Gressel Racing

Brandon and the Gressel Racing squad kicked off the Memorial Day Weekend with the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa, for the 13th Annual USMTS Rapid Rumble. After a 6th-place finish in his heat race, he wound up 7th in his "B" main and did not start the main event.

O’Neil rocks Rapid Speedway in USMTS runaway

Jake O’Neil kicked off the Memorial Day Weekend with the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s by scoring a dominating victory at the Rapid Speedway during the 13th Annual USMTS Rapid Rumble presented by Real Racing Wheels.

O’Neil said had no idea how big his lead was, but his competition and everybody watching the race knew he was in a class all by himself.

“I don’t know, man, I just was getting nervous and thought I kept seeing a nose below me every once in a while and I just I kept pushing harder and harder,” O’Neil said in victory lane after taking the checkered flag more than two seconds ahead of defending race winner Rodney Sanders.

Following an opening-lap caution when polesitter Trevor Anderson got turned around in the first turn, O’Neil assumed the point and proceeded to open a lead of nearly 10 seconds before the race’s second and final yellow flag waved with just seven laps to go.

The evaporated advantage offered no help to O’Neil’s pursuers as he rolled to his first USMTS victory of the 2021 campaign and a $10,000 paycheck.

“I tell you what, we accidentally found something and after the heat race… it turned out to make the car bad ass. I don't know what else to say. The car was awesome and just I could run about anywhere I needed,” O’Neil added. I kind of struggled with lapped cars and I thought I was really starting to get kind of impatient and making mistakes and I just had to grab me handful of fuel over here and just hope for the best.”

With his 11th career USMTS triumph, O’Neil became yet another first-time winner at the 3/8-mile dirt oval located at the Lyons County Fairgrounds in Rock Rapids, Iowa.

Only Sanders has multiple wins but finished in the runner-up position Friday and came up short of notching his fourth win here.

Lucas Schott wound up third with Dan Ebert and 10th-starting Johnny Scott rounding out the top five.

Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contender Will Krup turned in his best performance of the season with a sixth-place effort while Tyler Wolff advanced from 19th to seventh and earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.

Terry Phillips held off Jason Hughes for eighth after a tussle between the two veterans. Behind them, Jesse Glenz recorded his first top-10 finish of the year.

Saturday show at The Creek: The 18th Annual USMTS Southern MN Spring Challenge presented by Boomtest Well Service happens Saturday at the legendary Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and the list of former USMTS winners here could serve as dirt modified racing’s half of fame class.

Nine-time USMTS national champ Kelly Shryock won the first-ever USMTS contest here in 2002 but his 10 career wins at Deer Creek puts him second on the list behind Jason Hughes, who has a series-best 14 victories here. Rodney Sanders has also garnered 10 checkered flags here.

Ryan Gustin has seven wins while Tim Donlinger and Terry Phillips each have five, along with two-time USRA Modified national champ Brandon Davis. Jason Cummins and Brad Waits have four apiece and three wins are noted by Cade Dillard, Zack VanderBeek, Joey Jensen and Jake O’Neil.

O’Neil is on a three-race winning streak here after sweeping the Labor Day event and both nights of the Featherlite Fall Jamboree in September. The Memorial Day Weekend event last year fell victim to the pandemic.

Two-time winners here include Corey Dripps, Jason Krohn, Ryan Ruter, Stormy Scott, Lucas Schott, Johnny Scott and Dustin Sorensen. Drivers who have visited victory lane here one time include Mark Noble, Steve Wetzstein, Darin Walker, Tony Fraise, Dan Daniels, Chad Kinder, Mark Burgtorf, Brad McEwan, Randy Timms, Dean Mahlstedt, Tommy Myer, Mike Sorensen, Mike Spaulding, Dan Chapman, Les Duellman, Mike Hejna, Steve Arpin, Jon Tesch, Jordan Grabouski, Jeremy Payne, Craig Thatcher, Tommy Weder Jr., Dereck Ramirez and 2019 Featherlite Fall Jamboree finale winner Jacob Bleess.

