VanderBeek vaults back into USMTS victory lane
Zack VanderBeek celebrated the loss of 120 pounds since his last win with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt by celebrating a $10,000 win on Sunday in the 10th Annual Super Clean War in West Union at the Fayette County Speedway.
From the outside of the front row, Dan Ebert shot to the lead to take control of the race on the opening lap. Meanwhile, VanderBeek followed in second as the pair raced bumper-to-bumper through heavy lapped traffic while Tom Berry Jr., Tyler Wolff and Rodney Sanders worked inside the top five.
The yellow flag waved for the first time with 20 laps in the books and 20 still remaining, and that opened the door for VanderBeek as he powered ahead of Ebert in the first corner to take over the top spot.
‘The Z-Man’ found himself with a massive 3.5-second cushion over Ebert nine laps later while Berry, Sanders and Jason Hughes filled the top five positions when the yellow flag waved again.
The pace slowed, but back underway VanderBeek pulled away again and cruised to nearly a two-second margin of victory over Berry, Hughes, Sanders and Ebert.
“He kind of gave me the top line there and it was just wide open and once I could carry good momentum I could tell my car was really good so I was comfortable up there,” said VanderBeek after scoring his 51st career USMTS victory.
The win was worth $10,000 to the 38-year-old builder of VanderBuilt Race Cars in New Sharon, Iowa. It was his second in West Union. He also won here in 2016.
On this Memorial Day Weekend, it is fitting to acknowledge is last USMTS win happened at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway in Vivian, La., on Sept. 11, 2020. He weighed in at 300 pounds that day, but 989 days later he picked up the win as a lean, mean 180-pound driving machine.
“It’s been a stepping stone process for me,” VanderBeek added. “I’ve been doing this a long time with a lot of these USMTS races under my belt, and sometimes I wonder if I should become a car owner and let somebody else drive it, but I’ve got an awesome program and team, and this is what I do.”
Tyler Wolff was sixth while Dylan Thornton raced from 16th on the grid to seventh and earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award. Cayden Carter was eighth, Dereck Ramirez rebounded from a mid-race incident to nab ninth and EL Paso’s Carlos Ahumada Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Following a much-needed and well-deserved two week hiatus, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt is back in action Thursday, Friday and Saturday, June 15-17, for the 24th Annual Masters at the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.
For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features 45 nights of racing at 15 of America's premier dirt track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
10th Annual Super Clean War in West Union
Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa
Sunday, May 28, 2023
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 14 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.
SIMPSON PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
2. (1) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (6) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
5. (4) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
6. (2) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
7. (5) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (8) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
9. (9) 16B Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
2. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (3) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
4. (6) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (1) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
6. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
7. (7) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
8. (9) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa
9. (8) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (4) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
3. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
6. (7) 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.
7. (2) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
8. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
DNS – 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (15 laps, top 8 advance):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (1) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
3. (5) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
4. (3) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
5. (4) 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.
6. (7) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (9) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (8) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa
9. (6) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
10. (11) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
11. (10) 16B Randy Brown, Chowchilla, Calif.
DNS – K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
DNS – 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (4) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
3. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
6. (6) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
7. (16) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
8. (11) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
9. (17) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
10. (13) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
11. (15) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
12. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
13. (8) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
14. (21) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
15. (20) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
16. (3) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
17. (12) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
18. (18) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
19. (22) 77 Kurt Kile, Nichols, Iowa
20. (9) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
21. (23) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
22. (19) 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.
23. (10) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
24. (24) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
Lap Leaders: Ebert 1-20, VanderBeek 21-40.
Total Laps Led: VanderBeek 20, Ebert 20.
Margin of Victory: 1.73 seconds.
Time of Race: 19 minutes, 6.379 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Lavasseur, Kirk.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Thornton (started 16th, finished 7th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: June 15-17, Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, Wis.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sanders 1454, Hughes 1370, Ebert 1367, O'Neil 1365, Chisholm 1332, Berry 1303, Ramirez 1303, Wolff 1283, Phillips 1275, VanderBeek 1251.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 1303, Krup 1187, Nelson 1074, Christian 1060, Holland 923.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Chisholm 81, O'Neil 80, Sanders 75, Givens 64, Hughes 58.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 128, Mullens 123, Hughes 105, VanderBuilt 91, LG2 87.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 136, Cornett 126, Stoen 120, Hatfield 117, KSE 100.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Lavasseur.
American Racer – Sanders.
Beyea Custom Headers – Sanders.
BigDeal Car Care – VanderBeek, Thornton.
Bryke Racing – K. Brown.
BSB Manufacturing – Lavasseur.
Carquest – TBD.
Champ Pans – Ebert.
Collins Brothers Towing – Christian.
Deatherage Opticians – Ramirez.
Edelbrock – VanderBeek.
Fast Shafts – Nelson.
FK Rod Ends – Thornton.
Gunshepherd.com – Lavasseur.
Hooker Harness – Mullens.
Hyperco – Givens.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Hoff.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ahumada.
KSE Racing Products – Thornton.
MD3 – VanderBeek.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Berry.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Holland.
MSD Performance – Hughes.
Penske Racing Shocks – Fuqua.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Kirk.
QA1 – Hughes.
Quarter Master – Carter.
RacerWebsite.com – Thornton.
Salty’s BBQ & Catering – Thornton.
Simpson Performance Products – Wolff.
Summit Racing Equipment – Ahumada, Berry, Hughes, Ramirez, Thornton.
Super Clean – VanderBeek.
Swift Springs – Sanders, Kile, VanderBeek.
Sybesma Graphics – VanderBeek.
VP Racing – VanderBeek.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Kile.
Willy's Carb & Dyno Shop – Ramirez.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Thornton.
USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Callies Performance Products, Chevrolet Performance, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, KSE Racing Products, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, Super Clean, VP Racing, Wieland.
USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ARMI Contractors, Boomtest Well Service, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Collins Brothers Towing, D&T Marriott Enterprise, LLC, DAY Motorsports, Duvall Electric, Gunshepherd.com, Hacienda Mechanical, Kenny's Tile, Mel Hambelton Racing, Midwest Wrap Co., Miller Welders, PBM Performance Products, Rancho Milagro Racing, S&S Fishing & Rental, Salty's BBQ & Catering, Shocker Hitch, Shop Quik Stores, YouDirt.com.
USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, BigDeal Car Care, Bryke Racing, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Deatherage Opticians, Edelbrock, Hooker Harness, Hyperco, Integra Racing Shocks and Springs, JE Pistons, K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports, Keyser Manufacturing, MD3, MSD Performance, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies & Parts, QA1, Quarter Master, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Willy’s Carb & Dyno Shop, Wilwood Racing.
USMTS RACETRACKS: 81 Speedway, Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Arrowhead Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Deer Creek Speedway, Fayette County Speedway, Hamilton County Speedway, Humboldt Speedway, I-70 Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Lucas Oil Speedway, Mason City Motor Speedway, Ogilvie Raceway, Rocket Raceway Park.
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