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Ramirez flies USMTS checkers at Lucas Oil Speedway

By Lyndal Scranton (Wheatland, MO) -- Dereck Ramirez led all but the opening lap in picking up his fifth United States Modified Touring Series victory of the season on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Ramirez, bouncing back from some tough luck the previous two nights of the USMTS swing, held off Jason Hughes and Terry Phillips in the 11th annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment.

PHOTO CREDIT: GS Stanek Racing Photography

"This means a lot. We've been working our butts off and figuring stuff out," said Ramirez, who wound up 1.49 seconds in front of Hughes. "We're getting better every day."

Also picking up feature wins on Saturday night's program were Johnny Fennewald (O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks), Kris Jackson (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Gary Donaldson (USRA Stock Cars).

Ramirez, from Woodward, Oklahoma, took over the lead on lap two and held it from there in a race filled with six cautions and big movers from back in the pack. Ironically, he was driving a Hughes chassis and that lessened the sting of finishing second-best for Hughes.

"Congratulations to Dereck and all them guys. They've done a hell of a job this year," Hughes said. "I'm proud to be a part of that. I don't like second, but I'll take it every time when we get one of my cars up there."

Pole-starter Hughes led the opening lap before fellow front-row starter Ramirez traded positions with him on lap two. Ramirez had opened a one-second lead when a four-car tangle in turn one, on lap six, brought out a caution - which was foretelling of several to come.

Ramirez and Hughes remained 1-2 after the restart and had distanced third-place Tanner Mullens by two seconds when a caution flew on lap 14. RC Whitwell already had worked his way from 18th to fourth by this point with Tyler Davis fifth and 13th-starting Phillips in sixth.

On the restart, seven cars were involved in a turn-two accident that brought a red flag about to clean up the blocked track. By this point, nearly half the starting field of 29 were either done for the night or continuing with damage.

Once racing resumed, Ramirez opened a 1.4-second lead over Hughes when the race's fifth caution, on lap 25, again stacked the field. Whitwell was running third, followed by Mullens and Phillips as action restarted with 15 circuits remaining.

Phillips moved into third behind Ramirez and Hughes when another caution appeared with nine to go. But that would be the final yellow, which was fine by Ramirez who admitted it was tough to stay patient through the many restarts as he cruised the high side of the track.

"I was a little wore out," Ramirez said. "I didn't know where to be in (turns) three and four. It was a little rough up there and I figured I was gonna give it away trying to run up there. But I knew that was the fastest way around and I was just trying to keep it on the race track - and we got it done."

Action remained caution-free from there, with Ramirez gradually pulling away to prevail by 1.49 seconds. Hughes nipped Phillips for second with Whitwell fourth and Mullens fifth.

Ramirez claimed his 13th USMTS career victory.

Ramirez finished second on Thursday at 81 Speedway, losing the lead on the final lap. He had mechanical issues that knocked him from contention on Friday at Humboldt Speedway.

Hughes, of Watts, Oklahoma, said he was no match for the winner as he fought with his car over the final few laps.

"I was so tight I was trying to make that thing turn in there sideways and make it wide," Hughes said, noting his battle with Phillips near the finish.

Phillips continued his consistent and strong swing with a third straight third-place finish.

"I just didn't get it done in the heat race tonight, so had to start so far back," Phillips said. "We made a little charge and put on a show on for the crowd, I guess."

Whitwell finished fourth with Tanner Mullens, winner of the June 3 USMTS event at Lucas Oil Speedway, in fifth.

USMTS points leader Rodney Sanders rallied for sixth after having to use a provisional and start the feature in 25th.

Including Ramirez, five of the top 10 finishers are past USMTS winners at Lucas Oil Speedway: Sanders (2019), Zack VanderBeek (2016) and Mullens (2020). Phillips remains the only two-time winner of the Show-Me Shootout (2012 and 2014).

Fennewald drops in for Street Stocks win: Taking advantage of a night off for the ULMA Late Model division, Johnny Fennewald captured the O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks feature.

Fennewald was driving a car usually piloted by fellow Appleton City resident Colton Bourland. The three-time reigning ULMA Late Model track champ took over the lead from Tim Brown on lap three and rolled to the victory, opening a 4.3-second lead before settling for a final 2.2-second advantage over runner-up James Flood.

"This is just a deal for my buddy (Bourland) over here. He started last year racing and he's always talking about, 'is it too tight, is it too loose?' I said, 'let me drive it and we'll see what happens.' He's actually wanting me to drive it in the Big Buck 50.

"He has a pretty good hot rod here. He spends a lot of time and hard work to get this thing ready. We just kind of super-tuned on it this week. It's gonna be pretty good for him now, I think."

Points leader Derek Brown finished third with Kenny Carroll fourth and Toby Ott fifth.

Close B-Mod win goes to Jackson: Track points leader Kris Jackson of Lebanon took over the lead on lap four and held off Jake Richards by a car length for his third Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win of the season.

Front-row starting Wesley Long led three laps and was battling Eric Turner for the lead when Long spun in turn four to bring out a caution. That put Turner into the lead, followed by Jackson, Richards and JC Morton.

After the restart, Turner and Jackson raced side-by-side for several laps before Jackson took the lead coming to the start-finish line to complete lap 12. From there, Richards gave chase and was on Jackson's tail as the laps wound down.

Just as Richards appeared to making a pass for the lead coming to the white flag, a car spun in turn four - right in front of Jackson - to bring out the caution. Jackson was elevated back to the lead for a two-lap shootout with Richards and Morton right behind.

Jackson hung on to prevail, finishing just .337 seconds in front of Richards with Morton in third, Andy Bryant fourth and Turner finishing fifth.

"That was a blast," Jackson said, praising the track crew after a heavy downpour on Saturday morning. "We woke up this morning and thought this track might be rough again, but these guys, you could tell the put in the time and the effort. This racing surface was awesome tonight."

Donaldson takes USRA Stock Car win: Fourth-starting Gary Donaldson of Rayville, Missouri, passed Derrick Agee with three laps remaining and went on to take the feature in the USRA Stock Cars, a guest class for the evening.

Donaldson and Agee, who started on the front row, dueled side-by-side for four laps until Donaldson finally made the pass. Donaldson then pulled away and finished about five car lengths in front. Brett Heeter finished in third.

"I remember Derrick Agee. He was at I-35 (Speedway) for the big $3,000-to-win shootout we had," Donaldson said. "I didn't really know the guy, but I know him real well now. He is a fast driver and he made me earn that sucker.

"I kept trying on the bottom and he started protecting. I moved up and I got around him on the outside, but he didn't make it easy. It sure was fun and it's sure great to be here. USRA Stock Cars at Lucas Oil Speedway, yeah, baby."

Cody Agee demolished his car as he hit the wall in turn four as the checkered flag waved, but he crawled out of the car uninjured.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (August 8, 2020)
USMTS Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment

USMTS Modifieds

Casey's General Store A-Main (40 Laps): 1. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[2]; 2. 12-Jason Hughes[1]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[13]; 4. 96T-RC Whitwell[18]; 5. 02-Tanner Mullens[7]; 6. 20-Rodney Sanders[25]; 7. 62-Hunter Marriott[21]; 8. G17-Fito Gallardo[5]; 9. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[14]; 10. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[19]; 11. 23-Adam Kates[29]; 12. 9D8-Paden Phillips[9]; 13. 2G-Brandon Givens[22]; 14. 52-Mitch Keeter[8]; 15. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[28]; 16. J17-Jake Gallardo[10]; 17. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[15]; 18. 27X-Calvin Iverson[24]; 19. 65-Tyler Davis[3]; 20. 9-Evan Hubert[4]; 21. 6-Casey Skyberg[26]; 22. 4W-Tyler Wolff[17]; 23. 134-Robert Heydenreich[11]; 24. 227-Chase Domer[12]; 25. 91T-Lance Town[6]; 26. G3-Brendon Gemmill[20]; 27. 91-Joe Duvall[16]; 28. 292-Kyle Thompson[23]; 29. 38C-Jason Pursley[27]

Real Racing Wheels B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 91-Joe Duvall[2]; 3. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[3]; 4. 2G-Brandon Givens[4]; 5. 88R-AJ Vasquez[9]; 6. 11JR-Randal Schiffelbein Jr[6]; 7. 55-Nathan Hagar[5]; 8. 3B-Nic Bidinger[7]; 9. 2C-Dave Cain[8]; 10. 8-Jeremy Vaughn[10]; 11. 21W-Tracy Wolf[12]; 12. 7T-Treyton Gann[14]; 13. 8C-Chris Clark[11]; 14. 6-Casey Skyberg[13]

