Sanders up to the challenge in USMTS Spring Challenge at Deer Creek

Reigning USMTS national champion Rodney Sanders showed his mastery of the Deer Creek Speedway with a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s 18th Annual USMTS Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge powered by Boomtest Well Service.

With a huge 32-car starting field for the 40-lap main event, the 31-year-old from Happy, Texas, was put to the test early on when he reached lapped traffic just nine laps into the contest with Zack VanderBeek, Tyler Wolff, Tanner Mullens and Darron Fuqua following close behind.

Wolff was briefly able to get by VanderBeek on lap 13 as they maneuvered in and out of slower traffic, but VanderBeek eventually found his groove and put some distance between himself and Wolff while Sanders was setting sail out front.

The race’s only caution was brief and occurred on lap 15, wiping out a nearly-three-second lead for Sanders but giving the leader some clean air in front of him with all but three starters still in competition.

Jake O’Neil was looking to score his fourth straight USMTS win at the Deer Creek Speedway and squirted past Mullens for fourth on the restart. Five laps later, points leader Dereck Ramirez slipped into the top five while VanderBeek began to chip away at Sanders’ advantage up front.

VanderBeek pulled alongside Sanders at the flagstand to complete the 28th lap with Sanders still leading by a bumper just as the leaders found the back of the field again.

This time, however, Sanders was flawless in lapped traffic and extended his lead over the field, eventually pulling away to a 2.459-second triumph.

“I didn’t really know where to be,” Sanders said in victory lane. “I felt like (the track) was starting to clean up on the bottom and I didn’t really know if it was rubbering-up but it was starting to clean up really well and I saw Zack one time show his nose.

“If I had a clear track I felt pretty good but you know anything can happen. You know this is a really tough deal this year. Kudos to Todd (Staley) and everybody that makes all this happen. This is big money for us.”

The win was worth $10,000 and the 11th at ‘The Creek’ for the four-time series champ—the 111th of his career in Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s competition.

Despite coming up one spot short of a win, VanderBeek scored his first top-five finish of the season and a $5,000 consolation prize for his effort while Wolff was a solid third at the finish line.

Mullens got the best of O'Neil for the fourth spot after a spirited battle between the two that lasted most of the race.

Ramirez came from 12th on the grid to finish sixth—good enough to hold a one-point lead over Sanders heading into Sunday’s night’s tripleheader finale in Decorah, Iowa.

Jason Cummins, Lucas Schott, Darron Fuqua and Landon Atkinson rounded out the top 10.

Weekend wraps up in Winneshiek County: The Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader wraps up Sunday with the 13th Annual USMTS Nordic Nationals presented by PBM Performance Products at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.

Zack VanderBeek collected his first of three USMTS wins at the Upper Iowa Speedway during his rookie campaign in 2005. Gustin, Hughes, Tesch, Al Hejna and Johnny Scott are two-time winners here. Jake O'Neil won the last USMTS race in Decorah—his first win here—in 2019. The 2020 running of the Nordic Nationals fell victim to COVID-19 and rain doomed the 2015 and 2013 events.

General admission spectator tickets for Friday’s show are $25. Seniors (62+) and youth (12-16) get in for just $20. Kids (6-11) are $10. Pit passes are $40 and kids (6-10) are $25. Those under 6 years old get in free of charge in the grandstands and pits.

The pit gate will open at 2:00 p.m. and grandstands open at 3:30. Hot laps start at 5:30 with qualifying and racing to follow at 6. Driver registration ends at 5 p.m. and the pit meeting commences at 5:05.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stocks.

The Upper Iowa Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile dirt oval located 1.8 miles east of US 52 on SR 9, then 1.0 mile northwest on Montgomery St., then northeast on E. Main St. at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds (900 E Main St, Decorah, IA 52101). For more information, call (563) 382-0711 or visit upperiowaspeedway.com.

If something keeps you from attending Sunday’s race, you can still watch every lap of every division live at racindirt.tv. We gotcha covered.

Taking dirt to a new level: The 2021 campaign for the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s features 36 nights of racing with the winners of those main events set to take home over $300,000 in earnings from more than $1 million in prize money earmarked for those shows.

Twenty-six of the 36 race nights will pay at least $10,000 to win while the other 10 carry a $5,000 top prize. And if that weren’t enough, more than $230,000 is committed to the top ten finishers in the 2021 points standings with a record $70,000 reserved for the 2021 USMTS National Champion.

Visit usmts.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s
18th Annual USMTS Southern MN Spring Challenge powered by Boomtest Well Service
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Saturday, May 29, 2021

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine, laps completed and money won. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Casey’s “A” Main.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
2. (1) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
3. (3) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
5. (6) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (7) 15 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
7. (4) K19 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill.
8. (9) 77S Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn.
9. (8) 23B Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (8) 1ST Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (2) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
4. (3) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
5. (5) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
6. (7) 1A Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn.
7. (1) 99 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
8. (6) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (6) 1 Blake Arndt, Brownsdale, Minn.
5. (8) 55W Jeffrey Wood, Chisholm, Minn.
6. (5) 12L Lucas Lee (R), Paris, Tenn.
7. (7) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
8. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (2) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
3. (3) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
4. (7) 7II Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
5. (1) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
6. (6) 99A Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
7. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
8. (8) 4S Craig Shaw, Dexter, Minn.

VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (4) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
3. (5) 51W J.T. Wasmund (R), Pine Island, Minn.
4. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (6) 55H A.J. Hoff (R), Mantorville, Minn.
6. (1) 24S Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
7. (7) 35B David Baxter, Eau Claire, Wis.
8. (8) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.

WRISCO HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (2) 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn.
3. (3) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
5. (6) 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, Iowa
6. (8) 90 Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
7. (5) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
8. (7) 83 Kylie Kath (R), Claremont, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (3) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 51W J.T. Wasmund (R), Pine Island, Minn.
3. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (16) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (4) 7II Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
6. (8) 55H Aaron Hoff (R), Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 55W Jeffrey Wood, Chisholm, Minn., Shaw/Chevrolet, $125.
8. (17) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
9. (14) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
10. (13) K19 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill.
11. (6) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Victory, $125.
12. (9) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
13. (15) 35B David Baxter, Eau Claire, Wis., Rocket/Baxter, $100.
14. (12) 12L Lucas Lee (R), Paris, Tenn.
15. (19) 23B Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa, Hughes/Midnight, $125.
16. (11) 1A Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn., Skyrocket/KSE, $100.
17. (2) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., VanderBuilt/Scott’s, $125.
18. (10) 90 Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, $100.
19. (18) 4S Craig Shaw, Dexter, Minn., Lethal/KSE, $100.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis.
2. (2) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
3. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
4. (3) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
5. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
6. (14) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (12) 99A Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, $125.
8. (4) 1 Blake Arndt, Brownsdale, Minn., Shaw/KSE, $125.
9. (8) 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, Iowa, MasterSbilt/HalaBuilt, $125.
10. (15) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
11. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., Hughes/Cornett, $125.
12. (18) 83 Kylie Kath (R), Claremont, Minn., Pierce/OFI, $125.
13. (10) 15 Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Flyin’J, $100.
14. (17) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan.
15. (11) 24S Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn., GRT/Flyin’J, $100.
16. (13) 99 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla., Hughes/Chevrolet, $125.
17. (7) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
18. (16) 77S Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn., LG2/KSE, $100.

CASEY’S “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $10,000.
2. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Stoen, 40, $5000.
3. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustoms/ECE, 40, $3000.
4. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., Mullens/Mullens, 40, $2000.
5. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 40, $1700.
6. (12) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $1500.
7. (4) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., Rocket/Baier’s, 40, $1200.
8. (13) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $1000.
9. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., MBCustoms/Driskell, 40, $900.
10. (9) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., Lethal/Sower, 40, $850.
11. (8) 1ST Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., ElDorado/Mullins, 40, $800.
12. (19) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., MBCustoms/Action, 40, $775.
13. (16) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $750.
14. (17) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 40, $740.
15. (11) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., VanderBuilt/Action, 40, $735.
16. (23) 55H A.J. Hoff (R), Mantorville, Minn., GRT/Action, 40, $730.
17. (24) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $725.
18. (15) 51W J.T. Wasmund (R), Pine Island, Minn., DirtDueler/Baier’s, 40, $720.
19. (22) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., Lethal/Ebert, 40, $715.
20. (14) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustoms/KSE, 40, $710.
21. (25) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $705.
22. (27) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, 39, $125.
23. (29) 12L Lucas Lee (R), Paris, Tenn., Hughes/Mullins, 39, $125.
24. (31) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis., Rage/Sput’s, 39, $125.
25. (32) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 39, $125.
26. (28) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., VanderBuilt/KSE, 39, $125.
27. (30) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D., MBCustoms/Tim’s, 39, $125.
28. (26) K19 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill., MBCustoms/Mullins, 22, $700.
29. (18) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, Hughes/BMS, 20, $700.
30. (10) 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn., Tri-Built/KSE, 15, $700.
31. (21) 7II Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, Rage/Chevrolet, 15, $700.
32. (20) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis., MBCustoms/KSE, 15, $700.

(R) = Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leader: Sanders 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 40.
Margin of Victory: 2.459 seconds.
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 45.716 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starters: T. Davis, Krup.
Emergency Provisionals: Mari, Bleess, Lee, Good, Myers, Givens.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Sorensen (started 19th, finished 12th).
Entries: 49.
Next Race: Sunday, May 30, Upper Iowa Speedway, Decorah, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s Points: Ramirez 850, Sanders 849, O'Neil 811, Phillips 799, Schott 766, Mullens 766, Wolff 744, Ebert 737, Scott 701, Hughes 700.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Strength 496, Glenz 482, Krup 427, Lee 410, Good 403.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 86, Hughes 80, Lethal 71, GRT 62, LG2 62.
Compstar USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 83, Hatfield 67, Stoen 65, Durham 59, Mullins 50.