HomeOpen Wheel Modified NewsVanderBeek vaults back into USMTS victory lane at Mississippi Thunder Speedway

VanderBeek vaults back into USMTS victory lane at Mississippi Thunder Speedway

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Zack VanderBeek
Zack VanderBeek

FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (Aug. 14)-Just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of his last United States Modified Touring Series victory, Zack VanderBeek notched his first win of the 2015 campaign Friday night as the Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental rolled into the Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

The stars seemed to align early for VanderBeek when his nephew and crew member Nick Van Hemert drew the No. 33 pill on behalf of his uncle at the driver’s sign-in. That put VanderBeek’s No. 33z Casey’s General Stores LG2 by Owens on the pole for MSD Heat Race #1 which he won handily.

“That was good. That always helps,” VanderBeek said. “The draw is so important here when you’re racing against the caliber of drivers in this series. We haven’t done too well in that department as of late, so it was a nice to get a good draw.”

Unwilling to taunt karma, the nephew was again entrusted with the feature race redraw duties and again put VanderBeek’s machine on the pole by drawing the top slot.

When the green flag waved over the 24-car main event starting field, however, it was Jesse Sobbing blasting into the lead from the outside of the front row while VanderBeek stayed close behind.

“Jesse, he’s a gasser and he knows how to get around a racetrack,” VanderBeek noted. “He set the pace and I typically don’t take off really good on initial starts when the track’s a little greasy, so I was just kind of watching him.”

Meanwhile, Rodney Sanders and Jason Hughes-the two most dominating forces in the first five races of ‘The Hunt’ and sitting first and second in the championship points standings-were charging toward the front of the pack.

Eighth-starting Sanders clawed his way into the third spot behind VanderBeek on lap 10 while Hughes, who began the 40-lapper from the 13th spot, roared into sixth at the same time.

Cory Crapser’s breakdown on lap 13 brought out the race’s first and only caution flag, and VanderBeek made his move when the green flag returned.

Scooting by on the inside of Sobbing, VanderBeek pulled away to lead the 14th lap and began to put some distance between himself and his chasers.

He continued to build his advantage over everybody but Hughes, who worked his way into fifth on the restart, fourth on lap 16, around Sanders for third on lap 17 and then grabbed second from Sobbing with 20 laps complete.

For the final 20 laps, VanderBeek and Hughes recorded nearly identical lap times which differed by about a tenth of a second one way or the other with each passing lap. With that, Hughes was not able to chip away at VanderBeek’s ten-car-length advantage until the leader reached lapped traffic in the late stages.

While VanderBeek worked his way through a pack of back-markers, Hughes was able to close the gap in the closing laps but VanderBeek never offered up the bobble needed for Hughes to pounce and rolled to the finish line with a two-car-length advantage over the 2010 USMTS National Champion.

“We got that restart early on and the car just come alive there,” VanderBeek said in victory lane. “Looking behind us I seen (Hughes) was coming and I didn’t know where he was running, but he never a got a run and I was just trying to keep it straight and not fight the car too much. It just worked out.

“It’s been a long year and we simply couldn’t be here without the support we get from our sponsors, my family, our crew… it takes a lot to keep up with these guys.”

Sobbing remained in third and Sanders was fourth, with Dereck Ramirez rounding out the top finishers in the main event. Lucas Schott, Jesse Glenz, Johnny Scott, Jacob Bleess and Dan Ebert completed the top 10.

It was VanderBeek’s 28th career USMTS triumph. The win was worth $3,000 to the 30-year-old from New Sharon, Iowa, and his first since Aug. 16, 2014, at the Ogilvie Raceway-site of tomorrow night’s USMTS action.

Last year, VanderBeek got around Jason Krohn with six laps to go at the Ogilvie Raceway, and then held off Sanders in the closing laps to score the win.

Earlier this year, Stormy Scott netted his second career USMTS win at Ogilvie. Krohn, Jeremy Payne and Hughes each have one win to their credit here.

Presented by Mora Chevrolet and Buick, the first green flag is scheduled to wave at 6:30 p.m. Midwest Mods, Street Stocks and Hornets will round out the racing action. Adult tickets are $20, seniors and students ages 13-17 get in for $18 and kids ages 12 and under are free.

Race fans can get discount coupons good for $2 off adult general admission at Casey’s General Stores locations in Cambridge, Milaca, Ogilvie and Princeton. Cade Dillard and his No. 97 Snickers machine will be greeting fans in person about a half-mile from the track at the Casey’s General Store located at 400 West Hwy. 23 in Ogilvie from 12-2 p.m. Tune your radio to WWJO 98.1 FM to hear live broadcasts from the appearance.

The Ogilvie Raceway is a 3/8-mile semi-banked dirt oval located 2.0 miles east of Ogilvie on the south side of SR 23. For more information call 763-267-4572 or visit their website at www.ogilvieraceway.com.

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
The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental – Round 6 of 15
Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Friday, Aug. 14, 2015

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, chassis/engine builder, laps completed and money won. The top 12 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) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa.
3. (5) 07 Cory Crapser (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis.
4. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
5. (4) 23k Ben Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan.
6. (6) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis.
7. (8) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
8. (7) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (8) 99 Jesse Sobbing (R), Malvern, Iowa.
3. (2) 7x Jesse Glenz (R), Cadott, Wis.
4. (4) 50 Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn.
5. (7) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
6. (3) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (5) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
8. (1) 6T7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa.
2. (2) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M.
3. (7) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas.
4. (3) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
5. (5) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
6. (4) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D.
7. (6) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn.
8. (8) 91 Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo.

