August 6, 2023 | By Lyndal Scranton

Sanders snaps Ramirez's dominance at USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout at Lucas Oil Speedway

Wheatland, MO —  One of the most-successful drivers in United States Modified Touring Series history put an end to Dereck Ramirez's domination at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Sanders, of Happy, Texas, led all 50 laps to hold off Ramirez in Saturday night's 14th annual USMTS Summit Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment. Ramirez had won the race the three previous seasons.

But Sanders kept him from making it four in a row and took home the $10,000 payday. He also expanded his season points lead in a bid to make it five USMTS championships.

"Dereck is super good here," Sanders said. "He's been really getting himself going lately and I knew he would be hard to beat."

Ramirez said it was hard to take off on the bottom of the track, where he started the race as Sanders set the pace. "He got the jump on the start. Rodney passed the lapped cars at the right time.

"Second sucks, but I guess all good things must come to an end. That's the way it goes."

Sanders, winning the Show-Me Shootout for the second time, started outside of row one and had the early command with Tyler Wolff in second and Dereck Ramirez settling into third.

While trailing the leader by just over a second, Wolff jumped over the cushion in turn three on lap 10 and slapped the wall to bring out the race’s first caution.

"I saw Tyler get his nose underneath me at the beginning and I was gonna try to keep a pace where I didn't go too fast, but still be able to keep the lead," Sanders said. "I just have to thank everybody that helps me. This has been a great year so far. It just feels good to get going again."

Sanders had a terrific restart and took about a six-car-length lead over Sanders with Terry Phillips climbing from fifth to third on lap 11. As the 50-lapper hit the midpoint, Sanders was maintaining a one-second lead over Ramirez as the leaders navigated lapped traffic.

The biggest mover of the race to that point was Jason Hughes, who advanced from 12th to fourth, but he was more than three seconds behind the leading trio. Hughes would pull off with mechanical issues while running fourth on lap 44.

With a long green-flag run continuing, Sanders expanded his lead to 1.6 seconds by lap 35 with Phillips another 1.5 seconds behind Ramirez. Ramirez gradually cut into the margin, pulling within just under one second of Sanders on lap 42 - but the next time around Sanders expanded it to 1.6 seconds.

The only threat to Sanders was a caution flag and that didn’t occur. He finished off the flag-to-flag victory, 1.5 seconds in front of Ramirez.

Sanders said he caught a break in the redraw by getting the front-row starting position.

"I felt like I was lucky all night," Sanders said. "I didn't qualify good, but got on the front row of the heat. That's how it goes sometimes. Luck, you try to capitalize on it sometimes when the opportunity presents itself. We definitely had some luck tonight, but we held 'em off."

Phillips finished third, Dan Ebert was fourth and Tanner Mullens captured fifth after starting 16th.

USRA B-Mods feature goes to Gillmore: Ryan Gillmore of Springfield wrestled the lead away from JC Morton on lap seven, lost command for a couple of circuits and then seized command again and drove away for the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win.

Gillmore moved into second on lap three and was within a car length of the leader by lap six. The time around, Gillmore dove to the inside to make the pass out of turn four for his first lead.

But on the next lap, Gillmore got loose and nearly spun in turn two, cutting into the infield to regain control of the car. Gillmore fell fback to third, but he quickly recovered and regained the top spot on lap 10. He opened up a 1.6-second lead by lap 14 and had to battle his way through lapped traffic.

"Early I thought I had the right idea to go to the bottom where (the track) hadn't been sealed, but I was dead wrong," Gillmore said. "I was able to get to JC and ... I don't really know for sure. But I almost looped it and ran through the infield. I started running the heck out of it after that."

Gillmore cruised through the traffic and kept pulling away. He prevailed by 3.3 seconds over Morton for his third Lucas Oil Speedway victory of the season.

Logan Smith finished third, Shadren Turner fourth and Mitchell Franklin came home in fifth.

Beck earns fifth Stock Cars win of season: Mason Beck picked up is fifth O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature win of the season, leading all 20 laps and beating Waylon Dimmitt.

Beck, fifth in USRA Stock Cars national points, started fourth but had the lead by the end of the opening lap with Wettengel second and Dimmitt third. Beck hit the halfway mark with a 1.8-second command over Dimmitt with Wettengel well back in third.

