O’Neil Gets
Ed Gressel Memorial Trophy
An
explosive night of money and memories were made Saturday
during the finale of the inaugural Ed Gressel Memorial
at the 81 Speedway featuring the Summit USMTS National
Championship presented by RacinDirt.
Before the
start of the main event, racers lined up in their
traditional four-wide salute to the fans but this night
was extra special as the front row of cars was filled by
Brandon Givens, Scott Green, Tanner Mullens and Jake
O’Neil—all of whom have sat in the driver’s seat of a
Gressel Racing USMTS Modified.
Dereck Ramirez
bested Will Krup to take control of the feature race on
the opening lap. Meanwhile, fourth-starting Jake Timm
lost nearly 20 spots with an opening-lap miscue that saw
him scoot through the infield, but found his way back
into the top 10 by lap 10.
Ramirez and Krup raced
side-by-side on laps 5 and 6 before Ramirez reached the
back of field by lap 11 and began to distance himself
from Krup as he navigated lapped traffic flawlessly.
Lap 24 saw Jason Hughes, running third, break just
before the race’s midway point which resulted in the
first caution of the contest. On the restart, Ramirez
took the field back to green with Krup, 13th-starting
Terry Phillips, Dan Ebert, Tom Berry Jr., Timm, O’Neil,
Jacob Bleess, Gary Christian and Rodney Sanders filling
the first 10 positions.
Phillips got by Krup on
the restart while Berry followed T.P. into third the
next time around. The next time around, Phillips
screamed around the top and wrestled the lead away from
Ramirez.
A second caution on lap 28 opened the
door for O’Neil as he restarted fourth but became the
new leader two laps later and proceeded to make his
chasers get smaller and smaller in his rearview mirror
(if USMTS allowed mirrors).
While O’Neil raced
away, Timm continued his rebound with a pass of Ramirez
for fifth with a dozen laps remaining. On lap 39, Darron
Fuqua tagged the wall and then stopped to force the
third yellow flag. Meanwhile, Phillips broke something
under his Bloodline Race Cars machine and retired from
the race under caution.
Back under green, O’Neil
left the field in his wake. Timm passed Krup for second
at the white flag and then narrowly lost the race for
the runner-up paycheck to Berry at the checkered flag.
“Most people don’t know but (Ed Gressel) gave me my
first chance out racing the tour and I really owe it to
him and Cinde for being here. Honestly, if it wasn’t for
them I probably wouldn’t be out here right now,” O’Neil
revealed in his victory lane speech. “I would have never
got that start to get going and I really got to thank
them for everything they did for me.”
In picking
up his first win of the year, O’Neil came alive midway
through the race after tumbling as far back as 12th at
one point. With 24 laps in the books he was 10th but
seven laps later he was leading the main event.
“We’ve been down in the dumps lately because the car’s
been so terrible--either the car is or I am, one or the
other—but we talked to Jimmy (Owens) right before the
feature and he pretty much said ‘You’re screwed’ but try
this. We threw some crazy stuff at it just to try to do
something and I was so tight at the beginning and so
terrible I just gassed on it I don't know what to tell
you, I just I did everything I could,” O’Neil said. “I
think the starts definitely helped me. I had way too
much gear and I’d carry about 400 mph going into the
corner and I couldn’t slow down so I just used that to
my advantage.
“I couldn’t believe it, honestly. I was I was back
there… I don’t know I felt like 150th or 10th but I was
just fighting and digging everywhere I could to gain
ground on somebody and then Jake Timm going out over
here, then he passed me. I was like ‘Man, this ain’t
good but I just entered wide open and I found a line
that actually stuck. I slowed down a bunch (in turn 1)
and quit blowing the tires off and that seemed to help.
That's kind of when I noticed I got Dereck there and I
felt a little bit of grip and as long as I kept my car
straight I was okay.”
In the end, O’Neil was okay
to the tune of $10,000 as the 31-year-old from Tucson,
Ariz., notched his 29th career USMTS victory and third
at the 81 Speedway while taking over the series points
lead to boot.
While O’Neil, Berry and Timm shared
the podium, Krup was a solid fourth with 14th-starting
Rodney Sanders completing the top five. Cayden Carter
was sixth while Wolff took a provisional to start 25th
but found his way to a seventh-place effort. Ebert,
Jeremy Nelson and Christian rounded out the top 10.
