ARDMORE, Okla. — Points leader Jason Hughes of Westville, Okla., picked up his first O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series victory of the season Friday as 56 top-flight Modified teams duked it out in the inaugural USMTS event at Ronny Gould's Lake Country Speedway in Ardmore, Okla.

Hughes has been prolific in passing other cars this season, but had not been able to close the deal until Friday night. He passed 11 competitors to bring his total to 35 drivers passed in three main events this season, but it was almost just 10 cars passed on Friday night.

Jamie Burford of Keatchie, La., had the luck of the draw Friday night. He drew the outside of the front row for the first heat race (which he won), his number was drawn as the winner of a free American Racer racing tire and he drew the pole position for the 35-lap Holley "A" Main.

Burford led the first two laps of the feature race before giving way to fifth-starting Rodney Sanders. The 18-year-old high school senior from Happy, Texas, pulled out to a 10 car-length advantage over the next seven laps, but the tricky fourth turn bit Sanders on lap 9 as he spun to bring out the caution flag.

With Sanders tagging the rear of the field, Burford led the pack to the restart with Hughes, Paul White, Randy Timms and Steve Holzkamper giving chase. Burford's maintained a slight advantage for the next few laps before Hughes closed up on his rear bumper on lap 15 as the pair crossed beneath the flagstand side by side.

While drivers jockeyed for positions throughout the field, Hughes kept the heat on Burford. Hughes slipped underneath the leader on lap 19, but Burford returned the favor in the next corner. The pair continued their two-car battle for the next eight laps while Holzkamper began to close the gap.

After completing the 27th lap, Hughes found an opening on the low side of Burford in turn 1 but the two made contact exiting turn 2 with Hughes' tail bouncing over the hood of Burford's machine. The tussle between Hughes and Burford opened the door for Holzkamper as he scooted by on the inside to grab the top spot.

With five laps to go, the seventh yellow flag of the race waved with Holzkamper up front, Hughes second, Brandon Kenny third, White holding down fourth and Tommy Weder Jr. up to fifth after first-lap spin that put him to the rear of the 24-car field.

With two laps to go, Hughes moved to the outside of Holzkamper and the two veterans raced door-to-door for the rest of the race. Hughes edged ahead of Holzkamper to lead at the white flag, then executed a perfect final lap to pull off the victory and collect the $2,000 top prize.

Holzkamper, who captured the April 19 event at the Gator Motorplex in Willis, Texas, finished second, while Weder climbed to a third-place finish at the checkers. Kenny claimed fourth while White quietly scored a top-5 finish. Sixth through 10th were John O. Whittington, AFCO Pole Award winner Johnny Scott, Travis Penrod, Cody Smith and Kyle Pleasant.

With the win, Hughes extended his O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series points lead to 39 over Holzkamper (307 to 268). Weder jumped up to third in the standings with 257 points, while Pleasant is fourth (233) and Whittington fifth (232). Randy Timms came into the event second in points and had a top-5 run going in the main event before a broken suspension part side-lined his Childhelp-sponsored machine with a 23rd-place finish. Timms dropped to sixth in points with 227, followed by Morgan Bagley (211), Dustin Hyde (202), Kenny (196) and Smith (195).

Bo Rawdon's Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, Texas, is arguably the most popular dirt track for Modified racing in the Lone Star State, and will find the O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series chewing up the clay on Saturday night. The show gets underway with pit gates opening at 4 p.m. and grandstands open for general admission seating starting at 5 p.m. Hot laps are at 6:30 and the first green flag waves at 7 p.m.

Cowtown Speedway is a quarter-mile high-banked clay oval located off of I-20 at Exit 442-A, then 1.7 miles southeast on Mansfield Hwy., then 1.4 miles southwest on New Hope Rd.  Dwarf Cars, Limited Modifieds, Street Stocks and Bombers will also be running Saturday night. For day-of-race information, call 817-478-9952 or check out www.cowtownspeedway.com on the World Wide Web.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, call the headquarters at (515) 832-7944 or visit www.usmts.com online for the latest news and information from the USMTS — America's Hottest Ticket on Dirt.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
O’Reilly Auto Parts United States Modified Touring Series
O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series
Inaugural Event
Lake Country Speedway, Ardmore, Okla.
Friday, May 2, 2008

Showing finishing position, car number, driver, hometown and starting position in parentheses. The top 13 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the Holley “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

ISKY RACING CAMS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. 19 - Jamie Burford -- Keatchie, LA (2)
2. 2w - Paul White -- Temple, TX (6)
3. 5w - John O. Whittington -- Vidor, TX (8)
4. 18 - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (3)
5. 01 - Billy Robinson -- Blanchard, LA (4)
6. A1 - Phil Dixon -- Crosby, TX (9)
7. 66x - Mike Dillard -- Allen, TX (7)
8. 11x - Wesley Veal -- Princeton, TX (1)
9. C8 - Timothy Culp -- West Monroe, LA (5) DNF
10. 27g - Travis Gorbet -- Elreno, OK (10) DNS

