Thursday night's opener was shortened by rain and time, so the main event was held Friday night. Gustin took the lead at the start and held off Rodney Sanders to take the win--the first for 'The Reaper' at the Fall Jamboree. Sanders finished second for a well-earned USMTS national championship title. Things weren't as good in the late feature Friday as we dropped out in 25th, but we bounced back for a solid fifth-place finish in Saturday's finale. Congratulations to Jason Hughes on his win.
Gustin gets first Featherlite Fall Jamboree trophy, passes USMTS National Championship torch to Sanders
SPRING VALLEY, Minn. (Sept. 20) – Hollywood could not have scripted a better finish in the opening feature at the 15th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree Friday night, or a more thrilling finish to the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup.
After a 24-hour delay for rain and time constraints on Thursday night at the Deer Creek Speedway, the season-long battle to become the next USMTS National Champion came down to three drivers slugging it out down to the last corner of the last lap of the last race.
In a 40-lap main event that had more action from front to back than one person’s pair of eyeballs could possibly follow all at once, it was Ryan Gustin getting the win after holding off Rodney Sanders in a side-by-side battle from start to finish.
While Gustin came into the final points race in the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup already eliminated from the title hunt, he did the next best thing by winning a main event at the Featherlite Fall Jamboree for the first time in his career.
And while Sanders finished second to the two-time defending USMTS National Champion, his effort was enough to capture the 2013 USMTS National Championship—the first of his career and the first for a driver from the State of Texas.
Following the race, ‘The Reaper’ celebrated his feature win as he passed the torch to ‘The Rocket.’
“First off, I have to thank Rodney Sanders. That’s the cleanest anybody could ever drive you, that’s for sure,” Gustin said. “Congratulations to Rodney on his first championship. It’s well deserved.”
Gustin led all but two laps as Sanders was able to sneak underneath to lead laps 19-20. It was the 66th career win for the 22-year-old from Marshalltown, Iowa, and put $3,000 in his pocket.
Coming into the race sitting third in the points standings, Sanders started third in the 40-lapper while points leader Johnny Scott started tenth and second-ranked Jason Hughes began his quest from the 29th spot in the last row of the 30-car field.
As fans kept one eye on the battle for the lead, the other eye went back and forth from watching Scott move forward and Hughes charging through the field.
Two early-race cautions gave an assist to Hughes as he found himself running 19th with just two laps in the books. He was up to 14th by lap seven and ten lap later was already up to sixth and following Scott around the high-banked 3/8-mile dirt oval.
The 2010 USMTS National Champion was fifth by the time they reached the halfway point in the race, but Hughes was never able to advance further during the last half of the race.
One final yellow flag with six laps to go helped Jeremy Payne roar around the outside of Sanders to grab the runner-up position while Hughes and Scott shadowed Sanders around the low and middle lanes of the racing surface.
Sanders, however, was flawless over the final five circuits, getting back around Payne with four laps to go to finish second and clinch the title while teammate Jason Krohn maneuvered to a third-place finish with a last-lap pass of Payne. Hughes finished fifth and Scott was sixth to close out the closest championship battle in the 15-year history of the United States Modified Touring Series.
Matt Dotson claimed the seventh spot, Mike Sorensen was eighth, Kelly Shryock raced from 27th on the grid to finish ninth and Steve Whiteaker Jr. was the tenth driver to cross the finish line.
Entering the final race trailing Scott by eight points, Sanders emerged with a seven-point cushion over his fellow 23-year-old. Hughes wound up third in the final rankings, just four markers behind Scott.
Stormy Scott’s run from 30th to 11th in the main event allowed him to fend off Payne by 16 points for fourth in the final rankings. Zack VanderBeek, Gustin, Shryock, Lucas Schott and Dereck Ramirez rounded out the final top 10 in points for the 2013 campaign.
With the one-day-delayed Thursday program in the books, drivers and fans got ready for yet another full program of racing following the checkered flag. Saturday's explosive finale will feature the hottest dirt modified pilots in the nation battling for one of 30 spots in the main event that will take the green flag three cars wide and ten rows deep. Drivers will battle for a $6,000 top prize and at least $900 just to take the green flag.
And if that isn’t enough, drivers failing to make Saturday’s finale will have a chance at one of 30 spots in the annual Non-Qualifiers Race which carries a $2,000 top prize and pays $400 to start.
The annual Bean Bag Tournament begins earlier in the day at noon. Breakfast will be served by the Bear Creek Lutheran Church in the hospitality area from 8-11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The Deer Creek Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval which sits on 60 acres with one of America’s most popular state-of-the-art racing complexes and an adjoining campground. For more information visit www.deercreekspeedway.com online or call 877-DCS-RACE.
