Zack VanderBeek

Ebert conquers Tri-State Speedway as Sorensen clinches USMTS points title

Thursday night at the Tri-State Speedway, Dan Ebert scored his first victory of the season with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt with a flag-to-flag effort on the red clay in Pocola, Oklahoma.

The inaugural USMTS King of the Ring kicked off three straight nights of racing to put a bow on the 2022 campaign, with the 34-year-old from Lake Shore, Minnesota, pocketing the $10,000 winner’s paycheck with his first win since August 10, 2019.

“Man, it's just awesome. I can’t put into words what I really feel,” Ebert told the crowd from victory lane. “We’ve been working so hard—lots of blood, sweat and tears that went into this—and you know, my team’s always remained positive, and I feel like as a driver you need to keep your team up. Grinding up and down the road, being close (to winning) at times… It's easy to get down.

Down is where Ebert kept the hammer through all 40 laps of Thursday’s feature race, keeping Dereck Ramirez, and then Terry Phillips behind him the entire distance.

“It’s very hard to lead races. You feel like you’re in the right groove and you just don’t know how hard to push it. We feel like we have a better handle on our regular tire situation. We’ve overheated it at times this summer so we feel like we’ve probably had a better handle on it.”

Just two cautions waved during the race with the first one happening on the opening lap when five USMTS Modifieds got collected between turns three and four.

The second came on lap 23 when Dylan Thornton’s flat tire was the culprit. On the restart, Phillips moved to the high and got around Ramirez for second. He quickly returned to the short way around the track and settled in for a runner-up finish as he held off the defending USMTS National Champion.

Behind the podium finishers, Joe Duvall bested Tanner Mullens for the fourth spot while Zack VanderBeek, Dustin Sorensen, Tyler Wolff, Rodney Sanders and Darron Fuqua completed the top 10.

Racing from 15th on the starting grid, Sorensen reigned in the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award, but more importantly that effort clinched the 2022 USMTS points title. A check for $100,000 and the Leon Ramirez Memorial trophy awaits the 21-year-old from Rochester, Minnesota.

Kansas City here we come: Championship weekend continues Friday and Saturday as a pair of Sunflower State speedplants host the final two events of the 2022 USMTS campaign.

On Friday, the series heads north for the 8th Annual USMTS Kansas City Sizzler at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., for the second $10,000-to-win show of the weekend.

Tanner Mullens captured the Grant Junghans Memorial trophy here in August—his first USMTS victory at the historic half-mile oval—and Rodney Sanders claimed his series-best fifth win at Lakeside Speedway in last year’s “Sizzler.”

Past USMTS winners at Lakeside Speedway include Terry Phillips (4 wins), Jeremy Payne (3), Ricky Thornton Jr. (2), Ryan Gustin, Nic Bidinger, Matt Dotson, Jesse Sobbing, Lucas Schott, Stormy Scott and Jake O'Neil.

The pits open at 4 p.m., grandstands open at 5, hot laps and qualifying start at 7 and racing gets underway at 7:30 p.m. (all times Central Standard Time)

Tickets and pit passes can be purchased on race day. For suite and terrace availability call (913) 299-9206.

Also on the card, USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods are racing for Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national points.

Lakeside Speedway originally opened on April 17, 1955, at 92nd and Leavenworth Road but closed the following year. Five years later, the track reopened under new management and continued at that location through 1988 when developers for The Woodlands dog and horse racing track purchased the property.

Lakeside Speedway then moved to its present location at 5615 Wolcott Drive. The move enabled construction of modern grandstands, suites and a press box for racing fans. From 1989 to 1999, the track operated as a half-mile asphalt track. In 2000, Lakeside Speedway was again under new management and the racing surface was converted to a semi-banked 4/10-mile clay oval, which continues to be the configuration today.

Don and Donna Marrs purchased the facility in 2012. Don Marrs remains the owner today. His wife, Donna, passed away earlier this year.

The Lakeside Speedway is located 1.0 mile west of I-435 (exit 18) on SR 5 (northwest of Kansas City). The physical address is 5615 Wolcott Dr, Kansas City, KS 66109. For more information, call or text General Manager Darren Bennett at (913) 416-0823 or email info@lakesidespeedway.net. For suite rental and terrace availability call the track office at (913) 299-9206.

The 3rd Annual USMTS Modified Spooktacular at the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan., wraps up the season on Saturday.

Witness all the action every USMTS event from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Watch live and get exclusive content on your desktop, laptop tablet or a suite of apps like Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle 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.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
Inaugural USMTS King of the Ring presented by Wrisco
Tri-State Speedway, Pocola, Okla.
Thursday, October 27, 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. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
4. (6) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
5. (7) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (2) 712 Trevor Hughes, Salina, Okla.
7. (9) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
8. (5) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
9. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (2) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
3. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
4. (5) 6J Jason Payton, Greenwood, Ark.
5. (6) 7 Willie Gammill, Siloam Springs, Ark.
6. (1) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
7. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
8. (7) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 12J Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas
2. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
4. (1) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (5) 47 Jack Sartain, Terrell, Texas
6. (6) 54T Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas
7. (8) 18 Chad Smith, Springdale, Ark.
8. (7) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (4) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
3. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (6) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (5) 7D Jake Davis, Hackett, Ark.
8. (8) 18C Casey Lindell, Porter, Okla.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
4. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (3) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (11) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
7. (7) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
8. (6) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
9. (9) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
10. (10) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
11. (8) 18 Chad Smith, Springdale, Ark.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
2. (5) 712 Trevor Hughes, Salina, Okla.
3. (8) 7D Jake Davis, Hackett, Ark.
4. (4) 47 Jack Sartain, Terrell, Texas
5. (1) 6J Jason Payton, Greenwood, Ark.
6. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
7. (6) 54T Matthew Day, Farmersville, Texas
8. (7) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
9. (10) 18C Casey Lindell, Porter, Okla.
10. (3) 7 Willie Gammill, Siloam Springs, Ark.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (7) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
5. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (11) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
7. (15) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
8. (8) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
9. (13) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
10. (9) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
11. (17) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
12. (18) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
13. (14) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
14. (23) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
15. (21) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
16. (16) 712 Trevor Hughes, Salina, Okla.
17. (22) 6J Jason Payton, Greenwood, Ark.
18. (19) 7D Jake Davis, Hackett, Ark.
19. (10) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
20. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
21. (24) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
22. (3) 12J Jason Ingalls, Longview, Texas
23. (20) 47 Jack Sartain, Terrell, Texas
24. (12) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.

Lap Leader: Ebert 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Ebert 40.
Margin of Victory: 0.616 second.
Time of Race: 19 minutes, 44.427 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Carter, Thornton.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Sorensen (started 15th, finished 7th).
Entries: 33.
Next Race: Friday, Oct. 28, Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 3010, Mullens 2889, Phillips 2820, Ramirez 2788, Sanders 2761, VanderBeek 2679, Ebert 2549, J. Hughes 2510, Fuqua 2439, Carter 2378.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 2378, Brown 2101, DeVolder 2098, Thornton 1983, Colton Horner 1685.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 300, Mullens 256, Hughes 233, VanderBuilt 220, GRT 203.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 254, Action 226, Stoen 226, Durham 188, Mullens 188.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Bleess.
Beyea Custom Headers – Duvall.
BigDeal Car Care – Ebert, Phillips.
Bryke Racing – T. Davis.
BSB Manufacturing – Thornton.
Champ Pans – Mullens.
Deatherage Opticians – Carter.
Edelbrock – Ingalls.
Fast Shafts – Bleess.
FK Rod Ends – Sorensen.
Hooker Harness – J. Hughes.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – DeVolder.
Keyser Manufacturing – Fuqua.
KS Engineering – Ahumada.
KSE Racing Products – Sanders.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Phillips.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Clark.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Ingalls.
MSD Performance – Ebert.
Penske Racing Shocks – Brown.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Thornton.
Performance Bodies- Payton.
QA1 – Mullens.
RacerWebsite.com – T. Davis.
Simpson Performance Products – Mullens.
Summit Racing Equipment – Carter, Christian, Clark, Kirk.
Super Clean – Ebert.
Swift Springs – Fuqua, Ebert, T. Hughes.
Sybesma Graphics – Ebert.
Tire Demon – Gammill.
VP Racing Fuels – Ebert.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Christian.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Thornton.