NEW VISION GRAPHICS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (3)
2. 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (9)
3. 5t - Randy Timms -- Wheatland, OK (10)
4. 6x - Kyle Pleasant -- Robeline, LA (6)
5. 91b - Shawn Brassfield -- Ada, OK (8)
6. 30 - Chase Allen -- Midlothian, TX (5)
7. 17 - Brad Lasater -- Garland, TX (4)
8. 9n - Nathan Sugg -- Arlington, TX (1) DNF
9. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (7) DNF
10. 703 - David Smith -- Copperas Cove, TX (2) DNF

HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. 38r - Jeremy Ross -- Locust Grove, OK (2)
2. 56 - Troy Taylor Jr. -- Dallas, TX (1)
3. 31 - Elias Anderson -- Austin, TX (4)
4. 99 - Derick Grigsby -- Marshall, TX (3)
5. 135 - Richard Griffin -- Melissa, TX (8)
6. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (7)
7. 6 - Chad Reid -- Yukon, OK (5)
8. 2f - Greg Frazer -- Grand Prairie, TX (6) DNF
9. 7x - Chris Dawson -- Post, TX (9) DNS

HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. 1st - Johnny Scott -- Las Cruces, NM (6)
2. 82 - Brandon Houk -- Arlington, TX (8)
3. 12h - Jeff Huckaby -- Texarkana, TX (4)
4. 14x - Josh Landers -- Princeton, TX (3)
5. 15 - Curtis Allen -- Yukon, OK (2)
6. 9 - Shane Hebert -- Lafayette, LA (1)
7. 05 - Michael Robertson -- Minden, LA (5)
8. 21 - Kyle Sweeney -- Purcell, OK (9)
9. 858 - Eugene Stevens -- Achille, OK (7)

HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. 51 - Eddie Martin -- Stilwell, OK (2)
2. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- East Woodward, OK (4)
3. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (9)
4. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX (7)
5. 88xxx - Clyde Dunn Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (1)
6. 75 - Alan Sharpensteen -- Amarillo, TX (6)
7. 751 - Kevin Sustaire -- Emery, TX (3)
8. 55h - Buddy Honaker -- Davis, OK (8)
9. 13 - David Mitchell -- Ashdown, AR (5) DNF

HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (1)
2. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (4)
3. 17p - Travis Penrod -- Davis, OK (9)
4. 17 - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (5)
5. 5r - Bobby Malchus -- Red Oak, TX (6)
6. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (8)
7. 11 - Alan Oliva -- Moore, OK (3)
8. 5c - Lee Cranford -- Ada, OK (7)
9. 1 - Brett Frazier -- Haughton, LA (2) DNF

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- East Woodward, OK (1)
2. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (13)
3. 751 - Kevin Sustaire -- Emery, TX (10)
4. 31 - Elias Anderson -- Austin, TX (2)
5. 55h - Buddy Honaker -- Davis, OK (12)
6. 25 - Scott Green -- Derby, KS (7)
7. 6x - Kyle Pleasant -- Robeline, LA (3)
8. 11x - Wesley Veal -- Princeton, TX (11)
9. 01 - Billy Robinson -- Blanchard, LA (6)
10. 14x - Josh Landers -- Princeton, TX (5)
11. 17 - Brad Lasater -- Garland, TX (9)
12. 9 - Shane Hebert -- Lafayette, LA (8)
13. 703 - David Smith -- Copperas Cove, TX (15) DNF
14. 135 - Richard Griffin -- Melissa, TX (4) DNF
15. 13 - David Mitchell -- Ashdown, AR (14) DNS

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (1)
2. 17 - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (3)
3. 18 - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (4)
4. 5r - Bobby Malchus -- Red Oak, TX (5)
5. 15 - Curtis Allen -- Yukon, OK (6)
6. 75 - Alan Sharpensteen -- Amarillo, TX (8)
7. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (7)
8. 11 - Alan Oliva -- Moore, OK (10)
9. 5c - Lee Cranford -- Ada, OK (12) DNF
10. 1 - Brett Frazier -- Haughton, LA (14) DNF
11. 6 - Chad Reid -- Yukon, OK (9) DNF
12. 12h - Jeff Huckaby -- Texarkana, TX (2) DNF
13. 9n - Nathan Sugg -- Arlington, TX (11) DNS
14. 7x - Chris Dawson -- Post, TX (13) DNS

