KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Jake O’Neil had an answer for every challenge that came his way Friday night, leading all 30 laps en route to a $5,000 triumph at the Lakeside Speedway during the opening night of the 12th Annual Jayhawk Classic featuring the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.
Carlos Ahumada Jr. earned the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award but O’Neil took control on the opening lap as he churned the cushion while Ahumada took the short way around the historic half-mile dirt oval.
With the first lap in the books, Cayden Carter jumped into second place and began to reel in O’Neil using the low side of the racing surface. Just as the leaders crossed side-by-side under the flag stand to complete the ninth lap, O’Neil moved to the bottom to block the advance of Carter and keep the youngster at bay.
“I was going about as fast as I could go up top,” O’Neil revealed. “I had her on the floor and I kept seeing him poke his nose down there and I was like ‘Man, I got to get down there.’ I hope I didn’t chop him too bad—I thought I was clear.”
One lap later, the race’s first and only caution lit the yellow lights. Dereck Ramirez used the slowdown to pounce on Carter and put the high side to good use as he and O’Neil had a tense battle for the lead for nine laps.
“I saw Ramirez get up top there and I know he’s always fast here. I kept missing my marks so I had to beat myself on the head and said, ‘Quit messing up and try to get this done,’” O’Neil added.
O’Neil did just that as Ramirez joined him on the low side but failed to keep pace with the leader. With masterful maneuvering through thick lapped traffic, the 31-year-old from Tucson, Ariz., sped to his 30th career USMTS win and a $5,000 paycheck. It was his second win of the season and second at Lakeside Speedway—his last win at the track was in the 2018 Grant Junghans Memorial.
“After last week we really needed this. We had a tough going last weekend, didn’t have much luck and this is just pretty awesome,” O’Neil said. “Everything kind of fell our way here. We got a good draw and got lucky in the heat race with the passing points.”
Carter rediscovered his mojo and passed both Rodney Sanders and Ramirez late in the race to claim runner-up honors. Behind Sanders and Ramirez—who own five series titles between them—was Tanner Mullens who came with Ramirez from the fourth row on the starting grid.
For the first time in series history, Dan Ebert came into the night as the series points leader, but despite earning the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award after racing from 16th to sixth, Ebert dropped behind O’Neil in the rankings.
The 12th Annual Jayhawk Classic featuring the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt wraps up Saturday, May 6 with the Malvern Bank SLMR West Series and Hoker Trucking SLMR East Series Late Models sharing the spotlight. Both classes pay $10,000-to-win.
Feature Finish (35 Laps)
1. (2) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 2. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 3. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 4. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 5. (7) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 6. (16) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 7. (3) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 8. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, 9. (15) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 10. (25) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla., 11. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 12. (18) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill., 13. (9) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 14. (11) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 15. (19) 44K Kelsie Foley, Otis, Kan., 16. (17) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., 17. (24) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan., 18. (10) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan., 19. (12) 88 Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla., 20. (13) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 21. (22) 1K Tim Karrick, Basehor, Kan., 22. (21) 4TW Tim Ward, Harcourt, Iowa, 23. (20) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb., 24. (14) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 25. (23) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa