SPRING VALLEY, Minn. — The nation’s hottest open-wheel dirt modified racers converged on Southern Minnesota Thursday as Deer Creek Speedway hosted opening night of the 23rd annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree and welcomed Jake Timm and Jim Chisholm to victory lane.
Timm was the first to see the green flag in the 30-lap USRA Modified main event and eventually was the first to see the checkered flag 30 laps later.
A perfectly-prepared, racy, multi-grooved racing surface allowed competitors to move all over the high-banked three-eighths-mile clay oval.
For Timm, the most comfortable place for him was the high side but the second-generation racer from Winona, Minn., went wherever he needed to maintain his pace.
Meanwhile, USMTS standout Zack VanderBeek was working a much shorter route near the bottom of ‘The Creek’ and beat Timm to the flagstand on laps 15 and 16, but Timm used lapped traffic and some notes from VanderBeek to regain the top spot and eventually the $3,000 top prize.
It was Timm’s first victory in the 23-year-history of the Featherlite Fall Jamboree. He was just two years old when the inaugural event was held in the first week of October in 1999.
VanderBeek recorded a much-needed runner-up finish with defending event champion Jake O’Neil coming home in third. Rodney Sanders and Lucas Schott were fourth and fifth.
Somebody who is well-acquainted with Deer Creek Speedway’s victory lane—especially during the Featherlite Fall Jamboree — is Jim Chisholm who picked up Thursday’s USRA B-Mod main event win.
The 18-year-old from Osage, Iowa, picked up nine wins at the track this season and has more than 20 wins over the past three seasons where he has reigned as track champion.
In Thursday evening’s 20-lap feature, Chisholm rolled off from the pole and beat Ben Moudry to the checkered flag with more than three seconds to spare to capture his sixth straight main event victory at the Featherlite Fall Jamboree.
The finish:
Jake Timm, Zack VanderBeek, Jake O’Neil, Rodney Sanders, Lucas Schott, Dustin Sorensen, Jacob Bleess, Brandon Davis, Jason Cummins, Dan Ebert, Cory Crapser, Ryan Gustin, Alex Williamson, Bobby Malchus, David Baxter, Dereck Ramirez, Tanner Mullens, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Tyler Davis, Al Hejna, Landon Atkinson, Don Gerritsen Jr., Michael Truscott, A.J. Zvorak, John Doelle, Darron Fuqua, Tyson Turnbull, Joe Duvall, Ryan Gierke, Tyler Wolff.