Monday night during the Trego County Fair races, Velasquez got rid off all the negativity -- complete with spinning heads. Velasquez dominated Monday night's feature, lapping nearly half of the field to pull away to the win. "The demons were out of here," he said. "I'm so happy to get a win here. ... It definitely feels good to do well here." Velasquez, who hasn't raced many URSS events this season due to a slow economy, started near the front of Monday's feature because of favorable point average. He started outside the third row and bolted to the lead quickly. Then, he pulled away from the field. "I had no idea," Velasquez said about his large cushion. "I had such bad luck here last year all the time. I just didn't know." Nothing slowed Velasquez, not even the lone caution of the race -- which happened before the halfway point. Tyler Kraus, who was running second, brought out the caution and bunched up the field. That allowed Jon Johnson, Ray Seemann and Brian Herbert a fresh crack at Velasquez -- who along with Velasquez already had entered lap traffic. But on the restart, the Oklahoma driver got a good jump and once again pulled away.

"He checked out," said Johnson, who went on to finish second. "My motor had nothing for him. I was all torqued up on the restart, and when that happens, no one usually gets away from me. But he shot out of there like a rocket." A few laps later, Velasquez and the leaders were back in lap traffic. But it was no match for him as he worked his way through the field, picking off car after car. "I stayed zoned in and looked clear ahead to see where the lap cars were going," he said. "I could see what line they were choosing. I tried to be really patient. Lap traffic has cost me a few races before." Meanwhile, Johnson hung on to his second-place position and distanced himself from the rest of the pack. Herbert, last year's URSS national champ, eventually got past Seemann to finish third. "I was wanting a caution with about five (laps) to go, but Taylor deserves this," Herbert said. "We'll take third and go on to the next one." Herbert said he knew Velasquez was on a mission during the race. "He looked like his car was going pretty good," he said. "Even if I would have got to second, I don't know if we had anything for him. He had it dialed in tonight." After taking the checkered flag on his parade lap, Velasquez put his car into two consecutive spins on the front stretch in celebratory fashion. "I've wanted to do that so many times," he said. "I don't get to do this every weekend. The track was slick, and I thought why not give the crowd a show."