Following the Real Racing Wheels “B” Mains, the top
eight drivers in heat race passing points competed in
the six-lap Kansasland Dash 4 Cash. As the winner,
Tanner Mullens accepted the $6,000 cash prize to give up
the pole position to start 12th in the main event. He
suffered mechanical problems and wound up 19th—one spot
behind Ramirez who also did not finish the 50-lap
distance.
Saturday’s prize started off at $1,000
thanks to Kansasland Tire, Rock Island Recycling, Duvall
Electric and McCowan Farms but a flurry of donations
over the last 24 hours led to an epic ballooning of the
prize money to $5,000 if Mullens could have won the
race.
Making it perhaps the richest six-lap dash
in dirt racing history, special thanks to the following
contributors: Becky Ramirez, Brian Franz, F.O.E.
Enterprises, Cinde Gressel, RacinDirt, USMTS, J.R.
Sandlian, Broadway Truck & Auto Salvage, Special T’s,
Two M Motorsports, Action Engineering, Arrowhead
Speedway, Darren Bennett, Brad Carger & Alysea Pressler,
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Mike & Elaine Sorensen,
1-800-JUNK-PRO, Chandler Dan’s Catering and the
Chesterman family.
The Ed Gressel Memorial
featured a special one-of-a-kind victory lane banner.
The 10x20 sign was autographed by USMTS drivers, and
then after Saturday’s finale one lucky person took home
the banner from the silent auction that went on all
weekend. The winner was Tom Paulson—a long-time racer
and supporter of fellow drivers—with a $10,000 donation
that will benefit a charity of Cinde Gressel’s choice.
During Saturday’s who, Jon Tesch stepped forward to
award $500 to the 14th-place finisher. That money went
to Brandon Givens, the last man to pilot a Gressel
Racing race car.
Adam Gressel added $1,000 for
the feature race’s hard charger, making it an $1,100
cash bonus to the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award winner.
That prize went to Carter, who started 16rh and finished
6th. Provisional starters were not eligible
Chris
Sutton with the RPM Speedway in Hays, Kan., awarded $100
to the 19th-place finisher in honor of the Gressel
Racing No. 19R driven by Ryan Gustin, who garnered two
Summit USMTS National Championships while driving for
Gressel Racing. Oddly enough, that money went to
Mullens, another former Gressel driver.
Webster City waiting: In just four short days,
the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, will
host an open practice night on Wednesday, April 26,
followed by three straight nights of action Thursday,
Friday and Saturday, April 27-29, for the 13th Annual
Spring Classic.
For complete event information,
check out the
FAST FACTS or visit
hamiltoncospeedway.com.
For its Silver
Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National
Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features
45 nights of racing at 15 of America's premier dirt
track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those
events are set to earn more than $300,000 of the nearly
$2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the
2023 campaign.
Watch every USMTS event online
live and on-demand from anywhere on any device with
RacinDirt. Download the app at
Roku,
Amazon Fire,
iOS,
Apple TV or on
Google Play.
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.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
OFFICIAL RESULTS United States Modified
Touring Series Summit USMTS National Championship
presented by RacinDirt Inaugural Ed Gressel Memorial
– Night 3 of 3 81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Showing
finishing position, starting position in parentheses,
car number, driver, hometown, laps completed and money
won. Heat race lineups were determined via group
qualifying. The top 12 in heat race passing points
advanced to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main with
the top 8 to the Kansasland Dash 4 Cash to set the first
4 rows.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS
HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps): 1. (1) 38T Dylan
Thornton, Orcutt, Calif., 8. 2. (4) 0 Jake O'Neil,
Tucson, Ariz., 8. 3. (5) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore,
Minn., 8. 4. (6) 11X Tom Berry Jr. (R), Des Moines,
Iowa, 8. 5. (2) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt (R), Plattsmouth,
Neb., 8. 6. (7) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa,
8. 7. (9) 15W Wyatt Gaggero (R), Wichita, Kan., 8.
8. (3) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., 8. 9. (8)
G3 Brendon Gemmill, Wichita, Kan., 8. DNS – 7 Al
Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa, 0.
FAST SHAFTS
HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps): 1. (4) 49 Jake Timm,
Winona, Minn., 8. 2. (2) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El
Paso, Texas, 8. 3. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.,
8. 4. (6) 58X Gary Christian (R), Broken Bow, Okla.,
8. 5. (3) 7D Davis Givens (R), Hutchinson, Kan., 8.
