Sanders on top of the World again

SPRING VALLEY, Minn.-If there was any question as to whether or not Rodney Sanders is currently the best dirt modified driver in the world, Saturday's performance at the 5th Annual World Modified Dirt Track Championship presented by Red Tail Tackle should settle the issue.

Sanders, who already owns nearly every coveted trophy the sport awards its champions, just keeps adding more hardware to his collection and placed a second WMDTC globe on his shelf with a dominating performance in Saturday's two-part, 80-lap finale at the Deer Creek Speedway.

With second- and third-place finishes in Thursday and Friday's preliminary features, the 25-year-old phenom from Happy, Texas, earned the pole position and led the field to the green flag Saturday night.

A former track champion at the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval in Spring Valley, Minn., Brandon Davis of Medford, Minn., led the first lap of the first segment from the outside of the front row with Terry Phillips and Sanders giving chase.

Sanders quickly disposed of Phillips and then powered past Davis to lead the eighth of 30 laps. He never trailed again and cashed $5,000 for his efforts.

In between the two halves, crew members for all 30 main event starters were given the opportunity to make any changes they could within a ten-minute window.

When the horn sounded to resume racing, Sanders led the pack to the start of the 50-lap second-round battle.

Three cautions midway through the race kept his chasers within striking distance, including Jason Hughes who captured the 2013 World Championship as well as Friday night's preliminary feature.

Hughes stalked Sanders for the last 20 laps, but Sanders would not be denied the $15,000 top prize, bringing his total take to more than $20,000.

"I just concentrated on keeping the car up front and running straight laps and keeping my tire under me," an elated Sanders said in victory lane. "We just had a great car and I can't thank everyone that helps me out enough. This is awesome.

"I caught lapped traffic and was kind of looking to see where they were running but they were all over the place so I really didn't know where I needed to go, so I was just trying to keep my momentum up. I never saw anybody but I heard them a little bit. I was just trying to do what I was doing and not slip up."

While Sanders claimed his second WMDTC title in a row, it was also the second straight year that Hughes was the second driver to cross beneath the checkered flag here.

"Didn't quite have enough for the 20 car, but hats off to them; they did a hell of a job this weekend," said Hughes, who finished third behind Sanders and Davis in the first segment. "They've had a great year-couple of years-so they worked hard and earned it.

"We're not too happy with second," Hughes said, smiling. "It's the first loser. I seen the back of his car a couple times last weekend, and we need to get up there and get the win. We'll get him some time or another."

Phillips, a former Featherlite Fall Jamboree winner here, registered a third-place finish for the third time in five World Modified Dirt Track Championship main events.

"It just wasn't quite enough to get to the front," said the son of legendary racer Larry Phillips. "We had a third-place car. We've got a little homework to do, haven't raced my mod much, so I guess we have to get on the ball.

"We've got a pretty good piece here and we're pretty consistent being up front, so we just have to get that little edge that they got."

Phillips won Thursday's preliminary feature, and the Springfield, Mo., veteran has never finished lower than ninth in five WMDTC championship races.

Another past Jamboree champion, Joey Jensen of Harris, Minn., ran ninth in the first segment and found the high side to his liking in the second segment as he climbed from ninth at the start to finish in the fourth spot.

"It started to clean off on the top up there and you could get some good bite off the end," said Jensen, who blew an engine Thursday and has been using a powerplant borrowed from fellow racer Bob Gierke for the remainder of the weekend. "It's a testament to these guys here that put the car underneath me.

"I want to thank all the fans for coming out and supporting this deal. If it wasn't for you guys we wouldn't have this."

Rounding out the top five, New Sharon, Iowa's Zack VanderBeek closed out a consistently fast month of July on a high note.

"We had a good car all week, really, we just had some circumstances that didn't go our way and kind of set us back a little bit but the car was good," VanderBeek said. "It's just a pleasure to run with guys that race so clean. We'll keep plugging away here, but we've got a lot of work to do to catch that 20 car."

Sixth went to the winner of the inaugural World Modified Dirt Track Championship in 2011, Brad Waits, and he did not disappoint the fans this time either.