PBM PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (1) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn.
2. (4) 60 Dan Ebert (R), Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (5) 2s Stormy Scott, Arroyo Hondo, N.M.
4. (3) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
5. (6) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis.
6. (7) 89x Bob Timm, Winona, Minn.
7. (2) 15 Steve Bangart, Auburndale, Wis.
8. (8) 9 Lester Jonsgaard, Winona, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
2. (2) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn.
3. (3) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La.
4. (10) 91 Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo.
5. (7) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
6. (5) 89x Bob Timm, Winona, Minn.
7. (6) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., GRT/Action, $90.
8. (8) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn., DirtDueler/Grove, $90.
9. (4) 23k Ben Kates (R), Tonganoxie, Kan., GRT/Mullins, $90.
10. (9) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 50 Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn.
2. (2) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn.
3. (6) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla.
4. (3) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis.
5. (5) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D.
6. (4) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., GRT/Anderson, $90.
7. (8) 6T7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn., /, $75.
8. (7) 15 Steve Bangart, Auburndale, Wis., GRT/Bangart, $75.
DNS – 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., GRT/TriStar, $90.
DNS – 9 Lester Jonsgaard, Winona, Minn., Action/Jonsgaard, $75.

CASEY’S GENERAL STORES “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, LG2/Sput’s, 40, $3000.
2. (13) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., Hughes/Mullins, 40, $1700.
3. (2) 99 Jesse Sobbing (R), Malvern, Iowa, MBCustom/Sput’s, 40, $1200.
4. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 40, $1000.
5. (4) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., LG2/Cornett, 40, $900.
6. (6) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., Hughes/Sput’s, 40, $800.
7. (12) 7x Jesse Glenz (R), Cadott, Wis., MBCustom/Tim’s, 40, $700.
8. (9) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $650.
9. (3) 21 Jacob Bleess (R), Chatfield, Minn., MBCustom/BK, 40, $500.
10. (5) 60 Dan Ebert (R), Lake Shore, Minn., Impressive/Speedwerx, 40, $550.
11. (14) 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn., MBCustom/KSE, 40, $400.
12. (11) 2s Stormy Scott, Arroyo Hondo, N.M., MBR/Mullins, 40, $450.
13. (7) 22d Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, Iowa, Hilsabeck/Mullins, 40, $425.
14. (17) 97 Cade Dillard, Robeline, La., LG2/Geddes, 40, $400.
15. (20) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis., MBCustom/Mullins, 40, $300.
16. (18) 91 Joe Duvall, Claremore, Okla., MBCustom/Wornhor, 40, $350.
17. (16) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., Shaw/Mullins, 40, $400.
18. (19) 91 Scott Drake, Webb City, Mo., MBCustom/Wornhor, 39, $250.
19. (23) 71 Philip Houston, Odessa, Texas, MBCustom/Geddes, 39, $300.
20. (21) 49jr Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., LG2/BuckBuilt, 39, $250.
21. (24) 89x Bob Timm, Winona, Minn., MBCustom/Mullins, 39, $250.
22. (22) 2 Casey Arneson (R), Fargo, N.D., GRT/Durham, 39, $400.
23. (15) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., GRT/Sput’s, 18, $300.
24. (10) 07 Cory Crapser (R), Chippewa Falls, Wis., GRT/Tim’s, 11, $300.

(R) = Rookie of the Year contender.

Lap Leaders: Sobbing 1-13, VanderBeek 14-40.
Total Laps Led: VanderBeek 27, Sobbing 13.
Margin of Victory: 0.810 second.
Provisional Starters: Houston, B. Timm.
Sybesma Graphics Pole Award: Schott.
Hard Charger: Hughes (started 13th, finished 2nd).
Entries: 32.
Next Race: Saturday, Aug. 15, Ogilvie Raceway, Ogilvie, Minn.
Hunt for the Casey’s Cup Points: Sanders 643, Hughes 596, Sobbing 581, VanderBeek 549, S. Scott 536, Ramirez 522, J. Scott 460, Dillard 446, Larson 434, Arneson 417.
Rookie of the Year Points: Sobbing 2070, C. Arneson 1741, Kates 1436, Ronnie Gould III 1167, Austin Arneson 1073.
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Year Points: Geddes 345, Mullins 299, Sput’s 295, Durham 217, Cornett 194.
Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustom 382, LG2 337, GRT 331, Hughes 296, Hilsabeck 122.

Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels – Crapser.
Allstar Performance – J. Scott.
American Racer – Alberts.
Beyea Custom Headers – Ramirez.
BSB Manufacturing – B. Timm.
Chix Gear Racewear – Sobbing.
Deatherage Opticians – VanderBeek.
Edelbrock – VanderBeek.
Eibach Springs – S. Scott.
Fast Shafts – Schott.
FK Rod Ends – Pember.
Forty9Designs.com – Dillard, Houston.
Fuel Safe – Schott.
GRT Race Cars – Arneson.
Hooker Harness – Hilsabeck.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components – Bleess.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KSE Racing Products – Sanders.
Marsh Racing Wheels – Angst.
Midwest Sheet Metal – Kates.
MSD Ignition – Ramirez, VanderBeek.
PBM Performance Products – Bleess, VanderBeek.
QA1 – VanderBeek.
R2C Performance Products – Houston.
Real Racing Wheels – all non-qualifiers.
Sybesma Graphics – Schott.
Tilton Engineering – Sanders.
VP Racing Fuels – VanderBeek.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Davis.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Glenz.

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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

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