O’Neil A Slam
Dunk in USMTS Jayhawk Classic Lid-Lifter
Jake O’Neil had an answer
for every challenge that came his way Friday night, and
led all 30 laps en route to a $5,000 triumph at the
Lakeside Speedway during the opening night of the 12th
Annual Jayhawk Classic featuring the Summit USMTS
National Championship presented by RacinDirt.
Carlos Ahumada Jr. earned the Sybesma Graphics Pole
Award but O’Neil took control on the opening lap as he
churned the cushion while Ahumada took the short way
around the historic half-mile dirt oval in Kansas City,
Kan.
With the first lap in the books, Cayden
Carter jumped into second place and began to reel in
O’Neil using the low side of the racing surface. Just as
the leaders crossed side-by-side under the flagstand to
complete the ninth lap, O’Neil moved to the bottom to
block the advance of Carter and keep the youngster at
bay.
“I was going about as fast as I could go up
top,” O’Neil revealed. “I had her on the floor and I
kept seeing him poke his nose down there and I was like
‘Man, I got to get down there.’ I hope I didn’t chop him
too bad—I thought I was clear.”
One lap later,
the race’s first and only caution lit the yellow lights.
Dereck Ramirez used the slowdown to pounce on Carter and
put the high side to good use as he and O’Neil had a
tense battle for the lead for nine laps.
“I saw
Ramirez get up top there and I know he's always fast
here. I kept missing my marks so I had to beat myself on
the head and said, ‘Quit messing up and try to get this
done,’” O’Neil added.
O’Neil did just that as
Ramirez joined him on the low side but failed to keep
pace with the leader. With masterful maneuvering through
thick lapped traffic, the 31-year-old from Tucson,
Ariz., sped to his 30th career USMTS win and a $5,000
paycheck. It was his second win of the season and second
at Lakeside Speedway—his last win here was in the 2018
Grant Junghans Memorial.
“After last week we
really needed this. We had a tough going last weekend,
didn't have much luck and this is just pretty awesome,”
O’Neil said. “Everything kind of fell our way here. We
got a good draw and got lucky in the heat race with the
passing points.”
Carter rediscovered his mojo and
passed both Rodney Sanders and Ramirez late in the race
to claim runner-up honors. Behind Sanders and
Ramirez—who own five series titles between them—was
Tanner Mullens who came with Ramirez from the fourth row
on the starting grid.
For the first time in
series history, Dan Ebert came into the night as the
series points leader, but despite earning the FK Rod
Ends Hard Charger Award after racing from 16th to sixth,
Ebert dropped behind O’Neil in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Darron Fuqua snagged the seventh spot with
Ahumada holding on for eighth. Fifteenth-starting Zack
VanderBeek nabbed ninth-place money and Grant Junghans
Rookie of the Year contender Gary Christian turned his
emergency provisional into a tenth-place result after
starting in the 25th and final position in the lineup.
The 12th Annual Jayhawk Classic featuring the Summit
USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt wraps
up Saturday, May 6 with the Malvern Bank SLMR West
Series and Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series Late Models
sharing the spotlight. Both classes pay $10,000 to win.
For complete race day information check out the
FAST FACTS for the event.
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 with nearly $2
million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023
campaign.
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on-demand from anywhere on any device with
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OFFICIAL RESULTS United States Modified Touring
Series Summit USMTS National Championship presented
by RacinDirt 12th Annual Jayhawk Classic – Night 1 of
2 Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan. Friday, May
5, 2023
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. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa,
Iowa 2. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas 4. (6)
3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan. 5. (1) 01 Jacob
Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb. 6. (8) K9 Will Krup,
Mt. Carmel, Ill. 7. (10) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro,
Calif. 8. (7) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan. 9.
(9) 55 Chris Kratzer, Lyons, Kan. 10. (3) 11X Tom
Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa DNS – 45 Chase Holland,
Success, Miss.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps): 1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips,
Springfield, Mo. 2. (6) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (3) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn. 4. (5) 88 Chad
Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla. 5. (7) 1K Tim Karrick,
Basehor, Kan. 6. (1) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo. 7.
(4) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa 8. (8) 44T Tanner
Black, Otis, Kan. 9. (10) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River
Falls, Wis. 10. (9) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan. 2. (4) 12
Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla. 3. (1) 65 Tyler Davis,
Haysville, Kan. 4. (6) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (5) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark. 6. (3) 58X
Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla. 7. (7) 68 Kerry
Davis, Parkville, Mo. 8. (9) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt,
Iowa 9. (8) 9 Mark Schafman, Edwardsville, Kan.
DNS – 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps): 1. (3) 87
Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan. 2. (7) 4R Dereck Ramirez,
Woodward, Okla. 3. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy,
Texas 4. (1) 29 Dennis Elliott, Mt. Ayr, Iowa 5.
(9) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan. 6. (8) 30 Dalton
Kirk, Edgerton, Kan. 7. (2) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine,
Iowa 8. (4) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn. 9.
