WHEATLAND, Mo. — The 9th annual Summit USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway concluded on Saturday night with six national championship feature winners crowned.
In the finale of the program, Tyler Wolff led all 40 laps to earn a decisive victory in the USRA Modified championship. Wolff swept his qualifying races earlier in the week, started on the pole and drove to a three-second victory over runner-up Kevin Stoa.
Wolff took home $4,000 for his eighth feature victory of 2022.
“I started up front and it latched down there and I knew it was my race to lose,” Wolff said. “But when you’re up front you don’t really know where to go. I just tried to hit my lines and get through the traffic the best I could.
“I lost a USMTS race when it rubbered up and I learned my lesson. So I was just trying to take my time.”
Wolff started on the pole and had a tremendous burst when the green flew, opening a 10-car-length lead by the end of the opening lap.
In just nine laps, Wolff’s lead was 2.2 seconds over Stoa but that margin was erased with the first caution of the race. Lucas Oil Speedway track champ Dillon McCowan was running third and USRA national points leader Tyler Davis fourth at that point.
McCowan slipped by Stoa for second on the restart, but remained three-quarters of a second behind the leader. Wolff’s lead over McCowan was .702 at the halfway point but McCowan started to gradually cut into the margin over the next few laps – until he slid a bit high in turn two with Stoa getting past him.
Wolff’s lead was 1.5 seconds when a lap-26 caution bunched the field. Wolff didn’t waste time regaining command after the restart, pushing his margin to 3.5 seconds over Stoa and McCowan by lap 31.
It was clear sailing from there for Wolff as the race remained green to the finish. Wolff beat Stoa by 3.0 seconds at the checkered flag with McCowan finishing third, Davis fourth and Matt Johnson fifth.
“I have to thank MB Customs,” Wolff said. “They’ve been calling me about every day. There’s just a bunch of people. It’s been a busy week and we had a lot of fun. We got to farm and hunt and win. It’s been awesome.”
Gillmore rolls to B Mods feature championship
Ryan Gillmore topped off a perfect week by leading the USRA B-Mod championship feature all 35 laps, posting his second career USRA Nationals triumph.
Gillmore won all four of his qualifying heats plus the Summit Shootout earlier in the week. Gillmore held off Brandon Hare for the victory, his 13th of the season. He took home $2,000.
“Unfreaking believable,” Gillmore said in victory lane. “That was 150 laps as far as I’m concerned. I spent more time looking at that video board than I probably did looking forward. I saw Brandon Hare coming, and I was watching him and Jackson race and those other guys coming.
“There are so many good people here that I can’t underestimate any particular car. I’m just thankful.”
Gillmore sprinted to the early lead from his pole-position starting spot with Hare moving from seventh to second by lap seven. Riding the high groove Gillmore led Hare by .788 by lap 10 with Colson Kirk third and Kris Jackson, who started 14th, advancing into fourth.
Gillmore was able to extend the margin to 1.1 seconds by lap 21 as Jackson moved into third, just behind Hare. Jackson pressured Hare for second as the green-flag run continued and Gillmore took advantage of those two battling and stretched his lead to 1.7 seconds by lap 30.
With the race remaining caution-free until the finish, Gillmore finished off the drive to victory by .992 seconds over Hare with Jackson winding up third, JC Morton fourth and Kirk in fifth.
“This afternoon during maintenance we were running valves and we found a cam going low,” Gillmore said. “I’ve been spooked all day long, hoping the thing would run. It was popping and cracking, but it was good enough. John Yeoman builds a (great) motor.
“I have to thank Choate Farms and Dennis Choate. He owns the car and I wouldn’t be here without him.”
Thornton wires field for Stock Cars win
Dylan Thornton’s dream week concluded with a USRA Stock Cars Championship feature win as the Santa Maria, Calif. driver held off Josh Zieman by two car lengths.
Thornton earned $2,500 for the win. He swept all his qualifying heats and Summit Shootout leading into the final-night triumph.
“It was definitely a tough feature. 40 laps is a long race,” Thornton said of the caution-plagued main event.
Thornton beat Mitch Hovden as the green fell as those two front-row starters set the early pace before the first caution slowed the action on lap six.
A series of cautions over the next few laps prevented the race from finding any kind of rhythm but Thornton and Hovden continued to run at the front. Finally as extended green-flag laps mounted, Thornton’s lead was .696 at the halfway mark of the 40-lap race.
