PARK CITY, Kan. — As is customary, the 81 Speedway provided yet another instant classic for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt, and Terry Phillips provided fans with his 37th victory speech with the USMTS.
The 11th annual USMTS Keeper of the Plains Shootout saw Kale Westover earn the pole and jump out to lead the first few laps while Phillips grinded his way into second place and began to shorten the distance between himself and Westover.
After chasing Westover for the first 11 laps, Phillips stole the lead using the first lapped car of the race to his advantage. A few laps later, he eliminated three back-markers in a single corner and left Westover behind the trio of lapped cars and losing ground to Phillips.
Phillips was checked out with 10 laps to go when the first yellow flag of the race waved for Tanner Mullens sitting at the top of turn two with a demolished front end. It erased a five-second cushion for the leader and ended Mullens’ top-10 run.
Despite the late caution, Phillips was undeniably the class of the field and sped to his first win since Sept. 10 last year. It was the 37 career USMTS victory for the 56-year-old from Springfield, Mo., which gives him sole possession of ninth on the all-time winners list after breaking a tie with Jon Tesch.
Phillips, who garnered his first win here in this event on Aug. 1, 2019, pocketed $5,000 for his efforts and left him with the task of finding space on the wall of his race shop among his dozens of other awards.
Westover wound up with the runner-up paycheck, followed by Dan Ebert, Rodney Sanders and Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year points leader Cayden Carter completing the top five.
The finish:
Terry Phillips, Kale Westover, Dan Ebert, Rodney Sanders, Cayden Carter, Dereck Ramirez, Jake O’Neil, Tyler Davis, Lance Mari, Zack VanderBeek, Jake Gallardo, Jason Hughes, Dustin Sorensen, Tyler Wolff, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Chase Holland, Jacob Bleess, Jon Herring Jr., Joe Duvall, Brandon Givens, Kyle Brown, Colton Horner, Tanner Mullens, Shane DeVolder, Cole Traugott, Darron Fuqua.
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