Ramirez makes it a three-peat in Lucas Oil Speedway’s USMTS Show-Me Shootout
By Lyndal Scranton
WHEATLAND, Mo. (Aug. 6)—Dereck Ramirez did it again Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, winning his third straight USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment.
Ramirez, the reigning Summit USMTS National Champion, won for the second straight night, following up his win at Humboldt Speedway on Friday.
He led all 42 laps to take home $10,000.
“I did all I could. I manhandled that thing. This is not my kind of race track,” Ramirez said after his ride on the high side throughout was enough to win again at Lucas Oil Speedway. His three USMTS wins are the most by any series driver at the track.
Ramirez held off Darron Fuqua by 1.153 seconds for the victory with points leader Dustin Sorensen rallying from eighth to third. Ramirez had to hold off fifth-starting Jake O'Neil for much of the last half of the 42-lap feature.
Ramirez grabbed the lead at the start and set the pace, opening a 1.5-second lead over fellow front-row starter Fuqua before a lap-five caution bunched the field for a restart.
Ramirez led Fuqua by one second with O’Neil third as the trio broke away by nearly a straightaway margin over fourth-place Tyler Davis by lap 14. But lapped traffic soon came into play and Fuqua pulled right behind Ramirez over the next several laps with those two darting in and out of slower cars.
O’Neil took advantage and got past Fuqua on lap 20 and then set out a path to try and catch the leader. He was within four-tenths of a second on lap 22 when the race’s second caution calmed the battle—at least temporarily.
With clear track ahead as the race returned to green, the three front-runners again pulled away from the rest of the field as the laps dwindled.
With five circuits remaining, Ramirez and O’Neil again caught lapped traffic.
Lance Mari’s car slowed to a stop and brought out another caution to set up a five-lap dash to the finish.
“He timed it right,” Ramirez said of O'Neil. “I was going for a slider with some of those lapped cars and he rolled the bottom. As I was sliding, he was coming back forward and it’s hard to keep up when they’re doing that.
“I’m just glad that yellow came out because I think he was underneath me right there going into (turn) one. I don’t know if he’d have beat me coming out of the corner, but that spooks you enough to drive into the corner the next time too hard and end up in the wall over there, and that’s not good.”
Fuqua got around O’Neil on the restart and Ramirez capitalized, opening up a five-car-length lead. Fuqua closed the margin with three laps to go, but Ramirez went on to prevail by about 10 car lengths.
“We’re close. I feel like we’re in good company now,” Fuqua said.
O’Neil faded to sixth with Sorensen third, Davis coming home fourth and Tanner Mullens fifth.
Four-time Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt national champ Rodney Sanders scored a seventh-place paycheck, two-time event winner Terry Phillips was eighth, Zack VanderBeek netted ninth and Cayden Carter took the checkered flag in the tenth position.
VanderBeek, who started 16th on the 30-car grid, earned his third straight FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award of the weekend.
Two months from now, the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks” will host the biggest event in the track’s history when more than 400 competitors are expected to compete in the 9th Annual Summit USRA Nationals, Oct. 3-8, at the Lucas Oil Speedway.
A dozen dates to decide it: Postponed earlier this summer, three gigantic get-togethers are on the calendar next Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 11-13, for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt with just 12 events left on the 2022 campaign.
On Thursday, the 3rd Annual Wehrs Machine Bullring Bash at the Dallas County Speedway in Urbana, Mo., takes place where a last-lap pass decided the first two installments in 2019 and 2020.
Friday sees the biggest winner’s paycheck of the year on the line at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., for the 6th Annual Grant Junghans Memorial Where the winner will walk away with no less than $20,002.
The inaugural Bushwhacker at the I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo., on Saturday wraps up the titanic tripleheader as the USMTS makes its maiden voyage to the renovated legendary clay oval for the final race in August.
If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device on RacinDirt.TV. Watch live events and access exclusive content on your desktop, laptop and your smartphone. Get the app via Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.
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.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
13th Annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment
Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
2. (1) 20JR Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa
3. (6) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (5) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
5. (4) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
6. (8) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (7) 96 Cody Brill, Harrisonville, Mo.
8. (10) 37D Dakota Dale, Valley Center, Kan.
9. (9) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
10. (2) 00S Chris Spalding, Montgomery City, Mo.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (1) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
5. (3) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
6. (6) 68D Kerry Davis, Parkville, Mo.
7. (8) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
8. (7) 712 Trevor Hughes, Salina, Okla.
