When Jake O’Neil is on top of his game, he as hard to beat as anybody in dirt modified racing. The 32-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native was on top of his game Friday night and emerged in Victory Fuel Victory Lane with his 32nd career USMTS win.
The second night of the 4th Annual USMTS vs Wissota Mod Wars at the Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minnesota, saw ‘The O-Show’ grab the lead on lap 12 and then dominate the remaining 29 laps for his second triumph at ‘The Big O.’
“It was getting pretty treacherous over there,” O’Neil said about turns three and four. “We were either really in tight or loose and then you push towards the wall on the exit, so we’re always on our toes.”
O’Neil had to be on his toes and up on the wheel as another Jake (Timm) was closing in on the leader in the late stages of the race, but O’Neil took the checkered flag 1.66 seconds ahead of the current points leader in the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.
“Do you feel like you’re back,” RacinDirt’s Trenton Berry asked during the post-race interview.
“I never left,” O’Neil replied.
Behind the fifth- and seventh-starting Jakes, Jeremy Nelson recorded a third-place finish after leading the first 11 laps of the race.
Jim Chisholm came from tenth and wound up fourth, keeping Timm in his sights in the national points race and still atop the standings in the Collins Brothers Towing USMTS North Region.
Zack VanderBeek patiently worked his way forward to finish fifth while polesitter Dave Cain, Jody Bellefeuille, Jason Hughes, Landon Atkinson and Tanner Mullens completed the top ten.
Terry Phillips finished 11th after starting 22nd to earn the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award.
Defending USMTS national champ Rodney Sanders, who has never won on the high-banked 3/8-mile Ogilvie oval, struggled to a 12th-place finish but remains third in both the national and north region standings.
For complete standings and statistics, visit usmts.com/points.
Action resumes Saturday for the finale of Mod Wars with an $11,000 paycheck going to the first to cross the finish line in the main event.
Saturday’s show starts at 6:30 p.m. Wissota Midwest Mods and Wissota Mod Fours return to join the program again. Tickets will be available on race day with plenty of great general admission seating available.
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
4th Annual USMTS vs Wissota Mod Wars – Night 2 of 3
Ogilvie Raceway, Ogilvie, Minn.
Friday, July 12, 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 (8 laps):
1. (1) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (3) 30 Matt Leer, Bruce, Wis.
3. (5) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
4. (7) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (9) 515 Devin Fouquette, St. Cloud, Minn.
6. (6) 25 Adam Bohlman, Princeton, Minn.
7. (8) 12P Joey Price, Great Falls, Mont.
8. (2) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
9. (4) 112 Brennan Gave, Princeton, Minn.
10. (10) 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
2. (3) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (4) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (6) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
5. (8) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (7) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
7. (5) 89 J.T. Johnson, Milaca, Minn.
8. (10) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
9. (9) 5K Tyler Kaeter, St. Cloud, Minn.
10. (2) 14W Clayton Wagamon, Ramsey, Minn.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 11 Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, Minn.
2. (3) 2C Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
3. (4) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
4. (5) 3T Travis Schulte, Becker, Minn.
5. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (7) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (9) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
8. (6) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
9. (10) 99 Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D.
10. (1) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
WIELAND METAL SERVICES HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (6) 17B Zach Benson, Princeton, Minn.
4. (8) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (1) 224 Cody Wolkowski, Thunder Bay, Ont., Can.
6. (9) 7 Brandon Mehrwerth, Foley, Minn.
7. (7) 88 Eric Lamm, Milaca, Minn.
8. (5) 12M Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
9. (3) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (5) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
3. (4) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
4. (11) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
5. (9) 89 J.T. Johnson, Milaca, Minn.
6. (3) 3T Travis Schulte, Becker, Minn.
7. (8) 88 Eric Lamm, Milaca, Minn.
8. (6) 224 Cody Wolkowski, Thunder Bay, Ont., Can.
9. (12) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
10. (7) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
11. (1) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
12. (10) 12M Jason Miller, Osceola, Wis.
DNS – 112 Brennan Gave, Princeton, Minn.
