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ARENA RACING USA - Season-Opening Richmond 200

ARENA RACING USA at Richmond (Va.) Coliseum
Season-Opening Richmond 200
Race Report

RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 29) -- Emphatically marking himself as a Pro Series title contender, Tyler Hughes of Cordova, Md., rolled to a dominating victory in the 50-lap Top Dog race, the featured event of Saturday evening's season-opening Richmond 200 for Arena Racing USA at the Richmond Coliseum.
Dylan Loving drew the pole position for the start of the event, sharing the front row with Buzz Moore. Jason Styron and Lin O'Neill were scheduled to occupy the second row, but opted to start at the back of the pack. With their retreat, Robbie Davis and Hughes moved up to the third and fourth starting slots.
As the race got under way, Loving motored ahead of Moore off Turn 2 to take the lead. Moore settled into second, while Davis and Hughes remained side-by-side.
On lap 5, Davis slipped underneath Moore in a bid for second. He grabbed the spot on lap 6 and opened the door for Hughes, who took over third.
Davis pushed his machine to the point for the first time on lap 13. He scooted under Loving off Turn 2 on lap 12 and finished the pass a lap later. Once more, Hughes tagged along with Davis, snagging the second spot.
The race's only yellow flag appeared on lap 21 for Cayton Hornberger's spin off Turn 4. Lining up for a double-file restart, Davis and Hughes showed the way, followed by Loving and Peter Hunt.
Back under green, Davis pulled ahead of Hughes, who settled in line on the leader's rear bumper. Two laps later, Hughes went after Davis, ducking to his inside off Turn 2 and powering ahead along the backstretch. Loving tried to follow Hughes past Davis. Instead, he and Davis tangled off Turn 4. As Hughes motored away, Hunt slipped by both Davis and Loving to gain second.
Over the second half of the event, which ran caution-free, Hughes continued to extend his margin. By the finish, he enjoyed a whopping 5.128-second edge over Hunt, who fought off Loving and Davis to hang onto second. Troy Doggett tailed the top four to the line, in fifth, followed by Moore, Jason Manes, Francis Jarrelle, Arena Racing newcomer Dystany Spurlock and Hornberger.
Styron was 11th in the final rundown, while Albert Falk and O'Neill were shown in 12th and 13th, respectively. Tommy Jackson qualified for the Top Dog race, but was unable to start the event. He was credited with 14th place.

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Tyler Hughes moved out front on a restart on the third circuit and sailed to victory in the 50-lap A Main.
Series veteran Robbie Davis drew the pole and led the first two laps. The first of the race's three caution flags appeared on lap 3. As the field bunched for the ensuing green flag, Hughes gave up his third spot in line to try his luck on the outside of Davis. It was a good decision as he nosed ahead, eventually clearing Davis on lap 8.
The second yellow flag flew on lap 16 when Scott Prillaman tried to swipe the runner-up spot from Davis, his teammate, in Turns 3 and 4. The two locked horns and Davis looped his machine in Turn 4. The incident earned both Prillaman and Davis a trip to the rear of the field.
Back under green, Jason Styron moved up to challenge Hughes for the lead. Hughes, though, easily cleared Styron and began to pull away from the pack. By the halfway mark, his advantage had grown to nearly a full straightaway.
The final yellow flag waved on lap 36 when Dylan Loving spun on the backstretch, while trying to grab third from Tommy Jackson.
On the last restart, Styron and Peter Hunt opted for the outside lane. Styron put up a momentary tussle before Hughes gained the clear-cut edge on the backstretch. Hunt capitalized on the opening and took over second.
At the finish, Hughes was the winner by nearly a straightaway -- 1.636 seconds, to be exact -- over Hunt. Styron was third, while Davis and Troy Doggett completed the top five. Jason Manes, Jackson and Loving were sixth through eighth, in that order, and moved on to the evening's Top Dog finale. Prillaman, a former series champ, retired after 19 circuits and missed out on the season's first Top Dog shootout.

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Poquoson, Va.'s Albert Falk assumed the lead on lap 48 and notched the win in a caution-filled B Main, which was halted after 49 circuits.
The result was a heartbreaker for Scott Allen, who started from the pole and set the pace for the first 47 laps. On lap 48, however, he two-wheeled off Turn 4 and nearly overturned, collecting Buzz Moore and Cayton Hornberger as he careened back across the track.
Falk, in second at the time, slipped through the unfolding melee and picked up the top spot as the seventh caution flag flew.
On the final restart, Falk got the better of Lin O'Neill, who launched from the outside lane. Francis Jarrelle also scooted past O'Neill to gain the runner-up position.
At the finish, Falk was the winner by 0.579-second -- about two car-lengths -- over Jarrelle. O'Neill was third, followed by Hornberger and Dystany Spurlock. Moore claimed the final Top Dog transfer spot with his sixth-place outing. Left on the sidelines for the Top Dog race were Allen, Tripp Thurston and John Alford.

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In a 30-lapper for the Youth Series, Garrett Manes of Powhatan, Va., snagged the top spot on lap 18 and rolled to the win, beating five other Arena Racing first-timers.
Ryleigh Lemonds started from the pole and showed the way for the first 17 laps, holding Manes at bay. On lap 18, though, Manes slipped underneath her off Turn 2 and the two jostled in Turns 3 and 4 with Manes surging ahead.
By the checkers, Manes had stretched his winning margin to almost half a lap. Lemonds was the runner-up, followed by Autumn Weaver, Olivia Florian and Aubrey Hill. Hunter Taylor, who exited the event after smacking the outside wall on lap 11, was credited with sixth place.

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QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Qualifying ace Scott Prillaman of Suffolk, Va., turned in the top effort in afternoon time trials. He lapped the track in 7.951 seconds to best Tyler Hughes by just 40-thousandths of a second. Prillaman and Hughes were the only two drivers to crack the eight-second barrier. Robbie Davis, Peter Hunt and Jason Manes rounded out the top five. Eighteen Pro Series drivers posted times during the session with a little over a second separating the fastest and slowest.

In Youth Series qualifying, Garrett Manes bagged the pole award with a 9.198-second jaunt around the tenth-mile oval. Ryleigh Lemonds was second-quickest, 0.679-second off Manes' pace. Autumn Weaver and Aubrey Hill were third and fourth, respectively, on the speed chart.