O’Neil continues to cash in with USMTS triumph at Casino Speedway
WATERTOWN, S.D. (July 14)—Continuing where he left off before the summer break, Jake O’Neil captured his second straight victory with the Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s and fourth of the season Wednesday with a $5,000 triumph at the Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D.
Twenty-five days after his victory at the 22nd Annual Masters, O’Neil didn’t miss a beat in collecting his 14th career USMTS win and narrowing the gap in the points standings.
While surpassing Sanders for second, he now sits just three markers behind Ramirez just shy of the halfway point in the 2021 campaign.
Dan Ebert beat Tyler Davis to the flagstand after the first of 40 laps and then proceeded to pace the next 14 circuits before O’Neil snuck past on the high side of the high-banked quarter-mile dirt oval.
With plenty of action behind them, O’Neil and Ebert sailed off to settle it between themselves. Ebert pulled even in the corner with three laps to go but O’Neil appeared to discover another gear and drove away over the final pair of laps.
Ebert’s runner-up paycheck was his best of the year while local veteran Scott Ward of Watertown placed third. Ward was the winner of this event in 2007.
With fourth-place finisher Dustin Strand unable to pass post-race technical inspections, Dustin Sorensen moved up to the fourth spot while Davis remained inside the top five the entire distance and cashed a fifth-place check.
Sanders wound up sixth, two-time Casino Speedway winner Zack VanderBeek (2010 and 2016) came from 14th to seventh, eighth was Tyler Peterson, Darron Fuqua wheeled his Mtn Dew RISE machine to a ninth-place finish and defending race winner Terry Phillips (August 25, 2019) rounded out the top ten.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s
12th Annual Casey’s Summersota Modified Nationals
Casino Speedway, Watertown, S.D.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, 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 (10 laps):
1. (1) 37 Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D.
2. (4) 20X Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (2) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (3) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (7) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
6. (5) 11Z Dylan Zabel, Selby, S.D.
7. (6) 85N Denver Nickeson, Veblen, S.D.
8. (8) 88XXX Randy Klein, Enderlin, N.D.
9. (9) 14 Nick Schmidt, Baltic, S.D.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (2) 71 Dustin Strand, East Grand Forks, Minn.
2. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
4. (9) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis.
5. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
6. (8) 26G Ryan Gierke (R), Villard, Minn.
7. (5) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
8. (6) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D.
9. (1) 7T Joseph Thomas, Glyndon, Minn.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (4) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (7) 24 Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D.
6. (8) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
7. (9) 15X Kenny Mayer, Goodwin, S.D.
8. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (5) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
MSD PERFORMANCE HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (2) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
3. (3) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
4. (8) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
5. (5) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
6. (6) 21K Kyle Brown (R), Madrid, Iowa
7. (9) 48 Brent Dutenhoffer, Watertown, S.D.
8. (4) 97A Cole Anderson, Le Center, Minn.
9. (7) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
VP RACING FUELS HEAT RACE #5 (10 laps):
1. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (3) 1TPO Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D.
3. (4) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
4. (6) 15 Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D.
5. (1) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan.
6. (9) 3 Arne Anderson, Watertown, S.D.
7. (7) 53 Ryan Damm, Watertown, S.D.
8. (5) 1J Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D.
9. (8) 50 Tim Waba, Watertown, S.D.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (4) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (6) 24 Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D.
5. (5) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
6. (8) 26G Ryan Gierke (R), Villard, Minn., SSR/Stoen, $110.
7. (1) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss.
8. (7) 3 Arne Anderson, Watertown, S.D., $110.
9. (10) 48 Brent Dutenhoffer, Watertown, S.D., $100.
10. (12) 53 Ryan Damm, Watertown, S.D., $100.
11. (11) 85N Denver Nickeson, Veblen, S.D., $100.
12. (16) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
13. (14) 97A Cole Anderson, Le Center, Minn., SSR/, $100.
14. (13) 88XXX Randy Klein, Enderlin, N.D., $110.
15. (9) 11Z Dylan Zabel, Selby, S.D., $100.
16. (17) 50 Tim Waba, Watertown, S.D., $100.
17. (15) 7T Joseph Thomas, Glyndon, Minn., $100.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (15 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (3) 15 Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D.
3. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (8) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
6. (1) 20 Trevor Anderson, Watertown, S.D., Arrow/Victory, $110.
7. (7) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D.
8. (13) 9 Kent Arment, Aberdeen, S.D., $100.
9. (9) 21K Kyle Brown (R), Madrid, Iowa, Harris/Tesar, $110.
