By USMTS (Spring Valley, MN) -- With a flawless performance from the 16th starting spot, Rodney Sanders needed just 18 laps to secure the lead and eventually his 113th career Summit USMTS main event win on Thursday during the 20th Annual LRS Waste Services USMTS Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge at the Deer Creek Speedway.
The high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval nestled in the rolling hills of Spring Valley, Minnesota, delivered once again as it has so many times with a night full of high-speed ups and downs, capped off by a thrilling finish.
The 33-year-old native of Happy, Texas—now residing about a half hour away in Kasson, Minnesota—worked the high side of ‘The Creek’ to perfection. He got a little help from his unfortunate friends at the front of the field just past the halfway point, and then fought back the challenges from Jim Chisholm to net the $3,000 winner’s paycheck.
“It feels good. It seems like a long time since we won one,” said Sanders whose last win happened last August in the series debut at the I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri. “We’ve been close and I feel like we’ve been knocking on the door here for a while, but you know it feels good… coming from 16th it means a lot.”
The USMTS returns to the I-70 Speedway for the 2nd Annual Bushwhacker on August 3. While this time was a bit shorter, his win there last year also broke a winless drought of more than a year.
A stout battalion of 28 competitors took the green flag for Thursday’s 30-lap feature race for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, and the drama kicked in just as quickly as adrenaline.
Dan Ebert used the Sybesma Graphics Pole Position to take the lead when the green flag waved, but after a few position swaps and slide jobs with Terry Phillips on the opening lap it was Phillips taking charge the next time around.
Searching for his sixth career win here, Phillips remained out front and set the pace through lap 17. Meanwhile, Tyler Wolff was marching from his fourth-row spot on the starting grid and stole the position from Phillips as they completed the 18th lap.
Entering the first turn, Phillips moved to the low side and slid up to retake the lead, but the pair made contact and both drivers came crashing to a stop. As the yellow flag waved, third-running Ebert was unable to avoid the melee and Al Hejna, who was fourth at the time, also clipped the accident scene but continued moving.
That gave the veteran Hejna the pleasure to leading the pack back to the green flag, but damage from the earlier crash left ‘The A-Train’ with a less competitive machine and he slipped back several spots in the first corner.
That opened the door even wider for Sanders. Running sixth when the hullabaloo began with 12 laps to go, he wasted no time when racing resumed and bolted into the lead using the high side of the perfectly-prepped racing surface.
However, Sanders had his hands full with Jim Chisholm—a two-time USMTS winner at Deer Creek and the track’s winningest driver over the last four years—with Chisholm clinging to the short way around the racetrack.
Despite his best efforts, Chisholm followed Sanders to the checkered flag as ‘The Rocket’ recorded his 113th career victory and 12th at the Deer Creek Speedway.
“I felt like that top was getting a long way around and I was kind of skating on entry, but I felt like I had straight-away speed,” Sanders added. “I went pretty hard early and I didn’t know what I had left for my tire. There’s a lot of tread on it, but I feel like I got it pretty hot and the car didn't want to stick as good at the end.”
Next month will mark the 14th anniversary of Sanders’ first USMTS victory on June 26, 2009, at the LA Raceway in La Monte, Missouri.
While Chisholm had to settle for the runner-up honors, Alex Williamson held his ground and finished third—right where he started. Points leader Jake O'Neil—a five-time winner at Deer Creek along with Phillips and Brandon Davis.
Looking to capture his first USMTS points crown, O’Neil sprinted from the 22nd starting spot to finish fourth and held on to his points lead by a mere three points over Sanders who is seeking his fifth USMTS title.
Not to be outdone, Davis rebounded from problems in his heat race, came through a Real Racing Wheels “B” Main and then came from 23rd in the “A” Main to garner the final spot in the top five.
Jake Timm, Tanner Mullens, Tom Berry Jr., Brandon Givens and defending series champ Dustin Sorensen rounded out the top 10.
Chisholm and Williamson were the only finishers among the top 10 that started the 30-lapper inside the top 10. Just another incredible night at the Deer Creek Speedway.
Action continues with a $5,000-to-win feature on Friday and a $10,000 top prize for Saturday’s winner. The Memorial Day Weekend swing of four events culminates Sunday with the 10th Annual Super Clean War in West Union and another $10,000-to-win battle at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa.
For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features 45 nights of racing at 15 of America's premier dirt track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.
Watch every USMTS event online live and on-demand from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Download the app at Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TV or on Google Play.
