June 23, 2024 | By USMTS PR

USMTS Gressel Memorial goes to O’Neil again

PARK CITY, Kans. — Jake O’Neil turned his luck around, turned his season around and took a second Ed Gressel Memorial trophy back to Tucson, Ariz., after leading all 40 laps of Saturday’s finale for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt at the 81 Speedway.

Now the two-time defending event champion and winner of four of the last eight USMTS feature races at the 3/8-mile clay oval in Park City, Kan., O’Neil held off challenges by Dereck Ramirez and points leader Jake Timm in the last ten laps to garner the $10,000 winner’s share of the prize money.

“It's been trying times—not just this year but last year too,” O’Neil said. “We’ve been digging hard. We’ve had good cars. We’ve just been shy on luck, sometimes shy on skill and shy on speed. Everybody’s gotten faster and it’s just hard to do.”

The last of four Gorsuch Performance Cautions happened with just three laps to go. A miscue by O’Neil on the restart almost opened the door for Timm to pounce, but the 32-year-old driver of the No. 0 LG Race Car sponsored by Red Eye Radiator held on for the win.

“These guys are fast and you can’t make any mistakes. I about gave it away there,” he added.

Timm held off New Mexico’s Mark Smith for second-place money and Rodney Sanders—who boasts a series best six career wins here—clawed his way from 21st on the starting grid to fourth at the finish line, picking up the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.

In his last hurrah, Ramirez would up fifth with Jim Chisholm, Cayden Carter, Jason Hughes, Lance Mari and Tyler Davis completing the top ten.

The Gressel Racing “Brass Balls” Award took the accumulated points from each driver’s heat race passing points and total points, A-Main points (including lap leader bonus points), and three points per car passed in the A-Main from the original starting spot each night.

O’Neil wound up the winner, scoring the most points over two nights and taking home a one-of-a-kind trophy plus $5,000 cash on top of his $10,000 for winning the main event.

Joe Wright—a former crew member for Gressel Racing—put up $1,000 for long-distance travelers with $250 to the farthest from each direction. The winners were Dan Ebert (north), Chad Melton (south), Steve Lavasseur (east) and Nathan Smith (west). Mark Smith was awarded the overall MVT Long Tow Award.

Ogilvie’s Mod Wars awaits: The Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minn., will host the 4th Annual Mod Wars featuring USMTS vs. Wissota Modifieds on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 11-13. The main events will pay $3,000 to win Thursday and $5,000 to win Friday with a $11,000 top prize for Saturday’s champion.

An open practice open to all classes is scheduled for Wednesday, July 10, from 6-9 p.m. at ‘The Big O.’

The Ogilvie Raceway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located less than one hour north of the twin cities on Hwy. 23, or 5 miles west of Hwy. 65, or 11 miles east from Hwy.169 in Milaca, or 1 mile east of Hwy. 47 to 1539 MN-23, Ogilvie, MN 56358.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS

United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
2nd Annual Ed Gressel Memorial – Night 2 of 2
81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.

Saturday, June 22, 2024

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 RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (5) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
2. (1) 51W J.T. Wasmund, Pine Island, Minn.
3. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (9) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (2) 44 Braden Stoner, Wichita, Kan.
6. (8) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
7. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
8. (10) 52C Alex Cammon, Wichita, Kan.
9. (3) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
10. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (8) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (1) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
4. (3) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
5. (5) 15WX Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
6. (9) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
7. (6) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
8. (10) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
9. (4) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
10. (2) 22N Kevin Newell, Wichita, Kan.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
2. (3) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
4. (9) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (10) 7R Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
6. (4) 96 Logan Johnson, Haysville, Kan.
7. (8) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.
8. (7) 747 Colton Eck, Goddard, Kan.
9. (6) 88 Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
10. (5) 29C Cooper Weis, Little River, Kan.

