Gustin rocks Plymouth, thwarts VanderBeek sweep of USMTS Badgerland Summer Shootout


PLYMOUTH, Wis. (July 14)--Friday's United States Modified Touring Series show at the Plymouth Dirt Track put the wraps on the four-day Badgerland Summer Shootout presented by Prestige Custom Cabinetry, and Ryan Gustin's 84th career USMTS victory ended Zack VanderBeek's Dairy State dominance.

Gustin, who started fourth on the main event grid, chased polesitter Cory Mahder for the first 12 orbits around the 1/3-mile clay oval in Plymouth, Wis., before wrestling the top spot away and cruising the final 28 laps for a $3,000 paycheck.

Meanwhile, VanderBeek was unable to overcome a deep draw in his heat race and rolled off from the outside of the sixth row for the start of the Casey's General Stores "A" Main.

VanderBeek, who won the previous three nights during the Eastern Wisconsin swing and the last four features in the RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment, broke into the top five by the eighth lap and got by Mahder on lap 14 for second place.

But even with a couple of cautions over the final 26 laps to keep 'The Reaper' in his cross-hairs, VanderBeek was unable to match Gustin's speed and had to settle for the runner-up honors behind the 26-year-old from Marshalltown, Iowa.

Gustin took the checkered flag with a three-second cushion over VanderBeek while Cade Dillard netted his third third-place finish in four nights.


Eventual winner Ryan Gustin (19r) holds off Zack VanderBeek (33z) during a restart.

Mahder--a candidate for the Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Award--matched his career-best USMTS finish with a fourth-place finish for the second night in a row, and defending Summit UDRA Weekly Racing Series USRA Modified national champ Lucas Schott raced from 11th to fifth in the 40-lapper.

Dereck Ramirez, Jake Timm, Stormy Scott, Cory Crapser and Curt Myers rounded out the top 10.

Thanks to Prestige Custom Cabinetry, local drivers battled for a special points fund during the four-night stretch. Menasha's T.J. Smith took home the $1,000 top prize and Kyle Kudick of Two Rivers pocketed $700 for his second-place finish.

More than $70,000 was doled out among 47 different competitors during the four trips to four tracks within three hours of each other. With three wins and a second-place finish, VanderBeek took the biggest cut, cashing out $10,700 for four days of work.

Silver Dollar Nationals next: The final event in the month of July will be the 7th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., for a two-day, $10,000-to-win show on Friday and Saturday, July 21-22.

The MSD Central Region event will end the regional points battles for the 2017 campaign. The Casey's General Stores Hunt for the USMTS National Championship is next, beginning Thursday, Aug. 3, at the Springfield Raceway in Springfield, Mo.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts and Instagram at www.instagram.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv. Keep up to speed with everything USMTS by joining our email list at www.usmts.com/subscribe.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Casey's USMTS National Tour powered by S&S Fishing & Rental - RHRSwag.com USMTS Northern Region presented by Summit Racing Equipment
Badgerland Summer Shootout presented by Prestige Custom Cabinetry - Round #4 of 4
Plymouth Dirt Track, Plymouth, Wis.
Friday, July 14, 2017

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (1) 00 Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford, Wis.
3. (5) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (3) 24G Greg Gretz, Kewaunee, Wis.
5. (9) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D.
6. (4) 25 Mike Simons II (R), Genoa City, Wis.
7. (6) 4k Kyle Kudick (R), Two Rivers, Wis.
8. (7) 15s Don Scheffler, Milwaukee, Wis.
9. (8) 40 Brian Crapser, Brookfield, Wis.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (4) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (5) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
6. (2) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis.
7. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
8. (7) 37L Brad Lubach, Kiel, Wis.
DNS -12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (5) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
2. (6) 55 Cory Mahder (R), Eau Claire, Wis.
3. (1) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis.
4. (4) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
5. (7) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (8) 69 T.J. Smith (R), Menasha, Wis.
7. (2) 4s Joel Seegert, Sheboygan, Wis.
8. (3) 13 Eddie Lemay Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN (10 laps, all advance):
1. (2) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
2. (1) 24G Greg Gretz, Kewaunee, Wis.
3. (3) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
4. (4) 69 T.J. Smith (R), Menasha, Wis.
5. (8) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
6. (6) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis.
7. (7) 4k Kyle Kudick (R), Two Rivers, Wis.
8. (12) 13 Eddie Lemay Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.
9. (11) 37L Brad Lubach, Kiel, Wis.
10. (13) 40 Brian Crapser, Brookfield, Wis.
11. (9) 4s Joel Seegert, Sheboygan, Wis.
12. (10) 15s Don Scheffler, Milwaukee, Wis.
13. (5) 25 Mike Simons II (R), Genoa City, Wis.
DNS -12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.

CASEY'S GENERAL STORES "A" MAIN (40 laps):
1. (4) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 40, $3000.
2. (12) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Sput's, 40, $1700.
3. (8) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., MBCustoms/ASI, 40, $1200.
4. (1) 55 Cory Mahder (R), Eau Claire, Wis., MBCustoms/Powerline, 40, $1000.
5. (11) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Sput's, 40, $900.
6. (6) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 40, $800.
7. (2) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., MBCustoms/Sput's, 40, $700.
8. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/Mullins, 40, $650.
9. (7) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustoms/Troy's, 40, $600.
10. (13) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis., LG2/Sput's, 40, $550.
11. (3) 00 Robby Bunkelman, Abbotsford, Wis., Rocket/Baxter, 40, $500.
12. (10) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., GRT/ChevPerf, 40, $450.
13. (17) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Sput's, 40, $425.
14. (9) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis., MBCustoms/Tomcat, 39, $400.
15. (21) 37L Brad Lubach, Kiel, Wis., Racetech/Tiry's, 39, $300.
16. (18) 42 Paul Niznik, Medford, Wis., Rocket/Niznik, 39, $275.
17. (19) 4k Kyle Kudick (R), Two Rivers, Wis., Taylor/Competition, 39, $325.
18. (22) 40 Brian Crapser, Brookfield, Wis., MBCustoms/ChevPerf, 39, $250.
19. (16) 69 T.J. Smith (R), Menasha, Wis., Outlaw/ChevPerf, 39, $300.
20. (14) 24G Greg Gretz, Kewaunee, Wis., Slick/ChevPerf, 39, $250.
21. (20) 13 Eddie Lemay Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Pro/Wheeler, 39, $250.
22. (24) 15s Don Scheffler, Milwaukee, Wis., Rayburn/Tiry's, 39, $250.
23. (15) 23 Adam Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., LG2/Speedway, 22, $300.
24. (23) 4s Joel Seegert, Sheboygan, Wis., Shaw/Buege, 20, $250.
DNS - 25 Mike Simons II (R), Genoa City, Wis., MS/TNT, 0, $300.
DNS -12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 0, $400.

(R) = Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year contender

Lap Leaders: Mahder 1-12, Gustin 13-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 28, Mahder 12.
Margin of Victory: 3.130 seconds.
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 0.023 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 12th, finished 2nd).
Entries: 26.
Next Race: Friday-Saturday, July 21-22, I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.
RHRSwag.com Northern Region Points: unofficial.
Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year Points: R.C. Whitwell 1894, Travis Saurer 1766, Tyler Wolff 1685, Kates 1370, Billy Vogel 982.
Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 337, Sput's 292, ASI 282, Durham 206, Cornett 190.
Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 340, Hughes 334, VanderBuilt 296, GRT 289, LG2 233.