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RESULTS
USMTS MODIFIEDS
Summit Racing Equipment A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 20-Rodney Sanders[16]; 2. 24C-Jim Chisholm[6]; 3. 15W-Alex Williamson[3]; 4. 0-Jake O'Neil[22]; 5. 50III-Brandon Davis[23]; 6. 49-Jake Timm[14]; 7. 02-Tanner Mullens[15]; 8. 11X-Tom Berry Jr[13]; 9. 10B-Brandon Givens[17]; 10. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[12]; 11. 95-Keith Foss[8]; 12. 99-Josh Angst[24]; 13. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[19]; 14. 12-Jason Hughes[20]; 15. 51W-JT Wasmund[11]; 16. 87-Darron Fuqua[27]; 17. 75-Terry Phillips[2]; 18. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 19. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[25]; 20. 4-Jeremy Nelson[9]; 21. 7-Al Hejna[4]; 22. 4TW-Tim Ward[18]; 23. 10C-Cayden Carter[10]; 24. 58X-Gary Christian[28]; 25. 45-Chase Holland[5]; 26. K9-Will Krup[26]; 27. 4W-Tyler Wolff[7]; 28. 65-Tyler Davis[21]
Real Racing Wheels B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[4]; 2. 10B-Brandon Givens[3]; 3. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[6]; 4. 65-Tyler Davis[2]; 5. 50III-Brandon Davis[16]; 6. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[9]; 7. 21K-Kyle Brown[5]; 8. 19-Joe Chisholm[11]; 9. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[8]; 10. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[10]; 11. 07-Cory Crapser[15]; 12. 90-Ryan Wetzstein[13]; 13. 90B-Daniel Bargender[12]; 14. 96-Taton Hansen[14]; 15. 19SB-Lance Mari[7]; 16. 69-Lucas Schott[1]
Real Racing Wheels B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 20-Rodney Sanders[1]; 2. 4TW-Tim Ward[3]; 3. 12-Jason Hughes[5]; 4. 0-Jake O'Neil[10]; 5. 99-Josh Angst[9]; 6. 25C-Cody Thompson[7]; 7. 38T-Dylan Thornton[13]; 8. K9-Will Krup[12]; 9. 87-Darron Fuqua[15]; 10. 28-Parker Hale[2]; 11. 58X-Gary Christian[11]; 12. 98M-Mitchel Madery[4]; 13. 29D-Brad Dierks[16]; 14. 30-Dalton Kirk[14]; 15. 16B-Randy Brown[6]; 16. 21-Jacob Bleess[8]
Simpson Performance Products Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24C-Jim Chisholm[3]; 2. 45-Chase Holland[4]; 3. 21K-Kyle Brown[1]; 4. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 5. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[7]; 6. 11X-Tom Berry Jr[6]; 7. 19-Joe Chisholm[2]; 8. 58X-Gary Christian[9]; 9. 07-Cory Crapser[8]; 10. 29D-Brad Dierks[10]
Fast Shafts Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15W-Alex Williamson[1]; 2. 10C-Cayden Carter[3]; 3. 4TW-Tim Ward[2]; 4. 4-Jeremy Nelson[6]; 5. 19SB-Lance Mari[4]; 6. 25C-Cody Thompson[8]; 7. 21-Jacob Bleess[5]; 8. 38T-Dylan Thornton[7]; 9. 96-Taton Hansen[9]
Edelbrock Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Keith Foss[2]; 2. 65-Tyler Davis[1]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 4. 12-Jason Hughes[3]; 5. 28-Parker Hale[6]; 6. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[7]; 7. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[4]; 8. 90-Ryan Wetzstein[8]; 9. 30-Dalton Kirk[9]
Wieland Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Al Hejna[2]; 2. 51W-JT Wasmund[3]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[6]; 4. 10B-Brandon Givens[7]; 5. 98M-Mitchel Madery[8]; 6. 16B-Randy Brown[9]; 7. K9-Will Krup[1]; 8. 99-Josh Angst[5]; 9. 50III-Brandon Davis[4]
VP Race Fuels Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 20-Rodney Sanders[2]; 3. 02-Tanner Mullens[3]; 4. 69-Lucas Schott[5]; 5. 49-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[8]; 7. 0-Jake O'Neil[4]; 8. 90B-Daniel Bargender[9]; 9. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 11X-Tom Berry Jr, 00:16.225[5]; 2. 28S-Dustin Sorensen, 00:16.556[6]; 3. 45-Chase Holland, 00:16.571[10]; 4. 24C-Jim Chisholm, 00:16.718[8]; 5. 19-Joe Chisholm, 00:16.721[4]; 6. 21K-Kyle Brown, 00:16.776[3]; 7. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek, 00:16.836[1]; 8. 07-Cory Crapser, 00:16.969[9]; 9. 58X-Gary Christian, 00:17.076[2]; 10. 29D-Brad Dierks, 00:17.289[7]