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (15 laps, top 3 advance):
1. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX (2)
2. 99 - Derick Grigsby -- Marshall, TX (4)
3. 91b - Shawn Brassfield -- Ada, OK (3)
4. A1 - Phil Dixon -- Crosby, TX (5)
5. 858 - Eugene Stevens -- Achille, OK (13)
6. 30 - Chase Allen -- Midlothian, TX (7)
7. 88xxx - Clyde Dunn Jr. -- Sunnyville, TX (6)
8. 21 - Kyle Sweeney -- Purcell, OK (10)
9. 27g - Travis Gorbet -- Elreno, OK (14)
10. 66x - Mike Dillard -- Allen, TX (8) DNF
11. C8 - Timothy Culp -- West Monroe, LA (12) DNF
12. 56 - Troy Taylor Jr. -- Dallas, TX (1) DNF
13. 05 - Michael Robertson -- Minden, LA (9) DNF
14. 2f - Greg Frazer -- Grand Prairie, TX (11) DNS

HOLLEY “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. 12 - Jason Hughes -- Westville, OK (12)
2. 5 - Steve Holzkamper -- Gentry, AR (8)
3. 02 - Tommy Weder Jr. -- Woodward, OK (15)
4. 21b - Brandon Kenny -- East Woodward, OK (14)
5. 2w - Paul White -- Temple, TX (2)
6. 5w - John O. Whittington -- Vidor, TX (13)
7. 1st - Johnny Scott -- Las Cruces, NM (7)
8. 17p - Travis Penrod -- Davis, OK (11)
9. 18 - Cody Smith -- Kaufman, TX (21)
10. 6x - Kyle Pleasant -- Robeline, LA (23)
11. 8j - Dustin Hyde -- Texarkana, TX (24)
12. 38r - Jeremy Ross -- Locust Grove, OK (4)
13. 89 - Steven Whiteaker Jr. -- Corpus Christi, TX (16)
14. 91b - Shawn Brassfield -- Ada, OK (22)
15. 751 - Kevin Sustaire -- Emery, TX (20)
16. 99 - Derick Grigsby -- Marshall, TX (19)
17. 20r - Bryan Rowland -- Woodward, OK (10) DNF
18. 51 - Eddie Martin -- Stilwell, OK (9) DNF
19. 19 - Jamie Burford -- Keatchie, LA (1) DNF
20. 20 - Rodney Sanders -- Happy, TX (5) DNF
21. 4r - Dereck Ramirez -- Woodward, OK (17) DNF
22. 82 - Brandon Houk -- Arlington, TX (3) DNF
23. 5t - Randy Timms -- Wheatland, OK (6) DNF
24. 17 - Morgan Bagley -- Longview, TX (18) DNF

Lap Leaders: Burford 1-2, Sanders 3-9, Burford 10-27, Holzkamper 28-33, Hughes 34-35.
Total Laps Led: Burford 20, Sanders 7, Holzkamper 6, Hughes 2.
AFCO Pole Award: Scott.
Provisional Starters: Pleasant, Hyde.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award: Weder (started 15th, finished 3rd).
Next Race: Saturday, May 3, Cowtown Speedway, Kennedale, Texas.
O’Reilly USMTS Southern Series Points: Hughes 307, Holzkamper 268, Weder 257, Pleasant 233, Whittington 232, Timms 227, Bagley 211, Hyde 202, Kenny 196, C. Smith 195.
Dustin Duncan Memorial “Just Say Yes” Rookie of the Year Points: Pleasant 57, Bagley 53, Whittington 53, Hyde 50, Mitchell 46.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer - Burford.
Belleville Motorsports – not awarded.
BSB Manufacturing - Pleasant.
Hawk Performance - Hughes, C. Smith.
Isky Racing Cams – Burford.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Bagley.
New Vision Graphics - Sanders.
Nitroquest Web Solutions - Weder.
Quarter Master – Hughes.
QuickTime Performance Parts – Scott.
Real Racing Wheels – Kenny, Weder, Whiteaker.

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TITLE SPONSOR: O’Reilly Auto Parts.

PRESENTING SPONSOR: Casey’s General Stores.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Race Tires, Arizona Sport Shirts, Awesome Race Suits, Bear Tire Company, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Childhelp, Gressel Racing, Houston Specialty Products Co., KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, New Vision Graphics, Nitroquest Web Solutions, Q.E.M., Inc., TrackTek Racing Fuel, Western Flyer Xpress.

PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Boom Drilling, Day Motor Sports, Kraft/Ramirez Race Cars, Olympic Fire Protection, Rookies Rockin’ Sports Bar, Ruter Farms, Yeager Machine.

CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Belleville Motorsports, Bert Transmission, BSB Manufacturing, COMP Cams, Duralite Racing Wheels, Dynatech Racing Exhaust, GRT Race Cars, Hawk Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hyperco, ISKY Racing Cams, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Quarter Master, QuickTime Performance Race Parts, Real Racing Wheels, US Brake.