Torres scores twice at I-37 Speedway
Johnny Torres won the USRA Limited Mod main event.
After more than five inches of rain on Wednesday and Thursday, the show on Saturday night at the I-37 Speedway was in doubt due to soggy conditions. After saving one race earlier in the season, the track crew once again did tons of work just to get the show in.
Despite the day-long efforts and reblading the track twice during the night, the track still became an issue. After a grinding crash in the Sunoco USRA Factory Stock feature—which actually had little to do with track conditions—officials decided to call it a night.
Torres tallies again: After losing a motor two weeks ago in the USRA Limited Mod win, Johnny Torres of La Vernia borrowed a powerplant from Rick Pollaro that carried him to another win. As the green waved on the 20-lap feature it was Robby Minten first to turn 1, but nephew Ryan Doyon had the drive off the bottom of turn 2 to take the point. Minten, J.J. Jennings, Torres and Steve Whiteaker Jr. lined up behind Doyon.
Minten brought out an early yellow when he slapped the front-stretch wall and stalled. On the restart, Torres got by Jennings for second and was quickly on Doyon for the lead. Doyon and Torres were side by side on lap 3 with Torres getting the nose out front on lap 4. Torres finally cleared Doyon while Whiteaker took third from Jennings.
Brian Harbison brought out a yellow after spinning to a stop on the back stretch causing Sterling Tausch to use pit out to escape contact. Once back to green, Whiteaker took second from Doyon and gave Torres a quick look for the lead. Behind the leaders, Cody Beddoe and Dustin Butcher were swapping fourth.
At the crossed flags it was Torres inching away with Whiteaker, Doyon, Butcher and Beddoe in the top five. Doyon tried to retake second from Whiteaker giving Torres a little breathing room as he hit slower traffic with five to go. With two to go, Torres got slowed by a lapped car giving Whiteaker an opportunity to close in a bit.
Once clear, Torres was able to rebuild a margin on Whiteaker and go on to take the victory in the Scott Ball Racing/Sundowner Performance Diesel/Alamo Hot Rod Parts/8T1 Construction/All-In Designs/RNMInstall.com/South Texas Speedway/Carroll Construction/Billy Bob's Truck Repair/Swenson Racing Shocks/Mission Racing Engines/IRP Chassis.
“I feel like this car is too fast to be sitting in the shop,” said Torres. “I would like to thank Rick Pollaro for letting me use his motor.”
Torres takes two: After taking the USRA Limited Mod win, Johnny Torres picked up win number two of the night being awarded the win in the shortened Sunoco USRA Factory Stock feature presented by All-In Designs. As the 22-car field took the green it was G.W. Hessong and Mike Lyon staying door-to-door until Hessong got run off the bottom of turn 2 to get the spot. Torres got by Lyon, who fell in line in third, chased by Josh Sewell and Jerry Miller.
Torres got alongside, and then passed Hessong to lead lap 2 with Cameron Dinsmore getting squeezed into the wall going four-wide with Charles Earnhardt, Jarrett Payton and Kyle Kirkland. All continued without caution. A debris caution on lap 4 slowed the action with Dustin Hurley and Wade Jones getting past Miller on the restart.
A restart cone got kicked onto the track for another quick yellow. Back to green the top three cleared the pack that was three wide from fourth on back. As the leaders crossed the line at halfway showing Torres, Hessong, Lyon, Sewell and Hurley in the top five, Wade Jones got turned into the front stretch wall after contact with Jerry Miller.
This set up a hard hitting, grinding crash that caught up Dinsmore, Kirkland, Michael Keylich, Jesse Sandoval and a couple others that had minor contact. Miller was knocked out briefly when EMT personnel arrived on scene. He was able to wave to the crowd while being extricated and loaded for transport. Everyone else was sore, but alright and a couple cars were junked.
If that wasn't enough, while everyone was stopped under red on the back-stretch, a small fire broke out which Ata-Bexar Fire Department extinguished. With the time, length of clean up and ever deteriorating track conditions, officials decided to call the race complete and end the night totally. People were given discount coupons for a future race.
With the race called complete, Torres went home with the victory in the Preferred Motors/Scott Ball Racing/Batek & Robinson Law Offices/Mission Auto Parts/Lazer Chassis.
“Scott Ball and Todd Robinson bought this Lazer car to run in the Beginner Factory class and I’m having a blast with it,” Torres said. “I’d like to thank them for trusting me with it.”
