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Zack VanderBeek started eighth in Saturday's finale as the Lakeside Speedway hosted the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt for the final night of the 12th Annual Jayhawk Classic at the historic half-mile dirt oval in Kansas City, Kan.
Unfortunately, mechanical issues plagued the Z-Man as he slipped to a disappointing 21st-place finish in the $12,000-to-win main event.
The green flag waved over the field with 40 laps the distance for one driver’s $10,000 payday, and polesitter Jason Hughes took advantage right away as the four-time USMTS National Champion charged forward to lead the first seven laps.
Tyler Davis started next to Hughes on the front row but dropped back about six car-lengths before he began to reel the leader in a few laps later. Davis grabbed the top spot on the eighth lap but Hughes wrestled it right back one lap later.
Hughes currently sits second on the all-time USMTS wins list with 155 victories, but none have occurred at the Lakeside Speedway where the series has experienced 24 main events since 2012.
Behind the lead duo was Tanner Mullens, Carlos Ahumada Jr. and Dereck Ramirez with everybody in the top five searching every inch of the racing surface to find an advantage. Davis found it on lap 15 as sped back into the lead.
His reign was short-lived, however, as Mullens snagged first place just shy of the halfway mark before the race’s first and only caution came about on the 23rd lap. From that moment forward, it was anybody’s race to win and a barnburner to the end. Nonetheless, Mullens was in charge from lap 19 until the finish... Almost.
As Mullens and Davis continued to bang the outside concrete wall each orbit while riding a skinny line of moisture, the wear and tear started to become visible. Over the course of the final seven laps or so, the rear spoiler on Mullens’ USMTS Modified began to flop around in the wind while Davis pulled up to his rear bumper with two laps remaining.
Then, as the white flag waved, Davis went to the top side in the first turn while Mullens went from middle to top. The two raced nose-to-tail down the back-stretch and into the final corner. Davis shot down low and got himself for a risky slider on the leader. He completed the slide job and drove away in the final few hundred feet for the win. Mullens, meanwhile, suffered a flat tire in the final corner so, unaware to Davis, his victory hopes were already dashed when Davis got by and got the $10,000 winner’s share of the prize money.
“We’ve sucked all year,” Davis proclaimed. “I don’t think we’ve been focused enough and this week I said we got to get our (crap) together. “That cushion was pretty gnarly down there and I gave up the lead by going to the bottom and hitting that rut and I know Tanner was trying to protect the same thing.
“I knew my only way to get it back was going to be a slide job at the end so I just really went in as hard as I could but I seen the white flag and he tucked in a little low. I just buried it in the corner and had the speed down the backstretch and we pulled it off.
It was the third career USMTS triumph for Davis, who bookended last season with wins at the Rocket Raceway Park and his home track at 81 Speedway.
Despite the last-lap tire failure, Mullens held off Ramirez for runner-up honors while Rodney Sanders and points leader Jake O'Neil came from 14th and 20th, respectively, to finish fourth and fifth. Hughes held on for a sixth-place paycheck while Ahumada took seventh. Jim Chisholm passed ten cars to earn the eighth spot, rookie Jacob Hobscheidt nabbed ninth and Dan Ebert rounded out the top ten.
Up next for Zack and the 33z Racing Team will be the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt in their return to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.,May 25-27, for the 20th Annual LRS Waste Services Southern MN Spring Challenge.
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.
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
12th Annual Jayhawk Classic – Night 2 of 2
Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
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. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (3) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
3. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
5. (2) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
6. (10) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (7) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
8. (8) 68 Kerry Davis, Parkville, Mo.
9. (9) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
10. (6) 25C Cody Thompson, Sioux City, Iowa
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
2. (4) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
4. (5) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla.
5. (8) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
6. (1) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
7. (3) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo.
8. (7) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
9. (9) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
DNS – 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (1) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
5. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
7. (9) 1K Tim Karrick, Basehor, Kan.
8. (8) 55 Chris Kratzer, Lyons, Kan.
9. (7) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
DNS – 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
3. (4) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
4. (5) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
5. (6) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
6. (7) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
7. (9) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
8. (8) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan.
9. (2) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
2. (3) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (5) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
4. (11) 25C Cody Thompson, Sioux City, Iowa
5. (4) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (10) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
7. (9) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
8. (6) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
9. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
10. (8) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan.
11. (7) 68 Kerry Davis, Parkville, Mo.
DNS – 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
2. (1) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (3) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
4. (5) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
5. (6) 1K Tim Karrick, Basehor, Kan.
6. (4) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
7. (10) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
8. (7) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
9. (12) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
10. (11) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
11. (9) 55 Chris Kratzer, Lyons, Kan.
12. (8) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo.
DNS – 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (7) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (14) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (20) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
6. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (4) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (18) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
9. (6) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
10. (13) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
11. (15) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
12. (17) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
13. (11) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla.
14. (16) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
15. (24) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
16. (19) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
17. (22) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
18. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
19. (9) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
20. (10) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
21. (8) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
22. (23) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
23. (12) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
24. (21) 25C Cody Thompson, Sioux City, Iowa
Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-6, Davis 7, Hughes 8-13, Davis 14-18, Mullens 19-39, Davis 40.
Total Laps Led: Mullens 21, Davis 12, Hughes 7.
Margin of Victory: 0.797 second.
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 21.9 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starters: Phillips, Nelson.
Emergency Provisionals: none.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: O’Neil (started 20th, finished 5th).
Entries: 39.
Next Race: Thursday-Saturday, May 25-27, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn..
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: O'Neil 1104, Sanders 1087, Ebert 1075, Hughes 1050, Ramirez 1022, Wolff 1017, Phillips 1009, Berry 998, Fuqua 998, Krup 994.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 998, Krup 994, Christian 859, Nelson 836, Hobscheidt 726.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: O'Neil 57, Chisholm 50, Givens 49, Sanders 46, Hughes 40.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: Mullens 99, MBCustoms 97, Hughes 83, LG2 76, VanderBuilt 73.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 104, Mullins 103, Stoen 96, Hatfield 84, ProPower 76.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Siebert.
American Racer – Nicholas.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sanders.
BigDeal Car Care – Davis.
Bryke Racing – Nelson.
BSB Manufacturing – VanderBeek.
Carquest – TBD.
Champ Pans – O’Neil.
Collins Brothers Towing – Siebert.
Deatherage Opticians – Hughes.
Edelbrock – Davis.
Fast Shafts – Hobscheidt.
FK Rod Ends – O’Neil.
Hooker Harness – Fuqua.
Hyperco – Davis.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Brown.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KSE Racing Products – O’Neil.
MD3 – Mullens.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Mullens.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Phillips.
MSD Performance – Ramirez.
Penske Racing Shocks – Wheeler.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Kratzer.
Performance Bodies – Krup.
QA1 – Ramirez.
Quarter Master – Hobscheidt.
RacerWebsite.com – Siebert.
Salty’s BBQ & Catering – Davis.
Simpson Performance Products – VanderBeek.
Summit Racing Equipment – Ahumada, Carter, Givens, Mari, Plowman.
Super Clean – Davis.
Swift Springs – Ebert, Foley, Davis.
Sybesma Graphics – Hughes.
VP Racing – Davis.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Clancy.
Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Chisholm.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Ahumada.