Opting to skip the first two nights of qualifying, Waits paid his entry fee on Saturday and started dead last in the second 15-lap Last Chance Race where he finished second to advance to the "C" Main.

From the 16th starting spot, he won the "C" Main and then finished seventh in the "B" Main to earn a spot in the "A" Main where he started 19th and climbed to eighth by the end of the first 30-lap segment.

After battling among the top five for most of the second 50-lap segment, the racer from nearby Rochester, Minn., settled for sixth at the finish.

Bobby Malchus of Red Oak, Texas, who came up just a little short in Thursday's preliminary feature behind Phillips, raced to a seventh-place finish ahead of Davis, who slipped to eighth at the finish.

Craig Thatcher of Knapp, Wis., was ninth and Brad Dierks of Clarence, Iowa, finished in the tenth position.

Sanders now has his sights set on another possible payday when the United States Modified Touring Series kicks off the 2015 Hunt for the USMTS Casey's Cup powered by S&S Fishing & Rental on Thursday, Aug. 6, at the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan.

More than 30 drivers are "in the hunt" for a $20,000 reward to win the points title, but Sanders, by virtue of his three USMTS regional points titles this season, stands to earn a record $100,000 if he can capture his third straight USMTS National Championship.

To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series, visit www.usmts.com online or call 515-832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/usmts, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/usmts or subscribe to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/usmtstv.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
5th Annual World Modified Dirt Track Championship presented by Red Tail Tackle - Night 3 of 3
Deer Creek Speedway, Spring Valley, Minn.
Saturday, July 25, 2015

Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown, laps completed and money won.

AGPRO LAST CHANCE RACE #1 (15 laps, top 6 advance to "C" Main):
1. (5) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn., 15.
2. (1) 7s Todd Stinehart, Waseca, Minn., 15.
3. (12) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 15.
4. (3) 5a Josh Beckham, Choudrant, La., 15.
5. (4) 97.5 Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., 15.
6. (13) 6T7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn., 15.
7. (9) 2g Troy Girolamo, Eleva, Wis., 15, $350.
8. (7) 28 Bill Clemens, Chatfield, Minn., 15, $350.
9. (2) 56h Brandon Hare, Elma, Iowa, 15, $350.
10. (8) 86d Dagan Heim, Rosemount, Minn., 15, $350.
11. (6) 59 Bob Sammann, Winona, Minn., 0, $350.
12. (10) 23k Darwin Karau, Kasson, Minn., 0, $350.
13. (11) 4 Craig Shaw, Dexter, Minn., 0, $350.
DNS - 07 Scott Heeren, Forreston, Ill., 0, $250.

ASGROW DEKALB LAST CHANCE RACE #2 (15 laps, top 6 advance to "C" Main):
1. (1) 2g Kenny Gaddis, Hallsville, Texas, 15.
2. (12) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., 15.
3. (3) 1g Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, 15.
4. (4) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, 15.
5. (5) 4 Bill Byholm, Glidden, Wis., 15.
6. (2) 29 Brock Bauman, Eureka, Ill., 15.
7. (6) 40 David Schuster, Waterville, Minn., 15, $350.
8. (11) 8 Steve Miller, Rosanky, Texas, 15, $350.
9. (10) 6m Ted Marrs, Bethel, Minn., 14, $350.
10. (9) 97.5 Greg Jensen, Albert Lea, Minn., 13, $350.
11. (7) 1a Dwaine Hanson, Lakefield, Minn., 12, $350.
12. (8) 4 Cody Bauman, Eureka, Ill., 11, $350.
DNS - 51 Tim Thomas, West Fargo, N.D., 0, $250.
DNS - 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 0, $250.