The 15th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree is made possible with the support of Featherlite Trailers, Casey’s General Stores, Dakota Bumper, Husqvarna, L&D Ag, Red Tail Tackle, Weber Auto Parts NAPA and many others.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or check out our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup – Round 17 of 17
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Friday, Sept. 20, 2013
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. The top 12 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races were locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8. Heat races were completed Thursday, Sept. 19.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (18 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 7 Ron Jones, Princeton, Minn.
2. (3) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (1) 2x Brady Gerdes, Villard, Minn.
4. (5) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
5. (7) 4 Bill Byholm (R), Glidden, Wis., MBCustom/Koch, $50.
6. (16) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
7. (14) 717 Shaun Olson, Albert Lea, Minn., Hughes/, $50.
8. (13) 72 Doug Hillson, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $50.
9. (11) 21 Lance Town (R), Louisburg, Kan., Hoffman/Driskell, $50.
10. (4) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Grove, $50.
11. (8) 18 Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., GRT/Sput’s, $50.
12. (17) 59 Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn., /, $50.
13. (15) 38 Rick Cannata, Hibbing, Minn., Shaw/, $50.
14. (6) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa, Razor/HarryHeads, $50.
15. (20) 01 Joey Galloway (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, $50.
16. (19) 20f John Fellman, Blue Grass, Iowa, /, $50.
17. (9) 2r Rickie Roche, International Falls, Minn., Harris/Sput’s, $50.
18. (18) 26f Dan Fetters, Montour, Iowa, Sidebiter/KSE, $50.
19. (12) 14 Scott Stiffler, Farmdale, Ohio, GRT/, $50.
20. (10) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $50.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (18 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (1) 7 Eric Dailey, Armstrong, Iowa.
2. (8) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (6) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
4. (7) 21b Brandon Jensen, Hammond, Wis.
5. (4) 21 Aaron Turnbull, Estevan, Sask., Canada, Taylor/KSE.
6. (19) 51 Tracy Denby Jr., Vidor, Texas, Skyrocket/CB, $50.
7. (3) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Flyin’J, $50.
8. (11) 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D., Hughes/G-Force, $50.
10. (18) R Ron Ver Beek, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Skyrocket/Midstate, $50.
11. (10) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, $50.
12. (17) 55 Jeff Wood, Chisholm, Minn., Shaw/, $50.
13. (14) 51 Tyler Vandekamp, Ankeny, Iowa, Victory/, $50.
14. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
15. (9) 27s Jason Schlangen, Cresco, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $50.
16. (12) 30 Josh Ruby, Lakota, Iowa, Skyrocket/KSE, $50.
17. (13) 29h Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., Killer/Flyin’J, $50.
18. (2) 1k Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, Skyrocket/Karl, $50.
19. (16) 96 Greg Jensen, Albert Lea, Minn., BC/KSE, $50.
19. (15) 17 Lucas Conley, Spring Hill, Kan., Hughes/Willie, $50.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #3 (18 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (4) 77 Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan.
2. (1) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn.
3. (2) 21x Joe Wernecke, Dodge Center, Minn.
4. (9) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa.
5. (6) 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn., GRT/KSE.
6. (7) 1a Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn., Hughes/, $50.
7. (10) 26g Bob Gierke, Westport, Minn., GRT/RoushYates, $50.
8. (3) 6p Travis Peery, Yreka, Calif., Hughes/, $50.
9. (11) 99h Trevor Hunt (R), Kearney, Mo., GRT/Geddes, $50.
10. (16) 68 Kerry Davis, Parkville, Mo., SB/Sput’s, $50.
11. (14) 4 Craig Shaw, Dexter, Minn., Harris/KSE, $50.
12. (8) 51 Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis., GRT/Tomcat, $50.
13. (18) 36 Jeff Conner (R), Panora, Iowa, Skyrocket/RoushYates, $50.
14. (19) 11 Ryan Peckham, Spirit Lake, Iowa, IROC/PerfAuto, $50.
15. (15) 14b Darrin Bennett, Tonganoxie, Kan., Evolution/Mullins, $50.
16. (5) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis., Hughes/Mullins, $50.
17. (12) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Hatfield, $50.
18. (13) 87 Darron Fuqua (R), Mayetta, Kan., Venom/Driskell, $50.
19. (17) 85 Thomas Tillison Jr., Wellston, Okla., Hughes/Geddes, $50.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #4 (18 laps, top 4 advance):
1. (2) 88d Matt Dotson, Clark, Mo.
2. (1) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn.
3. (3) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D.
4. (5) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
5. (6) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., GRT/Mullins.
6. (7) 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah, Iowa, GRT/Sput’s, $50.
7. (11) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., GRT/Action, $50.
8. (4) 9 Ken Schrader, Concord, N.C., Venom/RoushYates, $50.