As the leaders encountered lapped traffic, Hovden closed onto the back bumper of Thornton by lap 25. A caution three laps later, with Thornton taking a spin in turn two after apparent contact with Hovden, gave the race a whole new perspective.
Thornton was given his spot back at the front and Hovden was sent to the back of the lead-lap pack for the restart. That put Pat Graham into second and Kevin Donlan to third.
“I hate it for Mitch,” Thornton said. “We would have had a really good race. The lapped car made a lane change when he got the blue-and-yellow flag and I checked up and Mitch was there, unfortunately. But I’m glad that we were able to get it done.”
The race was halted on lap 29 for a red flag as James McMillin’s car wound up on its roof in turn three.
Thornton maintained the lead on the restart with Graham staying close behind and Josh Zieman moving to third before another caution, on lap-33, again slowed the field with seven to go. After a lengthy delay under caution, the race went back to green but stayed that way only two laps as Graham’s car slowed to a stop in turn four.
Zieman pulled alongside Thornton after the restart, but could not get past the race-long leader. Thornton, in a 40-lapper that took 46 minutes to complete, held off Zieman by .816 seconds.
David Hendrix finished third, Dean Wille was fourth and Mason Beck came home in fifth.
Clinton captures Hobby Stocks win
Dylan Clinton captured the USRA Hobby Stocks nationals for the second straight year at Lucas Oil Speedway and also nailed down the Hobby Stocks points championship.
Clinton, who started fifth, took the lead on lap 16 of the 30-lap feature and held on from there, earning $1,000 for his 19th feature win of the season.
“Nelson is definitely tough and (Dustin) Gulbrandson, I saw him up front there,” Clinton said. “They are definitely tough to race again, but they always race clean. You can’t get any better feeling than this.”
Dylan Nelson, starting in the middle of a three-wide front row, set the pace from the start with Clinton moving from fifth to second by the end of lap one.
A caution on lap-eight flew with Nelson a car length in front of Clinton and Dustin Gulbrandson another 1.5 seconds behind the leaders. After the restart, those three continued to run in that order until another yellow flag slowed the action on lap 11.
Clinton rolled the inside groove to get by Nelson for the lead coming off turn four to complete lap 16. Clinton needed only four laps to extend the lead to 1.6 seconds and that’s when the event’s third caution appeared, just after Scott Dobel edged past Nelson for second place.
Nelson regained second on lap 24, but as the pursuers battled behind him Clinton extended his lead as the laps clicked by. He was in front by 2.1 seconds when a lap-28 caution set up a two-lap shootout to the finish.
Clinton was up to the challenge, holding off Gulbrandson by half a second at the checkers. Dobel was third with Carter Koop fourth and Joshua Ludeking fifth.
Limited Mods feature win goes to Day
USRA national points leader Rowdy Day drove from 13th and last at the start to the USRA Limited Mods feature win. Day passed Conner Williams on the final lap to secure the nationals triumph.
“Man, this place is phenomenal and we luckily had some luck tonight,” Day said. “Yesterday we were behind the 8-ball all night long. We’re blessed to be here.
Kyle Wiens started outside of row one and he set the pace in the early going, opening a 1.2-second lead over Aaron Roy by lap seven. Roy cut the gap to less than a second by the midpoint of the 20-lapper and he was alongside the leader on lap 12.
Suddenly, Conner Williams jumped from third to first on lap 15, overtaking both Wiens and Roy. Williams was able to hang on from there until Day came around Williams on the final lap to capture the win.
Roy wound up third, Shannon Hartline in fourth and Eric Luttrell fifth.
Dixon earns Factory Stocks victory
Craig Pursley crossed the finish line second in the Factory Stocks championship feature, but due to a disqualification of apparent winner Phil Dixon in post-race technical inspection, Pursley was declared the winner.
Pursley was pleased to get the win and the $1,000 first prize.
“I made some mistakes last night, but went to work on the car,” Pursley said. “I didn’t really appreciate the way I was drove last night, but I came out here wanting to win and then missed on single step, got passed and ended up winning this thing by luck. I’ll take it.”
Dixon moved past Albert McCall Jr. and into the runner-up position on lap nine of the 15-lap race. Dixon then worked the inside line to pull alongside side the leader before taking over the lead from Pursley on lap 12.
Dixon led by fourth-tenths of a second over Pursley with Colton Tanner in third when the race’s first caution appeared on lap 13.
The restart saw Dixon get a good jump and he was able to pull away over the final two laps for a 1.3-second margin over Pursley. Officially, McCall finished second with Hudnall third.