KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tanner Mullens was the first to see the green flag and first to the flagstand for all 42 laps Friday as he dominated the sixth annual Grant Junghans Memorial.
The 29-year-old from Wichita, Kan., led his heat race from start to finish, earned the Sybesma Pole Award for the main event and then proceeded to wax a talent-rich field of USMTS Modifieds at the Lakeside Speedway located on the Kansas side of Kansas City.
The win was the seventh of his career and worth $20,002 — a series record for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt — and highlighted a season of runner-up finishes for Mullens — a third-generation racer and 2020 Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year.
By the halfway points of the feature race, Mullens was more than four seconds in front of Phillips, who had his hands full with Tyler Davis and Dustin Sorensen.
With about 10 laps to go, Phillips was within two seconds of the leader but Mullens maneuvered better through lapped traffic and regrew his advantage. He crossed the finish line 2.532-second ahead of Phillips.
Sorensen was able to get by Davis for third with 2017 event winner Rodney Sanders fourth and Cayden Carter rounding out the top five at the checkered flag.
The Junghans Family sponsored a special six-lap dash for the top six qualifiers with Phillips scoring the win and pocketing $2,000.
The finish:
Tanner Mullens, Terry Phillips, Dustin Sorensen, Tyler Davis, Rodney Sanders, Cayden Carter, Jake O’Neil, Zack VanderBeek, Darron Fuqua, Chase Junghans, Jacob Bleess, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Dan Ebert, Dereck Ramirez, Jason Hughes, Jeremy Nelson, Lucas Schott, Nic Bidinger, Austin Siebert, Shane DeVolder, Tyler Hibner, Randal Schiffelbein Jr., Kale Westover, Kyle Brown, Brandon Givens, Lance Mari, Kerry Davis.
Â