Phillips finds $4,000 and fourth 'Hunt' win in Casino Speedway's Sandy Benson Memorial


WATERTOWN, S.D. (Aug. 25)--Terry Phillips capped off a big week of USMTS racing on Sunday with a hard-earned $4,000 victory in the Sandy Benson Memorial at the Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D.

Phillips may very well be the hottest driver on dirt right now. If not for a last-lap pass by Jake O'Neil one night earlier, Phillips would be riding a three-race wins streak into Labor Day Weekend.

O'Neil gave it his all in his attempt to ruin Phillips' party again Sunday, but this time Phillips was too strong and led O'Neil and Rodney Sanders to the checkered flag after 40 rowdy laps around the quarter-mile bullring on the shores of Lake Kampeska.

During this four-night stretch, leading a USMTS main event has been treacherous, and it proved to be the case again Sunday when Ryan Gustin smacked a lapped car while leading on lap 20.

Phillips nearly collided with the two tangled racecars but was able to avoid damage. He set the pace when the field went back to green while Gustin limped back to his pit area and out of the contest.

Despite tight racing between lapped traffic and O'Neil threatening around the top side of the track, the 53-year-old racer from Springfield, Mo., maintained his composure and went on to claim his fifth win of the 2019 season-four of which have come in the month of August.

"Just trying to be careful-lapped cars and stuff, leading again-don't know if I'm a sitting duck or what," a smiling Phillips said in victory lane. "This is why we do this thing. These victories with a lot of good race fans out there... that's why we do it.

"I'll tell you what, I might be twice as old as all these guys but I feel like 25 when I'm in this thing.

O'Neil, Sanders, Hunter Marriott and Dereck Ramirez took home the rest of the first five spots while sixth through tenth went to Adam Kates, Jon Tesch, Jayson Good, David McDonald and Brent Dutenhoffer.

"He (Gustin) had a good car," Phillips added. "but that's the deal with this series. This is the best Modified drivers in the country, bar none. And if anybody wants to argue that, come get some. That's what I'm saying... every one of them. I race a lot of other stuff too but I'm talking Late Model drivers, all of them. Come get some. When you win one of these with these guys, it makes you proud."

Three colossal blockbusters await the tireless USMTS touring titans next weekend in the corner where Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin meet.

On Friday, the series competes in the 7th Annual Dahl Chevrolet Buick GMC End of Summer Bash presented by Edelbrock at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis. Saturday takes the USMTS to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., for the 14th Annual J&S JCB Labor Day Duel presented by FK Rod Ends and the tripleheader wraps up Sunday, Sept. 1, with the 7th Annual USMTS War in West Union presented by KSE at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.

To connect with the United States Modified Touring Series, visit usmts.com. You can also like us on Facebook, visit us on Instagram, follow us on Twitter, connect with us on LinkedIn and watch us on YouTube. Keep up to speed, get it first and subscribe to USMTS e-News.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Casey's General Stores USMTS National Championship
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup powered by Summit
Sandy Benson Memorial/11th Annual USMTS Summer Slam presented by Out-Pace Racing Products
Casino Speedway, Watertown, S.D.
Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019

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

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 10c Chad Olsen (R), Hendricks, Minn.
2. (7) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa
3. (4) 20s Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
4. (3) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
5. (5) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (6) 32 Jesse Young (R), Warner, S.D.
7. (1) 1b Jason Blascyk (R), Hoffman, Minn.
8. (8) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, Iowa

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
2. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (2) 14r Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
4. (7) 62 Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo.
5. (4) 5 Luke Lick (R), Rosholt, S.D.
6. (6) 9x Nick Wranek (R), Harrisburg, S.D.
7. (8) 37jr Morgan Ward (R), Watertown, S.D.
8. (5) 3r Dusty Seitz (R), Madison, S.D.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (6) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
3. (1) 57 Duke Erickson (R), Sioux Falls, S.D.
4. (7) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
5. (4) 11z Dylan Zabel (R), Selby, S.D.
6. (3) 1j Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D.
7. (2) 3 Arne Anderson, Watertown, S.D.

