VanderBeek secures front row start for Rancho Milagro USRA Fall Nationals finale

Zack VanderBeek chased his fellow VanderBuilt Race Cars driver, Stormy Scott, for the first 20 laps of the Rancho Milagro USRA Modified feature race Saturday night at the Southern New Mexico Speedway but heavy lapped traffic got the best of Scott with five laps to go and VanderBeek inherited the point.

Fending off several challenge from Jake O’Neil in the final stages, VanderBeek reached the checkered flag first and secured himself a spot on the front row for Sunday’s 50-lap, $20,000-to-win finale at the 18th Annual Rancho Milagro USRA Fall Nationals presented by S&S Fishing & Rental, Barnett Harley-Davidson and G3 Fitness.

The driver from New Sharon, Iowa, will start on the outside of polesitter Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., who won Friday’s preliminary feature race, and the rest of Saturday’s top five finishers—O’Neil, Bumper Jones, Dereck Ramirez and Jason Hughes—will fill the first five outside row starting spots in Sunday’s championship race.

Defending race winner Ryan Gustin wound up one spot short in sixth and will have to find his place in the main event via one of Sunday’s last-chance races.

Todd Harper was seventh, Jeremy Payne wheeled Sherman Barnett’s mount to an eighth-place effort, Adam Kates nabbed ninth and Mickey Lassiter clawed his way from the 22nd starting spot to get tenth.

Sunday’s finale at the 18th Annual Rancho Milagro USRA Fall Nationals will see gates open at high noon with the first race going green at at 2 p.m. Spectator general admission is $15 and kids ages 10 & under admitted free of charge. Family Packs are also available for $35, and a pit pass is $40.

Action will feature Rancho Milagro USRA Modifieds ($20,000 to win, $1,500 to start), Jack Key Auto Group X-Mods ($1,000 to win), Sun Valley Hardware USRA Stock Cars ($1,000 to win), Casa Nissan Legends Cars ($1,000 to win) and The Body Works Super Trucks ($1,000 to win) in a complete show of qualifying heats, last-chance races and championship main events in all classes.

For those unable to attend, the entire event will be broadcast live via pay-per-view at www.SpeedShiftTV.com.

The Southern New Mexico Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located 11 miles west of Las Cruces at the Southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds. Take exit 132, go left and take the frontage road south of I-10 heading west.

For more information, call (575) 524-7913 or (505) 524-7913 or visit www.SNMSpeedway.com online. You can also check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SouthernNewMexicoSpeedway and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SNMSpeedway.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
Southern New Mexico Speedway, Las Cruces, N.M.
18th Annual Rancho Milagro USRA Fall Nationals – Night 2 of 3
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown.

RANCHO MILAGRO USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1:
1. (2) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (6) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr., Canutillo, Texas.
4. (3) 202 Robbie Chiles, Hooper, Colo.
5. (8) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (1) 73 Jason Keeler, Farmington, N.M.
7. (5) 85 Neal Flowers, Hobbs, N.M.
8. (7) 3H Noah Hollingshead, Las Cruces, N.M.
9. (9) M16 Rocko Gallardo, Fair Acres, N.M.

Heat #2:
1. (1) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
2. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (2) 49 Duane Murphy, El Paso, Texas.
4. (4) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz.
5. (7) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
6. (3) 96 Dusty Riggs, Hatch, N.M.
7. (9) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
8. (8) 07 Donavon Flores, Las Cruces, N.M.
9. (6) 121 Tim Tharp, Las Cruces, N.M.

Heat #3:
1. (1) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (4) 32 Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill.
3. (2) 29F Charlie Felker, Farmington, N.M.
4. (6) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (8) 32 Max Sadler, Springerville, Ariz.
6. (7) 34 Mickey Lassiter, Piedmont, Okla.
7. (3) UNO Brian Kleine, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (5) 17M Roy Mason, Hobbs, N.M.
9. (9) 30 James Newton, Carlsbad, N.M.

Heat #4:
1. (1) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
2. (2) 88R A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich.
3. (8) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas.
4. (3) 39H Nick Herrera, Ruidoso Downs, N.M.
5. (4) 50 Ralph Adams, El Paso, Texas.
6. (6) 3J Josh Cain, Moriarity, N.M.
7. (7) 101a Austin Adams, El Paso, Texas.
8. (5) 3 Javier Zapien Jr., Horizon City, Texas.
9. (9) 14 Jeff Eckart, Sahuarita, Ariz.

