WEST UNION, Iowa (Sept. 4)—The $10,000-to-win 10th Annual USMTS War in West Union was waged Sunday at the Fayette County Speedway with a crafty veteran wiring the field to score his second win of the 2022 campaign with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.
Darron Fuqua sat on the Sybesma Graphics Pole but the defining moment of the race happened in the first corner when fellow front-row starter Terry Phillips got the edge and came around to lead the opening lap.
Despite tricky lapped traffic, a couple late-race cautions and constant pressure by Fuqua for the entire 42-lap distance, Phillips held his ground and was the first to streak beneath the checkered flags to nab his 38th career win.
Jacob Bleess wrapped up a strong Labor Day Weekend with a third-place finish with Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year points leader Cayden Carter in fourth and series points leader Dustin Sorensen finishing fifth.
Jason Hughes, Dereck Ramirez, Jim Chisholm, Zack VanderBeek and Dan Ebert rounded out the top 10.
Just before the race’s final yellow flag with two laps to go, Tanner Mullens was running eighth but a flat tire forced him to the pits for new rubber. Sorensen’s nearest threat in the points bounced back to settle for a 12th-place result.
Fall Jamboree season is here: Up next for the Summit USMTS Modifieds will be the 24th Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 22-24, at the Deer Creek Speedway in spring Valley, Minn. racing will be preceded by an open practice on Wednesday evening.
Joe Chisholm was the winner one night ago at ‘The Creek’ and Dereck Ramirez won on the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval back in May.
The most feared racer right now at Deer Creek, however, is Jake O’Neil who has won four of the last eight races here, including the last two Saturday night finales at the Featherlite Fall Jamboree.
If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Watch live and get exclusive content on your desktop, laptop tablet or a suite of apps like Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
10th Annual USMTS War in West Union
Fayette County Speedway, Wet Union, Iowa
Sunday, Sept. 4, 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. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
7. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (8) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
9. (9) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (3) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
8. (7) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
DNS – 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (2) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (3) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (5) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
6. (6) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
7. (8) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (7) 4 Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
9. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (1) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (4) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (5) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (6) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
6. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (7) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
8. (8) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (2) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
3. (4) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (3) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
5. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
DNS – Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
DNS – 21X Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (42 laps):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (1) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
4. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
5. (6) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
6. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (11) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
8. (13) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
9. (14) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
10. (12) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
11. (23) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
12. (10) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
13. (18) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
14. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
15. (16) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
16. (24) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
17. (25) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
18. (22) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
19. (8) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
20. (9) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
21. (21) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
22. (19) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
23. (20) 24 Brandon Dolman, Alexandria, Minn.
24. (15) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
25. (17) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
Lap Leader: Phillips 1-42.
Total Laps Led: Phillips 42.
Margin of Victory: 0.347 second.
Time of Race: 21 minutes, 55.248 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Brown, Clark, Hansen (promoter).
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Chisholm (started 13th, finished 8th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 22-24, Deer Creek speedway, spring Valley, Minn.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 2676, Mullens 2592, Ramirez 2507, Phillips 2497, Sanders 2418, VanderBeek, Hughes 2275, Ebert 2271, O’Neil 2205.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 2098, Brown 1890, DeVolder 1863, Thornton 1785, Horner 1550.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 268, Mullens 228, Hughes 213, VanderBuilt 193, GRT 177.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Cornett 230, Action 201, Stoen 191, Mullens 171, Durham 165.
Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Timm.
Beyea Custom Headers – Carter.
BigDeal Car Care – Phillips, Mullens.
Bryke Racing – DeVolder.
BSB Manufacturing – Horner.
Champ Pans – Sorensen.
Deatherage Opticians – Bass.
Edelbrock – Phillips.
Fast Shafts – O’Neil.
FK Rod Ends – Chisholm.
Hooker Harness – Mullens.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – O’Neil.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KS Engineering – Brown.
KSE Racing Products – VanderBeek.
Mel Hambelton Ford Racing – Fuqua.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Williamson.
MSD Performance – Carter.
Penske Racing Shocks – Givens.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Ebert.
QA1 – O’Neil.
RacerWebsite.com – Ebert.
Simpson Performance Products – Sanders.
Summit Racing Equipment – Bass, Dolman, Mari, Williamson.
Super Clean – Phillips.
Swift Springs – Hughes, Phillips, Bass.
Sybesma Graphics – Fuqua.
Tire Demon – Bass.
VP Racing Fuels – Phillips.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Bass.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Bass.