GREENWOOD, La. — Saturday night’s 19th Annual Doug Murphrey Memorial at Boothill Speedway delivered a thrilling $10,000-to-win finale featuring a 50-lap battle on the three-eighth-mile high-banked dirt oval saw Rodney Sanders claim his 125th career USMTS victory in a race that honored the legacy of Doug Murphrey.
The main event saw a father-son duo leading the field to green, with four-time USMTS national champion Jason Hughes and his son, Trevor Hughes starting on the front row.
A multi-car incident on lap 2 brought out the race’s only G-Style Transport Caution Flag, allowing Kyle Strickler to slip past Trevor Hughes for second.
By lap 10, Jason Hughes had built a three-car-length lead over Strickler, while Sanders—a five-time USMTS champion—began his charge from 12th on the grid. Pounding the high side, Sanders cracked the top 10 by lap 15, reached fifth by lap 23, and overtook multi-time Murphrey Memorial winner Chris Henigan for third on lap 24.
Sanders then dispatched Strickler for second and, on lap 34, slid underneath Hughes exiting turn 2 to take the lead. He held on for the final 16 laps to secure the victory, finishing 4.471 seconds ahead of Jason Hughes.
“I felt like I could carry good speed around the top when I could really charge a corner of somebody in front of me,” said Sanders, who won at Boothill in 2020 before three consecutive rainouts. His first USMTS victory came in 2009 at the long gone LA Raceway in La Monte, Mo.
Strickler held on for second, followed by Jason Hughes in third. Henigan, a local favorite, finished fourth, while Gary Christian rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Rodney Sanders, Kyle Strickler, Jason Hughes, Chris Henigan, Gary Christian, Reece Solander, Jim Chisholm, Joe Chisholm, Trevor Hughes, Kyle Slader, Broc Bowen, Keith Hammett, Terry Phillips, Sean Gaddis, Manuel Williams II, Chad Melton, Joe Duvall, Kenny Gaddis, Dustin Hyde, Kale Westover, Tanner Mullens, Kyle Brown, Matthew Day, Jason Ingalls.