6. (9) 25C Cody Thompson (R), Sioux City, Iowa, 8. 7.
(8) 99T T.J. Tolan, Valley Center, Kan., 8. 8. (7) 45
Chase Holland (R), Success, Miss., 8. 9. (1) 4W Tyler
Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 4. DNS – 15W Kale
Westover, Altus, Okla., 0.
EDELBROCK HEAT
RACE #3 (8 laps): 1. (6) K9 Will Krup (R),
Mt. Carmel, Ill., 8. 2. (2) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton,
Kan., 8. 3. (1) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark., 8.
4. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 8. 5. (5) 4
Jeremy Nelson (R), Alexandria, Minn., 8. 6. (3) 65
Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., 8. 7. (7) 8 Dillon
McCowan, Urbana, Mo., 8. 8. (9) 25 Scott Green,
Derby, Kan., 8. 9. (8) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa,
8. 10. (10) 747 Colton Eck (R), Goddard, Kan., 8.
WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 8. 2. (3) 75
Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 8. 3. (6) 4R Dereck
Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 8. 4. (5) 20 Rodney
Sanders, Happy, Texas, 8. 5. (1) 96 Taton Hansen (R),
Spicer, Minn., 8. 6. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore,
Okla., 8. 7. (9) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 8.
8. (8) 44K Kelsie Foley (R), Tucson, Ariz., 8. 9. (7)
55 Chris Kratzer, Lyons, Kan., 8. 10. (10) 96JR Jon
Herring Jr., Woodward, Okla., 8.
VP
RACING HEAT RACE #5 (8 laps): 1. (1) 21
Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., 8. 2. (4) 127 Paden
Phillips, Chanute, Kan., 8. 3. (2) 10B Brandon
Givens, Wichita, Kan., 8. 4. (7) 44T Tanner Black
(R), Otis, Kan., 8. 5. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New
Sharon, Iowa, 8. 6. (3) 99L Steve Lavasseur (R),
River Falls, Wis., 8. 7. (6) 712 Trevor Hughes,
Salina, Okla., 8. 8. (8) 22B Rick Beebe, Shawnee,
Kan., 8. DNS – 40 Jessy Willard, Mound City, Kan., 0.
DNS – 78 Billy Jack Brutchin, Gladewater, Texas, 0.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (15 laps, top
6 advance): 1. (1) 75 Terry Phillips,
Springfield, Mo., 15. 2. (2) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr.,
El Paso, Texas, 15. 3. (3) 44T Tanner Black (R),
Otis, Kan., 15. 4. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New
Sharon, Iowa, 15. 5. (6) 25C Cody Thompson (R), Sioux
City, Iowa, 15. 6. (10) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage,
Iowa, 15. 7. (8) 96 Taton Hansen (R), Spicer, Minn.,
15. 8. (17) 15W Kale Westover, Altus, Okla., 15.
9. (12) 8 Dillon McCowan, Urbana, Mo., 15, $150. 10.
(9) 15W Wyatt Gaggero (R), Wichita, Kan., 15, $150.
11. (16) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 15. 12. (14)
45 Chase Holland (R), Success, Miss., 15. 13. (11)
99L Steve Lavasseur (R), River Falls, Wis., 15, $150.
14. (13) 44K Kelsie Foley (R), Tucson, Ariz., 15, $150.
15. (4) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark., 15, $150.
