COLCORD, Okla. — Four-time USMTS national champion Jason Hughes snapped a gut-wrenching winless streak of more than six years during opening night of the inaugural ARMI Contractors All-America Thursday night at Arrowhead Speedway.
It was six years, one month and six days ago when Hughes won his last main event with USMTS — a victory at the Cresco (Iowa) Speedway that clinched his fourth title.
Thursday’s win was the 156th of his career and ended a dry spell of 167 events with the USMTS.
Another chassis builder, Kyle Brown of Madrid, Iowa, earned the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award and steered his No. 21k Harris Auto Racing machine to the lead and paced the first three laps before the race’s first caution slowed the action.
When racing resumed, Hughes wasted no time in picking off both Brown and Carlos Ahumada Jr. to snag the lead on lap four.
By the 20th lap, Hughes had more than a straight-away advantage over Jake Timm—who had just muscled his way into second place—when the yellow flag waved for the second time when the leader’s son and track champion Trevor Hughes got the short end of the stick in a wheel-banger in turn three.
It was the last yellow flag of the race and final green before Hughes rolled underneath the flagstand with the lead when the white and checkered flags waved to collect the $3,000 top prize—the same amount he won for his last USMTS victory six years ago.
“I was pretty good up front and just trying to take it easy,” Hughes said. “I got up there and hit the wall, but I knew when we got that restart it was time to make the move and try to get out front.
“I think it rubbered quite a bit before I moved down, but I was still good enough up here, but I saw them start driving away from Zack (VanderBeek) so I said it’s time to move down. I didn’t mind seeing the yellow but I didn’t want to see (Trevor Hughes) sitting there. I know he had a pretty good car he had a good heat race and I wanted him racing up front with me.
The 49-year-old from nearby Watts, Okla., not only ended his long winless streak but also kept his hopes alive for a fifth USMTS crown.
“It’s been way too long,” Hughes said of his six-year drought. “We struggled for a while but the past little while we’ve had a really good car but not the luck it takes to win some of these races. But what better place to do it than right here at home.”
Fresh off a win at the 10th annual Summit USRA Nationals, Timm climbed from 10th on the starting grid to claim the runner-up honors with Tyler Wolff and rookie Gabe Hodges completing the top five.
The finish:
Jason Hughes, Jake Timm, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Tyler Wolff, Gabe Hodges, Rodney Sanders, Cayden Carter, Chad Wheeler, Kyle Brown, Steve Lavasseur, Chase Junghans, Terry Phillips, Jim Chisholm, Kale Westover, Lance Mari, Dan Ebert, Jake O’Neil, Dereck Ramirez, Tanner Mullens, Nathan Smith, Eddie Martin, Zack VanderBeek, Jeremy Nelson, Trevor Hughes, Darron Fuqua, Mike Hansen, Will Krup, Steve Holzkamper, Jared Russell, Gary Christian.