9. (9) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
10. (10) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (3) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
3. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
4. (7) 8V Jeremy Vaughn, Pocola, Okla.
5. (1) 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
6. (8) 49 Andy Bryant, Fort Scott, Kan.
7. (5) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
8. (10) 00 Scott Bryant, Baring, Mo.
9. (9) 47 Josh Harney, Prairie Grove, Ark.
10. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (2) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (1) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (6) 7XD Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
6. (5) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
7. (9) 8 Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan.
8. (7) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
9. (8) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (3) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (4) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (1) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (5) 21M Ryan Middaugh, Fulton, Mo.
5. (2) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
6. (7) 21W Tracy Wolf, Buffalo, Mo.
7. (8) 03 Chase Jones, El Dorado Springs, Mo.
8. (6) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
9. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
WRISCO HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (5) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
5. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (4) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
7. (7) 16S Eric Turner, Hermitage, Mo.
8. (8) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
9. (9) 68 Dean Wille, Warrensburg, Mo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
2. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (4) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
4. (9) 8 Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan.
5. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (5) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
7. (3) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
8. (7) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
9. (12) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
10. (10) 96 Cody Brill, Harrisonville, Mo.
11. (15) 00S Chris Spalding, Montgomery City, Mo.
12. (8) 21W Tracy Wolf, Buffalo, Mo.
13. (11) 37D Dakota Dale, Valley Center, Kan.
14. (13) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
15. (14) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (5) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
3. (3) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
4. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
5. (2) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (6) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
7. (7) 49 Andy Bryant, Fort Scott, Kan.
8. (9) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
9. (13) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
10. (10) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
11. (12) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
12. (15) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
13. (11) 00 Scott Bryant, Baring, Mo.
14. (8) 68D Kerry Davis, Parkville, Mo.
15. (14) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (15) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (4) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (5) 7XD Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
5. (10) 16S Eric Turner, Hermitage, Mo.
6. (12) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
7. (8) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
8. (3) 21M Ryan Middaugh, Fulton, Mo.
9. (7) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
10. (11) 712 Trevor Hughes, Salina, Okla.
11. (2) 8V Jeremy Vaughn, Pocola, Okla.
12. (14) 68 Dean Wille, Warrensburg, Mo.
13. (6) 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
14. (9) 03 Chase Jones, El Dorado Springs, Mo.
15. (13) 47 Josh Harney, Prairie Grove, Ark.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (50 laps):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (8) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
4. (4) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
5. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
7. (9) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
8. (7) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
9. (16) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
10. (12) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
11. (15) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
12. (10) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
13. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
14. (18) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
15. (30) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
16. (14) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
17. (20) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
18. (19) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
19. (24) 7XD Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
20. (26) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
21. (21) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
22. (29) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
23. (17) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
24. (28) 96 Cody Brill, Harrisonville, Mo.
25. (25) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
26. (23) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
27. (13) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
28. (11) 20JR Todd Shute, Norwalk, Iowa
29. (22) 8 Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan.
30. (27) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
Lap Leader: Ramirez 1-42.
Total Laps Led: Ramirez 42.
Margin of Victory: 1.153 seconds.
Time of Race: 20 minutes, 33.049 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Mari, Thornton, Hodges (track), Brill (track), Horner.
Emergency Provisionals: Ahumada.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 16th, finished 9th).
Entries: 57.
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 11, Dallas County Speedway, Urbana, Mo.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: TBD.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: TBD.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: TBD.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: TBD.
Ramirez rocks Humboldt, scores 23rd USMTS win
HUMBOLDT, Kan. (Aug. 5)—The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt hauled around the Humboldt Speedway Friday and Dereck Ramirez left ‘The Hummer’ as champion of the 16th Annual USMTS Summer Fling.
Hosting the 59th USMTS main event at the Humboldt, Kan., bullring, a couple early-race yellow kept the field bunched up while Terry Phillips, who won Thursday night at the 81 Speedway, was chased by Tanner Mullens and defending USMTS National Champion Dereck Ramirez.
Meanwhile, the second caution on lap 7 saw Jake O’Neil running 13th on the grid. O’Neil had claimed two of the last three races here, including Summit King of America XI this past March and last summer’s Summer Fling, but his night began just like Thursday with problems in qualifying and taking a provisional to start the feature race from the last row.
Back up front, Phillips and Ramirez put a straight-away of distance between themselves and their pursuers when they reached lapped traffic at the race’s halfway mark. That allowed Mullens and Darron Fuqua to close in on the rear bumper of Ramirez.