DAKOTA BUMPER SUPPLY "C" MAIN (16 laps, top 12 advance to "B" Main):
1. (16) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., 16.
2. (2) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., 16.
3. (5) 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C., 16.
4. (1) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., 16.
5. (3) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 16.
6. (7) 18a Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., 16.
7. (4) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., 16.
8. (6) 88d Matt Dotson, Hallsville, Mo., 16.
9. (17) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 16.
10. (9) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 16.
11. (8) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., 16.
12. (20) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, 16.
13. (22) 4 Bill Byholm, Glidden, Wis., 16, $500.
14. (15) 7s Todd Stinehart, Waseca, Minn., 16, $500.
15. (23) 6T7 Brian Albrecht, Winona, Minn., 14, $500.
16. (19) 5a Josh Beckham, Choudrant, La., 11, $500.
17. (12) 26g Bob Gierke, Westport, Minn., 7, $500.
18. (18) 1g Pat Graham, Ames, Iowa, 7, $500.
19. (21) 97.5 Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., 7.
20. (24) 29 Brock Bauman, Eureka, Ill., 7, $500.
21. (11) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 7, $500.
22. (10) 65 Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn., 4, $500.
23. (14) 2g Kenny Gaddis, Hallsville, Texas, 4, $500.
24. (13) 0 Les Duellman, Winona, Minn., 2, $500.

REAL RACING WHEELS "B" MAIN (25 laps, top 14 advance to "A" Main):
1. (1) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 25.
2. (3) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., 25.
3. (7) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 25.
4. (4) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 25.
5. (6) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa, 25.
6. (2) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 25.
7. (13) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., 25.
8. (8) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 25.
9. (10) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 25.
10. (12) 12x Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., 25.
11. (15) 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C., 25.
12. (14) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., 25.
13. (5) 2 Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 25.
14. (19) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., 25.
15. (17) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 25.
16. (18) 18a Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., 25.
17. (22) 90 Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 25, $700.
18. (20) 88d Matt Dotson, Hallsville, Mo., 25, $700.
19. (21) 21x Travis Saurer, Elizabeth, Minn., 25, $700.
20. (16) 07 Cory Crapser, Chippewa Falls, Wis., 24, $700.
21. (23) 4a Joel Alberts, Mantorville, Minn., 24, $700.
22. (9) 89c Steve Whiteaker Jr., Corpus Christi, Texas, 17, $700.
23. (11) 89 Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis., 5, $700.
24. (24) 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo, Iowa, 2, $700.

RED TAIL TACKLE "A" MAIN, SEGMENT #1 (30 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 30, $5000.
2. (3) 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn., 30, $2500.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 30, $1650.
4. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 30, $1320.
5. (5) 29d Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa, 30, $1050.
6. (15) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 30, $890.
7. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 30, $725.
8. (19) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., 30, $775.
9. (6) V2 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., 30, $610.
10. (8) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn., 30, $595.
11. (9) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., 30, $585.
12. (14) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., 30, $575.
13. (13) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 30, $570.
14. (24) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., 30, $560.
15. (21) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 30, $555.
16. (23) 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C., 30, $545.
17. (12) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., 30, $535.
18. (22) 12x Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., 30, $525.
19. (10) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 30, $520.
20. (20) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 30, $515.
21. (18) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 30, $510.
22. (11) 23k Ben Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., 29, $505.
23. (28) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 29, $500.
24. (16) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 29, $500.
25. (26) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., 29, $500.
26. (27) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 29, $500.
27. (17) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa, 29, $500.
28. (30) 97.5 Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., 29, $500.
29. (25) 2 Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 29, $500.
30. (29) 18a Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., 29, $500.

Lap Leaders: Davis 1-7, Sanders 8-30.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 23, Davis 7.
Margin of Victory: 2.736 seconds.
Provisional Starters: Arneson (MVT Gulf Coast Border Region attendance), Shryock (auction), Atkinson (auction), Horgdal (auction).
NFG Fleet Graphics Hard Charger: Waits (started 19th, finished 8th).

Note: Finishing order of segment #1 determined the starting line-up for segment #2.

