PARK CITY, Kan. — The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt finally shook off the weather woes as the series returned to action in the Mel Hambelton Racing USMTS Central Region at the 81 Speedway for the 2nd Annual Ed Gressel Memorial.
Tyler Wolff laid down the QA1 fastest lap during heat race qualifying, won Fast shafts Heat No. 1, and then led all but two laps in scoring his second straight opening night win at the Gressel Memorial.
Just past the halfway mark, Smith rolled underneath the Lobo Racing No. 4W and took the lead, but two laps later an issue with a lapped car upset Smith’s car and Wolff pounced to regain the top spot.
With 25 laps in the books, the Gorsuch Performance Caution Flag waved for the first time due to a large piece of debris at the top of the turn. That bunched the field for the restart and still 10 laps remaining.
With Wolff back in charge, the yellow returned four laps later when the top two in USMTS national points — Jake Timm and Jim Chisholm — banged wheels entering the third turn which sent Chisholm spinning and backing into the outside retaining wall.
Before the dust settled, the melee atop the corner included Jacob Hobscheidt, gunner Martin, Tanner Mullens, Rodney Sanders Kyle Brown, Gary Christian and J.T. Wasmund.
Tyler Davis and Timm both scooted by Smith on the restart with Davis securing the second spot and Timm battling Smith for third, but a puff of smoke underneath Smith’s machine caused the race’s third caution came out.
Wolff cruised to the win — his second straight during opening night of the Gressel Memorial.
“It’s his home track,” Wolff said about Davis. “He’s no joke so I was just trying to do what I could, but I felt like my tires had went away. I was just hoping for a longer run there when that yellow come out. I just thought ‘We’ll see where we’re at and hope we hang on’ but got the victory and got to smash them Coors Lights.
“We got the W and that’s what matters.”
An exciting duel for several non-winning positions saw Davis come home second with Timm, Dan Ebert and Jake O’Neil taking the next four spots.
“I didn’t want to see that yellow,” Davis recalled. “I felt like we were kind of closing in on him there but had to be a little careful. I altered my line several times and I felt like I finally got a good rhythm and then we got shoved back to fifth or sixth and I’m like ‘Not tonight’ so got up on the wheel a bit and got up to second.”
Feature Finish (35 Laps)
1. (1) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 2. (8) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., 3. (6) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn., 4. (15) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn., 5. (12) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz., 6. (11) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 7. (5) 1 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb., 8. (10) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla., 9. (21) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla., 10. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 11. (13) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 12. (2) 75M Gunner Martin, Sugar Creek, Mo., 13. (19) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 14. (17) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 15. (23) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn., 16. (24) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla., 17. (7) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis., 18. (18) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn., 19. (16) 51W J.T. Wasmund, Pine Island, Minn., 20. (3) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M., 21. (9) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif., 22. (22) 88 Nathan Smith, Anthony, N.M., 23. (4) 19R Chris Kratzer, Haysville, Kan., 24. (25) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.