General admission spectator tickets for Saturday’s show are $30. Youth ages 12 and under are $10. Pit passes are $40 or $25 for kids ages 6-15. Those under 6 years old get free admission into the pits with an accompanying adult.

The pit gate will open at 3 p.m. and grandstands open at 4. Hot laps start at 5:30 with qualifying and racing to follow at 6 p.m.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Wissota Midwest Mods.

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. The track is located 11.3 miles south of I-90 at exit 209 on US 63 (0.7 mile north of SR 16). The physical address is 25262 US Hwy 63, Spring Valley, MN 55975. For more information, call (507) 754-6107 or 877-327-7223 and check out deercreekspeedway.com.

Weekend wraps up in Winneshiek County: The Memorial Day Weekend tripleheader wraps up Sunday with the 13th Annual USMTS Nordic Nationals presented by PBM Performance Products at the Upper Iowa Speedway in Decorah, Iowa.

Zack VanderBeek collected his first of three USMTS wins at the Upper Iowa Speedway during his rookie campaign in 2005. Gustin, Hughes, Tesch, Al Hejna and Johnny Scott are two-time winners here. Jake O'Neil won the last USMTS race in Decorah—his first win here—in 2019. The 2020 running of the Nordic Nationals fell victim to COVID-19 and rain doomed the 2015 and 2013 events.

General admission spectator tickets for Friday’s show are $25. Seniors (62+) and youth (12-16) get in for just $20. Kids (6-11) are $10. Pit passes are $40 and kids (6-10) are $25. Those under 6 years old get in free of charge in the grandstands and pits.

The pit gate will open at 2:00 p.m. and grandstands open at 3:30. Hot laps start at 5:30 with qualifying and racing to follow at 6. Driver registration ends at 5 p.m. and the pit meeting commences at 5:05.

In addition to the USMTS Modifieds racing for $10,000 to win, sharing the spotlight will be Medieval USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stocks.

The Upper Iowa Speedway is a semi-banked 1/4-mile dirt oval located 1.8 miles east of US 52 on SR 9, then 1.0 mile northwest on Montgomery St., then northeast on E. Main St. at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds (900 E Main St, Decorah, IA 52101). For more information, call (563) 382-0711 or visit upperiowaspeedway.com.

If something keeps you from attending a race this weekend, you can still watch every lap of every division live at racindirt.tv. We gotcha covered every night.

Taking dirt to a new level: The 2021 campaign for the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s features 36 nights of racing with the winners of those main events set to take home over $300,000 in earnings from more than $1 million in prize money earmarked for those shows.

Twenty-six of the 36 race nights will pay at least $10,000 to win while the other 10 carry a $5,000 top prize. And if that weren’t enough, more than $230,000 is committed to the top ten finishers in the 2021 points standings with a record $70,000 reserved for the 2021 USMTS National Champion.

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.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s
13th Annual USMTS Rapid Rumble presented by Real Racing Wheels
Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa
Friday, May 28, 2021

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine, laps completed and money won. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Casey’s “A” Main.

SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (2) 55 Cory Mahder, Elk Mound, Wis.
3. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (5) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
6. (7) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
7. (6) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa
8. (8) 1J Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 12L Lucas Lee (R), Paris, Tenn.
2. (1) 20T Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
3. (5) 1ST Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
4. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (3) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (8) 57 Duke Erickson (R), Sioux Falls, S.D.
8. (9) 99 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
9. (7) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (2) K19 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill.
3. (5) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
4. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (4) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis.
6. (8) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
7. (7) 25C Cody Thompson (R), Sioux City, Iowa
8. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
9. (9) 22 Justin Voeltz, Hartford, S.D.

MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (8) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
6. (6) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan.
7. (7) 14 Nick Schmidt, Baltic, S.D.
8. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
9. (9) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
4. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
5. (10) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (9) 99 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla.
8. (7) 57 Duke Erickson (R), Sioux Falls, S.D., Dominator/Hanson, $125.
9. (11) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
10. (8) 25C Cody Thompson (R), Sioux City, Iowa, Harris/Chevrolet, $125.
11. (4) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
12. (12) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis., Rage/Sput’s, $125.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (4) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
5. (5) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
6. (7) 27 Don Gerritsen Jr., Rock Rapids, Iowa, Skyrocket/HarryHeads, $125.
7. (6) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, $125.
8. (9) 1J Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D., Shaw/Hanson, $125.
9. (8) 14 Nick Schmidt, Baltic, S.D., LG2/Schmidt, $100.
10. (12) 83 Kylie Kath (R), Claremont, Minn., Pierce/OFI, $125.
11. (10) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
12. (11) 22 Justin Voeltz, Hartford, S.D., Harris/CNC, $100.

CASEY’S “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 40, $10,000.
2. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $5000.
3. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $3000.
4. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., Lethal/Ebert, 40, $2000.
5. (10) 1ST Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., ElDorado/Mullins, 40, $1700.
6. (4) K19 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill., MBCustoms/Mullins, 40, $1500.
7. (19) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustoms/ECE, 40, $1200.
8. (9) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 40, $1000.
9. (13) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $900.
10. (18) 89X Jesse Glenz (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis., MBCustoms/KSE, 40, $850.
11. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., Mullens/Mullens, 40, $800.
12. (16) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $775.
13. (11) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., MBCustoms/Action, 40, $750.
14. (15) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., VanderBuilt/KSE, 40, $740.
15. (22) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., Lethal/Sower, 40, $735.
16. (12) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $730.
17. (23) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Stoen, 40, $725.
18. (17) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $720.
19. (1) 20T Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Victory, 40, $715.
20. (8) 12L Lucas Lee (R), Paris, Tenn., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $710.
21. (20) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D., MBCustoms/Tim’s, 40, $705.
22. (25) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, Hughes/BMS, 40, $125.
23. (26) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., Hughes/Cornett, 39, $125.
24. (2) 55 Cory Mahder, Elk Mound, Wis., Lethal/PPM, 32, $700.
25. (24) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., MBCustoms/Driskell, 20, $700.
26. (21) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, 16, $700.
27. (27) 99 Nathan Hagar, Adair, Okla., Hughes/Chevrolet, 9, $125.

Lap Leader: O’Neil 1-40.
Total Laps Led: O’Neil 40.
Margin of Victory: 2.078 seconds.
Time of Race: 18 minutes, 51.494 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: VanderBeek, Fuqua, Ahumada (emergency), Clark (emergency), Hagar (emergency).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Wolff (started 19th, finished 7th).
Entries: 36.
Next Race: Saturday, May 29, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s Points: Ramirez 769, Sanders 746, Phillips 735, O'Neil 727, Schott 690, Ebert 682, Mullens 679, Wolff 653, Hughes 642, Scott 631.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Strength 496, Glenz 482, Krup 427, Lee 410, Good 403.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 76, Hughes 74, Lethal 64, GRT 60, LG2 58.
Compstar USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 77, Durham 58, Hatfield 57, Stoen 56, Mullins 48.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Kath.
Beyea Custom Headers – Ebert.
BigDeal Car Care – O’Neil, Scott.
Bryke Racing – Atkinson.
BSB Manufacturing – Good.
Champ Pans – Scott.
Deatherage Opticians – Bleess.
Edelbrock – Schott.
Eibach – Wolff.
Fast Shafts – Lee.
FK Rod Ends – Wolff.
Hooker Harness – Ramirez.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Anderson.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – Strength.
K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports – Gerritsen.
Keyser Manufacturing – Glenz.
KS Engineering – Mullens.
KSE Racing Products – Hughes.
Maxima Racing Oils – O’Neil.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Ahumada.
Penske Racing Shocks – Sorensen.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Davis.
QA1 – Phillips.
RacerWebsite.com – Myers.
Simpson Performance Products – Ebert.
Summit Racing Equipment – Atkinson, Erickson, Gerritsen, Schmidt, Thompson.
Super Clean – O’Neil.
Swift Springs – O’Neil, Erickson.
Sybesma Graphics – Anderson.
Tire Demon – Myers.
VP Racing Fuels – O’Neil.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Gerritsen.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Wolff.