Qualifying 2: 1. 4-Jeremy Nelson, 00:16.646[6]; 2. 21-Jacob Bleess, 00:16.694[7]; 3. 19SB-Lance Mari, 00:16.726[2]; 4. 10C-Cayden Carter, 00:16.730[8]; 5. 4TW-Tim Ward, 00:16.877[5]; 6. 15W-Alex Williamson, 00:16.889[9]; 7. 38T-Dylan Thornton, 00:16.960[3]; 8. 25C-Cody Thompson, 00:17.091[4]; 9. 96-Taton Hansen, 00:17.235[1]
Qualifying 3: 1. 28-Parker Hale, 00:16.867[4]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert, 00:16.889[3]; 3. 4R-Dereck Ramirez, 00:16.897[9]; 4. 12-Jason Hughes, 00:16.916[5]; 5. 95-Keith Foss, 00:16.917[8]; 6. 65-Tyler Davis, 00:17.016[2]; 7. 99L-Steve Lavasseur, 00:17.018[6]; 8. 90-Ryan Wetzstein, 00:17.481[7]; 9. 30-Dalton Kirk, 00:17.605[1]
Qualifying 4: 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff, 00:16.657[1]; 2. 99-Josh Angst, 00:16.817[2]; 3. 50III-Brandon Davis, 00:16.837[9]; 4. 51W-JT Wasmund, 00:16.956[5]; 5. 7-Al Hejna, 00:17.023[6]; 6. K9-Will Krup, 00:17.196[4]; 7. 10B-Brandon Givens, 00:17.239[3]; 8. 98M-Mitchel Madery, 00:17.290[8]; 9. 16B-Randy Brown, 00:17.732[7]
Qualifying 5: 1. 49-Jake Timm, 00:16.660[6]; 2. 69-Lucas Schott, 00:16.739[5]; 3. 0-Jake O'Neil, 00:16.767[7]; 4. 02-Tanner Mullens, 00:16.851[4]; 5. 20-Rodney Sanders, 00:16.993[9]; 6. 75-Terry Phillips, 00:17.149[8]; 7. 87-Darron Fuqua, 00:17.185[3]; 8. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr, 00:17.269[1]; 9. 90B-Daniel Bargender, 00:18.930[2]
USRA B-MODS
A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 16D-Dan Hovden[11]; 2. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[1]; 3. 25-Joe Chisholm[10]; 4. 32-Taylor Skauge[5]; 5. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[7]; 6. 2C-Cole Bennerotte[2]; 7. 6-Dustin Kruse[8]; 8. 56H-Brandon Hare[6]; 9. 37-Michael Wytaske[4]; 10. 97JR-Landon Volkman[13]; 11. 45-Cole Lonergan[9]; 12. 28J-Jackson Hale[18]; 13. 83-Billy Steinberg[15]; 14. 43-Zach Brom[19]; 15. 3A-Taylor Ausrud[12]; 16. 1Z-Zach Davis[16]; 17. 5K-Todd Kamish[22]; 18. 13-Jesse Antiporek[21]; 19. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[17]; 20. 21-Rian Leichtnam[20]; 21. (DNF) 55-Brody Shaw[14]; 22. (DQ) 60-Colby Mann[3]
A Feature 2 (18 Laps): 1. 155-Gavin Shaw[3]; 2. 28-Spencer Stock[13]; 3. 35-Dennis Dunbar[5]; 4. 87H-Harley Dais[14]; 5. 24-Dylan Goettl[7]; 6. 10T-Trevor Fecht[18]; 7. RED1-Dan Wheeler[12]; 8. 07-Logan Alseth[8]; 9. 40-Colton Kramer[17]; 10. 29-Lilli Reps[21]; 11. 7M-Matt Tighe[20]; 12. 14-Caden Neisius[16]; 13. 4-Greg Brooks[19]; 14. (DNF) 31-Bill Stettner[11]; 15. (DNF) 85-Ben Moudry[1]; 16. (DNF) 24S-Shane Southard[15]; 17. (DNF) 28T-Philip Ihde[4]; 18. (DNF) 15-Cole Neisius[2]; 19. (DNF) 28H-Troy Hale[9]; 20. (DQ) 83X-Kadden Kath[10]; 21. (DQ) 99-Noah Grinstead[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Noah Grinstead[2]; 2. 32-Taylor Skauge[4]; 3. 28T-Philip Ihde[1]; 4. 07-Logan Alseth[9]; 5. 31-Bill Stettner[6]; 6. 24S-Shane Southard[5]; 7. 28J-Jackson Hale[7]; 8. (DNS) 29-Lilli Reps; 9. (DQ) 5K-Todd Kamish[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Ben Moudry[1]; 2. 60-Colby Mann[2]; 3. 56H-Brandon Hare[5]; 4. 45-Cole Lonergan[6]; 5. RED1-Dan Wheeler[4]; 6. 87H-Harley Dais[7]; 7. 14-Caden Neisius[3]; 8. 10T-Trevor Fecht[9]; 9. 13-Jesse Antiporek[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[2]; 2. 24-Dylan Goettl[3]; 3. 35-Dennis Dunbar[6]; 4. 28H-Troy Hale[1]; 5. 97JR-Landon Volkman[4]; 6. 83-Billy Steinberg[7]; 7. 1Z-Zach Davis[8]; 8. 43-Zach Brom[9]; 9. 7M-Matt Tighe[5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Michael Wytaske[1]; 2. 6-Dustin Kruse[6]; 3. 2C-Cole Bennerotte[2]; 4. 25-Joe Chisholm[3]; 5. 16D-Dan Hovden[7]; 6. 28-Spencer Stock[8]; 7. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[5]; 8. 4-Greg Brooks[4]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 155-Gavin Shaw[1]; 2. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[3]; 3. 15-Cole Neisius[2]; 4. 83X-Kadden Kath[4]; 5. 3A-Taylor Ausrud[6]; 6. 55-Brody Shaw[8]; 7. 40-Colton Kramer[5]; 8. 21-Rian Leichtnam[7)