(6) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo. DNS – 11JR
Randal Schiffelbein Jr., Berryton, Kan.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa 2. (6)
19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif. 3. (3) 44K Kelsie
Foley, Otis, Kan. 4. (8) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa
5. (4) 29 Dennis Elliott, Mt. Ayr, Iowa 6. (9) 44T
Tanner Black, Otis, Kan. 7. (10) 55 Chris Kratzer,
Lyons, Kan. 8. (7) 21C Chad Clancy, Polo, Mo. 9.
(11) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark. 10. (2) 65 Tyler
Davis, Haysville, Kan. 11. (5) 30 Dalton Kirk,
Edgerton, Kan. DNS – 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria,
Minn. DNS – 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss. DNS –
11JR Randal Schiffelbein Jr., Berryton, Kan.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5
advance): 1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore,
Minn. 2. (3) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill. 3. (4)
01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb. 4. (2) 1K Tim
Karrick, Basehor, Kan. 5. (5) 58X Gary Christian,
Broken Bow, Okla. 6. (8) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita,
Kan. 7. (10) 9 Mark Schafman, Edwardsville, Kan.
8. (7) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa 9. (9) 99L
Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis. 10. (6) 68 Kerry
Davis, Parkville, Mo. 11. (11) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des
Moines, Iowa DNS – 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
DNS – 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (2) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz. 2. (5) 10C Cayden
Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa 3. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders,
Happy, Texas 4. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward,
Okla. 5. (7) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan. 6.
(16) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn. 7. (3) 87 Darron
Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan. 8. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr.,
El Paso, Texas 9. (15) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New
Sharon, Iowa 10. (25) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow,
Okla. 11. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
12. (18) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill. 13. (9) 12
Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla. 14. (11) 24C Jim Chisholm,
Osage, Iowa 15. (19) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan.
16. (17) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif. 17. (24)
10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan. 18. (10) 3B Nic
Bidinger, Perry, Kan. 19. (12) 88 Chad Wheeler,
Muskogee, Okla. 20. (13) 4W Tyler Wolff,
Fayetteville, Ark. 21. (22) 1K Tim Karrick, Basehor,
Kan. 22. (21) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa 23.
(20) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb. 24. (14)
21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa 25. (23) 11X Tom Berry
Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
Lap Leader:
O’Neil 1-35. Total Laps Led: O’Neil
35. Margin of Victory: 4.149
seconds. Time of Race: 15 minutes,
2.829 seconds (1 caution). Provisional
Starters: Berry, Givens. Emergency
Provisionals: Christian. FK Rod Ends
Hard Charger: Ebert (started 16th, finished
6th). Entries: 41. Next
Race: Saturday, May 6, Lakeside Speedway,
Kansas City, Kan. Summit USMTS National
Championship Points: O'Neil 1020, Ebert 1003,
Sanders 1000, Hughes 968, Wolff 963, Phillips 957, Berry
943, Krup 936, Ramirez 931, Fuqua 930. Grant
Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry
943, Krup 936, Christian 789, Nelson 774, Holland 680.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points:
Givens 49, O'Neil 42, Hughes 40, Chisholm 40, Phillips
38. Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers
Championship Points: Mullens 90, MBCustoms 90,
Hughes 75, LG2 70, VanderBuilt 70. Callies/JE
Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points:
Cornett 95, Mullins 94, Stoen 87, Hatfield 77,
ProPower 71.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Kirk. American Racer – Karrick.
Beyea Custom Headers – Ramirez. BigDeal Car Care –
O’Neil, Christian. Bryke Racing – Foley. BSB
Manufacturing – Karrick. Champ Pans – Mullens.
Collins Brothers Towing – Thornton. Deatherage
Opticians – Chisholm. Edelbrock – Mullens. Fast
Shafts – Phillips. FK Rod Ends – Ebert. Hooker
Harness – Krup. Hyperco – Nicholas. Integra Racing
Shocks & Springs – Bidinger. Keyser Manufacturing –
Christian. KSE Racing Products – Ebert. MD3 –
O’Neil. Mel Hambelton Racing – Carter. Mesilla
Valley Transportation – Krup. Midwest Wrap Co. –
Ward. MSD Performance – Sanders. Penske Racing
Shocks – Hughes. PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain –
Siebert. QA1 – Carter. Quarter Master –
VanderBeek. RacerWebsite.com – Holland. Salty’s
BBQ & Catering – Christian. Simpson Performance
Products – Carter. Summit Racing Equipment –
Chisholm, Krup, Ramirez, Sanders, VanderBeek. Super
Clean – O’Neil. Swift Springs – Chisholm, Bidinger,
O’Neil. Sybesma Graphics – Ahumada. VP Racing –
O’Neil. Wehrs Machine & Racing Products –
Schiffelbein. Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Ahumada.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Fuqua.
= = = = = = = = = =
= = = = =
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
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