USMTS War in West Union spoils to Phillips

WEST UNION, Iowa (Sept. 4)—The $10,000-to-win 10th Annual USMTS War in West Union was waged Sunday at the Fayette County Speedway with a crafty veteran wiring the field to score his second win of the 2022 campaign with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.

Darron Fuqua sat on the Sybesma Graphics Pole but the defining moment of the race happened in the first corner when fellow front-row starter Terry Phillips got the edge and came around to lead the opening lap.

Despite tricky lapped traffic, a couple late-race cautions and constant pressure by Fuqua for the entire 42-lap distance, Phillips held his ground and was the first to streak beneath the checkered flags to nab his 38th career win.



Jacob Bleess wrapped up a strong Labor Day Weekend with a third-place finish with Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year points leader Cayden Carter in fourth and series points leader Dustin Sorensen finishing fifth.

Jason Hughes, Dereck Ramirez, Jim Chisholm, Zack VanderBeek and Dan Ebert rounded out the top 10.

Just before the race’s final yellow flag with two laps to go, Tanner Mullens was running eighth but a flat tire forced him to the pits for new rubber. Sorensen’s nearest threat in the points bounced back to settle for a 12th-place result.

Fall Jamboree season is here: Up next for the Summit USMTS Modifieds will be the 24th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22-24, at the Deer Creek Speedway in spring Valley, Minn. racing will be preceded by an open practice on Wednesday evening.

Joe Chisholm was the winner one night ago at ‘The Creek’ and Dereck Ramirez won on the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval back in May.

The most feared racer right now at Deer Creek, however, is Jake O'Neil who has won four of the last eight races here, including the last two Saturday night finales at the Featherlite Fall Jamboree.

If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Watch live and get exclusive content on your desktop, laptop tablet or a suite of apps like 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
10th Annual USMTS War in West Union
Fayette County Speedway, Wet Union, Iowa
Sunday, Sept. 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. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
7. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (8) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (9) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (3) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
8. (7) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
DNS – 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (2) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (5) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
6. (6) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
7. (8) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (7) 4 Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
9. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (1) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (4) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (5) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (6) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
6. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (7) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
8. (8) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (4) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (3) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
DNS – Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
DNS – 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (42 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
5. (6) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (11) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
8. (13) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
9. (14) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
10. (12) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
11. (23) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
12. (10) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
13. (18) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
14. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
15. (16) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
16. (24) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
17. (25) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
18. (22) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
19. (8) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
20. (9) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
21. (21) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
22. (19) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
23. (20) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
24. (15) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
25. (17) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.

Lap Leader: Phillips 1-42.
Total Laps Led: Phillips 42.
Margin of Victory: 0.347 second.
Time of Race: 21 minutes, 55.248 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Brown, Clark, Hansen (promoter).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Chisholm (started 13th, finished 8th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 22-24, Deer Creek speedway, spring Valley, Minn.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 2676, Mullens 2592, Ramirez 2507, Phillips 2497, Sanders 2418, VanderBeek, Hughes 2275, Ebert 2271, O'Neil 2205.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 2098, Brown 1890, DeVolder 1863, Thornton 1785, Horner 1550.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 268, Mullens 228, Hughes 213, VanderBuilt 193, GRT 177.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 230, Action 201, Stoen 191, Mullens 171, Durham 165.
Chisholm’s second USMTS triumph happens at Deer Creek Speedway

SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Sept. 3)—Deer Creek Speedway is one of the few places where fans feel let down when they witness just a plain good race because the norm has become a field of bloody noses in a cage match on the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval in the rolling hills of Spring Valley, Minn.

Such was the case once again Saturday night as the Summit USMTS National Championship campaign invaded ‘The Creek’ for the 17th Annual J&S JCB Fastrac 40—and left every jaw on the floor for every pair of eyeballs fortunate enough to see it for themselves whether in person or on RacinDirt.tv.

With the competition narrowing the points gap behind leader Dustin Sorensen of Rochester, Minn., a stop at his hometown track where he has won several times before was just what the doctor ordered.

The stage was set with the second-generation racer starting the 42-lap feature from the fourth position, but one spot ahead for the drop of the green flag was Jim Chisholm—and he finished one spot ahead when the pair crossed door-to-door beneath the checkered flags about 20 minutes later.

Two minor cautions slowed the pace—one on lap 28 and another on lap 33—but neither played a factor as Chisholm and Sorensen raced virtually side by side the entire distance.

With three USMTS rookie racers earning the first three spots on the starting grid, Chisholm made quick work of front-row starters Parker Hale and Shane DeVolder to take the lead out of the gate.

As quickly as Chisholm took control, Sorensen moved up to take second and began to challenge the 19-year-old from Osage, Iowa, for the top spot. Sorensen got the lead from the two-time USRA B-Mod national champ on the ninth lap, but Chisholm came right back to reach the flagstand first two laps later.

Sorensen, 21, regained the lead with 14 circuits in the books and led through lap 20 when Chisholm fired back again to lead at the halfway mark.

Meanwhile, back-to-back event winner Jake O’Neil was running third and could smell the exhaust from behind the lead duo. Sorensen led again on lap 23 and looked to have a solid line around the racing surface, but Chisholm bounded back again and was the leader at lap 35 as he, Sorensen and O’Neil were three-wide entering the first corner.