With two back-markers hampering the lead pack, Ramirez snuck underneath Phillips to take the lead with 13 laps to go. Moments later, the yellow flag waved for the third time which gave clean air to the new leader and put Mullens, Tyler Davis, Dustin Sorensen, Jason Hughes and Rodney Sanders on their tails for the next restart.
Racing door-to-door in turn four, Sorensen got underneath Phillips and the two touched briefly which sent Sorensen spinning into the infield which brought out a caution and forced the USMTS points leader to the rear of the field a restart with 10 laps to go.
After that, it was clean and green with Ramirez putting together 10 flawless laps to keep Mullens behind him and score his fourth USMTS victory of the 2022 campaign. It was the 23rd career win for the 35-year-old from Woodward, Okla.
Behind Ramirez, it was Mullens pocketing another runner-up paycheck while Phillips and 14th-starting Sanders crossing the finish line in third and fourth.
Davis—the current USRA Modified national points leader—rounded out the top five while O’Neil bettered his passing performance on Thursday by one more spot as he advanced from 25th to sixth in the 42-lapper.
Zack VanderBeek started 19th and earned his second FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award in as many nights while Hughes, Dan Ebert and Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year points leader Cayden Carter pocketing tenth-place money.
After looking like a top-five finisher before the late-race caution flag, Sorensen had to settle for 20th which allowed Mullens to narrow the points gap to 81 markers with 13 shows to go.
“Diamond of Dirt Tracks“ hosts Saturday Shootout: The hunt for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt rolls through the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., on Saturday for the 13th Annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment as the stars and cars of the United States Modified Touring Series make their only appearance of 2022 at the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks.”
Considered by industry insiders to be one of the top five—if not the best—racetracks in the nation, the Lucas Oil Speedway features 21 VIP luxury suites, a giant HD Jumbo Tron Screen, Musco Sports lighting, Bose Stadium sound system, Go Kart Slick Track for all ages, The Diamond Bar, the best track food in the country, and the nicest pits in dirt track racing are just a few of the amenities that set this place apart from the others.
What’s more, this event is happening just two months before the 9th Annual Summit USRA Nationals in October, so look for a massive car count with Medieval USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods also on the program for Saturday, Aug. 6.
With 15 prior visits to the Lucas Oil Speedway, defending USMTS National Champion Dereck Ramirez has won the last two Slick Mist Show-Me Shootouts here. Kelly Shryock, Jeremy Payne and Terry Phillips are also two-time winners.
Jason Krohn, Ryan Gustin, Johnny Scott, Zack VanderBeek, Stormy Scott, Rodney Sanders and Tanner Mullens each have one win in Wheatland on their résumé.
Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps and qualifying at 6:30 followed by racing at 7:05.
The Lucas Oil Speedway is a semi-banked 3/8 mile clay oval located 0.2 mile south of US 54 on SR 83, then east to 18842 Speedway Dr, Wheatland, MO 65779
For more information, check out lucasoilspeedway.com.
If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with your RacinDirt Pit Pass. Watch live and access exclusive content on your desktop and laptop computers as well as a suite of including Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.
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.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
16th Annual USMTS Summer Fling @ The Bullring
Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan.
Friday, Aug. 5, 2022
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (2) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
3. (3) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (4) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
6. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
7. (7) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
8. (9) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
9. (8) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (2) 7XD Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
3. (1) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
4. (6) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
5. (7) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
6. (3) 3J Lewis Jackson, Wellsville, Kan.
7. (5) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
8. (8) 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (7) 49 Andy Bryant, Fort Scott, Kan.
7. (6) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
8. (8) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
2. (4) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (1) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (5) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
7. (7) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
8. (8) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (2) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (6) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (4) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
5. (3) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (5) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
7. (7) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
8. (8) 7 Treyton Gann, Ponca City, Okla.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (2) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
3. (3) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (7) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
5. (5) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
6. (4) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
7. (9) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
8. (6) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
9. (10) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
10. (13) 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
11. (12) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
12. (15) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
13. (8) 49 Andy Bryant, Fort Scott, Kan.
14. (11) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
15. (14) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (5) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (1) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (12) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
5. (4) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (8) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
7. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
8. (9) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
9. (7) 3J Lewis Jackson, Wellsville, Kan.
