By Chris Stepan

Just as he did one year ago, Springfield, Missouri’s Terry Phillips put his #75 on the outside of the front row for the $10,000 to win Fall Nationals feature event after dominating the 30 lap USRA Modified feature tonight. Phillips, who started third and overhauled from row starters Dusty Riggs and Jason Cummins on the opening lap and never looked back.

The race was marred by 4 caution flags, but on each of them TP took off like a rocket and drove his GRT by Phillips off into the desert Southwest sunset. The race to watch was for second early on between Cummins and seventh starting Royal Jones as they swapped second and third several times behind the leader, while several drivers were charging through traffic including 19th starting Johnny Scott, 24th starting Ricky Thornton Jr. and 25th starting Eddie Martin. Scott appeared in the top ten mid-race, but continued his onslaught toward the front and kept picking off cars left and right until he shot by Cummins into second with just a handful of laps left.
No one had anything for Phillips as he cruised the final 7 laps after a late restart to the win with Scott charging to second at the finish. Cummins held off a charging Jones for third while Jimmy Ray was able to withstand a position-swapping battle with Martin for fifth on the final stop.
A touching and very emotional fireworks tribute to Modified driver Jason Krohn’s 9 year old daughter Natalie, who lost her life in September, concluded the night’s action to a cheering crowd.

Feature: Terry Phillips, Johnny Scott, Jason Cummins, Royal Jones, Jimmy Ray, Eddie Martin, Josh Cain, Ricky Thornton Jr., Bryan Rowland, Tanner Mullens, Neal Flowers, Holly Jones, Jake Gallardo, Chris Dawson, Chad Falco, Tristan Sikes, Philip Houston, Christy Georges, Dusty Riggs, Austin Adams, Bobby Sikes Jr., Bob Sikes, Wayne Brooks, Gene Weaver, Alex Stanford, Dereck Ramirez

B-main 1: Sikes, Weaver, Sikes Jr., Thornton Jr., Roy Don Mason, Greg Jenkins, Richie Davis, James Flemming, Lee Heiligenthal, Dewayne Hatton, Donovan Ooley, Duane Murphy, Danny Dozier, Butch Reid, Don Earvan, Robbie Chiles, Bumper Jones

B-main 2: J. Gallardo, J. Scott, Ramirez, Martin, Toby Herring, Tom Georges, Jake O’Neil, Mike Steensma, Alan Sharpensteen, Shane Sprinkle, Brandon Davis, Melissa Gorham, Brian Kleine, Neal DeBord, Frank Dutton, Owen Puckett

B-main 3: Stanford, H. Jones, Falco, Houston, Terry Tipton, Brian Craighead, Roger Owens, Todd Budlong, Mercedes Harris, Greg Gorham, Clint Miller, Michael Lucero, Curt Barnett, Randy Brown, Alex Gonzalez, Greg Jelvik

Heat 1
1. (2) 99x Triston Sikes, Hobbs, NM.
2. (6) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, NM.
3. (4) 101 Butch Reid, Carlsbad, NM.
4. (7) 58 Clint Miller, Los Alamos, NM.
5. (8) 999 James Fleming, Silver City, NM.
6. (9) 5 Shane Sprinkle, Andrews, TX.
7. (1) 10 Roger Owens, El Paso, TX.
8. (5) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, NM.
9. (3) 20R Robbie Chiles, Hooper, CO.

Heat 2
1. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, KS.
2. (1) 85 Neal Flowers, Hobbs, NM.
3. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, OK.
4. (9) J17 Jacob Gallardo, Las Cruces, NM.
5. (2) 49 Duane Murphy, El Paso, TX.
6. (6) 17M Roy Mason, Hobbs, NM.
7. (8) 4 Melissa Gorham, Las Cruces, NM.
8. (7) 20 Brandon Davis, Castle Rock, CO.
9. (5) 75 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, TX.

Heat 3
1. (3) 61 Jason Cummins, New Richland, MN.
2. (1) UFO Wayne Brooks, Bald Knob, AR.
3. (5) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, NM.
4. (4) 25DD Danny Dozier, Oakley, CA.
5. (8) 28 Tom Georges, El Paso, TX.
6. (6) 31 Neal DeBord, Amarillo, TX.
7. (2) 4X Dewayne Hatten, Grants, NM.
8. (7) 20a Alex Gonzalez, El Paso, TX.
9. (9) 23j Greg Jelvik, Tucson, AZ.

Heat 4
1. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, MO.
2. (2) 61 Bobby Sikes Jr., Eunice, NM.
3. (7) 44 Christy Georges, El Paso, TX.
4. (9) 121 Holly Jones, , .
5. (1) 06 Owen Puckett, Artesia, NM.
6. (6) 555 Chad Falco, El Paso, TX.
7. (3) 06 Frank Dutton, , .
8. (4) 2 Greg Jenkins, Hobbs, NM.
9. (5) 20RT Ricky Thorton Jr, Chandler, AZ.

Heat 5
1. (2) 96 Dusty Riggs, Hatch, NM.
2. (5) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, NM.
3. (3) 16B Randy Brown, Chowchilla, CA.
4. (4) 51 Eddie Martin, Stilwell, OK.
5. (8) 29 Mercedes Harris, Deming, NM.
6. (9) 77 Brian Craighead, Farmerville, LA.
7. (1) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, AZ.
8. (7) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, MN.
9. (6) uno Brian Kleine, Las Cruces, NM.

Heat 6
1. (1) 3J Josh Cain, Moriaty, NM.
2. (5) 7x Chris Dawson, Lubbock, TX.
3. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, NM.
4. (7) 16 Bob Sikes, Eunice, NM.
5. (6) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, TX.
6. (8) 45x Todd Budlong, Albuquerque, NM.
7. (3) 19 Donavon Ooley, El Paso, TX.
8. (9) 1 Michael Lucero, Albuquerque, NM.
9. (2) 93 Greg Gorham, Las Cruces, NM.

Heat 7
1. (7) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, OK.
2. (4) 85 Austin Adams, El Paso, TX.
3. (5) 98 Alex Stanford, Chowchilla, CA.
4. (9) 1X Don Earven, Globe, AZ.
5. (6) 2x Gene Weaver, Amarillo, TX.
6. (2) 32 Richie Davis, Springerville, AZ.
7. (3) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, AZ.
8. (1) 13 Curt Barnett, , .
9. (8) 187 Lee Heiligenthal, Las Cruces, NM.