Tommy Weder Jr. captured the checkered flag and $2,000 top prize Saturday night, Feb. 26, at the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. The top five finishers (from left to right): Jason Krohn, Tommy Myer, Weder, Jimmy Ray and Jason Grimes.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- To the start of the 35 lap A-Main on night #2 of the USRA Modified Winter Meltdown at the Southern New Mexico Speedway with Tommy Weder Jr. and Kelly Estey leading the field.

Jumping into the race lead, the Boom Drilling/Hughes Chassis 02 of Tommy Weder Jr. would set the tone on the night's A-Main, pulling away from the field as the battle began to heat up for the runner up spot.

Running third, Blooming Prairie, Minnesota racer Tommy Myer would battle door to door with Kelly Estey, eventually taking over the runner up spot. Unable to hold the bottom of the Southern New Mexico Speedway, the 37 of Estey would have his hands full trying to maintain a spot in the top five as the 7k of Jason Krohn moved into third.

With the bottom of the track figured out, Las Cruces, NM veteran Jimmy Ray would wheel his MVT/AOS Chassis 9 from his seventh starting position into a battle with the 99g of Jason Grimes for fifth. Working side by side, the Jamestown, ND racer held off the 9 of Ray before the Speedway co-owner was able to move by the 99g of Grimes and the 37 of Estey to take over forth.

With a late race caution bringing the field into the Delaware Double File Restart, Tommy Weder Jr. would see a nearly twelve car lead diminished to nothing but as the green flag flew, the Woodward, OK racer wasted no time in getting back up to speed as the 02 pulled away, leaving the 65 of Myer to contend with the 7k of Krohn and the 9 of Ray.

After starting fourteenth on the field, Friday night winner Terry Phillips had worked into the top ten, making the pass into seventh and setting his sights on sixth place running Darrell Nelson, who had started twelfth in the Big'uns Southwest Services 110.

With the Pepsi/MVT scoreboard showing one lap to go, Weder Jr. had again extended his lead over Myer to twelve car lengths, using lapped traffic to score his first preliminary night win in the USRA Modified Winter Meltdown; a victory worth $2,000. Tommy Myer would cross the line second, improving from his fifth place run the night before. Jason Krohn would grab third with Jimmy Ray forth; holding off several charges by Jason Grimes who rounded out the top five.

With Terry Phillips and Tommy Weder Jr. each $2,000 richer, the battle for the big check is now set with the 16th annual USRA Modified Winter Meltdown concluding Sunday February 27, 2011 with someone walking away with $20,000 in their pocket. Grandstands open at Noon with racing getting underway at 2:00pm MST.

The 16th running of the USRA Winter Meltdown and 5th Chub Daniels Memorial is presented by Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border International Trucks Sales, and Barnett's Harley Davidson of El Paso and Las Cruces. Media partners include the Las Cruces Sun News, Radio of Las Cruces, and ModFury.com.

Previous Champions of the USRA Winter Meltdown include Don Veal (1995), Eddie Martin (1996), Danny Bradford (1997), Monte Bolton (1998), Ron Jones (1999-2001, 2003, 2007), Terry Tipton (2002), George White (2004), Johnny Scott (2006), Terry Phillips (2009), Jason Hughes (2005, 2008, 2010).

The Southern New Mexico Speedway is located 11 miles west of Las Cruces at the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds. Take exit 132 off I-10 to the South Frontage Road (Robert Larson Blvd.) then head west. For turn by turn directions, log onto www.snmspeedway.com/maps.php.

To keep up on all the happenings at the Southern New Mexico Speedway, sign up for the Speedway's E-News Letter by logging onto www.snmspeedway.com and entering your e-mail address in the box on the upper right hand side of the hope page. You can also sign up by simply texting the word Speedway to 22828 on your cell phone.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USRA Weekly Racing Series
16th Annual USRA Winter Meltdown – Night 2 of 3
Southern New Mexico Speedway, Las Cruces, N.M.
Saturday, February 26, 2011

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.

HEAT RACE #1:
1. (2) 20R Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla.
2. (5) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
3. (4) 555 Chad Falco, El Paso, Texas.
4. (11) 4 Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
6. (6) 7 Marlyn Seidler, Northwood, N.D.
7. (10) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (3) 13 Ryan Engels, Arlington, S.D.
9. (9) 77 Jason Haug, Salida, Colo.
10. (1) 18z Zane Devilbiss, Farmington, N.M.
11. (8) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz.

HEAT RACE #2:
1. (3) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D.
2. (8) 37 Kelly Estey, Hibbing, Minn.
3. (5) 121 Holly Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (2) 189 Matt Petrell, Oakley, Calif.
5. (4) 45x Todd Budlong, Albuquerque, N.M.
6. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
7. (6) 61 Bobby Sikes Jr., Eunice, N.M.
8. (6) 98 Alex Stanford, Chowchilla, Calif.
9. (9) 17m Roy Mason, Hobbs, N.M.
10. (10) 2 Greg Jenkins, Hobbs, N.M.
11. (1) 82 Sherman Barnett, El Paso, Texas.

HEAT RACE #3:
1. (2) 5t Jeff Taylor, Cave City, Ark.
2. (8) 99g Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D.
3. (10) 97 Ron Schreiner, Hudson, Wis.
4. (11) 7L Rick Lovelady, Amarillo, Texas.
5. (5) 16 Bob Sikes, Eunice, N.M.
6. (3) 71h Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
7. (6) 19sb Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
8. (7) 71 Donald Gorham, El Paso, Texas.
9. (9) 29 Mercedes Harris, Deming, N.M.
10. (4) 22 John Calvert Jr., Rio Rancho, N.M.
11. (1) 66 Sam Alonso, El Paso, Texas.

