Ebert flawless in Rocket Raceway Park route

An electrifying finale to the 14th Annual USMTS Texas Spring Nationals took place Saturday night at the Rocket Raceway Park as Dan Ebert captured the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt feature win over a season-high field of 67 monster modifieds.

Rebounding from a tumultuous night on Friday, Tyler Wolff rolled from first-place after earning the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award and paced the first ten laps with Dan Ebert and Jake Timm closing in.

The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 15 with Wolff, Ebert and Timm nose to tail. Using a back-marker to his advantage, Ebert went high and snuck by Wolff who was bottled up by the traffic.

Moments later, the Gorsuch Performance Caution Flag waved for the first time as fourth-running Terry Phillips lost the handle of his machine while Tyler Davis and Dereck Ramirez also got together, but both got their spots back as Phillips delivered the yellow.

Rodney Sanders, Tanner Mullens and Jim Chisholm went to war for the fourth spot after the restart but Chisholm spun in turn three four laps later to cause another slowdown.

That restart allowed Mullens to slip by Timm for third, and then Kyle Brown nudged ahead. Meanwhile, Jason Hughes was making the best of his provisional 25th starting spot and was ninth by the halfway mark.

After yet another yellow flag for Wolff’s unfortunate spin, Kyle Brown blew past Mullens for second with Timm, Ramirez and Hughes not far behind.

But like Jack Sartain the night before, nobody was in the same class as Ebert rolled in Victory Fuel Victory Lane after leading the final 40 circuits of the 50-lapper around the popular 3/8-mile clay oval in Petty, Texas.

“It’s not often when you’re racing—a lot of racers that are watching can understand—you have a car when you just hit it that right that night, the 36-year-old from Lake Shore, Minn., said. “It’s not very often when you can just hit the setup perfect, and we did tonight. It was really awesome.”

Ebert’s margin of victory at the checkered flag was 3.154 seconds and put him at the top of the points battle with four races in the books.

The rest of the Featherlite Top-3 were 13th-starting Brown and Timm, while Mullens and 14th-starting Ramirez completed the top five.

Hughes, Mike Hansen, Davis, Sanders and Alex Williamson rounded out the top ten. Meanwhile, Phillips rebounded from his early banana peel moment.

Although Hughes passed 19 cars to finish sixth, provisional starters are not eligible for the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award so that honor went to Hansen who passed 17 of his fellow competitors.

Crown jewel coming up: One of the most prestigious events in dirt modified racing, RacinDirt USMTS King of America XIII takes place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 7-9, at the Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kan.

Dan Ebert is the defending King of America winner.

Following an open practice on Wednesday, three nights of racing will see the winners pocket $3,000 on Thursday and $5,000 to win on Friday while Saturday’s champion will collect a $12,000 paycheck.

USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods are also on the card all three nights racing for $500, $700 and $1000 to win, respectively, plus Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points.

For more information including history, payouts, rules, event times and ticket prices, check out the FAST FACTS for RacinDirt King of America XIII.

In 2023—the most competitive season in USMTS history—18 different winners claimed victory utilizing 17 different chassis manufacturers in the 34 races that were held. What’s more, there were 17 competitors who attended every event.

This year’s Summit USMTS National Champion could pocket more than $180,000 in post-season earnings at the end of the year.

The series champion will earn $50,000 and each of the three regions pay $10,000 to win the points. If a driver can win all three regions and the national points, a whopping $100,000 bonus awaits.

And don't forget, the RacinDirt TV Challenge is $30,000 which will be split evenly between all drivers with perfect attendance in 2024. There are 40 with perfect attendance remaining.

With live and on-demand coverage of nearly every event plus exclusive interviews, instant replays, multiple camera angles and more, RacinDirt is your source for USMTS action. In addition to their robust website at RacinDirt.TV, race fans can access content on your desktop and laptop computers, as well as a suite of apps for added convenience including Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TV and Google Play.

