9/23/2019
Sanders best of the best in Friday Featherlite Fall Jamboree thriller
SPRING VALLEY, Minn. --Magical things just seem to happen between the walls of the Deer Creek Speedway when the United States Modified Touring Series is in town, and the racing gods bestowed yet another badass blessing on the race fans Friday during the second night of the 21st Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree.
When considering the amount of sheer excitement throughout the evening's 40-lap main event, perhaps the best move of the night took place when Jake Timm, Blake Arndt and Kyle Brown climbed from their destroyed race cars after a frightening crash on the opening lap.
Replays from the live RacinDirt.tv broadcast showed Jason Hughes and Arndt make contact near the end of the back-stretch while battling in the middle of the pack. Arndt shot up the track into a helpless Timm who then smacked the concrete wall and went into a series of end-over-end flips, nearly exiting the track.
Brown, who used a provisional in the USMTS Hunt for the Casey's Cup to get the 30th starting spot, was also collected in the melee. Ultimately, after a few tense moments, all three racers emerged from the twisted metal without serious injury.
On the restart, cars became bunched up coming to the flagstand which forced one car off the track and brought about the race's second slow-down before a single lap could be completed.
Finally under green, Dustin Sorensen took control from the pole position and proceeded to set a blistering pace around the extreme high side of the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval with Austin Siebert and Jake O'Neil challenging the second-generation speedster.
USMTS national points leader Rodney Sanders joined the fray and O'Neil used the occasion to grab second place from Siebert as they raced three-wide behind Sorensen. With Sorensen, O'Neil and Sanders dragging each other around the top of the track, the caution flew on lap 13 just as the leaders had caught the back of the field.
When the green flag returned, Sanders took advantage and slipped by O'Neil for second while 14th-starting Jacob Bleess took fourth away from Hunter Marriott.
A slight bobble in turn two was all that Sanders needed to make a run on Sorensen, and the two-time USMTS national champ slid past the 18-year old for the lead on lap 24.
The final 16 laps were nothing short of incredible.
While Sanders continued to hold serve, O'Neil followed in his tire tracks with Sorensen right behind and Marriott trailing in fourth. Meanwhile, Thursday night winner Dereck Ramirez (from 24th) and Zack VanderBeek (from 22nd) had cracked the top ten and battling to get into the top five.
Lapped cars gain became a factor with ten laps remaining. Sanders and O'Neil broke away slightly and waged a hearty battle through traffic when suddenly the yellow lights came on and caution flew over the speedway with just two laps to go.
On the restart, O'Neil was a bit slow to fire but caught Sanders by the time they reached back-stretch while Sorensen tip-toed his way around the low side of the racing surface and Ramirez tried to squeeze in through the middle.
Entering the final corner coming to the checkered flag, O'Neil shot to the low side and began a huge slide up the track but was restrained enough to give Sanders a car's width to squirt around the top and speed past to take the win.
As O'Neil tucked in behind Sanders, Sorensen snuck underneath for second while Ramirez passed 20 of his fellow competitors en route to a fourth-place finish and VanderBeek drive by 17 cars to register his second top-five in as many nights.
Not to be outdone, track champion Brandon Davis passed 20 cars too, finishing seventh behind Marriott with Bleess, Hughes and 21st-starting Lucas Schott rounding out the top ten.
"Dustin had a good car and he had a fast pace early, and I was just trying to save my stuff there," Sanders told USMTS announcer Chris Stepan in victory lane. "I kind of moved up there after I got by him and I felt like I was just kind of spinning my wheels a little bit. I saw Jake back underneath me and moved back down.
With his ninth career USMTS victory at 'The Creek' and 96th overall in USMTS competition, Sanders pocketed $5,000 and took another step closer to securing his third national title.
"It was a fun race. I've got to thank Jake and Dustin and all those guys for running hard and clean. Jake threw a 'Hail Mary' at the end but he left me room. It's fun when you can race hard with people like that but not tear up anything."
Eartlier in the program, the Stoen Racing Engines "Dash 4 Cash" featured the drivers with the fastest one-lap time in each heat race competing for $1,000 to win. Hughes held off O'Neil for the win, followed by Marriott, Sanders, Ethan Dotson and Travis Saurer.
In addition to $2,000 in cold, hard cash for the eight-lap sprint, the six drivers also earned contingency awards and product from Callies Performance Products, Construction Partnership, Inc., Jobbers Parts Warehouse, Kevko Racing Oil Pans & Components, National Fleet Graphics and Spyder High Performance Filters.
Jason Hughes won the Stoen "Dash 4 Cash" race.
The 21st Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree continues Saturday, and race fans will witness a complete program with the winner of Saturday's championship pocketing $10,000. Thirty cars will start the main event which will go three-wide for the green flag start. The 30-car Non-Qualifiers Race will pay $2,000 to win.
The pit gate opens at 3 p.m., grandstands open at 4, opening ceremonies begin at 5:45 and racing gets underway at 6 p.m. For fans unable to attend in person, all three nights of the 21st Annual Featherlite Fall Jamboree will be broadcast live at RacinDirt.TV.
The Deer Creek Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval which sits on 60 acres with one of America's most popular state-of-the-art racing complexes and an adjoining campground. The track is located 11.3 miles south of I-90 at exit 209 on US 63 (0.7 mile north of SR 16). The physical address for mapping is 25262 US Hwy 63, Spring Valley, MN 55975. For more information, call (507) 754-6107 or check out DeerCreekSpeedway.com online. Follow 'The Creek' on social media at facebook.com/DeerCreekSpeedway and twitter.com/DeerCreekSpeed.
To learn more about the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS), visit USMTS.com online or call (515) 832-7944. You can also like us on Facebook at facebook.com/USMTS, follow on Twitter at twitter.com/USMTS, check us out on Instagram at instagram.com/USMTS and subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/USMTSTV. Keep up to speed by joining our email list at USMTS.com/Subscribe.
Article Credit: Jeff Nunn