POCOLA, Okla. — Not even a delay of nearly two hours for a crackling powerline could stop Jake O’Neil from electrifying the crowd at the Tri-State Speedway, as he took the lead on the second lap and never looked back in winning his second USMTS main event of the weekend.
Nor did a pair of late-race cautions which erased two huge leads get in O’Neil’s way en route to winning his third main event of the season with the Summit USMTS National Championship.
His $10,000 triumph in Saturday night’s 8th Annual Drive4JRT.com Juggernaut gave the 30-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., his 23rd career USMTS victory, tying him with Al Hejna for the 12th spot on the all-time list.
O’Neil made quick work of polesitter Kale Westover and took control as the lead duo completed the second trip around the always-racy 3/8-mile of red dirt, and then proceeded to build a lead of more than seven seconds over his chasers.
Caution-free through 28 laps, late yellow flags on laps 29 and 31 gave little hope to his pursuers as O’Neil sped away from the action behind him, eventually crossing the finish line at the end of the 40-lapper with a 3.822-second advantage over Cayden Carter.
Carter — a top contender for the Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Award — got around his VanderBuilt Race Cars car builder, Zack VanderBeek, on the final caution and secured his second runner-up finish this season.
VanderBeek settled for third while 13th-starting Dustin Sorensen came on late to steal fourth place away from four-time USMTS national champ Rodney Sanders and solidify his place atop the standings.
The finish:
Jake O’Neil, Cayden Carter, Zack VanderBeek, Dustin Sorensen, Rodney Sanders, Tyler Wolff, Terry Phillips, Tanner Mullens, Jake Timm, Jason Hughes, Kyle Brown, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Lucas Schott, Shane DeVolder, Kale Westover, Dereck Ramirez, Tyler Davis, Jacob Bleess, Lance Mari, Dillon McCowan, Chris Clark, Dan Ebert,Mike Hansen, Fito Gallardo, Jake Davis, Brent Holman, Chris Kratzer, Chris Spalding, Darron Fuqua, Jayson Good.