Minnesota's Jake Timm recovered from a less than memorable night on Saturday to climb to the top of the ladder and win Sunday afternoon's Modified feature race at the Rocket Raceway Park near Petty Texas as the USMTS series wrapped up the Summit Spring Nationals.
Timm debuted a brand new car for Saturday night's show but when he blew a motor in time trials the rest of the night was spent in scramble mode and while he did eventually make the feature race and finish just outside the top ten, the team never really got settled in.
On Sunday he was quick qualifier for the seventy six car field at 16.133 seconds and then redrew the pole position for the main event and while it was a battle for the lead, he would eventually prevail to take home the five thousand dollar top prize.
Conditions were much different for Sunday's matinee with a bright sun and strong winds baking out the black dirt track which required much watering as the afternoon stretched into the Texan evening. Before the feature races the entire track was "tickled" with more water applied and it held up well the rest of the night. It was also much smoother than it had been for the Saturday night show as much work was done on the track after the completion of the Saturday night racing action.
Seventy six Modifieds would return for the Sunday show while the car counts in the four support classes drew fewer cars and led to a field of one hundred and forty three signing in to race in total. Still, a twenty five event program which also included five feature races was plenty of racing. No new Modifieds showed for the Sunday show but fourteen first timers signed in for the support classes. However, the only B Features needed on this day were for the Modifieds as the other classes didn't exceed the number required for a main event.
An even bigger field of Modifieds would qualify for the main event on Sunday as twenty nine of them would take the green flag for the forty lap distance. Timm used the pole to take the early lead with Tyler Wolff and Dereck Ramirez his early stiffest challengers. Wolff put heavy heat on Timm in the early going as they raced hard between the three early race yellows.
It was very surprising as the three yellows were triggered by spins by the likes of Rodney Sanders, Cade Dillard and Jake O'Neil, three drivers that would not be expected to have such troubles. Sanders, I believe, was helped by another driver that he appeared quite upset at.
Meanwhile, up front it was still Timm in the lead but Wolff was putting the heavy pressure on him. Wolff tried a slider in turn one that didn't hold as Timm crossed him over but then in turn four Timm jumped the cushion with both Wolff and Ramirez getting by him for the top two positions.
Wolff them pulled away slightly as as Timm set about getting second back and he was able to get by Ramirez to return to that spot. As the laps ran off unabated, Timm started to catch back up and began to pressure Wolff for the lead, trying several times coming off turn one but not quite able to complete the pass.
Finally he had a big run at Wolff but he also slipped up the track in turn one with the leaders making contact. Wolff's car jumped up the track and Timm slipped past to regain the lead. Wolff lost second to Ramirez at the same time but was able to fight back into that spot.
Lapped traffic came into play with Timm able to establish a blocker between himself and Wolff. Finally Wolff was able to clear into second and had a run at Timm near the end but just couldn't catch the leader as Timm drove on for the win. Ramirez would finish second while a great battle behind him would find Will Krup holding off Dan Ebert for fourth. Unlike the Saturday show, only the three early yellows would slow the event and only three cars would fail to go the distance with much different track conditions prevailing.
It was a rough night for some of the drivers that did well on Saturday. Gary Christian Jr got wrecked during group qualifying when another car crashed into him. He had to roll out a back up car and was not able to qualify for the main. Saturday night's winner Tom Berry Jr blew a motor during his heat race and was only able to start the feature as a provisional and he finished well back in the field. Terry Phillips suffered a major problem with his car while leading a B Feature and he borrowed the ride of Justin McCoy to race the main, also finishing far back in the field but at least gaining some points.
The same four support classes would again race on Sunday although the numbers in all four would be less. They were all again smooth races though, with few yellows as the pattern set on Saturday would continue. Justin Whitehead would sit on the pole for the Factory Stock twenty three car main but it would be outside starting Rodney White that would take the early lead. However, Whitehead would follow closely and would eventually make an outside pass for the lead.
A late yellow would set up a four lap race to the checkers but Whitehead would not be caught as he would drive home for the win over Sonny Schoffen and Jeff Hammitt.
A reversal in fates would prevail in the Limited Modified class where last night's runner up Talan Willis would beat Tyler Johnson to the finish and take the win. Three different leaders would be the highlight in this race with Tyler Potter and then Travis Johnson holding the top spot before Willis would grab the lead. Tyler Johnson would move into second and chase Willis but he would fail on this night as Willis would hold a big lead to the checkers. Colby Mewhorn would finish third.
Rodney Schweizer would make amends for Saturday night's gaffe when he spun while leading the Stock Car feature early as he would hold the top spot from start to finish on Sunday to take the win back to Kansas City. At the end, Brandon Rowland would close up on him but Rodney would hold on while Saturday night winner Cole Deming would settle for third.
Trent Gibby would be the only double winner of the weekend as he would win another Eco Mod feature on Sunday. On this day it took him three laps to find the top spot as he had to pass Kylar Smith to take the lead but once in front he pulled away from the field to win easily. Colton Keel would finish second with Drew Pattat third.
The program would last right at five hours again as the track prep needed for the feature events would take some time. The final checkered waved at 9 pm with a steady stream of big rigs then heading for the gate for the long ride home before the USMTS next gathers for the King of America in Humboldt Kansas.
Thanks to all the USMTS officials for their help this weekend and to all the track workers and folks that helped work the pits and parking lots of the facility, without who's efforts this event would never have seen the light of day. They put in some long hours this weekend to ensure that the races would take place here at Rocket Raceway Park, a track definitely on the upswing for sure.
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