Check out usmts.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe for free and get USMTS news delivered to your inbox plus Members Only benefits.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
14th Annual USMTS Texas Spring Nationals – Night 2 of 2
Rocket Raceway Park, Petty, Texas
Saturday, March 2, 2024

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) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (7) 28 Cory Davis, Seminole, Texas
4. (12) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
5. (2) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
6. (11) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
7. (9) 12B Bryan Gunwall, Brookston, Texas
8. (3) 88R A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich.
9. (10) 81 Ricky Ingalls, Longview, Texas
10. (6) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
11. (8) 24M Manuel Williams II, Fouke, Ark.
12. (4) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (1) 54T Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas
2. (3) 47M Trey Melton, Lubbock, Texas
3. (5) 44F Fred Wojtek, Blackwell, Texas
4. (9) 47 Jack Sartain, Royse City, Texas
5. (7) 15J Jason Webb, McKinney, Texas
6. (11) 80XX Jason Langford, Palestine, Texas
7. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
8. (6) 32C Mitchell Clement, Bonham, Texas
9. (2) 75J Jeremy LaCoe, Lincoln, Ark.
10. (4) 12C Leland Cruz, Amarillo, Texas
11. (10) 523 Landon Capps, Anna, Texas

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 410 Justin McCoy, Grandview, Texas
3. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
4. (4) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
5. (8) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (7) 13J Triston Dycus, Maypearl, Texas
7. (10) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
8. (11) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
9. (9) 37 John Neal Reid, Loving, N.M.
10. (5) 88 Sam Osman, Spiro, Okla.
11. (6) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas

WIELAND METAL SERVICES HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (1) 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, Texas
2. (5) 2G Kenny Gaddis, Diana, Texas
3. (10) 100 Lee Patton, Ruston, La.
4. (3) 32 D.J. Shannon, Merced, Calif.
5. (2) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La.
6. (8) 4M Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas
7. (6) 24 Manuel Williams Sr., Fouke, Ark.
8. (7) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
9. (4) 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
10. (9) 88N Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
DNS – 91 Joe Duvall, Justice, Okla.

VP RACING HEAT RACE #5 (10 laps):
1. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (6) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
4. (7) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.
5. (9) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (10) 45T Eric Tomlinson, Robinson, Texas
7. (11) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
8. (8) 78 Billy Jack Brutchin, Gladewater, Texas
9. (4) 22XX Jason Gamez, Kaufmann, Texas
10. (5) 70 Jeremy Busby, Graford, Texas
11. (2) 24W Mason Williams, Fouke, Ark.

CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #6 (10 laps):
1. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
3. (5) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (4) 12J Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas
5. (7) 15 Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
6. (11) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
7. (9) 99 Jared Baird, Norman, Okla.
8. (6) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
9. (8) 15L Chris Lewis, Springdale, Ark.
10. (2) 457 Boone Evans, Bullard, Texas
DNS – 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (3) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (2) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
3. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (7) 15 Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
5. (12) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
6. (5) 32 D.J. Shannon, Merced, Calif.
7. (9) 13J Triston Dycus, Maypearl, Texas
8. (14) 88N Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
9. (10) 99 Jared Baird, Norman, Okla.
10. (15) D25 David Tanner, Wichita Falls, Texas
11. (6) 80XX Jason Langford, Palestine, Texas
12. (13) 81 Ricky Ingalls, Longview, Texas
13. (11) 24 Manuel Williams Sr, Fouke, Ark.
14. (4) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
15. (8) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La.
DNS – 64 Casey Fowler, Grand Saline, Texas
DNS – 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
DNS – 24M Manuel Williams II, Fouke, Ark.
DNS – 91 Joe Duvall, Justice, Okla.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (2) 47 Jack Sartain, Royse City, Texas
3. (1) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
4. (6) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (9) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
6. (8) 4M Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas
7. (7) 45T Eric Tomlinson, Robinson, Texas
8. (17) 523 Landon Capps, Anna, Texas
9. (16) 70 Jeremy Busby, Graford, Texas
10. (11) 88R A.J. Vasquez, Garden City, Mich.
11. (13) 75J Jeremy LaCoe, Lincoln, Ark.
12. (12) 78 Billy Jack Brutchin, Gladewater, Texas
13. (14) 22XX Jason Gamez, Kaufmann, Texas
14. (5) 12J Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas
15. (3) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.
16. (15) 12C Leland Cruz, Amarillo, Texas
17. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
18. (18) 24W Mason Williams, Fouke, Ark.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
2. (5) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
3. (12) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
4. (8) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
5. (1) 410 Justin McCoy, Grandview, Texas
6. (10) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
7. (6) 15J Jason Webb, McKinney, Texas
8. (13) 37 John Neal Reid, Loving, N.M.
9. (16) 71M Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
10. (2) 44F Fred Wojtek, Blackwell, Texas
11. (7) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
12. (9) 12B Bryan Gunwall, Brookston, Texas
13. (15) 88 Sam Osman, Spiro, Okla.
14. (4) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
15. (17) 457 Boone Evans, Bullard, Texas
16. (11) 32C Mitchell Clement, Bonham, Texas
17. (14) 15L Chris Lewis, Springdale, Ark.
DNS – 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana, Texas