WIELAND METAL SERVICES HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
2. (4) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.
3. (3) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (1) 44K Kelsie Black, Otis, Kan.
5. (9) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
6. (10) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
7. (7) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
8. (8) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
9. (6) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
10. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
5. (5) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
6. (8) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
7. (9) 44T Tanner Black, Otis, Kan.
8. (14) 22N Kevin Newell, Wichita, Kan.
9. (11) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
10. (3) 44K Kelsie Black, Otis, Kan.
11. (13) 29C Cooper Weis, Little River, Kan.
12. (6) 96 Logan Johnson, Haysville, Kan.
13. (12) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
14. (10) 747 Colton Eck, Goddard, Kan.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
2. (3) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
3. (4) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (1) 7R Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
5. (14) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (5) 15WX Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
7. (13) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (8) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
9. (10) 11N Gene Nicholas, Lowell, Ark.
10. (12) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
11. (9) 52C Alex Cammon, Wichita, Kan.
12. (11) 88 Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M.
13. (6) 44 Braden Stoner, Wichita, Kan.
14. (7) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (3) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
4. (21) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
6. (7) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
7. (11) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
8. (16) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
9. (20) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
10. (17) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
11. (15) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
12. (18) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
13. (14) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
14. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
15. (13) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
16. (19) 7R Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
17. (25) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
18. (27) 15WX Wyatt Gaggero, Wichita, Kan.
19. (9) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
20. (12) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
21. (10) 51W J.T. Wasmund, Pine Island, Minn.
22. (26) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
23. (24) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
24. (4) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
25. (23) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
26. (22) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
27. (5) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan.

Lap Leader: O’Neil 1-40

Total Laps Led: O’Neil 40.

Margin of Victory: 1.353 seconds.

Time of Race: 26 minutes, 38.397 seconds (4 cautions).

Provisional Starters: Williamson, Hodges, Christian, Glenn, Gaggero.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Sanders (started 21st, finished 4th).

Entries: 40.

Next Race: Thursday-Saturday, July 11-13, Ogilvie Raceway. Ogilvie, Minn.

Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Timm 1379, Chisholm 1323, Sanders 1259, Ebert 1214, Phillips 1214, Hughes 1183, Mullens 1136, Davis 1109, Christian 1067, Williamson 1053.

Mel Hambelton Racing USMTS Central Region Points: Timm 440, Chisholm 419, Sanders 387, Phillips 387, Ramirez 382.

Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Hobscheidt 1040, Hodges 951, Glenn 727, Joe Chisholm 574, D.J. Shannon 409.

FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Sanders 88, Ebert 76, Timm 64, Chisholm 61, Hughes 54.

Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 107, Rage 107, Mullens 101, Skyrocket 94, Hughes 74.

Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 120, KSE 116, OFI 109, Hatfield 88, Cornett 86.


Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Mari.
American Racer – Melton.
Bear Graphix – Glenn.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sanders.
Bryke Racing – Lavasseur.
BSB Manufacturing – Wasmund.
Champ Pans – Ramirez.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – Chisholm.
Deatherage Opticians – K. Black.
Edelbrock – Wolff.
Fast Shafts – O’Neil.
Featherlite Trailers – O’Neil, Timm, M. Smith.
FK Rod Ends – Sanders.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – O’Neil.
Hooker Harness – Phillips.
Hyperco – Hobscheidt.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Gaggero.
Keyser Manufacturing – Davis.
KSE Racing Products – Mari.
MD3 – O’Neil.
Mel Hambelton Racing – T. Black, Newell.
MSD Performance – Sanders.
Penske Racing Shocks – Ebert.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Kratzer.
Performance Bodies – Christian.
QA1 – Wasmund.
Quarter Master – Mari.
RacerWebsite.com – Davis.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – O’Neil.
Simpson Race Products – Ramirez.
Summit Racing Equipment – Eck, Gaggero, Hobscheidt, Kirk, Martin.
Sweet Manufacturing – Solander.
Swift Springs – O’Neil, Sanders, Solander.
Sybesma Graphics – Timm.
Total Power –Hobscheidt.
Victory Fuel – O’Neil.
VP Racing – O’Neil.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Eck.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Carter.