16. (18) 96JR Jon Herring Jr., Woodward, Okla., 14,
$150. 17. (7) 7D Davis Givens (R), Hutchinson, Kan.,
14, $150. 18. (15) 40 Jessy Willard, Mound City,
Kan., 14, $150. DNS – 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa,
0, $150.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2
(15 laps, top 6 advance): 1. (1) 20 Rodney
Sanders, Happy, Texas, 15. 2. (7) 10C Cayden Carter,
Oskaloosa, Iowa, 15. 3. (4) 4 Jeremy Nelson (R),
Alexandria, Minn., 15. 4. (5) 87 Darron Fuqua,
Mayetta, Kan., 15. 5. (3) 10B Brandon Givens,
Wichita, Kan., 15. 6. (6) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt (R),
Plattsmouth, Neb., 15. 7. (10) 65 Tyler Davis,
Haysville, Kan., 15. 8. (16) 4W Tyler Wolff,
Fayetteville, Ark., 15. 9. (8) 712 Trevor Hughes (R),
Salina, Okla., 15, $250. 10. (2) 30 Dalton Kirk,
Edgerton, Kan., 15, $150. 11. (9) 91 Joe Duvall,
Claremore, Okla., 15. 12. (14) 16 Austin Siebert,
Grandview, Mo., 15, $150. 13. (15) G3 Brendon
Gemmill, Wichita, Kan., 14, $150. 14. (13) 22B Rick
Beebe, Shawnee, Kan., 14, $150. 15. (12) 25 Scott
Green, Derby, Kan., 14, $150. 16. (17) 747 Colton Eck
(R), Goddard, Kan., 9, $150. 17. (11) 99T T.J. Tolan,
Valley Center, Kan., 7, $150. DNS – 55 Chris Kratzer,
Lyons, Kan., 0. DNS – 78 Billy Jack Brutchin,
Gladewater, Texas, 0, $150.
KANSASLAND
TIRE & SERVICE DASH 4 CASH (6 laps): 1. (1)
02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 6. 2. (3) 4R Dereck
Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 6. 3. (4) K9 Will Krup, Mt.
Carmel, Ill., 6. 4. (5) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.,
6. 5. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 6. 6.
(7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 6. 7. (8) 38T
Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif., 6. 8. (6) 21 Jacob
Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., 6.
SUMMIT
RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (50 laps): 1. (8)
0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 50, $10,000. 2. (10)
11X Tom Berry Jr. (R), Des Moines, Iowa, 50, $5,000.
3. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., 50, $3,000. 4.
(2) K9 Will Krup (R), Mt. Carmel, Ill., 50, $2,000.
5. (14) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 50, $1,700.
6. (16) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 50, $2,600.
7. (25) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 50, $1,300.
8. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 50, $1,000.
9. (18) 4 Jeremy Nelson (R), Alexandria, Minn., 50,
$900. 10. (11) 58X Gary Christian (R), Broken Bow,
Okla., 50, $850. 11. (32) 15W Kale Westover, Altus,
Okla., 50, $800. 12. (7) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield,
Minn., 50, $775. 13. (19) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New
Sharon, Iowa, 50, $750. 14. (22) 10B Brandon Givens,
Wichita, Kan., 50, $740. 15. (6) 38T Dylan Thornton,
Orcutt, Calif., 50, $735. 16. (15) 65X Carlos Ahumada
Jr., El Paso, Texas, 50, $730. 17. (29) 65 Tyler
Davis, Haysville, Kan., 50, $725. 18. (1) 4R Dereck
Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 50, $720. 19. (12) 02
Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 50, $5,815. 20. (23)
24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 50, $710. 21. (31) 96
Taton Hansen (R), Spicer, Minn., 50, $705. 22. (26)
45 Chase Holland (R), Success, Miss., 50, $700. 23.
(13) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 38, $700.
24. (20) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 38, $700.
25. (17) 44T Tanner Black (R), Otis, Kan., 32, $700.
26. (24) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt (R), Plattsmouth, Neb., 28,
$700. 27. (21) 25C Cody Thompson (R), Sioux City,
Iowa, 27, $700. 28. (9) 127 Paden Phillips, Chanute,
Kan., 25, $700. 29. (5) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts,
Okla., 24, $700. 30. (30) 55 Chris Kratzer, Lyons,
Kan., 23, $700. 31. (28) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid,
Iowa, 22, $700. 32. (27) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore,
Okla., 18, $700.
Lap Leaders:
Ramirez 1-25, T. Phillips 26-30, O’Neil 31-50.
Total Laps Led: Ramirez 25, O’Neil 20,
T. Phillips 5. Margin of Victory:
1.752 seconds. Time of Race: 28
minutes, 27.232 seconds (4 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Wolff, Holland.
Emergency Provisionals: Duvall, Brown,
Davis, Kratzer, Hansen, Westover. FK Rod Ends
Hard Charger: Carter (started 16th, finished
6th). Entries: 50. Next
Race: April 27-29, Hamilton County Speedway,
Webster City, Iowa. Summit USMTS National
Championship Points: O'Neil 802, Wolff 789, T.