But a lap-10 caution, when Wettengel spun in turn two, brought out the caution flag. Beck continued to lead the way after the restart and had a commanding 1.7-second lead when a lap-18 caution set up a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Beck went on to win by about six car lengths over Dimmitt, with William Garner third, Dean Wille in fourth and Chris Dishong rallying from 12th to fifth.

"These last couple of weeks have been rough on us," Beck said. "We can't quite hit it right on set-up. We got spun when we've been in the lead. I figured since Todd Staler of USMTS (the USRA President) was here, I'd show him what us Stock Car boys can do here at Lucas."

Fennewald rolls to Late Models win: A former three-time Hermitage Lumber Late Model track champion picked up his first feature win of the season in that category Saturday night, pacing all 20 laps to outdistance current points leader Justin Wells.

Fennewald, in posting his first Late Model feature win in three years. said it was good to be back in victory lane.

"I'd just like to thank everybody who puts up with us doing this and hopefully we can come back and get another one next week," Fennewald said.

After front-row starting Tucker Cox led the opening lap, third-starting Fennewald went to the lead on lap two. Fennewald opened a 2.2-second lead over Ferris by lap 10 with Wells third and Cox fourth.

That commanding lead went away when a lap-11 caution slow the action. Wells got around Ferris on the restart, but Fennewald maintained the top spot. Wells, an eight-time feature winner in the Hermitage Lumber Late Models this season, was no match for Fennewald on this night.

Fennewald, a former track champ, beat Wells by 2.2 seconds with Ferris third, Cox fourth and Larry Jones capturing fifth.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 5, 2023)
14th annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment
Summit Shootout USMTS Modifieds
A Feature - 1. 20-Rodney Sanders[2]; 2. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[1]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 5. 02-Tanner Mullens[16]; 6. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[5]; 7. 10C-Cayden Carter[15]; 8. 24C-Jim Chisholm[21]; 9. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]; 10. 0-Jake O'Neil[23]; 11. 4W-Tyler Wolff[4]; 12. 58X-Gary Christian[24]; 13. 3B-Nic Bidinger[10]; 14. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[19]; 15. 4-Jeremy Nelson[17]; 16. 55H-AJ Hoff[6]; 17. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[14]; 18. 91-Joe Duvall[9]; 19. 21-Ryan Middaugh[20]; 20. 21K-Kyle Brown[22]; 21. 10B-Brandon Givens[27]; 22. 38C-Jason Pursley[25]; 23. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[13]; 24. 12-Jason Hughes[12]; 25. K9-Will Krup[11]; 26. 22-Austen Becerra[18]; 27. (DNS) 1X-Matt Johnson

B Feature 1 - 1. 10C-Cayden Carter[1]; 2. 4-Jeremy Nelson[2]; 3. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[5]; 4. 24C-Jim Chisholm[6]; 5. 16-Austin Siebert[7]; 6. 0-Jake O'Neil[8]; 7. 38C-Jason Pursley[4]; 8. 21C-Chad Clancy[3]; 9. 10B-Brandon Givens[10]; 10. 1X-Matt Johnson[9]; 11. 71M-Chad Melton[12]; 12. 30-Dalton Kirk[11]

B Feature 2 - 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[3]; 2. 22-Austen Becerra[1]; 3. 21-Ryan Middaugh[2]; 4. 21K-Kyle Brown[12]; 5. 55-Nathan Hagar[6]; 6. 58X-Gary Christian[5]; 7. 73B-Shad Badder[10]; 8. 75M-Gunner Martin[8]; 9. 22B-Rick Beebe[4]; 10. 18-Dennie Gieber[7]; 11. 356-Reggie Jackson[11]; 12. 38T-Dylan Thornton[9]

Heat 1 - 1. 20-Rodney Sanders[1]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[6]; 3. 4-Jeremy Nelson[4]; 4. 22-Austen Becerra[8]; 5. 55-Nathan Hagar[10]; 6. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[5]; 7. 30-Dalton Kirk[7]; 8. 38C-Jason Pursley[3]; 9. 22B-Rick Beebe[9]; 10. 21K-Kyle Brown[2]