Real Racing Wheels B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[4]; 2. 4W-Tyler Wolff[1]; 3. G3-Brendon Gemmill[3]; 4. 292-Kyle Thompson[5]; 5. 10W-Hunter Wilbanks[6]; 6. 1X-Matt Johnson[10]; 7. 31-Brad Smith[7]; 8. 23-Adam Kates[9]; 9. 3J-Jake Nightingale[11]; 10. 17D-Brandon Dean[12]; 11. 19-Darrick Waggoner[13]; 12. 87-Darron Fuqua[2]; 13. 11N-Gene Nicholas[8]; 14. 00-Cody Jolly[14]

Real Racing Wheels B Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[1]; 2. 96T-RC Whitwell[3]; 3. 62-Hunter Marriott[5]; 4. 27X-Calvin Iverson[6]; 5. 85D-Mark Dotson[8]; 6. 22H-Dustin Hodges[10]; 7. 16-Austin Siebert[12]; 8. 38C-Jason Pursley[2]; 9. 6J-Jason Payton[4]; 10. 52C-Alex Cammon[13]; 11. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[11]; 12. 7-Daniel Franklin[7]; 13. 20-Rodney Sanders[9]; 14. 10-Dustin Robinson[14]

Simpson Racing Products Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. J17-Jake Gallardo[3]; 3. 91-Joe Duvall[4]; 4. 2G-Brandon Givens[2]; 5. 7-Daniel Franklin[5]; 6. 2C-Dave Cain[6]; 7. 20-Rodney Sanders[7]; 8. 3J-Jake Nightingale[8]; 9. 6-Casey Skyberg[9]

Fast Shafts Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. G17-Fito Gallardo[5]; 2. 134-Robert Heydenreich[3]; 3. 9D8-Paden Phillips[7]; 4. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[4]; 5. G3-Brendon Gemmill[8]; 6. 27X-Calvin Iverson[9]; 7. 8-Jeremy Vaughn[2]; 8. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[6]; 9. 19-Darrick Waggoner[1]

Edelbrock Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Tyler Davis[3]; 2. 227-Chase Domer[2]; 3. 87-Darron Fuqua[4]; 4. 6J-Jason Payton[1]; 5. 11JR-Randal Schiffelbein Jr[6]; 6. 3B-Nic Bidinger[9]; 7. 1X-Matt Johnson[5]; 8. 21W-Tracy Wolf[8]; 9. 52C-Alex Cammon[7]

MSD Performance Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 91T-Lance Town[4]; 2. 12-Jason Hughes[7]; 3. 38C-Jason Pursley[1]; 4. 55-Nathan Hagar[3]; 5. 10W-Hunter Wilbanks[6]; 6. 11N-Gene Nicholas[2]; 7. 23-Adam Kates[8]; 8. 8C-Chris Clark[9]; 9. 7T-Treyton Gann[5]

VP Race Fuels Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Mitch Keeter[1]; 2. 9-Evan Hubert[4]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[5]; 4. 292-Kyle Thompson[3]; 5. 62-Hunter Marriott[7]; 6. 85D-Mark Dotson[6]; 7. 88R-AJ Vasquez[9]; 8. 17D-Brandon Dean[8]; 9. 00-Cody Jolly[2]

Wrisco Industries Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[1]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[2]; 3. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 4. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[6]; 5. 96T-RC Whitwell[8]; 6. 31-Brad Smith[9]; 7. 22H-Dustin Hodges[7]; 8. 16-Austin Siebert[4]; 9. 10-Dustin Robinson[3]

O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 2-Johnny Fennewald[3]; 2. 42-James Flood[2]; 3. 11-Derek Brown[8]; 4. 94-Kenny Carroll[6]; 5. 27OTT-Toby Ott[4]; 6. 111-Tim Brown[1]; 7. 27-Bob Barnett[5]; 8. 35-Johnny Coats[12]; 9. 69-Brian Brown[9]; 10. 7M-Scott Johnson[11]; 11. 94C-JT Carroll[10]; 12. 19J-Jace Parmley[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 111-Tim Brown[3]; 2. 27OTT-Toby Ott[1]; 3. 27-Bob Barnett[4]; 4. 19J-Jace Parmley[5]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[2]; 6. (DNF) 35-Johnny Coats[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 42-James Flood[1]; 2. 2-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 3. 94-Kenny Carroll[3]; 4. 11-Derek Brown[5]; 5. 69-Brian Brown[6]; 6. 7M-Scott Johnson[2]

