WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — Two former USRA national champions, a past Iron Man Challenge titlist and a previous event winner were among the four drivers to visit victory lane Thursday night as Hamilton County Speedway kicked off the sixth annual Summit USRA Nationals presented by MyRacePass.
Seven years after winning the USRA Modified national championship, Brandon Davis took another step toward securing his second crown with an impressive $1,000 Thursday night triumph.
Davis led all 20 laps while 2014 Summit USRA Nationals winner Rodney Sanders edged Lucas Schott for the second spot.
Dustin Sorensen was fourth at the checkered flag and track champion J.D. Auringer was fifth.
Eric Stanton won the Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stock feature race Thursday to set himself up at a run for a second Summit USRA Nationals crown. The racer from Carlisle captured the win at the inaugural event in 2014.
The two-time defending track champion emerged on top after a furious 16-lap battle with runner-up Dustin Gulbrandson and Tyson Overton.
Despite falling back to third on the start, Stanton picked his way around Overton on lap four and then snuck by Gulbrandson three laps later but not before Overton overtook both of them to complete the seventh lap.
It only took Stanton two more laps to get back around Overton before pacing the last half of the race. While Stanton picked up the win, Gulbrandson narrowly edged out Overton for runner-up honors while Brandon Nielsen and Brady Link competed the top five.
In a repeat of a wheel-to-wheel battle here during the “Rumble By The River” in June, Kris Jackson bested a tough field of Out-Pace USRA B-Mods to capture the opening night win.
The defending Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series national champion tussled with track champ Ty Griffith after he led the first 13 laps, but once in front there was no catching Jackson-the current national points leader.
It was the 25th feature win of the year for Jackson, who holds a slim lead over 2017 national champion Ryan Gillmore.
Gillmore used a last-lap pass to snag the runner-up paycheck from Arnold Motor Supply Iron Man Challenge points leader Jared Boumeester on the final lap.
Griffith held on for fourth with two-time defending Iron Man champ Dan Hovden taking the fifth spot.
In American Racer USRA Stock Car action, 2016 Iron Man points champion Kyle Falck led wire to wire in claiming the victory over Dillon Anderson.
Lynn Panos came from eighth to claim the third spot while graphics great Stefan Sybesma clawed his way from 14th on the grid to fourth at the finish line.
Polesitter Jesse Brown rounded out the top five.