RED TAIL TACKLE "A" MAIN, SEGMENT #2 (50 laps):
1. (1) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 50, $15,180.
2. (3) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 50, $5500.
3. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 50, $3350.
4. (9) V2 Joey Jensen, Harris, Minn., 50, $2680.
5. (6) 33z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 50, $2150.
6. (8) 24 Brad Waits, Rochester, Minn., 50, $1810.
7. (13) 4m Bobby Malchus, Red Oak, Texas, 50, $1475.
8. (2) 50iii Brandon Davis, Medford, Minn., 50, $1275.
9. (11) 91 Craig Thatcher, Knapp, Wis., 50, $1240.
10. (5) 29d Brad Dierks, Clarence, Iowa, 50, $1205.
11. (18) 12x Tommy Weder Jr., Woodward, Okla., 50, $1190.
12. (12) IOU1 Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, Minn., 50, $1175.
13. (21) 2s Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 50, $1405.
14. (23) 3 Kelly Shryock, Fertile, Iowa, 50, $1140.
15. (10) 95 Keith Foss, Winona, Minn., 50, $1120.
16. (15) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 50, $1180.
17. (14) 71 Jason Cummins, New Richland, Minn., 50, $1165.
18. (20) 4r Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 50, $1150.
19. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 50, $1130.
20. (25) 110 Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis., 50, $1110.
21. (24) 1st Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, N.M., 50, $1105.
22. (27) 99 Jesse Sobbing, Malvern, Iowa, 50, $1100.
23. (19) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 50, $1095.
24. (28) 97.5 Joe Horgdal, Kasson, Minn., 50, $1085.
25. (30) 18a Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn., 49, $1075.
26. (29) 2 Casey Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 30, $1075.
27. (17) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn., 29, $1075.
28. (26) 10 Austin Arneson, Fargo, N.D., 19, $1075.
29. (16) 45 Nick Stroupe, Iron Station, N.C., 17, $1075.
30. (22) 23k Ben Kates, Tonganoxie, Kan., 15, $1075.

Lap Leader: Sanders 1-50.
Total Laps Led: Sanders 50.
Margin of Victory: 0.785 second.
NFG Fleet Graphics Hard Charger: S. Scott (started 21st, finished 13th).
Entries: 63.
Next Race: Thursday, Aug. 6, 81 Speedway, Park City, Kan.

Contingency Awards:
AERO Race Wheels - Kates.
Allstar Performance - Davis.
American Racer - not awarded.
Beyea Custom Headers - VanderBeek.
BSB Manufacturing - J. Scott.
Chix Gear Racewear - Phillips.
Deatherage Opticians - Stroupe.
Edelbrock - not awarded.
Eibach Springs - Larson.
Fast Shafts - not awarded.
FK Rod Ends - Foss.
Forty9Designs.com - Shryock, Schott.
Fuel Safe - Waits.
GRT Race Cars - Angst.
Hooker Harness - S. Scott.
KEVKO Oil Pans & Components - Thatcher.
Keyser Manufacturing - Dierks.
KSE Racing Products - Waits.
Marsh Racing Wheels - Stroupe.
Midwest Sheet Metal - S. Scott.
MSD Ignition - Sanders.
NFG Fleet Graphics - Waits, S. Scott.
PBM Performance Products - Sanders.
QA1 - Gaddis.
R2C Performance Products - Hughes.
Real Racing Wheels - all non-qualifiers.
Sybesma Graphics - not awarded.
Tilton Engineering - J. Jensen.
VP Racing Fuels - Sanders.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products - Weder.
Wilwood Disc Brakes - Malchus.

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USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Casey's General Stores, Chix Gear Racewear, COMP Cams, Day Motor Sports, Deatherage Opticians, Farm Boy BBQ Sauce, Fast Shafts, Intercomp, KEVKO Oil Pans & Components, Malvern Trust & Savings Bank, MSD, Nitroquest Media Group, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, VP Racing Fuels.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Arizona Sport Shirts, ASi Racewear, BRODIX Cylinder Heads, Double H Bands, Duvall Electric, ElbowsUp.com, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Olympic Fire Protection, Rivers Edge Scrap Management, Schwab's Tinker Shop, UMotors Motorsports & Marine, Velocita-USA.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AERO Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bell Racing Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, BSB Manufacturing, CPD Racing Tools, Crane Cams, Driven Racing Oil, Edelbrock, Eibach Springs, FK Rod Ends, Forty9 Designs, Fuel Safe, Genesis Racing Shocks, GRT Race Cars, Holley Performance, Hooker Custom Harness, JRi Shocks, Keyser Manufacturing, KSE Racing Products, Marsh Racing Wheels, Midwest Sheet Metal, PBM Performance Products, QA1 Precision Products, Quarter Master, R2C Performance, Real Racing Wheels, Simpson Performance Products, Sybesma Graphics, Tilton Engineering, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.