10. (13) 7X Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
11. (2) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
12. (11) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
13. (10) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
14. (14) 7 Treyton Gann, Ponca City, Okla.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (42 laps):
1. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (14) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (6) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (25) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
7. (19) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
8. (13) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
9. (9) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
10. (11) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
11. (21) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
12. (7) 7XD Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
13. (22) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
14. (20) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
15. (16) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
16. (23) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
17. (4) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
18. (24) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
19. (26) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
20. (10) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
21. (12) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
22. (18) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
23. (8) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
24. (17) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
25. (5) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
26. (15) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
Lap Leaders: T. Phillips 1-29, Ramirez 30-42.
Total Laps Led: T. Phillips 29, Ramirez 13.
Margin of Victory: 0.654 second.
Time of Race: 24 minutes, 25.423 seconds ( cautions).
Provisional Starters: O’Neil, DeVolder.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 19th, finished 7th).
Entries: 41.
Next Race: Saturday, Aug. 6, Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 2078, Mullens 1997, Ramirez 1971, T. Phillips 1923, VanderBeek 1885, Sanders 1854, Ebert 1807, O'Neil 1777, Hughes 1743, Carter 1648.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 1492, Brown 1323, DeVolder 1292, Thornton 1284, Horner 1127.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 209, Mullens 169, Hughes 168, VanderBuilt 151, GRT 132.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 184, Action 157, Stoen 150, Durham 129, Mullens 128.
Phillips drops the hammer and mic in USMTS tilt at 81 Speedway
PARK CITY, Kan. (Aug. 4)—As is customary, the 81 Speedway provided yet another instant classic for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, and Terry Phillips provided fans with his 37th victory speech with the USMTS.
The 11th Annual USMTS Keeper of the Plains Shootout saw Kale Westover earn the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award and jump out to lead the first few laps while Phillips grinded his way into second place and began to shorten the distance between himself and Westover.
After chasing Westover for the first 11 laps, Phillips stole the lead using the first lapped car of the race to his advantage. A few laps later, he eliminated three back-markers in a single corner and left Westover behind the trio of lapped cars and losing ground to Phillips.
Phillips was checked out with 10 laps to go when the first yellow flag of the race waved for Tanner Mullens sitting at the top of turn two with a demolished front end. It erased a five-second cushion for the leader and ended Mullens’ top-10 run.
Despite the late caution, Phillips was undeniably the class of the field and sped to his first win since Sept. 10 last year. It was the 37 career USMTS victory for the 56-year-old from Springfield, Mo., which gives him sole possession of ninth on the all-time winners list after breaking a tie with Jon Tesch.
Phillips, who garnered his first win here in this event on Aug. 1, 2019, pocketed $5,000 for his efforts and left him with the task of finding space on the wall of his race shop among his dozens of other awards.
Westover wound up with the runner-up paycheck, followed by Dan Ebert, Rodney Sanders and Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year points leader Cayden Carter completing the top five.
Defending USMTS National Champion Dereck Ramirez settled for sixth place while Jake O’Neil charged to a seventh-place finish.
USRA Modified national points leader Tyler Davis was eighth, Lance Mari crossed the finish line in ninth place and 16th-starting Zack VanderBeek rounded out the top 10.
VanderBeek earned the FK Rod Ends after advancing six spots. O’Neil passed 18 of his fellow competitors and Tyler Wolff went from 26th to 14th, but both used a provisional starting spot, making them ineligible for the prize.
Hummer time: When the Humboldt Speedway hosts the 16th Annual Summer Fling on Friday, it will mark the 59th main event for the USMTS at the home of King of America in rural Humboldt, Kan.
Pit gates open 5 p.m. and grandstands open 6, with hot laps and qualifying at 7:15 followed by racing at 8.
USRA B-Mods, Midwest Mods and USRA Tuners are also on the card at the 1/4-mile semi-banked clay oval located off of US 169 to the Humboldt exit, then 0.1 mile west, then 0.5 mile south, then 0.9 mile east to 1663 Georgia Rd, Humboldt, KS 66748.
For more information, check out humboldtspeedway.com.
The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt rolls through the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., for the 13th Annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment for the only appearance of 2022 at the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks.”
If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with your RacinDirt Pit Pass. Watch live and access exclusive content on your desktop and laptop computers, as well as a suite of apps including Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.
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.
= = = = = = = = = = = = =
OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
11th Annual USMTS Keeper of the Plains Shootout
81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.
Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
2. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (3) 9 Cole Traugott, Woodward, Okla.
