Zack VanderBeek

Ramirez falls short of Show-Me Shootout four-peat as Sanders hopes high for fifth USMTS title

One of the most successful drivers in USMTS history put an end to Dereck Ramirez’s domination at Lucas Oil Speedway on Saturday as Rodney Sanders led all 50 laps to hold off Ramirez in Saturday night's 13th Annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment.

Ramirez had won the race the three previous seasons, but Sanders kept him from making it four in a row and took home the $10,000 payday. The 33-year-old from Happy, Texas, also expanded his season points lead in a bid to make it five Summit USMTS National championship titles.

“Dereck is super good here,” Sanders said. “He’s been really getting himself going lately and I knew he would be hard to beat.”

Ramirez said it was hard to take off on the bottom of the track, where he started the race as Sanders set the pace. “He got the jump on the start. Rodney passed the lapped cars at the right time.

“Second sucks, but I guess all good things must come to an end. That’s the way it goes.”

Sanders, winning the Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout for a second time, started outside of row one and had the early command with Tyler Wolff in second and Ramirez settling into third.

While trailing the leader by just over a second, Wolff jumped over the cushion in turn three on lap 10 and slapped the wall to bring out the race’s first and only caution.

“I saw Tyler get his nose underneath me at the beginning and I was gonna try to keep a pace where I didn’t go too fast, but still be able to keep the lead,” Sanders said. “I just have to thank everybody that helps me. This has been a great year so far. It just feels good to get going again.”

Sanders had a terrific restart and took a six-car-length lead over Sanders with Terry Phillips climbing from fifth to third on lap 11. As the 50-lapper hit the midpoint, Sanders was maintaining a one-second lead over Ramirez as the leaders navigated lapped traffic.

The biggest mover of the race to that point was Jason Hughes, who advanced from 12th to fourth, but he was more than three seconds behind the leading trio. Hughes eventually pulled off with mechanical issues while running fourth with just six laps to go.

With a long green-flag run continuing, Sanders expanded his lead to 1.6 seconds by lap 35 with Phillips another 1.5 seconds behind Ramirez. Ramirez gradually cut into the margin, pulling within just under a second of Sanders on lap 42, but the next time around Sanders expanded it to 1.6 seconds.

The only threat to Sanders was a caution flag and that didn’t occur. He finished off the flag-to-flag victory 1.5 seconds in front of Ramirez.

Sanders said he caught a break in the redraw by getting the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award.

“I felt like I was lucky all night,” Sanders said. “I didn’t qualify good, but got on the front row of the heat. That’s how it goes sometimes. Luck—you try to capitalize on it sometimes when the opportunity presents itself. We definitely had some luck tonight, but we held ‘em off.”

Phillips finished third, Dan Ebert was fourth and Tanner Mullens captured fifth after starting 16th. Zack VanderBeek, Cayden Carter, Jim Chisholm, Darron Fuqua and Jake O'Neil rounded out the top ten finishers.

Meanwhile, Wolff rebounded nicely from his early-race error and took the checkers with an 11th-place paycheck.

Chisholm, who was already comfortably leading the season-long FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award points, earned the honors once again by passing 13 cars from his 21st starting spot on the 26-car gird.

25-Year Celebration in Mason City Aug. 16-19: The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt will invade the Mason City Motor Speedway for four nights, Aug. 16-19, as the series celebrates with current and former drivers, crew members, officials and fans at the 25th Anniversary USMTS Silver Jubilee.

Learn more about this once-in-a-lifetime blockbuster at https://usmts.com/schedule/event.asp?RaceID=64287

For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features racing at some of America's premier dirt track racing venues. 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.

Visit usmts.com to learn more and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
13th Annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment
Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Saturday, Aug. 5, 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 RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (10 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (4) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
4. (8) 22 Austen Becerra, Carthage, Ill.
5. (3) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
6. (9) 22B Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
7. (10) 55 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
8. (5) 98 Jeff Cutshaw, Bolivar, Mo.
9. (7) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
10. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (4) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (6) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (9) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (7) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
7. (1) 1X Matt Johnson, Archie, Mo.
8. (10) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
9. (8) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
10. (3) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (1) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
3. (4) 21 Ryan Middaugh, Fulton, Mo.
4. (6) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
5. (5) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
6. (7) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
7. (9) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
8. (3) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
9. (8) 73B Shad Badder, Bates City, Mo.

WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
3. (5) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
4. (6) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
5. (7) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo.
6. (3) 18 Dennie Gieber, Frankston, Texas
7. (8) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
8. (9) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.
9. (1) 356 Reggie Jackson, Lebanon, Mo.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
2. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
3. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
4. (6) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (7) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
6. (8) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
7. (4) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
8. (3) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo.
9. (10) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
10. (9) 1X Matt Johnson, Archie, Mo.
11. (12) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
12. (11) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (1) 22 Austen Becerra, Carthage, Ill.
3. (2) 21 Ryan Middaugh, Fulton, Mo.
4. (12) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (6) 55 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
6. (5) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
7. (10) 73B Shad Badder, Bates City, Mo.
8. (8) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.
9. (4) 22B Rick Beebe, Shawnee, Kan.
10. (7) 18 Dennie Gieber, Frankston, Texas
11. (11) 356 Reggie Jackson, Lebanon, Mo.
12. (9) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (50 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (3) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (16) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
7. (15) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
8. (21) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
9. (7) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
10. (23) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
11. (4) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
12. (24) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
13. (10) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
14. (19) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
15. (17) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
16. (6) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
17. (14) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
18. (9) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
19. (20) 21 Ryan Middaugh, Fulton, Mo.
20. (22) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
21. (26) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
22. (25) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
23. (13) 98 Jeff Cutshaw, Bolivar, Mo.
24. (12) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
25. (11) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
26. (18) 22 Austen Becerra, Carthage, Ill.
DNS – 1X Matt Johnson, Archie, Mo.

Lap Leader: Sanders 1-50.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 50.
Margin of Victory: 1.554 seconds.
Time of Race: 17 minutes, 50.853 seconds (1 caution).
Provisional Starter: Pursley (track).
Emergency Provisional: Givens.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Chisholm (started 21st, finished 8th).
Entries: 38.
Next Race: Wednesday-Saturday, Aug. 16-19, Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sanders 2251, Hughes 2120, Chisholm 2107, O'Neil 2072, Ramirez 2072, Mullens 2035, Ebert 2015, Phillips 1957, Carter 1934, Wolff 1928.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 1869, Krup 1833, Nelson 1685, Christian 1449, Lavasseur 1398.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Chisholm 161, Sanders 120, O'Neil 112, Hughes 94, Mullens 81.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 191, Mullens 179, Hughes 176, VanderBuilt 139, Skyrocket 134.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 207, Cornett 198, Stoen 180, Hatfield 176, KSE 159.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Cutshaw.
American Racer – Nelson.
Beyea Custom Headers – Ebert.
BigDeal Car Care – Sanders, O’Neil.
Bryke Racing – Nelson.
BSB Manufacturing – Givens.
Carquest – TBD.
Champ Pans – Mullens.
Collins Brothers Towing – Brown.
Deatherage Opticians – Johnson.
Edelbrock – Fuqua.
Fast Shafts – VanderBeek.
FK Rod Ends – Chisholm.
Hooker Harness – Christian.
Hyperco – Duvall.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Duvall.
Keyser Manufacturing – O’Neil.
KSE Racing Products – Chisholm.
MD3 – Sanders.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Ramirez.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Gieber.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Pursley.
MSD Performance – Phillips.
Penske Racing Shocks – Bidinger.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Hughes.
QA1 – Fuqua.
Quarter Master – Chisholm.
RacerWebsite.com – Hagar.
Salty’s BBQ & Catering – O’Neil.
Simpson Race Products – Sanders.
Summit Racing Equipment – Bidinger, Gieber, Jackson, Johnson, Melton.
Super Clean – Sanders.
Swift Springs – Wolff, Bidinger, Sanders.
Sybesma Graphics – Sanders.
VP Racing – Sanders.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Jackson.
Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Fuqua.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Carter.