USRA Stock Cars

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 28D-Gary Donaldson[4]; 2. 14-Derrick Agee[2]; 3. 05-Brett Heeter[3]; 4. 31-Ed Griggs[6]; 5. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 6. 00-Nick Whalen[5]; 7. 40-William Dahl[9]; 8. 31B-Robert Fisk[8]; 9. (DNF) 25A-Cody Agee[7]

Heat 1: 1. 14-Derrick Agee[1]; 2. 05-Brett Heeter[2]; 3. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[8]; 4. 28D-Gary Donaldson[5]; 5. 00-Nick Whalen[7]; 6. 31-Ed Griggs[9]; 7. 25A-Cody Agee[3]; 8. 31B-Robert Fisk[6]; 9. 40-William Dahl[4]

Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A-Feature (20 Laps): 1. 65-Kris Jackson[3]; 2. 7J-Jake Richards[1]; 3. 18-JC Morton[7]; 4. 28-Andy Bryant[5]; 5. 99T-Eric Turner[4]; 6. 1F-Mitchell Franklin[6]; 7. 181-Luke Nieman[17]; 8. 83-JC Newell[19]; 9. 15S-Kody Bray[11]; 10. 10P-Dayton Pursley[8]; 11. 46-Brice Gotschall[18]; 12. 32-Robbe Ewing[9]; 13. 79-Allen Owen Jr[12]; 14. 929-Garrett Thompson[22]; 15. 14T-Quentin Taylor[13]; 16. 21F-Hannah Frazee[16]; 17. 96X-Jeff Hooper[20]; 18. 80-Wesley Long[2]; 19. 11-Tim West[23]; 20. (DNF) 19B-Kaleb Bray[10]; 21. (DNF) 28B-Wesley Briggs[21]; 22. (DNF) 25-Matthew Clark[24]; 23. (DNF) 16M-Brian Myers[14]; 24. (DNF) 4B-Brayton Skaggs[15]

B-Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 181-Luke Nieman[4]; 2. 46-Brice Gotschall[1]; 3. 83-JC Newell[18]; 4. 96X-Jeff Hooper[12]; 5. 28B-Wesley Briggs[2]; 6. 929-Garrett Thompson[8]; 7. 11-Tim West[6]; 8. 25-Matthew Clark[17]; 9. 16H-Jake Hereford[9]; 10. 707-Jamie Judy[14]; 11. (DNF) 96-Tommy Williams[11]; 12. (DNF) 33T-Terry Taylor[3]; 13. (DNF) 58M-Jamie Mauk[16]; 14. (DNF) 11S-Scotty Bough[15]; 15. (DNS) 02-Tracy Killian; 16. (DQ) 37-Jacob Long[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Andy Bryant[1]; 2. 65-Kris Jackson[7]; 3. 18-JC Morton[6]; 4. 16M-Brian Myers[4]; 5. 19B-Kaleb Bray[10]; 6. 33T-Terry Taylor[3]; 7. 37-Jacob Long[9]; 8. 16H-Jake Hereford[8]; 9. 11-Tim West[12]; 10. 96X-Jeff Hooper[11]; 11. (DNF) 11S-Scotty Bough[5]; 12. (DQ) 58M-Jamie Mauk[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1F-Mitchell Franklin[1]; 2. 99T-Eric Turner[7]; 3. 10P-Dayton Pursley[4]; 4. 79-Allen Owen Jr[5]; 5. 14T-Quentin Taylor[8]; 6. 4B-Brayton Skaggs[10]; 7. 46-Brice Gotschall[11]; 8. 929-Garrett Thompson[6]; 9. 02-Tracy Killian[2]; 10. (DNF) 25G-James Gish[9]; 11. (DQ) 25-Matthew Clark[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7J-Jake Richards[6]; 2. 80-Wesley Long[9]; 3. 15S-Kody Bray[2]; 4. 32-Robbe Ewing[7]; 5. 21F-Hannah Frazee[1]; 6. 181-Luke Nieman[5]; 7. 28B-Wesley Briggs[11]; 8. 2-Hagen Stevenson[3]; 9. 96-Tommy Williams[8]; 10. (DNF) 707-Jamie Judy[10]; 11. (DQ) 83-JC Newell[4]

Weekly Racing returns next Saturday: NMI/VMG Marketing Group and Wild Animal Safari team up to present Round 11 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series next Saturday. The Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA Late Models will be featured with a $1,000-to-win, 25-lap main event.

All Moms will get free admission, courtesy of NMI/VMG Marketing Group.

Pure Stocks will be the special guest class, joining the Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks and Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods.

For ticket questions or information for any event at Lucas Oil Speedway, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.

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