With the cancellation, USRA Tuners were not able to run their scheduled feature. The class, presented by Brown Chevrolet, is scheduled for double features on Saturday, September 26.
Countdown to season's end begins: After tonight only two more track points races are slated on the 1/4-mile semi-banked oval near San Antonio. With no other South Central Texas tracks running, drivers from out of town could come in and take away points from regular contenders.
Johnny Torres has a nearly insurmountable lead over Ryan Doyon and Talon Minten with Sterling Tausch and Robby Minten battling for fourth in USRA Limited Mods presented by Swenson Racing Products.
In the Sunoco USRA Factory Stock points, Josh Sewell has a comfortable margin over over Michael Keylich and Mike Lyon while Jesse Sandoval and Dustin Hurley round out the top five.
Brian Schoenbaum Jr., running for a USRA Tuner National Championship, has a decent lead over former track champ Jamie Garner with Adam Tracy close on his heels. The top five are completed by Brandon McCall and Adolph Tracy.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
I-37 Speedway, Pleasanton, Texas
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2019
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.
SUNOCO USRA FACTORY STOCKS
Heat #1:
1. (9) 747 G.W. Hessong, Edna, Texas
2. (7) 38 Joshua Sewell, Kingsville, Texas
3. (1) 41 Wade Jones, Jourdanton, Texas
4. (4) 7 Jesse Sandoval, Corpus Christi, Texas
5. (5) 8C Cameron Dinsmore, Kerrville, Texas
6. (6) 18 Ramon Sevilla, San Antonio, Texas
7. (2) 36 George Quintanilla, Adkins, Texas
8. (3) 98 William Saunders, Von Ormy, Texas
9. (8) 22P Jeremy Hernandez, San Antonio, Texas
Heat #2:
1. (4) 20 Mike Lyon, San Antonio, Texas
2. (2) 23K Kasey Krauss, San Antonio, Texas
3. (5) 4D Dustin Hurley, San Antonio, Texas
4. (7) 18S Jarrett Payton, San Antonio, Texas
5. (9) 344 Cody Tesch, Yoakum, Texas
6. (6) 23 Kyle Kirkland, Ingram, Texas
7. (3) 76 Michael Carlock, Aransas Pass, Texas
8. (1) 01 Johnny Johnson, Spring Branch, Texas
9. (8) 24J Frank Okruhlik, San Antonio, Texas
Heat #3:
1. (6) 10X Johnny Torres, San Antonio, Texas
2. (2) 75 Jerry Miller, Von Ormy, Texas
3. (4) 49K Michael Keylich, Lavernia, Texas
4. (8) 44C Cord Beard, Edna, Texas
5. (5) 33 Charles Earnhardt, St. Hedwig, Texas
6. (3) 133 Megan Dodson, Portland, Texas
7. (1) 41T Elgin Tracy, Stockdale, Texas
8. (9) 33H Cody Henderson, San Antonio, Texas
9. (7) 15 Ray Doyon, LaCoste, Texas
"B" Feature:
1. (2) 344 Cody Tesch, Yoakum, Texas
2. (1) 8C Cameron Dinsmore, Kerrville, Texas
3. (11) 33H Cody Henderson, San Antonio, Texas
4. (3) 33 Charles Earnhardt, St. Hedwig, Texas
5. (13) 15 Ray Doyon, LaCoste, Texas
6. (4) 18 Ramon Sevilla, San Antonio, Texas
7. (6) 133 Megan Dodson, Portland, Texas
8. (5) 23 Kyle Kirkland, Ingram, Texas
9. (9) 41T Elgin Tracy, Stockdale, Texas
10. (10) 01 Johnny Johnson, Spring Branch, Texas
11. (12) 22P Jeremy Hernandez, San Antonio, Texas
12. (7) 36 George Quintanilla, Adkins, Texas
13. (8) 76 Michael Carlock, Aransas Pass, Texas
DNS – 24J Frank Okruhlik, San Antonio, Texas