10. (10) 15X Kenny Mayer, Goodwin, S.D., $100.
11. (16) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo., Hughes/Cornett, $110.
12. (12) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, Hughes/BMS, $110.
13. (11) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., MRT/Yeoman, $110.
14. (14) 1J Matt Jeratowski (R), Madison, S.D., Shaw/Hanson, $110.
15. (15) 14 Nick Schmidt, Baltic, S.D., LG2/Schmidt, $100.
16. (6) 2G Brandon Givens (R), Wichita, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, $110.
CASEY’S “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (4) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz., LG2/Cornett, 40, $5000.
2. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., Lethal/Ebert, 40, $3000.
3. (3) 37 Scott Ward, Watertown, S.D., 40, $1500.
4. (13) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn., MBCustoms/Action, 40, $1500.
5. (1) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1000.
6. (8) 20X Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustoms/Hatfield, 40, $900.
7. (14) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, VanderBuilt/Stoen, 40, $800.
8. (9) 1TPO Tyler Peterson, Hickson, N.D., Rage/ProPower, 40, $750.
9. (7) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., MBCustoms/Driskell, 40, $700.
10. (10) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 40, $675.
11. (15) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $650.
12. (17) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., MBCustoms/ECE, 40, $625.
13. (11) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., Hughes/Cornett, 40, $600.
14. (24) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., Lethal/Sower, 40, $575.
15. (20) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., VanderBuilt/KSE, 40, $550.
16. (25) 85 Jayson Good (R), Watertown, S.D., MBCustoms/Tim’s, 40, $110.
17. (18) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $530.
18. (23) 444 Brooks Strength (R), Raymond, Miss., MBCustoms/Stoen, 40, $525.
19. (16) 15 Tony Konold, Clear Lake, S.D., 39, $400.
20. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., Mullens/Mullens, 39, $515.
21. (12) 1M Curt Myers, Cameron, Wis., Rage/Sput’s, 39, $510.
22. (22) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D., MBCustoms/Stoen, 39, $505.
23. (19) 24 Mike Stearns, Hecla, S.D., 39, $400.
24. (21) 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 39, $400.
DQ – (5) 71 Dustin Strand, East Grand Forks, Minn., 40, $0.
Lap Leaders: Ebert 1-15, O’Neil 16-40.
Total Laps Led: O’Neil 25, Ebert 15.
Margin of Victory: 1.210 seconds.
Time of Race: 14 minutes, 41.271 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starter: Strength, Atkinson.
Emergency Provisionals: Good.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Sorensen (started 13th, finished 4th).
Entries: 45.
Next Race: Friday-Saturday, July 16-17, Ogilvie Raceway, Ogilvie, Minn.
Summit USMTS National Championship fueled by Casey’s Points: Ramirez 1360, O’Neil 1357, Sanders 1336, Mullens 1246, Wolff 1240, Schott 1215, Phillips 1188, Ebert 1146, Sorensen 1131, Hughes 1088.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Strength 946, Jesse Glenz 877, Good 743, Lucas Lee 713, Givens 691.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 140, Hughes 128, LG2 123, Lethal 94, Mullens 93.
Compstar USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 135, Hatfield 104, Stoen 99, Mullens 80, Mullins 75.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Good.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sorensen.
BigDeal Car Care – O’Neil, Sorensen.
Bryke Racing – Bleess.
BSB Manufacturing – Myers.
Champ Pans – Davis.
Deatherage Opticians – Atkinson.
Edelbrock – Davis.
Eibach – Sorensen.
Fast Shafts – Strand.
FK Rod Ends – Sorensen.
Hooker Harness – Wolff.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Konold.
Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts – Strength.
K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports – Gierke.
Keyser Manufacturing – Phillips.
KS Engineering – Schott.
KSE Racing Products – Fuqua.
Maxima Racing Oils – O’Neil.
Mesilla Valley Transportation – Ahumada.
Penske Racing Shocks – Ramirez.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – T. Anderson.
QA1 – Strength.
Race Ranch – Bobby Kotot (O’Neil).
RacerWebsite.com – A. Anderson.
Simpson Performance Products – Ward.
Summit Racing Equipment – T. Anderson, Davis, Gierke, Sorensen.
Super Clean – O’Neil.
Swift Springs – O’Neil, Ward.
Sybesma Graphics – Davis.
Tire Demon – Thomas.
VP Racing Fuels – O’Neil.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Waba.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – VanderBeek.