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (50 laps):
1. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (15) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (19) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (25) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (24) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
8. (13) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
9. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
10. (26) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
11. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
12. (21) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
13. (9) 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, Texas
14. (22) 15 Kale Westover, Altus, Okla.
15. (27) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
16. (20) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
17. (6) 54T Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas
18. (18) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
19. (11) 28 Cory Davis, Seminole, Texas
20. (12) 47M Trey Melton, Lubbock, Texas
21. (1) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
22. (16) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
23. (8) 100 Lee Patton, Ruston, La.
24. (23) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
25. (4) 2G Kenny Gaddis, Diana, Texas
26. (10) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
27. (17) 47 Jack Sartain, Royse City, Texas

Lap Leaders: Wolff 1-10, Ebert 11-50.
Total Laps Led: Ebert 40, Wolff 10.
Margin of Victory: 3.154 seconds.
Time of Race: 30 minutes, 51.692 seconds (5 cautions).
Provisional Starters: J. Hughes, Williamson.
Emergency Provisional: Hoff.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Hansen (started 24th, finished 7th).
Entries: 67.
Next Race: March 5-7, Humboldt Speedway, Humboldt, Kan.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Ebert 337, Timm 333, J. Hughes 328, Davis 319, Mullens 317, Phillips 305, Christian 297, Ramirez 296, Hansen 290, Jim Chisholm 285.
ARMI Contractors USMTS Southern Region Points: Ebert 337, Timm 333, J. Hughes 328, Davis 319, Mullens 317.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Hodges 235, Hobscheidt 218, Shannon 200, Evans 196, Langford 193.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Hansen 32, Jim Chisholm 20, Ebert 19, Davis 19, S. Gaddis 19.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: Mullens 32, BOM 29, Hughes 29, Rage 26, MBCustoms 19.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 35, ProPower 26, OFI 26, Cornett 24, KSE 23.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Tanner.
American Racer – Lewis.
Bear Graphix – Ahumada.
Beyea Custom Headers – Mullens.
Bryke Racing – Hoff.
BSB Manufacturing – Wolff.
Champ Pans – Ramirez.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – J. Hughes.
Deatherage Opticians – Ebert.
Edelbrock – Phillips.
Fast Shafts – Day.
Featherlite Trailers – Ebert, Brown, Timm.
FK Rod Ends – Hansen.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – Ebert.
Hooker Harness – Hodges.
Hyperco – Fowler.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Christian.
Keyser Manufacturing – Williamson.
KSE Racing Products – Sanders.
MD3 – Ebert.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Joe Chisholm, McCoy, M. Smith.
MSD Performance – Mullens.
Penske Racing Shocks – S. Gaddis.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Sanders.
QA1 – Schott.
Quarter Master – Sanders.
RacerWebsite.com – Langford.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – Wolff.
Simpson Race Products – Ebert.
Summit Racing Equipment – Brown, Hobscheidt, J. Hughes, Langford, Sanders.
Sweet Manufacturing – Hobscheidt.
Swift Springs – Brown, Day, Ebert.
Sybesma Graphics – Wolff.
Total Power –Phillips.
Victory Fuel – Ebert.
VP Racing – Ebert.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Mason Williams.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Hansen.