WHEATLAND, Mo. — Ryan Gillmore already had clinched a front-row starting position for Saturday night’s Summit USRA Nationals B-Mod championship finale.
But Gillmore’s week at the ninth annual event got even better Thursday night as he led all 18 laps to capture the B-Mod Summit Shootout at Lucas Oil Speedway. Gillmore’s 11th feature victory of the season was worth $500.
“I love those slick race tracks,” Gillmore said. “It kind of caught me off guard. I kind of expected it to rubber and it didn’t. We used last night’s feature tires and just flipped ’em.
Gillmore started fourth but roared away as the green flag waved and grabbed the lead on the opening circuit. By the midpoint of the 18-lapper, Gillmore was 1.3 seconds in front of Mitchell Franklin, with Kyle Slader in third.
Gillmore kept stretching the lead and was 1.7 seconds ahead when a lap-11 caution wiped out his margin and forced him to defend his lead on a restart. He quickly got it going as action resumed and wasted little time regaining the gap he had over his pursuers.
Franklin slowed on lap 15 to fall out of contention with Colson Kirk moving into second and Kris Jackson to third. Gillmore, who won both his heats and a feature on Wednesday, went on to prevail by 2.06 seconds over Kirk with Jackson third, Slader fourth and Gabe Hodges in fifth.
“I hope Saturday goes good,” Gillmore said. “We’ll take what we can get. This has definitely exceeded my expectations. I just wanted to lock in and we’ve done way more than I expected. The pressure is on for me now. I have to mind my business and hope it goes good.”
Tyler Wolff made it a sweep on Thursday night, winning both his qualifying heat races and leading the caution-free USRA Modified feature flag to flag.
Wolff started on the pole and sprinted away to a 2.3-second lead over Dustin Hodges seven laps into the feature and three seconds by lap 10. As the action remained green all the way in the 18-lapper, Wolff was never threatened, finishing 2.8 seconds clear of Hodges for feature win No. 8 this season.
“I can’t believe it,” Wolff said. “This car has been awesome. The guys at MB Customs, this car has been perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Wolff also earned a pair of qualifying heat-race wins earlier in the week, making him a front-row starter for Saturday’s championship feature.
Tyler Hibner finished third and Matt Johnson wound up fourth, both advancing three positions from the start. Dillon McCowan started and finished fifth.
Dylan Thornton continued to enjoy his week in the USRA Stock Car division, taking the lead with five laps left and going on to capture the win. He’s also won three of four qualifying heats and the Stock Cars Summit Shootout this week.
“So far it’s been good,” Thornton said of his week.
Kevin Donlan came around the outside of Bill Crimmins to take over the lead by a few feet at the start-finish line to complete lap four. Donlan went on to extend his lead to one-second by lap seven when the race’s first caution flew.
On the restart, Josh Cain moved from third to first with a strong move into turns one and two. Thornton used the bottom groove to pull alongside Cain over the next two laps before finally edging his way past to take the lead on lap 13.
Thornton sailed from there, beating Cain by 2.4 seconds.
“It’s a lot more fun that way, when you don’t start on the front row and you get to move around,” fifth-starting Thornton said. “The biggest thing is watching the race track. I’ve never been to a race track in my life that changes so quick as this one. It keeps you on your toes.”
Mitch Hovden rallied from ninth to third with Crimmins fourth and David Hendrix fifth.
Dylan Nelson led the final four laps to grab the USRA Hobby Stock feature victory, holding off Dylan Clinton for the win. Nelson picked up his 13th feature win of the season.
Nelson led the first four laps before Dustin Gulbrandson took command on lap five. Gulbrandson extended the lead to 1.2 seconds by lap 10 over Nelson with Clinton close behind in third.
Gulbrandson encountered trouble on lap 11 and faded to third after clipping the tractor tire protecting the inside of turn two. Nelson took advantage to go back in front. Nelson held off Clinton over the final two laps, beating Clinton by half a second.
“I kept seeing Clinton down there, but knew I was in the fastest line,” Nelson said. “I knew if I kept hitting my marks that I should be good. It’s pretty special. Those two guys, they’re 1-2 in national points and are some of the best guys out here racing, day in and day out in this class.”
Gulbrandson, despite damage to the front of his car, held on for third with Carter Koop finishing fourth and Bryce Sommerfeld coming home in fifth.
Seventh-starting Oliver Monson made a last-lap pass of Brad Stahl to capture the USRA Tuners feature victory.
Polesitter Whitley led from the start and was able to open a 1.1-second margin over Alex Scarlett when a lap-four caution slow the action.
Stahl went around Whitley and to the lead on lap seven before another caution flew. Monson made his way around Whitley on lap 10 and gave chase of Stahl and was able to run him down on the final lap.
Monson beat Stahl by .060 of a second.
“I was running the middle for a while and watched Brad go around the top. I’m glad I moved up there,” Monson said. “This has been a pretty crazy season for me. I can’t thank everybody who helps me out enough.”
Sean Leasure was third with Whitley fourth and Scarlett finishing fifth.
USRA Late Model national points leader Dylan Kromschroeder led all but one lap in capturing the main event for his 10th feature win of the season.
“It was two totally different tracks in each corner. That made it interesting, but we got up front and stayed there,” Kromschroeder said. “It’s awesome to have this here. I’m glad to see this place. It’s incredible.”
Kromschroeder, who started third, took the lead at the start and pulled away to a 2.3-second lead over Chad Prissel six laps into the 15-lap feature. That’s when a caution flew and wiped out the cushion that Kromschroeder had built.
Fitzsimmons took advantage of the restart to battle past Kromschroeder for the lead – but it took only one lap before Kromschroeder was back on top. He checked out from there and beat Fitzsimmons by 2.9 seconds at the finish.
Kory Ressie finished third and Prissel came home in fourth.