ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- Rodney Sanders collected his second USMTS main event of the season Friday with a victory at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa.
Unlike his triumph twelve days ago at the Nobles County Speedway where Sanders used a late-race pass of Ryan Gustin to get to the finish line first, the 21-year-old from Happy, Texas, grabbed the lead early and had to hold off a hard-charging Gustin to get the win in the 35-lap WIX Filters “A” Main.
From the outside of the front row, Al Hejna led his first main event lap of the season when the green flag dropped, but Scott Ward powered by Hejna to lead the second lap.
Meanwhile, Gustin stopped on the racing surface with a flat tire to bring out the race’s first yellow flag and forcing him to restart at the tail of the 24-car field.
Ward’s time at the front of the field lasted just one lap too as Jason Krohn blasted in front on the restart to take the top spot for the next four laps.
Mike Hansen’s flat tire on lap 7 brought out the second caution. Hejna regained the lead on the ensuing restart and added two more circuits to his total before Sanders scooted by on the inside to take control with nine laps down.
From there, Sanders garnered some breathing room over the battle for second between Hejna, Krohn and Jon Tesch while Gustin worked his way back into the top 10 when the third and final caution occurred with 17 laps complete.
While Sanders was comfortably out front, Gustin continued his charge through the field and moved into the runner-up spot with just a handful of laps remaining.
With three to go, Nate Caruth’s machine began to slow with mechanical trouble but he was able to exit the track without bringing out the yellow flag and Sanders was able to coast to the finish line while Gustin ran out of laps and had to settle for the runner-up spot after passing 22 cars in the final 33 laps.
Tesch held on for a third-place finish while Krohn wound up fourth ahead of Mike Steensma, who was piloting the car that carried Krohn to the 2007 USMTS National Championship.
Sixth through tenth were Hejna, Jason Grimes, Kelly Shryock, Chris Spieker and rookie Brandon Beckendorf who earned the Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger Award after starting 21st.
With his second-place effort, Gustin narrowed the gap between himself and Shryock to a single point (777 to 776) in the Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains Region points battle with just two nights remaining on Friday and Saturday, July 22-23, for the Silver Dollar Nationals at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.
Sanders’ win gave him a bump to third in the rankings with 710 markers, followed by Grimes (696), Zack VanderBeek (691), Krohn (691), Tesch (672), Corey Dripps (638), Chase Junghans (625) and Ward (575).
The USMTS Casey’s General Stores National Tour powered by Swan Energy heads north for the final event of USMTS Summer Speedweeks at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn., on Saturday.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
USMTS National Tour
Great Plains Region
4th Annual
Event
Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa
Friday, June 24, 2011
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races are locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (3) 20 Rodney
Sanders, Happy, Texas.
2. (1) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D.
3. (2) 01
Brandon Aggen, Rushmore, Minn.
4. (4) 56 Chris Spieker, Massena, Iowa.
5.
(6) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
6. (5) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo,
Iowa.
7. (8) 88 Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa.
8. (7) 44X Jason
Schneiders, Sioux City, Iowa.
9. (9) 3 Jason Briese, Cleghorn, Iowa.
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33z
Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (2) 7K Jason Krohn, Slayton,
Minn.
3. (5) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn.
4. (7) 7 Al Hejna, Clear
Lake, Iowa.
5. (6) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
6. (4) 15M Shane
Demey (R), Denison, Iowa.
7. (8) 84 Cody Ahrendt (R), Inwood, Iowa.
8. (9)
M80 Jim Mathieson, Sioux City, Iowa.
9. (3) 5 Brandon Beckendorf, Danube,
Minn.
HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (5) 19R Ryan
Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa.
2. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
3. (3)
12H Mike Hansen, Alton, Iowa.
4. (7) 99 Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown,
N.D.
5. (4) 11 Ryan Peckham (R), Corning, Iowa.
6. (6) 711 Nate Caruth,
Ames, Iowa.
7. (8) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa.
8. (2) 07
Justin Anderson (R), Truman, Minn.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, top 8 advance):
1.