Heat 2 - 1. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[2]; 2. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[4]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[6]; 4. 12-Jason Hughes[5]; 5. 02-Tanner Mullens[9]; 6. 58X-Gary Christian[7]; 7. 1X-Matt Johnson[1]; 8. 0-Jake O'Neil[10]; 9. 10B-Brandon Givens[8]; 10. 71M-Chad Melton[3]

Heat 3 - 1. 87-Darron Fuqua[2]; 2. 10C-Cayden Carter[1]; 3. 21-Ryan Middaugh[4]; 4. 3B-Nic Bidinger[6]; 5. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[5]; 6. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[7]; 7. 24C-Jim Chisholm[9]; 8. 38T-Dylan Thornton[3]; 9. 73B-Shad Badder[8]

Heat 4 - 1. 75-Terry Phillips[2]; 2. 91-Joe Duvall[4]; 3. 55H-AJ Hoff[5]; 4. K9-Will Krup[6]; 5. 21C-Chad Clancy[7]; 6. 18-Dennie Gieber[3]; 7. 16-Austin Siebert[8]; 8. 75M-Gunner Martin[9]; 9. 356-Reggie Jackson[1]

Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature - 1. 66-Ryan Gillmore[3]; 2. 18-JC Morton[2]; 3. 11L-Logan Smith[1]; 4. 56-Shadren Turner[4]; 5. F1-Mitchell Franklin[12]; 6. 1B-Bobby Williams[10]; 7. 22-Brian McGowen[20]; 8. 34-Mark Schafman[8]; 9. 10P-Dayton Pursley[5]; 10. 91-Jaylen Wettengel[7]; 11. 55-Colson Kirk[9]; 12. 96-Cody Brill[13]; 13. 83-Scott Campbell[22]; 14. 27-Terry Williams[17]; 15. 24-Jerry Ellis[23]; 16. 15X-Corey Myers[19]; 17. 55G-Luke Gideon[11]; 18. 19-Tanner Kade[18]; 19. 2X-Cole Hamilton[15]; 20. 21-Jacob Potter[24]; 21. (DNF) 12-Parker Smith[21]; 22. (DNF) 90-Jessie Mulich[14]; 23. (DNF) 15-Ryan Edde[6]; 24. (DNF) 2-Quentin Taylor[16]

Heat 1 - 1. 18-JC Morton[2]; 2. 15-Ryan Edde[1]; 3. 34-Mark Schafman[5]; 4. F1-Mitchell Franklin[4]; 5. 55G-Luke Gideon[8]; 6. 19-Tanner Kade[3]; 7. 12-Parker Smith[7]; 8. 24-Jerry Ellis[6]

Heat 2 - 1. 56-Shadren Turner[2]; 2. 91-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 3. 55-Colson Kirk[3]; 4. 96-Cody Brill[4]; 5. 2X-Cole Hamilton[5]; 6. 2-Quentin Taylor[8]; 7. 22-Brian McGowen[6]; 8. 21-Jacob Potter[7]

Heat 3 - 1. 11L-Logan Smith[5]; 2. 66-Ryan Gillmore[8]; 3. 10P-Dayton Pursley[7]; 4. 1B-Bobby Williams[6]; 5. 90-Jessie Mulich[1]; 6. 27-Terry Williams[2]; 7. 15X-Corey Myers[4]; 8. 83-Scott Campbell[3]

O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature - 1. 0F-Mason Beck[4]; 2. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[6]; 3. 7-William Garner[5]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[3]; 5. 16S-Chris Dishong[13]; 6. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 7. 12-Christopher Sawyer[2]; 8. 83-James Ellis[7]; 9. 5K-Steve Herrick[10]; 10. 45-Bob King[14]; 11. 34-Blake Bolton[12]; 12. 24-Blayne McMillin[11]; 13. 5-Bryan White[15]; 14. (DNF) 47-Ed Griggs[8]; 15. (DNF) 8M-James McMillin[9]; 16. (DNS) 91-Johnny Fennewald

Bill Robert Chevrolet Heat 1 - 1. 0F-Mason Beck[2]; 2. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[1]; 3. 12-Christopher Sawyer[5]; 4. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[7]; 5. 8M-James McMillin[6]; 6. 24-Blayne McMillin[8]; 7. (DNF) 5-Bryan White[4]; 8. (DQ) 91-Johnny Fennewald[3]

Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 2 - 1. 68-Dean Wille[2]; 2. 7-William Garner[1]; 3. 83-James Ellis[3]; 4. 47-Ed Griggs[6]; 5. 5K-Steve Herrick[4]; 6. 34-Blake Bolton[5]; 7. 16S-Chris Dishong[8]; 8. 45-Bob King[7]

Hermitage Lumber Late Models
A Feature - 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[3]; 2. 98-Justin Wells[5]; 3. 51-Larry Ferris[4]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[2]; 5. 99-Larry Jones[7]; 6. 81-Jimmy Dowell[8]; 7. 5-Tommy Cordray[9]; 8. 1A-Bryon Allison[1]; 9. 28-Jim Greenway[15]; 10. 13-Shawn Whitman[10]; 11. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[12]; 12. 93D-Josh Dugan[13]; 13. 5JR-Noah Ames[16]; 14. 31-Shawn Eggeman[14]; 15. (DNF) 14-Kyle Graves[6]; 16. (DNF) 22-Tim Petty[11]; 17. (DNS) 128-Jason Sivils

Wasoba Seed & Trucking Heat 1 - 1. 1A-Bryon Allison[1]; 2. 14-Kyle Graves[3]; 3. 21-Johnny Fennewald[6]; 4. 99-Larry Jones[7]; 5. 5-Tommy Cordray[8]; 6. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[5]; 7. 93D-Josh Dugan[2]; 8. 28-Jim Greenway[4]; 9. (DNF) 128-Jason Sivils[9]

Reed Environmental and Dirt Track Specialist Heat 2 - 1. 98-Justin Wells[2]; 2. 1T-Tucker Cox[6]; 3. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 4. 81-Jimmy Dowell[7]; 5. 13-Shawn Whitman[8]; 6. 22-Tim Petty[1]; 7. 31-Shawn Eggeman[3]; 8. 5JR-Noah Ames[4]

Camping World SRX advance tickets on sale: There is no racing scheduled at Lucas Oil Speedway next weekend, but a big event is just aroundt he corner. Some of the world's legendary drivers visitto crown a champion in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience Series on Aug. 17th.

General admission tickets remain on sale for the Camping World SRX "Thursday Night Thunder" on Aug. 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway, the finale of the six-race series which will determine the 2023 champion. All SRX races will air live on ESPN.

Purchase online tickets here

Drivers announced for the Lucas Oil Speedway event include NASCAR Cup Series champions Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski and Bobby Labonte, along with NASCAR drivers Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Hailie Deegan. Also on hand will be four-time Indy 500 winer Helio Castroneves, plus reigning SRX Champion Marco Andretti and Trans-Am champion Ernie Franics Jr.

The series will pit the drivers against one another in identically prepared cars with points accumulated in each of the six events.

Tickets for the SRX event are $35 in advance and $40 at the gate (ages 16 and over). Kids (ages 6-15) will be $20 with ages 5-and-under free. Pit passes are $50 and must be purchased the day of the event.

USRA Modifieds will be the support class with an invitational format set for the non-points event.

Tentative Lucas Oil Speedway Camping World SRX schedule:
(Thursday, August 17th)
Noon - Pit gate will open for Drivers and crews only
1 p.m. - Main grandstand gates open
2:10 p.m. - Modified hot laps
2:30-4:30 p.m. - SRX practice sessions
4:30-5 p.m. – Track prep
5 p.m. – Modified heat races
5:30-6:15 p.m. - SRX drivers Q&A sessions (4 group sessions)
6:15 p.m. – Modified Feature
6:45-7:15 p.m. – Track prep and intermission break
7:15 p.m – SRX cars to grid
7:35 p.m. – SRX driver introductions
7:45 p.m. - Opening ceremonies and National Anthem
7:50 p.m. - SRX drivers to cars
8 p.m. – ESPN live
8:02 p.m. - Drivers start engines
8:12pm – SRX green flag
10 p.m. – Victory Lane set up and top 3 driver interviews for ESPN

For information on Camping World SRX Series tickets or about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.