DNS – 98 William Saunders, Von Ormy, Texas
"A" Feature:
1. (3) 10X Johnny Torres, San Antonio, Texas
2. (1) 747 G.W. Hessong, Edna, Texas
3. (2) 20 Mike Lyon, San Antonio, Texas
4. (4) 38 Joshua Sewell, Kingsville, Texas
5. (8) 4D Dustin Hurley, San Antonio, Texas
6. (7) 41 Wade Jones, Jourdanton, Texas
7. (6) 75 Jerry Miller, Von Ormy, Texas
8. (5) 23K Kasey Krauss, San Antonio, Texas
9. (17) 15 Ray Doyon, LaCoste, Texas
10. (13) 344 Cody Tesch, Yoakum, Texas
11. (12) 44C Cord Beard, Edna, Texas
12. (9) 49K Michael Keylich, Lavernia, Texas
13. (20) 23 Kyle Kirkland, Ingram, Texas
14. (14) 8C Cameron Dinsmore, Kerrville, Texas
15. (10) 7 Jesse Sandoval, Corpus Christi, Texas
16. (18) 18 Ramon Sevilla, San Antonio, Texas
17. (22) 01 Johnny Johnson, Spring Branch, Texas
18. (21) 41T Elgin Tracy, Stockdale, Texas
19. (15) 33H Cody Henderson, San Antonio, Texas
20. (16) 33 Charles Earnhardt, St. Hedwig, Texas
21. (19) 133 Megan Dodson, Portland, Texas
22. (11) 18S Jarrett Payton, San Antonio, Texas
USRA LIMITED MODS
Heat #1:
1. (2) 24R Robert Minten Jr., La Coste, Texas
2. (4) 26 J.J. Jennings, Corpus Christi, Texas
3. (5) 89C Steven Whiteaker Jr., Robstown, Texas
4. (7) 96 Jared Maupin, College Station, Texas
5. (3) 2 Talon Minten, Seguin, Texas
6. (1) 31L Sherrill Lewis, New Braunfels, Neb.
7. (6) 3G Gary Hall Jr., Starks, La.
8. (8) 3X Brian Harbison, New Braunfels, Texas
Heat #2:
1. (3) 5R Ryan Doyon, LaCoste, Texas
2. (4) 66 Johnny Torres, San Antonio, Texas
3. (7) 90 Dustin Butcher, Robstown, Texas
4. (6) 30K Chris Swenson, Edinburg, Texas
5. (5) 77 Cody Beddoe, Corpus Christi, Texas
6. (2) 7 Kevin Parker, Canyon Lake, Texas
7. (1) 95S Sterling Tausch, San Antonio, Texas
Feature:
1. (4) 66 Johnny Torres, San Antonio, Texas
2. (5) 89C Steven Whiteaker Jr., Robstown, Texas
3. (2) 5R Ryan Doyon, LaCoste, Texas
4. (6) 90 Dustin Butcher, Robstown, Texas
5. (7) 96 Jared Maupin, College Station, Texas
6. (10) 77 Cody Beddoe, Corpus Christi, Texas
7. (8) 30K Chris Swenson, Edinburg, Texas
8. (12) 7 Kevin Parker, Canyon Lake, Texas
9. (13) 3G Gary Hall Jr., Starks, La.
10. (11) 31L Sherrill Lewis, New Braunfels, Neb.
11. (14) 95S Sterling Tausch, San Antonio, Texas
12. (1) 24R Robert Minten Jr., La Coste, Texas
13. (9) 2 Talon Minten, Seguin, Texas
14. (15) 3X Brian Harbison, New Braunfels, Texas
15. (3) 26 J.J. Jennings, Corpus Christi, Texas
USRA TUNERS
Heat #1:
1. (6) 719 Brian Schoenbaum Jr., San Antonio, Texas
2. (7) 29K Dylan Kowalik, San Antonio, Texas
3. (5) 33 Jamie Garner, San Antonio, Texas
4. (2) 46 Johnathon Cervantes, Corpus Christi, Texas
5. (4) 14T Shaun Tracy, Lavernia, Texas
6. (1) 2 James Hernandez, San Antonio, Texas
7. (3) 11J Joshua Jones, San Antonio, Texas
DNS – 01 Adolph Tracy, Seguin, Texas
Heat #2:
1. (2) 38 Kirk Ball, Adkins, Texas
2. (4) 816 Ryan McDonald, Floresville, Texas
3. (5) 14 Brandon McCall, Von Ormy, Texas
4. (1) 55R Ryker Hernandez, San Antonio, Texas
5. (3) 35 Darrel Jones, San Antonio,, Texas
6. (8) T14 Taylor Stewart, Webberville , Texas
7. (6) 21 Kennedy Meeks, Pearsall, Texas
8. (7) 4X Aaron Tipton, Cibolo, Texas
FEATURE:
Postponed to Sept. 26