MEEKER, Okla. — With a heroic effort late in the 50-lap main event, Jake O’Neil captured his second USMTS win of the season in Friday night’s sixth annual Fallen Hero 50 at the Red Dirt Raceway.
While it was the maiden voyage to the popular bullring for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, it marked the 22nd career victory win for O’Neil.
The 30-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., passed Tanner Mullens with 12 laps to go and then had to defend the low side of the race track from Mullens and Dustin Sorensen while navigating thick lapped traffic.
Although Mullens earned the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award, it was Fito Gallardo leading the first lap, followed by six more before Mullens found the low side to his liking and regained first place.
A caution-free 50-lapper created a flurry of action all through the field and no better battles than those at the front between O’Neil, Mullens and Sorensen before they crossed the finish line less than a second apart.
Jacob Bleess rebounded from mechanical problems in qualifying to finish a season-best fourth in the feature race while Gallardo held on for the final spot in the top five.
The finish:
Jake O’Neil, Tanner Mullens, Dustin Sorensen, Jacob Bleess, Fito Gallardo, Dan Ebert, Dylan Thornton, Cayden Carter, Dereck Ramirez, Lucas Schott, Terry Phillips, Jake Gallardo, Zack VanderBeek, Jason Hughes, Kyle Beard, Jake Timm, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Lance Mari, Chris Spalding, Kyle Brown, Rodney Sanders, Jayson Good, Tyler Davis, Mike Hansen, Shane DeVolder, Brandon Givens, Tyler Wolff, Darron Fuqua, Chris Dawson, Colton Horner, Chris Kratzer.