DNS – 96 Taton Hansen, Spicer, Minn.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (1) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
3. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
4. (8) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
5. (9) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
6. (10) 99 Jason Grimes, Jamestown, N.D.
7. (2) 515 Devin Fouquette, St. Cloud, Minn.
8. (13) 14W Clayton Wagamon, Ramsey, Minn.
9. (4) 7 Brandon Mehrwerth, Foley, Minn.
10. (6) 25 Adam Bohlman, Princeton, Minn.
11. (7) 12P Joey Price, Great Falls, Mont.
12. (12) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
13. (11) 5K Tyler Kaeter, St. Cloud, Minn.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (5) 0 Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (7) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
3. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
4. (10) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (13) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
6. (1) 2C Dave Cain, Corcoran, Minn.
7. (4) 11 Jody Bellefeuille, Carlton, Minn.
8. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
9. (6) 18A Landon Atkinson, Little Falls, Minn.
10. (14) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
11. (22) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
12. (17) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
13. (11) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
14. (12) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
15. (15) 26G Ryan Gierke, Villard, Minn.
16. (20) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
17. (9) 17B Zach Benson, Princeton, Minn.
18. (16) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
19. (3) 30 Matt Leer, Bruce, Wis.
20. (21) 89 J.T. Johnson, Milaca, Minn.
21. (19) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
22. (27) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
23. (24) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
24. (25) 88 Eric Lamm, Milaca, Minn.
25. (18) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
26. (23) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
27. (26) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
Lap Leaders: Nelson 1-11, O’Neil 12-40.
Total Laps Led: O’Neil 29, Nelson 11.
Margin of Victory: 1.66 seconds.
Time of Race: 16 minutes, 46.704 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Hobscheidt, Hodges, Hoff, Lamm.
Emergency Provisional: Lavasseur.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Phillips (started 22nd, finished 11th).
Entries: 39.
Next Race: Saturday, July 13, Ogilvie Raceway.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Timm 1543, Chisholm 1505, Sanders 1418, Ebert 1377, Hughes 1337, Phillips 1337, Mullens 1274, Davis 1243, Williamson 1193, Christian 1192.
Collins Brothers Towing USMTS North Region Points: Chisholm 630, Timm 600, Sanders 591, Hughes 512, Ebert 500, Mullens 500 .
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Hobscheidt 1152, Hodges 1065, Steve Glenn 727, Joe Chisholm 574, D.J. Shannon 409.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Sanders 93, Ebert 80, Chisholm 76, Timm 69, Hughes 61 .
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 119, Rage 117, Mullens 112, Skyrocket 110, Hughes 82.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: KSE 132, Mullins 128, OFI 120, Cornett 103, Hatfield 97.
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Lavasseur.
American Racer – Hodges.
Bear Graphix – Lavasseur.
Beyea Custom Headers – Chisholm.
Bryke Racing – Gierke.
BSB Manufacturing – Christian.
Champ Pans – VanderBeek.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – Cain.
Deatherage Opticians – Lavasseur.
Edelbrock – Bellefeuille.
Fast Shafts – Atkinson.
Featherlite Trailers – O’Neil, Timm, Nelson.
FK Rod Ends – Phillips.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – O’Neil.
Hooker Harness – Sanders.
Hyperco – Mullens.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Schott.
Keyser Manufacturing – Mullens.
KSE Racing Products – Atkinson.
MD3 – O’Neil.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Grimes, Schulte.
MSD Performance – Chisholm.
Penske Racing Shocks – Williamson.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Hoff.
QA1 – Atkinson.
Quarter Master – Atkinson.
RacerWebsite.com – Hansen.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – Fouquette.
Simpson Race Products – Timm.
Summit Racing Equipment – Cain, Kaeter, Nelson, Schott, VanderBeek.
Sweet Manufacturing – Ebert.
Swift Springs – Cain, O’Neil, VanderBeek.
Sybesma Graphics – Cain.
Total Power – Phillips.
Victory Fuel – O’Neil.
VP Racing – O’Neil.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Kaeter.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Bellefeuille.