HEAT RACE #4:
1. (6) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
2. (7) 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla.
3. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (3) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
5. (4) 5c Patrick Carney, El Paso, Texas.
6. (1) 06p Owen Puckett, Artesia, N.M.
7. (5) 3t Brady Coen, Wiley, Colo.
8. (10) 74 David McDaniel, Sanger, Texas.
9. (9) 28r Randy Reeser, Clovis, N.M.
10. (2) 24 Rick Ortega, Las Cruces, N.M.

HEAT RACE #5:
1. (2) 83 Kellen Chadwick, Oakley, Calif.
2. (6) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn.
3. (8) 0 Jake O'Neil, Vail, Ariz.
4. (5) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (3) 3 Dickie Gorham, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (1) X57 Richie Davis, Springerville, Ariz.
7. (9) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, N.M.
8. (7) 99x Triston Sikes, Hobbs, N.M.
9. (4) 0 Chris Sims, Las Cruces, N.M.
10. (10) 89 Roger Owens, El Paso, Texas.

HEAT RACE #6:
1. (4) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (3) 44 Christy Georges, El Paso, Texas.
3. (9) 110 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn.
4. (10) 121s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (8) 88c Brian Clark, Tucson, Ariz.
6. (6) 20r Robbie Chiles, Hooper, Colo.
7. (1) 16 Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
8. (2) 999 James Fleming, Silver City, N.M.
9. (5) 13x Vanessa Robinson, Las Cruces, N.M.
10. (7) 76 Michael Ford Jr., Los Lunas, N.M.

“B” MAIN #1 (top 4 advance):
1. (1) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
2. (4) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (2) 4 Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (5) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
5. (8) 71h Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas, $75.
6. (7) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, $75.
7. (17) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz., $75.
8. (10) 19sb Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., $75.
9. (11) 74 David McDaniel, Sanger, Texas, $75.
10. (14) 28r Randy Reeser, Clovis, N.M., $75.
11. (15) 18z Zane Devilbiss, Farmington, N.M., $75.
12. (13) 77 Jason Haug, Salida, Colo., $75.
13. (12) 71 Donald Gorham, El Paso, Texas, $75.
14. (9) 20r Robbie Chiles, Hooper, Colo., $75.
15. (16) 24 Rick Ortega, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.
16. (6) 16 Bob Sikes, Eunice, N.M., $75.
17. (3) 121s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.

“B” MAIN #2 (top 4 advance):
1. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (4) 88c Brian Clark, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (3) 121 Holly Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
5. (9) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, N.M., $75.
6. (15) 2 Greg Jenkins, Hobbs, N.M., $75.
7. (13) 17m Roy Mason, Hobbs, N.M., $75.
8. (6) 5c Patrick Carney, El Paso, Texas, $75.
9. (10) 3t Brady Coen, Wiley, Colo., $75.
10. (14) 0 Chris Sims, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.
11. (11) 13 Ryan Engels, Arlington, S.D., $75.
12. (17) 82 Sherman Barnett, El Paso, Texas, $75.
13. (2) 7L Rick Lovelady, Amarillo, Texas, $75.
14. (8) 06p Owen Puckett, Artesia, N.M., $75.
15. (12) 99x Triston Sikes, Hobbs, N.M., $75.
16. (7) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.
17. (16) 89 Roger Owens, El Paso, Texas, $75.

“B” MAIN #3 (top 4 advance):
1. (1) 0 Jake O'Neil, Vail, Ariz.
2. (2) 44 Christy Georges, El Paso, Texas.
3. (11) 98 Alex Stanford, Chowchilla, Calif.
4. (7) 7 Marlyn Seidler, Northwood, N.D.
5. (6) 3 Dickie Gorham, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.
6. (12) 999 James Fleming, Silver City, N.M., $75.
7. (14) 13x Vanessa Robinson, Las Cruces, N.M., $75.
8. (8) X57 Richie Davis, Springerville, Ariz., $75.
9. (13) 29 Mercedes Harris, Deming, N.M., $75.
10. (16) 76 Michael Ford Jr., Los Lunas, N.M., $75.
11. (10) 16 Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif., $75.
12. (3) 555 Chad Falco, El Paso, Texas, $75.
13. (5) 45x Todd Budlong, Albuquerque, N.M., $75.
14. (9) 61 Bobby Sikes Jr., Eunice, N.M., $75.
15. (15) 22 John Calvert Jr., Rio Rancho, N.M., $75.
16. (4) 189 Matt Petrell, Oakley, Calif., $75.
17. (17) 66 Sam Alonso, El Paso, Texas, $75.

“A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (2) 02 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., $2000.
2. (3) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., $1500.
3. (6) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., $1000.
4. (7) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M., $800.
5. (4) 99g Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D., $700.
6. (12) 110 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn., $600.
7. (14) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., $500.
8. (5) 97 Ron Schreiner, Hudson, Wis., $400.
9. (13) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M., $300.
10. (9) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., $200.
11. (19) 4 Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., $150.
12. (8) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., $150.
13. (15) 0 Jake O'Neil, Vail, Ariz., $150.
14. (23) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, $150.
15. (17) 88c Brian Clark, Tucson, Ariz., $150.
16. (21) 98 Alex Stanford, Chowchilla, Calif., $150.
17. (22) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas, $150.
18. (1) 37 Kelly Estey, Hibbing, Minn., $150.
19. (11) 83 Kellen Chadwick, Oakley, Calif., $150.
20. (10) 5t Jeff Taylor, Cave City, Ark., $150.
21. (20) 121 Holly Jones, Las Cruces, N.M., $150.
22. (24) 7 Marlyn Seidler, Northwood, N.D., $150.
23. (18) 44 Christy Georges, El Paso, Texas, $150.
24. (16) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M., $150.

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