Masters finale goes to USMTS champ Ramirez

A week void of good luck and sprinkled with some bad luck forced Dereck Ramirez to do what fans have become accustomed to—figuring it all out for the finale and heading home with the biggest check.

It happened again Saturday night as Ramirez was the class of the field for the final night of the 23rd Annual Masters at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis. It was the 22nd win of his USMTS career but first at this racetrack.

The defending champion of the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, Ramirez drew the No. 4 chip to put his No. 4R machine in the fourth starting spot for the 30-car, 45-lap main event.

But it was Jake O’Neil earning the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award for the third night in a row, and in position to backup his winning effort on Friday night.

O’Neil jumped out to an early lead but it was obvious this would not be a runaway as Clayton Wagamon tore up the cushion by taking the longest way around the high-banked 3/8-mile oval.

For Wagamon, it was the fastest way though and he blasted ahead of O’Neil to take the lead with five laps in the books. His lead lasted 13 laps before Ramirez used the middle of the racetrack to maneuver his way into the top spot.

Ramirez never trailed again as he was able to navigate heavy lapped traffic in the closing laps to keep a charging O’Neil behind him at the checkers.

The win was worth $10,000 to the 35-year-old from Woodward, Okla., and his third of the season.

Between Ramirez, O’Neil (6 wins) and points leader Dustin Sorensen (4 wins) three trio have claimed 13 of the 18 feature races in 2022. Those same three won all three Masters main event this weekend.

Behind O’Neil, Jake Timm finished third while never leaving the top five and Friday’s runner-up Tanner Mullens held off Sorensen for the fourth spot.

Rodney Sanders was sixth, Wagamon secured the seventh position, eighth went to Zack VanderBeek, Dan Ebert capped off a strong week in ninth and Terry Phillips rounded out the top 10.

24 before 5: The USMTS drivers and teams will be on hiatus for the next 24 days—or in many cases they’ll be looting other dirt modified shows—before embarking on a huge week featuring five main events at three different racetracks.

The series returns to action on Tuesday, July 12, at the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa, for the 3rd Annual Mod Mania, and then it’s the annual return to “The Big O” for the 2nd Annual Mod Wars on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 14-16, at the Ogilvie Raceway
In Ogilvie, Minn.

The whirlwind return to battle wraps up Sunday, July 17, with the 13th Annual Summersota Nationals at the Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D.—one of the most popular stops on tour year after year.

If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with your RacinDirt Pit Pass where you can watch live and access exclusive content on your desktop and laptop computers, as well as a suite of apps for added convenience including Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
23rd Annual Masters – Night 3 of 3
Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, Wis.
Saturday, June 18, 2022

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. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (5) 14W Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn.
3. (1) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (6) 2C Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
5. (3) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
6. (2) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
7. (7) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (8) W Cory Williams, Spring Valley, Wis.
9. (9) 22 Alan Bohlman, Isanti, Minn.
DNS – 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (4) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (7) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (1) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
6. (5) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (9) 44H Adam Hensel, Baldwin, Wis.
8. (8) 9 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
9. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (2) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
4. (6) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (4) 96M Mike McKinney, Plainfield, Ill.
6. (5) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
7. (7) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
8. (8) 173 Cole Boston, Lindstrom, Minn.
9. (9) 71 A.J. Roschen, Somerset, Wis.

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
4. (3) 44 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn.
5. (6) WIN1 Shane Sabraski, Rice, Minn.
6. (5) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
7. (8) 04JR Andy Jones, Princeton, Minn.
8. (7) 43K Kaden Blaeser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
9. (9) 27P Parker Anderson, Phillips, Wis.

VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (1) 10 Daniel Bargender, Menomonie, Wis.
5. (4) 30 Matt Leer, Bruce, Wis.
6. (8) 25 Adam Bohlman, Princeton, Minn.
7. (7) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
9. (6) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.