4. (2) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
5. (7) 56X Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
6. (5) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
7. (6) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
8. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
9. (8) 18 Bobby Mayfield, Elk City, Okla.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
3. (3) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (1) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
6. (6) 7XC Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
7. (8) 20G Jake Greider, Derby, Kan.
8. (7) 4 Dan Powers, Wichita, Kan.
DNS – 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
3. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
4. (3) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
5. (8) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
6. (6) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
7. (5) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (7) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (9) 747 Colton Eck, Goddard, Kan.
MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
4. (2) 21B Bryce Schniepp, Wichita, Kan.
5. (6) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
6. (7) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
7. (5) 7X Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
8. (9) 56 Broc Bowen, Fannin, Texas
9. (8) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
5. (5) 96JR Jon Herring Jr., Woodward, Okla.
6. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
7. (7) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
8. (6) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
9. (9) 7 Treyton Gann, Ponca City, Okla.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (3) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
2. (2) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
5. (14) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (7) 96JR Jon Herring Jr., Woodward, Okla.
7. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
8. (11) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
9. (6) 15 Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
10. (12) 27 Jason Floyd, Cochran, Ga.
11. (9) 7XC Chris Dawson, Lubbock, Texas
12. (17) 7 Treyton Gann, Ponca City, Okla.
13. (8) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan.
14. (10) 20G Jake Greider, Derby, Kan.
15. (13) 56 Broc Bowen, Fannin, Texas
16. (16) 747 Colton Eck, Goddard, Kan.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
17. (15) 18 Bobby Mayfield, Elk City, Okla.
1. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (1) 9 Cole Traugott, Woodward, Okla.
4. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (5) 56X Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
6. (9) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
7. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
8. (11) 7X Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo.
9. (14) 55 Chris Kratzer, Wichita, Kan.
10. (12) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
11. (10) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
12. (15) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
13. (7) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
14. (4) 21B Bryce Schniepp, Wichita, Kan.
15. (13) 4 Dan Powers, Wichita, Kan.
DNS – 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
3. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
4. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (8) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
7. (25) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
8. (7) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
9. (13) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
10. (16) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
11. (15) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
12. (17) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
13. (11) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
14. (26) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
15. (21) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
16. (19) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
17. (20) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
18. (23) 96JR Jon Herring Jr., Woodward, Okla.
19. (12) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
20. (24) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
21. (9) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
22. (22) 56X Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
23. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
24. (5) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
25. (18) 9 Cole Traugott, Woodward, Okla.
26. (10) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
Lap Leaders: Westover 1-11, T. Phillips 12-35.
Total Laps Led: T. Phillips 24, Westover 11.
Margin of Victory: 1.681 seconds.
Time of Race: 14 minutes, 59.219 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starters: O’Neil, Wolff.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 16th, finished 10th).
Entries: 45.
Next Race: Friday, Aug. 5, Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 2024, Mullens 1902, Ramirez 1870, T. Phillips 1830, VanderBeek 1807, Sanders 1767, Ebert 1733, O'Neil 1696, Hughes 1667, Carter 1576.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 1492, Brown 1323, DeVolder 1292, Thornton 1284, Horner 1127.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 202, Mullens 160, Hughes 158, VanderBuilt 147, LG2 124, GRT 124.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 174, Action 155, Stoen 145, Durham 121, Mullens 119.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Bleess.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sanders.
BigDeal Car Care – T. Phillips.
Bryke Racing – Ahumada.
BSB Manufacturing – Brown.
Champ Pans – Carter.
Deatherage Opticians – Wolff.
Edelbrock – Sanders.
Fast Shafts – Ramirez.
FK Rod Ends – VanderBeek.
Hooker Harness – Hughes.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Duvall.
Keyser Manufacturing – VanderBeek.
KS Engineering – J. Gallardo.
KSE Racing Products – Mari.
Mel Hambelton Ford Racing – Westover.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – J. Gallardo.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Horner.
MSD Performance – T. Phillips.
Penske Racing Shocks – Sorensen.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Ebert.
QA1 – Ramirez.
RacerWebsite.com – Kratzer.
Simpson Performance Products – Westover.
Summit Racing Equipment – Dawson, Floyd, Gaggero, J. Gallardo.
Super Clean – T. Phillips.
Swift Springs – Hughes, T. Phillips, Davis.
Sybesma Graphics – Westover.
Tire Demon – Mayfield.
VP Racing Fuels – T. Phillips.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Eck.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Mullens.
|