Despite Sorensen’s high-flying efforts along the outside wall of the track, Chisholm held on to garner $10,000 and his second USMTS victory of the year while Sorensen padded his points lead with a runner-up paycheck.

The margin of victory at the finish line was just 0.122 second and, rightfully so, each led for 21 laps during the 42-lap race which saw seven lead changes between them.

Less than 24 hours after his win at the Mississippi Thunder Speedway, O’Neil recorded a solid third-place finish from his 11th starting spot while Jacob Bleess got a much-needed top-five and held off Rodney Sanders for fourth.

Zack VanderBeek, who started 14th, came home sixth but 20th-starting Tanner Mullens advanced 13 positions to finish seventh and earn the FK Rod ends Hard Charger Award. Dan Ebert, Cayden Carter and Darron Fuqua completed the top 10.

Sorensen’s runner-up finish gave him a little more breathing room over Mullens, who now sits 68 markers out of first place in the battle to become the 2022 Summit USMTS National Champion.



After finishing 11th and 12th in Saturday’s main event, Terry Phillips and Dereck Ramirez remain third and fourth in the standings, but took a hit in their hopes to claim the title with just seven races remaining.

Sanders sits fifth in points and VanderBeek is sixth. Assuming Sorensen attends all seven of the final shows, they are the last competitors mathematically alive to win the crown and Leon Ramirez Memorial Trophy which carries a $100,000 check with it.

Ebert, Jason Hughes, O'Neil and Fuqua fill out the rest of the top 10 spots in the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.

The series returns to the Deer Creek Speedway for the 24th Annual USMTS Featherlite Fall Jamboree on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22-24.

Road show to West Union on Sunday: The fast and furious Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, host the Summit USMTS National Championship on Sunday with the third straight $10,000-to-win clash of the Labor Day Weekend.

The first War in West Union was waged Sept. 16, 2008, with Jake Neal garnering his first and last USMTS triumph. Ryan Gustin won in 2009 but the series didn’t return until 2016 with Zack VanderBeek coming out on top.

Gustin became the event’s only two-time winner in 2017 and the last four winners were Lucas Schott, Rodney Sanders, Terry Phillips and defending USMTS national champ Dereck Ramirez.

Medieval USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and USRA Hobby Stocks will also be in action battling for Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points.

The pits will open at 3 p.m. with grandstands open at 4. Qualifying kicks off at 5:30 with the first green flag at 6.

If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Watch live and get exclusive content on your desktop, laptop tablet or a suite of apps like 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
17th Annual J&S JCB Fastrac 40
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Saturday, Sept. 3, 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) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (3) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
4. (5) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
5. (8) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
6. (1) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
7. (7) 23K Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
8. (9) 12M Nick Murgic, Rosemount, Minn.
9. (6) 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (1) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (5) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
6. (7) 98D Mitchel Madery, Kasson, Minn.
7. (9) 77 Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn.
8. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
9. (3) 51W J.T. Wasmund, Pine Island, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 28 Parker Hale, Grand Meadow, Minn.
2. (5) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (2) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
5. (8) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
6. (6) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
7. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
8. (9) 29H Joe Horgdal, Mantorville, Minn.
9. (7) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (3) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (4) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
4. (5) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
5. (8) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
6. (2) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
8. (6) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
DNS – 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn.

VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (1) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
4. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
5. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
6. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
7. (7) 1A Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn.
8. (8) 209 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (2) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
3. (3) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
4. (5) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
5. (4) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
6. (9) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
7. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (7) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
9. (13) 29H Joe Horgdal, Mantorville, Minn.
10. (15) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
11. (8) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
12. (14) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
13. (11) 23K Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
14. (10) 77 Jacob Stark, Austin, Minn.
15. (12) 1A Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn.
DNS – 51W J.T. Wasmund, Pine Island, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
3. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
4. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (8) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
6. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (5) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
8. (7) 98D Mitchel Madery, Kasson, Minn.
9. (14) 209 Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa
10. (12) 12M Nick Murgic, Rosemount, Minn.
11. (13) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
12. (9) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
13. (3) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
14. (11) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
DNS – 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn.
DNS – 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (42 laps):
1. (3) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (11) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
4. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (14) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
7. (20) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (7) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
9. (16) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
10. (18) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
11. (9) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
12. (13) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
13. (10) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
14. (19) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
15. (12) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
16. (1) 28 Parker Hale, Grand Meadow, Minn.
17. (24) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
18. (21) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
19. (23) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
20. (26) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
21. (22) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
22. (15) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn.
23. (25) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
24. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
25. (5) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
26. (17) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.

Lap Leaders: Chisholm 1-8, Sorensen 9-10, Chisholm 11-13, Sorensen 14-20, Chisholm 21-22, Sorensen 23-34, Chisholm 35-42.
Total Laps Led: Chisholm 21, Sorensen 21.
Margin of Victory: 0.122 second.
Time of Race: 20 minutes, 34.083 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Mari, Brown.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Mullens (started 20th, finished 7th).
Entries: 44.
Next Race: Sunday, Sept. 4, Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 2592, Mullens 2524, Ramirez 2429, Phillips 2394, Sanders 2354, VanderBeek 2304, Ebert 2199, Hughes 2194, O'Neil 2150, Fuqua 2025.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 2011, Brown 1820, DeVolder 1801, Thornton 1735, Horner 1497.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 261, Mullens 219, Hughes 207, VanderBuilt 185, GRT 167.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 226, Action 195, Stoen 184, Mullens 170, Durham 155.