Lance Mari typically speaks softly but always carries a big right foot, and he laid to rest any doubters Friday night with his career-first USMTS victory at the Chateau Speedway in Lansing, Minn.
The 13th annual event presented by Zumbrota Ford once again produced a magical night of racing that kept the drivers on their toes while series and track officials continued to knead the racing surface after two days of persistent rain.
While it retained some “character,” the track was in the best shape of the night by the time the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt took to the 1/3-mile dirt oval for their 40-lap main event.
Lucas Schott and Jacob Bleess—both from nearby Chatfield, Minn.—shared the front row for the start of the race and it was Bleess gaining the advantage when the green flag dropped.
The third lap saw Tyler Wolff grab the lead but Bleess battled back to lead lap 4. They swapped the top spot two more times before Wolff took control with six laps in the books.
Two cautions in the first eight laps didn’t offer any help to Wolff’s pursuers as he drove off to a healthy advantage each time. The yellow flag waved for a third time, however, with 24 laps down and this time it was for Wolff.
The leader’s No. 4W ARMI machine slowly slid sideways at the top of the first turn and was finished off by a lapped car, forcing him out of the race and handing the reigns over to four-time USMTS National Champion Rodney Sanders.
Seeking his first win since May 29 last year at the Deer Creek Speedway, was up to the challenge and he pulled away from the field but Mari, who started 16th on the 27-car grid, looked high and low for a way around Sanders before sliding over the cushion atop turn 2 and relinquishing second to Tanner Mullens.
Mari eventually recaptured second from Mullens was Sanders was far ahead and looked to be on his way to ending his nearly year-long drought., but with four laps to go Sanders pulled to the top of the fourth turn to bring out the fourth and final caution, and ending his night less than a mile from paydirt.
Mari was the leader when the green flag returned and he was still the leader when the checkered flag waved moments later. For Mari, his first USMTS triumph was worth $10,000 and a well-deserved prize for perseverance.
He also earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award for passing 15 cars en route to his triumphant trip to the winner’s circle.
Mullens came from the 14th starting and held on for a second-place paycheck while 10th-sratring Dereck Ramirez finished third ahead of 17th-starting Jake Timm and 15th-starting Jason Hughes.
Not eligible for the hard charger award due to taking a provisional starting spot, Jake O'Neil steered his backup car to a sixth-place finish after starting 24th. Dan Ebert was seventh, Ryan Wetzstein—the only driver in the top 10 to start among the top 10—was eighth, Zack VanderBeek nabbed ninth and Terry Phillips rebounded from an early mishap to round out the top 10.
Points leader Dustin Sorensen came through a Real Racing Wheels “B” Main, started 19th and finished 11th.
One down, three to go: The Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., hosts the USMTS on Saturday before travelling to the reanimated Winneshiek Raceway in Decorah, Iowa, on Sunday. The four-night Memorial Day Weekend wraps up at the Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa, on Monday.
For times, tickets and all the information you need, read all about it at https://usmts.com/news/news_article.asp?NewsID=81219.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
13th Annual Event presented by Zumbrota Ford
Chateau Speedway, Lansing, Minn.
Friday, May 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) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
2. (2) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
3. (3) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (5) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
5. (4) 35JR Garitt Wytaske, Austin, Minn.
6. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (8) 77T Tripp Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo.
8. (7) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
9. (9) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (6) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (9) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
7. (7) 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
8. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (8) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
2. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (5) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
7. (7) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
8. (2) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (4) 90 Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
2. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
3. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (5) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
5. (6) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
6. (1) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
DNS – Z29 A.J. Zvorak, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps):
1. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (4) 90X Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
3. (1) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
4. (3) 23K Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
5. (8) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
6. (5) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
7. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
8. (7) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (4) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (3) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (6) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
6. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
7. (8) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
8. (12) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
9. (11) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
10. (14) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
11. (7) 4A Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
12. (10) 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
13. (13) Z29 A.J. Zvorak, Blooming Prairie, Minn.
14. (9) 77T Tripp Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo.
DNS – 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (5) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
4. (4) 35JR Garitt Wytaske, Austin, Minn.
5. (2) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
6. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
7. (11) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
8. (9) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
9. (10) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
10. (3) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
11. (7) 24 Charlie Steinberg, Kasson, Minn.
12. (12) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
DNS – 23K Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn.
DNS – 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
DNS – 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (16) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
2. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (10) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (17) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
5. (15) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
6. (24) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
7. (11) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
8. (7) 90 Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
9. (23) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
10. (13) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
11. (19) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
12. (22) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
13. (12) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
14. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
15. (27) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
16. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
17. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
18. (6) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
19. (26) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
20. (20) 35JR Garitt Wytaske, Austin, Minn.
21. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
22. (9) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
23. (25) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
24. (5) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
25. (21) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
26. (18) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
27. (4) 90X Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn.
Lap Leaders: Bleess 1-2, Wolff 3, Bleess 4-5, Wolff 6-24, Sanders 25-36, Mari 37-40.
Total Laps Led: Wolff 20, Sanders 12, Mari 4, Bleess 4.
Margin of Victory: 1.079 seconds.
Time of Race: 22 minutes, 46.166 seconds (4 cautions).
Provisional Starters: VanderBeek, O’Neil.
Emergency Provisionals: Brown, Clark.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Mari (started 16th, finished 1st).
Entries: 42.
Next Race: Saturday, May 28, Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 847, Mullens 800, VanderBeek 749, Hughes 738, Sanders 734, Timm 723, Ramirez 722, Schott 718, Phillips 713, Bleess 669.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 598, Thornton 554, Brown 546, DeVolder 525, Horner 502.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 85, Mullens 73, Hughes 64, VanderBuilt 60, LG2 49.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Action 67, Stoen 60, Cornett 59, Hatfield 48, Mullins 47.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Nicholas.
Beyea Custom Headers – Timm.
BigDeal Car Care – Mari, O’Neill.
Bryke Racing – Clark.
BSB Manufacturing – Wolff.
Champ Pans – Hughes.
Deatherage Opticians – Bleess.
Edelbrock – Myers.
Fast Shafts – Schott.
FK Rod Ends – Mari.
Hooker Harness – Holland.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Brown.
Keyser Manufacturing – Phillips.
KS Engineering – Sorensen.
KSE Racing Products – VanderBeek.
Mel Hambelton Ford Racing – Mullens.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Holland.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Nelson.
MSD Performance – R. Wetzstein.
Penske Racing Shocks – Carter.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Hughes.
QA1 – S. Wetzstein.
RacerWebsite.com – Nicholas.
Simpson Performance Products – DeVolder.
Summit Racing Equipment – Myers, Plowman, R. Wetzstein, S. Wetzstein.
Super Clean – Mari.
Swift Springs – Sorensen, Mari, R. Wetzstein.
Sybesma Graphics – Schott.
Tire Demon – Williamson.
VP Racing Fuels – Mari.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Karau.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Ahumada.
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.
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