SPRING VALLEY, Minn. — With $10,000 on the line, Brandon Davis picked a fine time to shine as he led all 50 laps from the outside of the front row to notch his ninth career USMTS victory and first in nearly four years, and only his second in nine seasons.
Saturday night’s 20th Annual LRS Waste Services USMTS Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge trophy was the sixth one he has stolen from the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.
Driving his home-built Tri-Built Race Cars chassis, the 31-year-old from nearby Haysville, Minn., is the track’s all-time winningest driver, and Davis added to that career milestone by holding off Jim Chisholm—the winningest driver at ‘The Creek’ over the last four years.
“It was fun but it’s a lot easier when you start up front with these guys,” Davis said in Tralo Victory Lane. “Jim’s kind of the class of the of the field around here so it was nice to be able to hold him off for once. So far he’s gotten the better end of the stick to me most times but I got a little bit on them tonight so that’s nice.”
Jake Timm earned the Sybesma Pole Award but Davis snagged the advantage at the waving of the green flag—a sight that many Deer Creek Speedway fans have witnessed over the past decade or so.
Timm stayed close for much of the race before Chisholm moved in to challenge Davis in the late stages, but this time Davis put his experience on the high-banked three-eighth-mile clay oval to take home the winner’s share of the prize money.
While six of Davis’s nine USMTS wins have come at Deer Creek, Chisholm came one spot shy of registering his fourth career USMTS win and third one at The Creek after a valiant effort from the 15th starting spot to claim the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.
Timm held on for third but was disqualified during post-race technical inspections, moving Jason Hughes—the driver with the most USMTS wins (14) at Deer Creek to third, holding off Terry Phillips at the checkered flag.
Aaron Benson came from 19th on the starting grid to secure a fifth-place paycheck.
While it took a heavy right foot for Davis to accomplish his feat, all drivers in both the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt and USRA B-Mods ran their main events with a heavy heart after B-Mod racer Caleb Korpi passed away in the pit area before the completion of the last two races.
“It was definitely different (the feeling in victory lane),” added Davis. “Condolences to the family. We’re glad we could honor their wishes and keep on going.”
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
1. (2) 50III Brandon Davis, Hayfield, Minn., 2. (15) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 4. (11) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 5. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 6. (18) 24 Aaron Benson, Clear Lake, Iowa, 7. (5) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa, 8. (12) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 9. (20) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 10. (16) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 11. (13) 19 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 12. (28) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas, 13. (26) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 14. (19) 28 Parker Hale, Grand Meadow, Minn., 15. (17) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa, 16. (24) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 17. (23) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn., 18. (21) 99 Josh Angst, Winona, Minn., 19. (25) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla., 20. (4) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 21. (8) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn., 22. (27) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill., 23. (22) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis., 24. (10) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif., 25. (14) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 26. (6) 90 Ryan Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 27. (7) 90W Steve Wetzstein, West Concord, Minn., 28. (9) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., DQ – (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., DNS – 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.