Heat #5:
1. (2) X57 Richie Davis, Springerville, Ariz.
2. (8) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (4) 18JT Jeremy Thornton, Casa Grande, Ariz.
4. (5) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, N.M.
5. (7) 44 Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas.
6. (3) 28 Tom Georges, El Paso, Texas.
7. (6) 33 Ryan Gillmore, Springfield, Mo.
8. (1) 37 Josh Jackson, Albuquerque, N.M.

Heat #6:
1. (1) 3T Todd Harper, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (2) 101 Butch Reid, Carlsbad, N.M.
3. (6) 82 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
4. (5) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
5. (3) 18 Henry Valdez, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (7) 7 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
7. (4) 2 Greg Jenkins, Hobbs, N.M.
8. (8) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.

B-Feature #1:
1. (1) 82 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
2. (3) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (4) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (7) 34 Mickey Lassiter, Piedmont, Okla.
5. (9) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.
6. (2) 18JT Jeremy Thornton, Casa Grande, Ariz.
7. (11) 3H Noah Hollingshead, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (6) 44 Christy Barnett, El Paso, Texas.
9. (8) 96 Dusty Riggs, Hatch, N.M.
10. (10) 101a Austin Adams, El Paso, Texas.
11. (12) 3 Javier Zapien Jr., Horizon City, Texas.
12. (14) 14 Jeff Eckart, Sahuarita, Ariz.
13. (5) 99 Terry Tipton, Duncan, Ariz.
14. (13) M16 Rocko Gallardo, Fair Acres, N.M.

B-Feature #2:
1. (11) 07 Donavon Flores, Las Cruces, N.M.
2. (7) 7 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
3. (3) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, N.M.
4. (8) 3J Josh Cain, Moriarity, N.M.
5. (5) 39H Nick Herrera, Ruidoso Downs, N.M.
6. (1) 88R A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich.
7. (10) 33 Ryan Gillmore, Springfield, Mo.
8. (2) 49 Duane Murphy, El Paso, Texas.
9. (4) 32 Max Sadler, Springerville, Ariz.
10. (9) 85 Neal Flowers, Hobbs, N.M.
11. (6) 50 Ralph Adams, El Paso, Texas.
12. (12) 37 Josh Jackson, Albuquerque, N.M.
13. (13) 121 Tim Tharp, Las Cruces, N.M.

B-Feature #3:
1. (5) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (12) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (3) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (7) 73 Jason Keeler, Farmington, N.M.
5. (6) 18 Henry Valdez, Las Cruces, N.M.
6. (1) 101 Butch Reid, Carlsbad, N.M.
7. (4) 202 Robbie Chiles, Hooper, Colo.
8. (8) 28 Tom Georges, El Paso, Texas.
9. (2) 29F Charlie Felker, Farmington, N.M.
10. (10) 2 Greg Jenkins, Hobbs, N.M.
11. (13) 30 James Newton, Carlsbad, N.M.
12. (11) 17M Roy Mason, Hobbs, N.M.
13. (9) UNO Brian Kleine, Las Cruces, N.M.

A-Feature:
1. (2) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (5) 111 Bumper Jones, Mesilla Park, N.M.
4. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
6. (15) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
7. (3) 3T Todd Harper, Las Cruces, N.M.
8. (13) 82 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
9. (7) 23 Adam Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan.
10. (22) 34 Mickey Lassiter, Piedmont, Okla.
11. (18) 9 Jimmy Ray, Las Cruces, N.M.
12. (12) 65 Carlos Ahumada Jr., Canutillo, Texas.
13. (9) 23 Logan Robertson, Shamrock, Texas.
14. (21) 131 Royal Jones, Las Cruces, N.M.
15. (20) 117 Toby Herring, Hobbs, N.M.
16. (14) 07 Donavon Flores, Las Cruces, N.M.
17. (6) X57 Richie Davis, Springerville, Ariz.
18. (17) 7 Alan Sharpensteen, Amarillo, Texas.
19. (24) 73 Jason Keeler, Farmington, N.M.
20. (1) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
21. (16) G17 Fito Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
22. (19) J17 Jake Gallardo, Las Cruces, N.M.
23. (11) 32 Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill.
24. (23) 3J Josh Cain, Moriarity, N.M.