tweaks in the program, the U.S. Western Modified Nationals has the potential to become a huge dirt modified event and one of the biggest best in the country. Steve Faria and the Thunderbowl Raceway track crew have to be commended for their hard work in getting the track in excellent shape for Friday and Saturday?s racing program. For more on the event log onto http://www.westernracer.com Next up for the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway will be the Dave Helm Memorial on Saturday October 13 featuring the World of Outlaw Sprint Series. Tickets are going fast so call soon to get a seat for all the action. The number to call is 559-688-0909 and for more info visit http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com 2nd Place Bobby Hogge IV - Winner Jason Hughes - 3rd Tommy Weder Jr. Jason Hughes in Victory Lane Photos by Paul Trevino Balding & Tosh win prelim features at U.S. Western Modified Nationals By Gary Thomas Tulare, CA - September 28, 2007... The first U.S. Western Modified Nationals went green on Thursday evening with a multitude of dirt modifieds in the pit area at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. Over the last month 50 truck loads of new clay have been added to the surface at the Thunderbowl and the new clay was being temperamental on opening night. Various rough spots had developed throughout the racing surface, which forced the decision to be made that after the heats to postpone the rest of the program until Friday morning. There were ten 15 lap heat races held on Thursday night however, and they were captured by RC Whitwall, Greg Mancebo, Jim Pettit II, Tim Balding, Alan Sharpensteen, Rich Denman, Mark Abouzeid, Ryan Mcdaniel, Johnny Scott and Larry Hood. Each heat race winner automatically moved into the preliminary main event to be held Friday afternoon. Everyone came back early in the morning on Friday to fine tune their machines and get ready to finish up the Thursday program. Race cars hit the track at about noon for wheel packing and the difference in the surface was night and day. What had been a fast and rough 1/3 mile clay oval on Thursday, was now smooth and slick, which made for some interesting racing during the morning/afternoon action to complete Thursday?s slate of racing. The drivers that posses great throttle control came forward and it really showed as traction was hard to come by just like it usually is during a day race. After giving drivers and teams some hot lap sessions the action got underway with five 15 lap last chance semis and a 20 lap main event to be held. The top two finishers in each semi transferred to the preliminary main event and transfers included Stormy Scott & Chris Shannon from semi one, Tommy Weder Jr. & Jason Hughes from semi two, Ricky Tosh & Richard Papenhousen from semi three, Brad Pounds & Jeff Decker from the fourth semi, and the final two transfers into the feature were Bobby Hogue IV & Jesse Williamson. All of Thursday?s heat winners drew for starting positions 1-10 and the transfers from the semis drew for positions 11-20. Drivers that finished among the top eight in the main event were automatically locked into Saturday?s 40 lap main event. The 20 lap feature started out with Texan Alan Sharpensteen jumping out into the lead aboard the No. 75 machine. It didn?t last long however, as Sharpensteen got loose off turn four on lap three and it allowed Arizona driver R.C. Whitwall to take the lead. Whitwall held the top spot until he slowed on lap 11, which handed the lead to Prunedale, CA?s Tim Balding. On lap 14 the action heated up as 14th starting Bobby Hogge IV from Salinas and 20th starting Jason Hughes from Oklahoma, made it a three car battle for the lead. Hogge IV was able to get side by side with Balding in turn two on lap 14, but just like that Hughes got a great run in turn three to claim second from Hogge. Hughes then went after Balding and got next to him on lap 17, but a caution flag flew on lap 17 to slow the party down. With just a few laps left, Balding was able to hold off Hughes on the restart to pick up the opening preliminary main event win. Also joining Balding in the feature for Saturday night were Hughes, Hogge IV, Jessee Williamson, Jim Pettit II, Tom Weder, Stormy Scott and Brad Pounds. Following the main event the grandstand and pit area were swept and once everyone got back in, the action was set to start for Friday evenings program. The top eight drivers from the afternoon feature didn?t have to participate in the Friday evening portion of the U.S. Western Modified Nationals, but everyone else came back to try and lock themselves into the $20,000 to win main event. The heat races on Friday night were switched to 10 laps and a one stop rule was put into affect to try and help with the time constraints since we weren?t able to start the evening portion until after 5:30. Once again however, 10 heat races were held and they were won on this night by Scott Pounds, Jay Note Boom, Bill Smith, Rich Denman, Jon DiBenedetti, Jimmy Reeves, Kellen Chadwick, Royal Jones, Robert Miller and Richie Tosh. Semi winners from the evening included Ryan Mcdaniel, Brad Coehlo, Jason Noll, Wayne Brooks and Curt Barnett. The 20 lap prelim night two main event saw Batesville, Arkansas driver Richie Tosh lead every lap from his outside front row starting spot. Tosh was driving a modified owned by Oakland Raiders player Jeremy Newberry and he was never seriously challenged during the 20 laps of action. Some of the best racing was for the second position and it was Jay Note Boom who claimed the position after having an intense battle all race long with third place finisher Kellen Chadwick and fourth place Royal Jones. Fifth through eighth went to Paul Stone, Steve Arpin, Robert Miller and Rich Denman. The hard chargers from the two main events held during the day were Jason Huges (20th to 2nd in race 1) and Paul Stone (18th to 5th in race 2). Each driver received $125 for their efforts courtesy of Little Darlins. The racetrack was absolutely fantastic on Friday night and many agreed it was one of the best of the season. Add that together with a very efficiently run program and it made for a great night of racing that ended well before the 11 pm state mandated curfew. More Info, Results & Photos at WesternRacer.com Return to Racing Results Index