Sanders snaps dry spell in USMTS debut at I-70 Speedway

ODESSA, Mo. (Aug. 13)—This weekend’s three-headed monster concluded Saturday with the inaugural Bushwhacker presented by RacinDirt at the all-new I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo.

The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt brought the best of the best in dirt modified racing to one of the best facilities in America, and the competitors delivered an incredible finish for the fans in attendance and at home watching on RacinDirt.TV.

Rodney Sanders utilized his pole position to lead the first couple of laps before Nic Bidinger, who has been a top-runner in the region for many years, got by and then set the pace for the next nine circuits before Sanders regained control.

From that point, the race for the win appeared to be headed toward one of two four-time USMTS National Champions battling to snap long dry spells as Jason Hughes closed in on Sanders.

With 27 laps in the books and the race for the lead heating up, the feature’s first and only caution  occurred and allowed Lucas Schott to take the outside lane next to Hughes for the restart.

Schott quickly disposed of Hughes and set his sights on Sanders. The pair battled side by side for the final two laps with Sanders holding off the former USRA Modified national champion for the victory.

Worth $10,000, the win was the first for Sanders since May 29 last year—his longest dry spell in more than a decade with the USMTS. It was the 112th of his USMTS career.

Behind Schott, Dereck Ramirez advanced seven spots to claim third while Hughes held on for fourth and Tanner Mullens completed the top five.

Terry Phillips, Darron Fuqua, Bidinger, Tyler Davis and Zack VanderBeek rounded out the top ten.



Next event: After a three-day weekend of hard labor, the stars and cars of the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt will take a weekend off and then return for the series’ traditional Labor Day Weekend swing, Friday-Sunday, Sept. 2-4.

The 8th Annual USMTS End of Summer Bash at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., will get the party started on Friday, Sept. 2, and then travel to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on Saturday for the 17th Annual USMTS J&S JCB Fastrac 40

Another wild ‘n’ wooly tripleheader weekend wraps up with the 10th Annual USMTS War in West Union at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.

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.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
Inaugural Bushwhacker presented by RacinDirt 
Saturday, Aug. 13, 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. (2) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
5. (5) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
6. (7) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
7. (1) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (8) 96 Shad Badder, Bates City, Mo.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (2) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
4. (6) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (3) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (5) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
7. (7) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
8. (8) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (6) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (5) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
7. (8) 8 Wesley Summers, Wellington, Mo.
8. (7) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (3) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
5. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
6. (8) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
7. (6) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
8. (7) 4A Josh Lanterman, Derby, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
3. (3) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
4. (1) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
5. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
7. (9) 96 Shad Badder, Bates City, Mo.
8. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
9. (10) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
10. (7) 8 Wesley Summers, Wellington, Mo.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (1) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
3. (3) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (9) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
5. (6) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
6. (5) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
7. (4) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
8. (8) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
9. (10) 4A Josh Lanterman, Derby, Kan.
10. (7) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (32 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (4) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (10) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (7) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
7. (9) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
8. (3) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
9. (12) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
10. (14) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
11. (13) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
12. (6) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
13. (16) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
14. (17) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
15. (15) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
16. (8) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
17. (21) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
18. (22) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
19. (23) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
20. (18) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
21. (20) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
22. (24) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
23. (19) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
24. (11) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.

Lap Leaders: Sanders 1-2, Bidinger 3-11, Sanders 12-32.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 23, Bidinger 9.
Margin of Victory: 0.042 second.
Time of Race: 14 minutes, 8.69 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starters: Bleess, Clark.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Ramirez (started 10th, finished 3rd).
Entries: 32.
Next Race: Friday, Sept. 2, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
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.