MSD PERFROMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (2) 9a Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D.
3. (6) 1tpo Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D.
4. (4) 52x David McDonald (R), Huron, S.D.
5. (7) 51x Alex Guthmiller (R), Huron, S.D.
6. (5) 50 Tim Waba (R), Watertown, S.D.
7. (1) 48 Brent Dutenhoffer, Watertown, S.D.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
2. (1) 14r Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
3. (3) 51x Alex Guthmiller (R), Huron, S.D.
4. (7) 37jr Morgan Ward (R), Watertown, S.D.
5. (4) 5 Luke Lick (R), Rosholt, S.D.
6. (8) 3 Arne Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Sturdy, $75.
7. (9) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, Iowa.
8. (5) 32 Jesse Young (R), Warner, S.D., MasterSbilt/Sturdy, $75.
DNS - 1j Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D., Shaw/Sturdy, $75.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 52x David McDonald (R), Huron, S.D.
2. (1) 57 Duke Erickson (R), Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. (5) 9x Nick Wranek (R), Harrisburg, S.D.
4. (8) 48 Brent Dutenhoffer, Watertown, S.D.
5. (4) 11z Dylan Zabel (R), Selby, S.D.
6. (6) 50 Tim Waba (R), Watertown, S.D., LG2/Sower, $75.
7. (3) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (9) 3r Dusty Seitz (R), Madison, S.D., Shaw/Hanson, $75.
9. (7) 1b Jason Blascyk (R), Hoffman, Minn., GRT/Sower, $75.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 40, $4000.
2. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 40, $1500.
3. (10) 20s Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $1000.
4. (11) 62 Hunter Marriott (R), Brookfield, Mo., Rage/KSE, 40, $800.
5. (5) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $700.
6. (4) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 40, $600.
7. (15) 14r Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $550.
8. (13) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D., MBCustoms/Cressman, 40, $300.
9. (14) 52x David McDonald (R), Huron, S.D., MBCustoms/Dakota, 40, $275.
10. (20) 48 Brent Dutenhoffer, Watertown, S.D., Lethal/Stoen, 40, $350.
11. (18) 9x Nick Wranek (R), Harrisburg, S.D., Arrow/Dakota, 40, $225.
12. (17) 51x Alex Guthmiller (R), Huron, S.D., MBCustoms/Dakota, 40, $200.
13. (24) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M., AOS/AOS, 40, $325.
14. (8) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 40, $300.
15. (12) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Action, 40, $275.
16. (6) 10c Chad Olsen (R), Hendricks, Minn., MBCustoms/CNC, 40, $200.
17. (16) 57 Duke Erickson (R), Sioux Falls, S.D., Dominator/Hanson, 40, $250.
18. (19) 37jr Morgan Ward (R), Watertown, S.D., LG2/CNC, 39, $200.
19. (23) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Earlham, Iowa, Hilsabeck/Mullins, 39, $250.
20. (21) 5 Luke Lick (R), Rosholt, S.D., MasterSbilt/Worx, 39, $200.
21. (22) 11z Dylan Zabel (R), Selby, S.D., MasterSbilt/LAT, 39, $200.
22. (1) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/TriStar, 20, $250.
23. (3) 1tpo Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D., BlackWidow/ProPower, 11, $250.
24. (9) 9a Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D., Hughes/Dakota, 3, $250.

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

Lap Leaders: Gustin 1-20, Phillips 21-40.
Total Laps Led: Phillips 20, Gustin 20.
Margin of Victory: 0.762 second.
Time of Race: 24 minutes, 31.874 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Hilsabeck, Ray.
Eibach Spring Forward Award: Marriott (advanced 10 positions).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Dutenhoffer (started 20th, finished 10th).
Entries: 30.
Next Race: Friday, Aug. 30, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Casey's General Stores USMTS National Championship Points: Sanders 3057, Ramirez 2880, Marriott 2755, Phillips 2608, Gustin 2522, O'Neil 2446, Kates 2006, Zack VanderBeek 1799, Mike Striegel 1706, Joe Duvall 1471.
USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup Points: Sanders 1175, Ramirez 1175, Phillips 1157, Marriott 1124, O'Neil 876, Kates 842, Gustin 835, Saurer 825, Hilsabeck 812, Lance Mari 713.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Marriott 2086, Mike Striegel 1571, Dustin Hodges 584, Carlos Ahumada Jr. 549, Nathan Hagar 415.
USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 275, Hughes 272, GRT 223, Rage 212, LG2 204.
USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 249, Hatfield 245, Durham 188, KSE 187, TriStar 140.