9. (10) 8 Bobby Swanson, Kasson, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $50.
10. (8) 6m Ted Marrs, Bethel, Minn., Frederick/Homerun, $50.
11. (12) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/ProPower, $50.
12. (15) 20r Bryan Rowland, Woodward, Okla., LG2/ProPower, $50.
13. (16) 00 Masen Big Eagle (R), Manor, Sask., Canada, GRT/Tim’s, $50.
14. (19) 77 Tom Brink, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Grove, $50.
15. (13) 2g Troy Girolamo, Eleva, Wis., GRT/Baxter, $50.
16. (17) 00 Mark Gartner, Mapleton, Minn., /, $50.
17. (14) 14w Clayton Wagamon, Blaine, Minn., Wheeler/Wagamon, $50.
18. (9) 45 Todd Scharkey, Kasson, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $50.
19. (18) 29d Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa, Shaw/Sperry, $50.
CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins, $5000.
2. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, $2000.
3. (9) 7k Jason Krohn, Slayton, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, $1500.
4. (7) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/RoushYates, $1200.
5. (29) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, $1000.
6. (10) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/ProPower, $900.
7. (16) 88d Matt Dotson, Clark, Mo., Hughes/BMS, $800.
8. (4) 19 Mike Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., Hughes/Action, $750.
9. (27) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, Skyrocket/ProPower, $700.
10. (12) 89 Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, Hughes/Mullins, $650.
11. (30) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., GRT/ProPower, $600.
12. (22) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $550.
13. (19) V2 Joey Jensen, Forest Lake, Minn., GRT/Tim’s, $500.
14. (24) 14 Jon Tesch, Watertown, S.D., GRT/Sput’s, $475.
15. (11) 90f Jay Ihrke, Dover, Minn., Fegers/Sput’s, $450.
16. (28) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., GRT/TriStar, $450.
17. (17) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/ProPower, $450.
18. (20) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., GRT/Sput’s, $450.
19. (5) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, Rage/RoushYates, $450.
20. (15) 77 Steven Bowers Jr., Topeka, Kan., SB/B&B, $450.
21. (25) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., Skyrocket/Sput’s, $450.
22. (14) 7 Eric Dailey, Armstrong, Iowa, Skyrocket/Sput’s, $450.
23. (21) 2x Brady Gerdes, Villard, Minn., GRT/Sput’s, $450.
24. (1) 51 Tim Setzer, Archie, Mo., Hoffman/Driskell, $450.
25. (8) 12 Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, $450.
26. (13) 7 Ron Jones, Princeton, Minn., MBCustom/Sput’s, $450.
27. (26) 21b Brandon Jensen, Hammond, Wis., SSR/Scott’s, $450.
28. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., Hughes/BMS, $450.
29. (23) 21x Joe Wernecke, Dodge Center, Minn., Sidebiter/KSE, $450.
30. (18) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, $450.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Lap Leaders: Gustin 1-18, Sanders 19-20, Gustin 21-40.
Total Laps Led: Gustin 38, Sanders 2.
Margin of Victory: 0.338 second.
Provisional Starters: Hughes, S. Scott.
Mesilla Valley Transportation Hard Charger: Shryock (started 27th, finished 9th).
Next Race: Friday, Sept. 20, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Points Standings (final): Sanders 1537, J. Scott 1530, Hughes 1526, S. Scott 1396, Payne 1380, VanderBeek 1254, Gustin 1248, Shryock 1226, Schott 1162, Ramirez 1161.
Rookie of the Year Points (final): Hunt 1689, Galloway 1547, Big Eagle 1333, Conner 1149, Adam Penn 598.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points (final): ProPower 418, Mullins 399, Geddes 368, RoushYates 363, Sput’s 347.
Tiger Rear Ends Manufacturers Championship Points (final): Hughes 471, GRT 442, MBCustom 407, Skyrocket 319, LG2 221.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Schott.
American Racer – not awarded.
Beyea Custom Headers – not awarded.
BSB Manufacturing – Hughes, Dotson.
Buck Monson Photos – Gustin.
Crane Cams – Gustin.
Dominator Race Products – Bowers.
Edelbrock – Krohn.
Eibach Springs – not awarded.
FK Rod Ends – Ihrke.
Forty9Designs.com – Tesch, Dripps.
Fuel Safe – J. Scott.
GRT Race Cars – Payne.
Hooker Harness – J. Jensen.
JRi Shocks – not awarded.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Shryock.
Keyser Manufacturing – Whiteaker.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Wernecke.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Shryock.
MSD Ignition – Gustin.
PBM Performance Products – Gustin.
Power Lift Racing Products – Ramirez.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
VP Racing Fuels – Gustin.
