GREENWOOD, Neb.-Three weeks ago the USMTS closed up shop for a summer vacation with Rodney Sanders standing in victory lane. He was back at it again Friday night with a dominating win on the first night of the 5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.
Not even the redraw could stand in the way of ‘The Sandman’ as he used his pole position to evade any chance of a brush-up thwarting his path to victory. In fact, only a few other drivers got next to Sanders-that was while he was briefly lapping them.
Initially, Terry Phillips and Cade Dillard stayed close but as the race grew longer Sanders’s advantage ballooned to nearly a half-track lead on the Kosiski family’s high-banked 4/10-mile dirt oval.
A late-race caution with five to go in the 35-lapper gave his pursuers hope, but those hopes were dashed within seconds after the green flag waved to restart the race as the 25-year-old from Happy, Texas, cruised to his fifth straight win in the event (he swept both nights in 2013 and 2014).
The win was worth $3,000 to Sanders for his 58th career United States Modified Touring Series triumph.
Meanwhile, the racing action was close and back-and-forth throughout the field.
Jason Hughes, who started fourth but fell back to sixth in the early stages of the race, eventually worked his way back to the front and garnered the runner-up paycheck.
Jeremy Payne came on strong late in the race and out-dueled his former mentor, Terry Phillips, for the third spot while Dereck Ramirez rounded out the top five finishers.
Back in the LG2 chassis he piloted last year, Zack VanderBeek drove by 11 cars to score a sixth-place finish, Grant Junghans came from 12th to seventh, Dillard slipped to eighth after sitting fourth on the final restart with five laps remaining, Johnny Scott was ninth and Jesse Sobbing rounded out the top 10 finishers.
With the win, Sanders also accumulated enough points to clinch the MSD Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports. With three regional titles under his belt, he’ll enter the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental with a shot at earning $100,000 if he can nail down his third straight USMTS National Championship.
Round 2 of the Silver Dollar Nationals happens Saturday night with another full program of heats and main events for the USMTS Modifieds and the finale for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
General admission is $34, kids ages 6-12 are just $10 and children 5 and under get in for free. Pit passes are $40, Racing begins at 8 p.m.
The I-80 Speedway is located one block north of Interstate 80 Exit 420, halfway between Omaha and Lincoln. The Physical Address is 13909 238th St. in Greenwood, Neb. For more information, visit www.i-80speedway.com or call 402-342-3453. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
USMTS Casey’s Cup Series powered by S&S Fishing & Rental – MSD Central Region presented by Day Motor Sports
5th Annual Silver Dollar Nationals – Night 1 of 2
I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.
Friday, July 17, 2015
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 16 drivers in passing points accumulated in the heat races were locked into the “A” Main, with the top 8 re-drawing for starting positions 1-8.
MSD HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (5) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo.
3. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (3) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan.
5. (9) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
6. (4) 1s Scott Carlson, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
7. (6) 92 Josh Most, Red Oak, Iowa.
8. (10) 95 Dylan Smith, Osceola, Neb.
9. (8) 23k Ben Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
10. (1) 40 Brian Green (R), Pierce City, Mo.
PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 99 Jesse Sobbing (R), Malvern, Iowa.
2. (1) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (6) 10 Marc Hurd, Wichita, Kan.
5. (4) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
6. (7) 5T Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla.
7. (10) 22D Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
8. (9) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
9. (3) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa.
10. (8) 72 Mike Lineberry, Freemont, Neb.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
3. (4) 31J Jeremy Rasmussen, Bella Vista, Ark.
4. (3) 9 Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, Iowa.
5. (6) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa.
6. (5) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D.
7. (8) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
8. (7) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
9. (9) 01 Brian Perdue, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (12 laps, top 6 advance):
1. (4) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (2) 1s Scott Carlson, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
3. (3) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D.
4. (7) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas.
5. (1) 22D Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
6. (9) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa.
7. (5) 92 Josh Most, Red Oak, Iowa, Edge/RHR, $75.
8. (6) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., Venom/Driskell, $90.
9. (12) 72 Mike Lineberry, Freemont, Neb., GRT/Mullens, $75.
10. (10) 01 Brian Perdue, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bandit/Roberts, $75.
11. (11) 40 Brian Green (R), Pierce City, Mo.
12. (8) 23k Ben Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
DNS – 95 Dylan Smith, Osceola, Neb., Jet/Woods, $75.
CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (35 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 35, $3000.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 35, $1700.
3. (6) 186 Jeremy Payne, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 35, $1200.
4. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., GRT/Durham, 35, $1000.
5. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 35, $900.
6. (17) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/Sput’s, 35, $800.
7. (12) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., MBCustom/Sput’s, 35, $700.
8. (5) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., LG2/Geddes, 35, $650.
9. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., MBCustom/Mullins, 35, $600.
10. (7) 99 Jesse Sobbing (R), Malvern, Iowa, MBCustom/Sput’s, 35, $550.
11. (11) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb., GRT/Durham, 35, $400.
12. (16) 5T Randy Timms, Wheatland, Okla., MBCustom/Geddes, 35, $375.
13. (15) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustom/Wornhor, 35, $425.
14. (13) 9 Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, Iowa, LG2/Karl, 35, $325.
15. (24) 40 Brian Green (R), Pierce City, Mo., MBR/Marti, 35, $375.
16. (21) 22D Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Hilsabeck/Mullins, 35, $350.
17. (18) 1s Scott Carlson, Council Bluffs, Iowa, BMS/DirtWorks, 35, $250.
18. (22) 70 Jesse Dennis, Prescott, Iowa, Skyrocket/Midstate, 35, $250.
19. (19) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D., GRT/Durham, 34, $400.
20. (20) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, GRT/Mullins, 21, $300.
21. (10) 10 Marc Hurd, Wichita, Kan., Hughes/Briley, 20, $300.
22. (14) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, Rage/Durham, 20, $250.
23. (23) 23k Ben Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., GRT/Mullins, 9, $300.
24. (9) 31J Jeremy Rasmussen, Bella Vista, Ark., TRE/Donrich, 0, $200.
(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.
Lap Leader: Sanders 1-35.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 35.
Margin of Victory: 1.906 seconds.
Provisional Starters: Kates, Green.
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: Hughes.
Hard Charger: VanderBeek (started 17th, finished 6th).
Entries: 30.
Next Race: Saturday, July 18, I-80 Speedway, Greenwood, Neb.
MSD Central Region Points: Sanders 638, Dillard 567, Junghans 529, Sobbing 507, Ramirez 491, VanderBeek 465, Arneson 463, Ryan Gustin 436, Stormy Scott 406, Hughes 404.
Rookie of the Year Points: Sobbing 1980, C. Arneson 1691, Kates 1424, Gould 1117, Austin Arneson 1073.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Geddes 276, Sput’s 234, Mullins 225, Durham 172, Cornett 164.
Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustom 312, LG2 288, GRT 276, Hughes 235, Hilsabeck 87.
Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Kates.
Allstar Performance – Dillard.
American Racer – Lineberry.
Beyea Custom Headers – Ramirez.
BSB Manufacturing – Dripps.
Chix Gear Racewear – Payne.
Deatherage Opticians – Grabouski.
Edelbrock – Ramirez.
Eibach Springs – Timms.
FK Rod Ends – Green.
Forty9Designs.com – Groenendyk, Arneson.
Fuel Safe – VanderBeek.
GRT Race Cars – Grabouski.
Hooker Harness – Duvall.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Scott.
Keyser Manufacturing – Sobbing.
KSE Racing Products – Ramirez.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Hurd.
Midwest Sheet Metal – Smith.
MSD Ignition – Hughes, Sanders.
PBM Performance Products – Sanders.
QA1 – Hughes.
R2C Performance Products – Hughes.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
Sybesma Graphics – Hughes.
Tilton Engineering – Phillips.
VP Racing Fuels – Sanders.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Grabouski.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Junghans.
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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Casey’s General Stores, Chix Gear Racewear, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Deatherage Opticians, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Malvern Trust & Savings Bank, MSD, Nitroquest Media Group, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, VP Racing Fuels.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, Duvall Electric, ElbowsUp.com, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Rivers Edge Scrap Management, Schwab’s Tinker Shop, UMotors Motorsports & Marine, Velocita-USA.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bell Racing Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, BSB Manufacturing, CPD Racing Tools, Crane Cams, Driven Racing Oil, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance, Hooker Custom Harness, JRi Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Midwest Sheet Metal, PBM Performance Products, QA1 Precision Products, Quarter Master, R2C Performance, Real Racing Wheels, Simpson Performance Products, Sybesma Graphics, Tilton Engineering, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.
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Contact Info:
Jeff Nun