Phillips 747, J. Hughes 746, Berry 733, Sanders 730,
Ebert 724, Carter 717, Krup 707, Fuqua 705.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points:
Berry 733, Krup 707, Nelson 607, Christian 594, Holland
545. FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points:
O'Neil 41, J. Hughes 40, Chisholm 37, B. Givens
37, Berry 30. Miller Welders USMTS
Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms
67, Mullens 65, LG2 58, VanderBuilt 56, Hughes 54.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the
Year Points: Mullins 72, Cornett 72, Stoen 71,
ECE 53, Hatfield 52.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Gemmill. American Racer – Ebert.
Beyea Custom Headers – Krup. BigDeal Car Care –
O’Neil, Timm. Bryke Racing – Thornton. BSB
Manufacturing – Hansen. Carquest – TBD. Champ Pans
– Sanders. Collins Brothers Towing – Wolff.
Deatherage Opticians – B. Givens. Edelbrock – Krup.
Fast Shafts – Timm. FK Rod Ends – Carter. Gressel
Racing/Adam Gressel – Carter. Hooker Harness –
Bleess. Hyperco – T. Hughes. Integra Racing Shocks
& Springs – Ramirez. Kansasland Tire & Service –
Mullens. Keyser Manufacturing – Christian. KSE
Racing Products – Nelson. MD3 – Ramirez. Mel
Hambelton Racing – Berry. Midwest Wrap Co. – Holland.
Penske Racing Shocks – VanderBeek. PEM Racing Gears &
Drivetrain – Berry. Performance Bodies – Davis.
QA1 – Timm. Quarter Master – Nelson.
RacerWebsite.com – Brutchin. RPM Speedway/Chris
Sutton – Mullens. Salty’s BBQ & Catering – Timm.
Simpson Performance Products – Thornton. Summit
Racing Equipment – Bleess, Brown, Foley, Mullens,
Nelson. Super Clean – O’Neil. Swift Springs –
Ramirez, B. Givens, O’Neil. Sybesma Graphics –
Ramirez. VP Racing – O’Neil. Wehrs Machine &
Racing Products – Willard. Wilwood Disc Brakes –
Wolff.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
USMTS
OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American
Racer Racing Tires, Beyea
Headers, Callies
Performance Products, Chevrolet
Performance, Fast
Shafts, FK
Rod Ends, KSE
Racing Products, Malvern
Bank, Mesilla
Valley Transportation, Nitroquest
Media, PEM
Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit
Racing Equipment, Super
Clean, VP
Racing, Wieland.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ARMI
Contractors, Boomtest
Well Service, Boubin
Tire & Automotive, Brodix
Cylinder Heads, Collins
Brothers Towing, D&T
Marriott Enterprise, LLC, DAY
Motorsports, Duvall
Electric, Gunshepherd.com, Hacienda
Mechanical, Kenny's
Tile, Mel
Hambelton Racing, Midwest
Wrap Co., Miller
Welders, PBM
Performance Products, Rancho
Milagro Racing, S&S
Fishing & Rental, Salty's
BBQ & Catering, Shocker
Hitch, Shop
Quik Stores, YouDirt.com.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO
Race Wheels, AFCO
Racing Products, Allstar
Performance, BigDeal
Car Care, Bryke
Racing, BSB
Manufacturing, Champ
Pans, Deatherage
Opticians, Edelbrock, Hooker
Harness, Hyperco, Integra
Racing Shocks and Springs, JE
Pistons, K1
RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports, Keyser
Manufacturing, MD3, MSD
Performance, Penske
Racing Shocks, Performance
Bodies & Parts, QA1, Quarter
Master, RacerWebsite.com, Real
Racing Wheels, Simpson
Performance Products, Swift
Springs, Sybesma
Graphics, Wehrs
Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood
Racing.
USMTS RACETRACKS:
81 Speedway,
Ark-La-Tex Speedway,
Arrowhead Speedway,
Cedar Lake Speedway,
Deer Creek Speedway,
Fayette County Speedway,
Hamilton County Speedway,
Humboldt Speedway,
I-70 Speedway,
Lakeside Speedway,
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track,
Lucas Oil Speedway,
Mason City Motor Speedway,
Ogilvie Raceway,
Rocket Raceway Park.
##
Contact Info:
Jeff Nun
Chief Communications Officer
United States Modified Touring Series, Inc. (USMTS)
1715 W 2nd St, PO Box 905
Webster City, IA 50595
|