PARK CITY, Kan. — Tanner Mullens got the better of polesitter Will Krup on the opening lap as the Summit USMTS National Championship kicked off the opening night main event of the inaugural Ed Gressel Memorial at the 81 Speedway.
A caution on the fourth lap slowed the pace early on, but from there it was green flag racing with Mullens distancing himself from Krup, who gave way to Jeremy Nelson for the second spot on lap 10.
A flat tire for Nelson with four laps to go gave Mullens plenty of padding to cruise to his first USMTS win at his home track, but a flat tire on the VanderBuilt Race Car of Cayden Carter — last year’s Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year — with two laps to go set a new tone for the final two-lap sprint to the end.
Mullens, 30, who was the top USMTS rookie in 2020, had no problems with the restart as he sailed to a margin of victory of more than two seconds over Jake Timm, who snagged the runner-up spot from Krup at the finish line after Krup also blew a tire just before he crossed beneath the checkered flags.
The win was worth $3,000 to Mullens — a three-time Hutchinson Nationals winner and 2017 NCRA champion. It was his first at 81 Speedway but the eighth of his career.
It was the 26th USMTS feature hosted by the 81 Speedway with Mullens becoming the 15th different winner.
After turning down $500 earlier after finishing second in the Kansasland Dash 4 Cash, it appeared Mullens made the right decision.
“The luck we’ve been having I didn’t want to put ourselves any further behind,” Mullens said in victory lane. “Obviously got to keep your right rear under you and when I got to lapped traffic I just kind of left a gap there in case somebody got beside me, but I just didn’t want to push it and get tangled up in there.”
After going two-for-two last weekend in the Sooner State with a win at the Red Dirt Raceway during the American Racer USRA Modified Series event, and then a dominant triumph in the USRA Modified season opener at the Longdale Speedway on Saturday, Mullens is in a Gressel-like groove for the next two nights.
“He kind of gave me my first taste to running USMTS and I’ll forever be grateful for that,” Mullens said of Ed Gressel who passed away last May and was a fixture at the 81 Speedway. “He was a really good guy and we’re all going to miss him.”
Behind Mullens, Timm and Krup it was Tom Berry Jr. and Zack VanderBeek completing the first five.
The finish:
Tanner Mullens, Jake Timm, Will Krup, Tom Berry Jr., Zack VanderBeek, Jake O’Neil, Rodney Sanders, Terry Phillips, Jim Chisholm, Jason Hughes, Tyler Wolff, Dereck Ramirez, Jacob Bleess, Darron Fuqua, Gary Christian, Dylan Thornton, Dan Ebert, Paden Phillips, Chase Holland, Brandon Givens, Carlos Ahumada Jr., Cayden Carter, Joe Duvall, Jeremy Nelson, Tyler Davis, Chris Kratzer, Kale Westover, Jon Herring Jr., Kyle Brown.