ODESSA, Mo. — This weekend’s three-headed monster concluded Saturday with the inaugural Bushwhacker presented by RacinDirt at I-70 Motorsports Park.
Rodney Sanders utilized his pole position to lead the first couple of laps before Nic Bidinger, who has been a top-runner in the region for many years, got by and then set the pace for the next nine circuits before Sanders regained control.
From that point, the race for the win appeared to be headed toward one of two four-time USMTS National Champions battling to snap long dry spells as Jason Hughes closed in on Sanders.
With 27 laps in the books and the race for the lead heating up, the feature’s first and only caution occurred and allowed Lucas Schott to take the outside lane next to Hughes for the restart.
Schott quickly disposed of Hughes and set his sights on Sanders. The pair battled side by side for the final two laps with Sanders holding off the former USRA Modified national champion for the victory.
Worth $10,000, the win was the first for Sanders since May 29 last year — his longest dry spell in more than a decade with the USMTS. It was the 112th of his USMTS career.
Behind Schott, Dereck Ramirez advanced seven spots to claim third while Hughes held on for fourth and Tanner Mullens completed the top five.
The finish:
Rodney Sanders, Lucas Schott, Dereck Ramirez, Jason Hughes, Tanner Mullens, Terry Phillips, Darron Fuqua, Nic Bidinger, Tyler Davis, Zack VanderBeek, Dan Ebert, Dustin Sorensen, Jeremy Nelson, Shane DeVolder, Cayden Carter, Kyle Brown, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Dylan Thornton, Jacob Bleess, Brandon Givens, Austin Siebert, Chris Clark, Lance Mari, Tyler Wolff.