WRISCO HEAT RACE #6 (8 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (2) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
4. (6) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (7) 5K Tyler Kaeter, St. Cloud, Minn.
6. (8) 29D Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa
7. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
8. (5) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
9. (9) 12B Cory Bruggeman, Stillwater, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (4) 44 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn.
4. (3) 2C Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
5. (8) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
6. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (6) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
8. (9) 44H Adam Hensel, Baldwin, Wis.
9. (15) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
10. (5) 5K Tyler Kaeter, St. Cloud, Minn.
11. (12) 173 Cole Boston, Lindstrom, Minn.
12. (11) W Cory Williams, Spring Valley, Wis.
13. (7) 25 Adam Bohlman, Princeton, Minn.
14. (14) 27P Parker Anderson, Phillips, Wis.
15. (13) 22 Alan Bohlman, Isanti, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
2. (2) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (3) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
4. (6) WIN1 Shane Sabraski, Rice, Minn.
5. (4) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
6. (8) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
7. (7) 29D Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa
8. (9) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
9. (10) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
10. (12) 43K Kaden Blaeser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
11. (14) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
12. (11) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
13. (5) 96M Mike McKinney, Plainfield, Ill.
14. (13) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (12 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
2. (1) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
3. (3) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
4. (4) 10 Daniel Bargender, Menomonie, Wis.
5. (7) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
6. (9) 04JR Andy Jones, Princeton, Minn.
7. (10) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (5) 30 Matt Leer, Bruce, Wis.
9. (8) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
10. (12) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
11. (6) 94JR John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.
12. (14) 12B Cory Bruggeman, Stillwater, Minn.
13. (11) 9 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
14. (13) 71 A.J. Roschen, Somerset, Wis.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (45 laps):
1. (4) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (8) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (9) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
7. (2) 14W Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn.
8. (7) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
9. (13) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
10. (11) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
11. (14) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
12. (19) 44 Darrell Nelson, Hermantown, Minn.
13. (26) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
14. (28) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
15. (24) 10 Daniel Bargender, Menomonie, Wis.
16. (10) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
17. (16) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
18. (30) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
19. (20) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
20. (5) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
21. (12) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
22. (29) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
23. (21) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
24. (15) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis.
25. (18) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
26. (27) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
27. (22) 2C Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
28. (17) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
29. (23) WIN1 Shane Sabraski, Rice, Minn.
30. (25) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.

Lap Leaders: O’Neil 1-5, Wagamon 6-18, Ramirez 19-45.
Total Laps Led: Ramirez 27, Wagamon 13, O’Neil 5.
Margin of Victory: 1.197 seconds.
Time of Race: 23 minutes, 43.445 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Hughes, Ahumada.
Emergency Provisionals: Fuqua, Wolff, Brown, Givens.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Bargender (started 24th, finished 15th).
Entries: 55.
Next Race: Tuesday, July 12, Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 1637, Mullens 1570, Ramirez 1506, VanderBeek 1455, Sanders 1441, Phillips 1436, Hughes 1356, Ebert 1347, O'Neil 1324, Carter 1293.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 1119, Thornton 960, Brown 951, DeVolder 944, Horner 832.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 151, Hughes 128, Mullens 128, VanderBuilt 113, LG2 94.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 135, Action 122, Stoen 107, Mullens 95, Hatfield 87.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Crapser.
Beyea Custom Headers – Mullens.
BigDeal Car Care – Ramirez.
Bryke Racing – Bargender.
BSB Manufacturing – Thornton.
Champ Pans – Sorensen.
Deatherage Opticians – Davis.
Edelbrock – Davis.
Fast Shafts – VanderBeek.
FK Rod Ends – Bargender.
Hooker Harness – D. Nelson.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – J. Nelson.
Keyser Manufacturing – Phillips.
KS Engineering – Carter.
KSE Racing Products – Ebert.
Mel Hambelton Ford Racing – O’Neil.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Brown.
MSD Performance – O’Neil.
Penske Racing Shocks – Ahumada.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Bleess.
Performance Bodies – DeVolder.
QA1 – O’Neil.
RacerWebsite.com – Williams.
Simpson Performance Products – Sorensen.
Summit Racing Equipment – Blaeser, Kaeter, D. Nelson, J. Nelson.
Super Clean – Ramirez.
Swift Springs – Timm, Ramirez, Wagamon.
Sybesma Graphics – O’Neil.
Tire Demon – Alan Bohlman.
VP Racing Fuels – Ramirez.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Dierks.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Schott.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Chevrolet Performance, Compstar, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, Intercomp, K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports, KS Engineering, KSE Racing Products, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD Performance, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, Super Clean, VP Racing Fuels, Wrisco Industries.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ARMI Contractors, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DAY Motorsports, Hacienda Mechanical, Mel Hambelton Racing, Midwest Wrap Co., Miller Welders, PBM Performance Products, Rancho Milagro Racing, RHRSwag.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, Salty's BBQ & Catering, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, BigDeal Car Care, Bryke Racing, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Deatherage Opticians, Edelbrock, Hooker Harness, Integra Racing Shocks and Springs, JE Pistons, Keyser Manufacturing, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies & Parts, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Tire Demon, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Racing.

USMTS RACETRACKS: 81 Speedway, Arrowhead Speedway, Belleville High Banks, Casino Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Chateau Speedway, Dallas County Speedway, Deer Creek Speedway, Fayette County Speedway, Humboldt Speedway, I-70 Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Lucas Oil Speedway, Mason City Motor Speedway, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Ogilvie Raceway, Red Dirt Raceway, Rocket Raceway Park, Tri-State Speedway, Winneshiek Raceway.