SPRING VALLEY, Minn. — With a flawless performance from the 16th starting spot, Rodney Sanders needed just 18 laps to secure the lead and eventually his 113th career Summit USMTS main event win on Thursday during the 20th annual LRS Waste Services USMTS Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge at Deer Creek Speedway.
The high-banked three-eighths-mile clay oval delivered once again as it has so many times with a night full of high-speed ups and downs, capped off by a thrilling finish.
The 33-year-old native of Happy, Texas — now residing about a half hour away in Kasson, Minnesota — worked the high side of ‘The Creek’ to perfection.
He got a little help from his unfortunate friends at the front of the field just past the halfway point, and then fought back the challenges from Jim Chisholm to net the $3,000 winner’s paycheck.
“It feels good. It seems like a long time since we won one,” said Sanders whose last win happened last August in the series debut at the I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri. “We’ve been close and I feel like we’ve been knocking on the door here for a while, but you know it feels good… coming from 16th it means a lot.”
Dan Ebert used the pole to take the lead when the green flag waved, but after a few position swaps and slide jobs with Terry Phillips on the opening lap it was Phillips taking charge the next time around.
Searching for his sixth career win here, Phillips remained out front and set the pace through lap 17. Meanwhile, Tyler Wolff was marching from his fourth-row spot on the starting grid and stole the position from Phillips as they completed the 18th lap.
Entering the first turn, Phillips moved to the low side and slid up to retake the lead, but the pair made contact and both drivers came crashing to a stop.
As the yellow flag waved, third-running Ebert was unable to avoid the melee and Al Hejna, who was fourth at the time, also clipped the accident scene but continued moving.
That gave the veteran Hejna the pleasure to leading the pack back to the green flag, but damage from the earlier crash left ‘The A-Train’ with a less competitive machine and he slipped back several spots in the first corner.
That opened the door even wider for Sanders. Running sixth when the hullabaloo began with 12 laps to go, he wasted no time when racing resumed and bolted into the lead using the high side of the perfectly-prepped racing surface.
However, Sanders had his hands full with Jim Chisholm—a two-time USMTS winner at Deer Creek and the track’s winningest driver over the last four years — with Chisholm clinging to the short way around the racetrack.
Despite his best efforts, Chisholm followed Sanders to the checkered flag as ‘The Rocket’ recorded his 113th career victory and 12th at the Deer Creek Speedway.
While Chisholm had to settle for the runner-up honors, Alex Williamson held his ground and finished third—right where he started. Points leader Jake O’Neil — a five-time winner at Deer Creek along with Phillips and Brandon Davis.
Looking to capture his first USMTS points crown, O’Neil sprinted from the 22nd starting spot to finish fourth.
The finish:
Rodney Sanders, Jim Chisholm, Alex Williamson, Jake O’Neil, Brandon Davis, Jake Timm, Tanner Mullens, Tom Berry Jr., Brandon Givens, Dustin Sorensen, Keith Foss, Josh Angst, Zack VanderBeek, Jason Hughes, J.T. Wasmund, Darron Fuqua, Terry Phillips, Dan Ebert, Dereck Ramirez, Jeremy Nelson, Al Hejna, Tim Ward, Cayden Carter, Gary Christian, Chase Holland, Will Krup, Tyler Wolff, Tyler Davis.