(2) 711 Nate Caruth, Ames, Iowa.
2. (5) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids,
Iowa.
3. (1) 15M Shane Demey (R), Denison, Iowa.
4. (8) 07 Justin Anderson
(R), Truman, Minn.
5. (10) 5 Brandon Beckendorf, Danube, Minn.
6. (3) 88
Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa.
7. (7) 44X Jason Schneiders, Sioux City,
Iowa.
8. (6) M80 Jim Mathieson, Sioux City, Iowa.
9. (4) 84 Cody Ahrendt
(R), Inwood, Iowa, S&T/Action, $90.
10. (9) 3 Jason Briese, Cleghorn,
Iowa, Skyrocket/JR, $75.
WIX FILTERS “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders,
Happy, Texas, Hughes/Geddes, 35, $2000.
2. (6) 19R Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown,
Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, 35, $1600.
3. (1) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.,
GRT/Sput’s, 35, $1000.
4. (4) 7K Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s,
35, $900.
5. (7) 10 Mike Steensma, Luverne, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35,
$800.
6. (2) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, BC/JR, 35, $700.
7. (9) 99
Jason Grimes (R), Jamestown, N.D., Hughes/Dakota, 35, $750.
8. (13) 3 Kelly
Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, 35, $700.
9. (12) 56 Chris
Spieker, Massena, Iowa, IROC/PerfMach, 35, $550.
10. (21) 5 Brandon
Beckendorf, Danube, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $500.
11. (10) 01 Brandon
Aggen, Rushmore, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, 35, $450.
12. (11) 12H Mike Hansen,
Alton, Iowa, GRT/PerfOnly, 35, $425.
13. (18) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock
Rapids, Iowa, Skyrocket/HarryHeads, 35, $400.
14. (20) 07 Justin Anderson
(R), Truman, Minn., Razor/Sweet, 35, $375.
15. (3) 37w Scott Ward, Watertown,
S.D., Arrow/Sput’s, 35, $350.
16. (15) 11 Ryan Peckham (R), Corning, Iowa,
IROC/PerfMach, 34, $300.
17. (19) 15M Shane Demey (R), Denison, Iowa,
BMS/Demey, 34, $300.
18. (22) 88 Sean Barragan, Sioux City, Iowa,
Hughes/Yankton, 34, $250.
19. (24) M80 Jim Mathieson, Sioux City, Iowa,
BeerBuilt/Mathieson, 34, $250.
20. (17) 711 Nate Caruth, Ames, Iowa,
Shaw/Sput’s, 33, mechanical, $250.
21. (14) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan,
Kan., GRT/Sput’s, 27, mechanical, $400.
22. (23) 44X Jason Schneiders, Sioux
City, Iowa, Razor/, 16, mechanical, $250.
23. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New
Sharon, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, 10, mechanical, $450.
24. (16) 31 Corey
Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, BC/Mullins, 7, mechanical, $400.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Integra Lap Leaders: Hejna 1, Ward 2, Krohn 3-6, Hejna 7-8,
Sanders 9-35.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 27, Krohn 4, Hejna 3,
Ward 1.
Margin of Victory: 1.263 seconds.
AFCO
Pole Winner: Gustin.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard
Charger: Beckendorf (started 21st, finished 10th).
Ruter
Farms Long Tow Award: Grimes (367 miles).
Provisional
Starters: none.
Next Race: Saturday, June 25, North
Central Speedway, Brainerd, Minn.
Farm Boy BBQ Sauce Great Plains
Region Points: Shryock 777, Gustin 776, Sanders 710, Grimes 696,
VanderBeek 691, Krohn 691, Tesch 672, Dripps 638, Junghans 625, Ward
575.
Rookie of the Year Points: Grimes 1263, Clyde Dunn Jr.
976, Jimmy Ray 971, Jeff Rowland 843, Philip Houston 807.
COMP Cams
Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 336, ProPower 268, Sput’s
219, ASI 167, Geddes 135.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship
Points: Hughes 355, Skyrocket 299, GRT 219, BC 112, Ramirez 80.
