OGILVIE, Minn. – Making it two straight first-time United States Modified Touring Series winners in as many nights, Dan Ebert bested Rodney Sanders in a caution-free 40-lap nail-biter Saturday at Ogilvie Raceway.
As has come to be expected at the Wagamon family’s three-eighths-mile high-banked dirt oval in Ogilvie, Minn., the main event at this year’s eighth annual Modified Madness presented by RacingJunk.com was another mind-blowing barn-burner that saw a home state racer fend off the Best of the Best in the dirt modified world.
Ebert, 31, was the fastest during hot laps early in the program and finished the night off the same way with a $3,000 victory in his home state. It was the first series win for the Lake Shore resident.
From the outside of the front row, Ebert immediately established himself as the pace-setter by quickly moving to the extreme high side of the track and laying claim to the thin strip of dark clay against the guardrail.
For the most part, Ebert remained faithful to the high line but heavy lapped traffic from lap 10 until the end. Only back-markers and a late-race slide-job on Sanders brought him off his preferred line.
Dereck Ramirez gave chase for the first half of the contest before relinquishing the position to Sanders on lap 22.
Sanders ran down Ebert and used two lapped cars to slip underneath and grab the lead on lap 34. The two made hard contact two laps later when Ebert ran out of real estate between the right side of Sanders’ car and the front-stretch wall.
The next time around, Ebert went to the inside of Sanders, slid up in front of him in turn 2 where they made contact, and then sped away to claim the checkered flag.
Sanders, who leads the Casey’s Hunt for the USMTS National Championship, held on for second ahead of Ramirez with Terry Phillips fourth and FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award winner Shane Sabraski finishing fifth after rolling off 40 laps earlier from the 15th slot.
The finish:
Dan Ebert, Rodney Sanders, Dereck Ramirez, Terry Phillips, Shane Sabraski, Hunter Marriott, Landon Atkinson, Dave Cain, Zack VanderBeek, Cory Crapser, Clayton Wagamon, Jake Timm, Jeremy Nelson, Paul Niznik, Mike Striegel, J.T. Johnson, Adam Kates, Travis Saurer, Taton Hansen, Tyler Kaeter, Lance Mari, Jody Bellefeuille, Ryan Gustin, Cory Jones, Matt Gilbertson.