He only led the final lap on Wednesday but Jim Chisholm led all 40 on Thursday en route to Victory Fuel Victory Lane at the Fayette County Speedway in West Union, Iowa, for the 11th Annual War in West Union presented by No Limit Diesel.
Chisholm’s second straight win with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt was worth another $3,000 and propelled him into the points lead of the Collins Brothers Towing USMTS North Region presented by Featherlite.
The 3/8-mile clay oval at the Fayette County Fairgrounds produced some high-speed action throughout the night, with multiple drivers swapping positions inside the top five.
But nobody had an answer for the 21-year-old from Osage, Iowa, and his No. 24C Skyrocket Chassis. It was his ninth career USMTS win, tying him on the all-time wins list with Brandon Davis, Jake Timm and Brad Waits.
Some timely Gorsuch Performance Caution Flags waved which happened just as Chisholm was reaching lapped traffic.
“It made the night easier, but they gave us a really good race track,” Chisholm said. “I think that some lapped traffic racing would have been so much fun. I hate to see it—I really do—because I think Rodney (Sanders) and me could have had a really fun battle in lapped traffic.
Sanders had to settle for second at the end of the race while Gary Christian, who led all but the final lap one night earlier, wound up in third atop the Featherlite Trailers Top-3 podium.
“I just like lapped traffic racing. I think it’s the funnest part about the sport… it’s what I live for, so I like the yellows and I hate them.”
With his fourth-place finish, Jake Timm remains the USMTS national points leader with a 28-point cushion over Chisholm, who also led every lap of his heat race.
Cayden Carter rounded out the top five while Alex Williamson, Jason Hughes, Tanner Mullens, Zack VanderBeek and Dan Ebert completed the top ten.
It was a solid run for VanderBeek in his first start of 2024. His last win was at this event last year.
Meanwhile, Williamson’s run from the 13th starting spot earned him the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.
Thunder rolls Friday: The Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., hosts the 12th Annual Spring Shootout built by LT Construction on Friday for the second of four straight shows in the Collins Brothers Towing USMTS North Region presented by Featherlite.
Four divisions in the Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series are also on the card, including USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods, USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA Late Models. The pits open at 4 p.m., grandstands open at 5 and hot laps happen at 6:30 with racing to follow.
The Mississippi Thunder Speedway is a high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval located three miles north of Fountain City on SR 35 to 2895 WI-35, Fountain City, WI 54629. To learn more, check out mississippithunder.com.
The 21st Annual LR Waste Services Southern Minnesota Spring Challenge takes place Saturday at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on Saturday, May 25, and the Pritchard Family Auto Stores Mason City Motor Speedway in Mason City, Iowa, hosts the 9th Annual USMTS Mod Mania on Sunday, May 26.
Check out USMTS.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. Don’t forget to subscribe for free to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox plus Members Only benefits.
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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
Collins Brothers Towing USMTS North Region presented by Featherlite
11th Annual USMTS War in West Union presented by No Limit Diesel
Fayette County Speedway, West Union, Iowa,
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. Heat race lineups are determined via group qualifying. The top 12 in heat race passing points advance to the Summit Racing Equipment “A” Main.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (10 laps):
1. (1) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (5) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (6) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
5. (3) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
6. (8) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
7. (7) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
8. (2) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
9. (9) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (2) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
2. (3) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
3. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
4. (4) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (1) 23B Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa
6. (5) 43 Zach Brom, Winona, Minn.
7. (6) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
8. (7) 07X Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (4) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
2. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
3. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
6. (7) 02D Cole Denner, Ionia, Iowa
7. (6) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
8. (3) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN (10 laps, top 10 advance):
1. (2) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
2. (5) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (1) 23B Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa
4. (7) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
5. (8) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
6. (6) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
7. (4) 43 Zach Brom, Winona, Minn.
8. (11) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
9. (10) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
10. (3) 02D Cole Denner, Ionia, Iowa
11. (9) 07X Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
3. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
4. (10) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
5. (5) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (13) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
7. (12) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
8. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
9. (6) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
10. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
11. (15) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
12. (11) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
13. (14) 12H Mike Hansen, Dickinson, N.D.
14. (18) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
15. (19) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
16. (24) 02D Cole Denner, Ionia, Iowa
17. (9) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
18. (22) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
19. (25) 07X Troy Morris III, Bakersfield, Calif.
20. (20) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
21. (7) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
22. (17) 23B Brett Bumgardner, Hawkeye, Iowa
23. (23) 26S Steven Glenn, Hamilton, Mo.
24. (21) 43 Zach Brom, Winona, Minn.
25. (16) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
Lap Leader: Jim Chisholm 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Jim Chisholm 40.
Margin of Victory: 1.949 seconds.
Time of Race: 22 minutes, 12.582 seconds (3 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Morris.
Emergency Provisionals: none.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Williamson (started 13th, finished 6th).
Entries: 25.
Next Race: Friday, May 24, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Fountain City, Wis.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: TBD.
Mel Hambelton Racing USMTS Central Region Points: TBD.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: TBD.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: TBD.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: TBD.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: TBD.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Ramirez.
American Racer – Hughes.
Bear Graphix – Bumgardner.
Beyea Custom Headers – Timm.
Bryke Racing – Hobscheidt.
BSB Manufacturing – Hoff.
Champ Pans – Carter.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – Williamson.
Deatherage Opticians – Denner.
Edelbrock – Carter.
Fast Shafts – Christian.
Featherlite Trailers – Jim Chisholm, Sanders, Christian.
FK Rod Ends – Williamson.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – Jim Chisholm.
Hooker Harness – Brown.
Hyperco – Lavasseur.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Ramirez.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KSE Racing Products – Phillips.
MD3 – Jim Chisholm.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Morris.
MSD Performance – Timm.
Penske Racing Shocks – Hansen.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Brom.
QA1 – Jim Chisholm.
Quarter Master – VanderBeek.
RacerWebsite.com – Hobscheidt.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – Ebert.
Simpson Race Products – Jim Chisholm.
Summit Racing Equipment – Brown, Denner, Hansen, Hughes, VanderBeek.
Sweet Manufacturing – Denner.
Swift Springs – swiftmove, Denner, Jim Chisholm.
Sybesma Graphics – Christian.
Total Power – Phillips.
Victory Fuel – Jim Chisholm.
VP Racing – Jim Chisholm.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Bumgardner.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Hughes.