PETTY, Texas — The 24th season for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt kicked off with opening night of the 12th annual Texas Spring Nationals Friday at Rocket Raceway Park.
Continuing where he left off last season with a sweep of the Summit USRA Nationals, Dustin Sorensen captured his seventh career USMTS victory and a $5,000 paycheck for his efforts.
The defending Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national champion avoided multiple pitfalls throughout the night, beginning with a collision with an infield tire which dropped him into a sixth-row start in Real Racing Wheels B Main No. 2.
After winning that with a next-to-last lap pass of Rick Beebe, Sorensen began his quest in the 40-lap main event from the 14th-starting spot while Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year contenders Kyle Brown and Jimmie Williams occupied the front row.
Four-time USMTS champion Jason Hughes screamed around the high side to take the lead from Brown at the flagstand as they completed the third lap, and before another lap could be completed, the yellow appeared for a second time when Dan Ebert and Chase Allen collided and thwarted Dereck Ramirez’s pass of Brown for second.
With Hughes navigating the top side of the wide third-mile oval, a wild battle for second between Ramirez and 14th-starting Dustin Sorensen developed but was short-lived when the two came together and Ramirez skidded to a stop at the bottom of the track while Sorensen squeaked through with no visible damage.
Back under green flag racing, Hughes continued to lead with Sorensen staying within striking distance, finally able to pull alongside Hughes with 10 laps to go but unable to complete the pass.
The last nine laps were nail-biters with both racers using every inch of the racing surface as they slid under, between and above thick lapped traffic.
With four laps remaining, Sorensen was finally able to drive underneath Hughes and secure the lead by the time they exited turn four. He never trailed again.
Although he was unable to snap his winless dry spell of more than three years, Hughes was one of the strongest cars all night and finished a solid second behind Sorensen with another multi-time series champion, Rodney Sanders, finishing third ahead of Tanner Mullens and Tyler Davis.
The finish:
Dustin Sorensen, Jason Hughes, Rodney Sanders, Tanner Mullens, Tyler Davis, Terry Phillips, Tyler Wolff, Kale Westover, Fito Gallardo, Jayson Good, Jacob Bleess, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Rick Beebe, Brandon Givens, Colton Horner, Cayden Carter, Philip Houston, Kenny Gaddis, Lance Mari, Tyler Townsend, Jimmie Williams, Bo Day, Dereck Ramirez, Kyle Brown, Mike Hansen, Lucas Schott, Wendall Bolden, Chase Allen, Dan Ebert, Joe Duvall.