O’Neil fends off Chisholm for USMTS victory in Beatrice

NewsAugust 7, 2024

O’Neil fends off Chisholm for USMTS victory in Beatrice

For the first time in 17 years, the Best of the Best in dirt modified racing returned to the Beatrice Speedway on Wednesday for a barn-burner that ended with the two winningest drivers this season wheel-to-wheel at the checkered flag.

The first half of the 3rd Annual Battle by the Big Blue presented by Valentino's 40-lap main event, however, was dominated by Jake Timm who came into the night as the national points leader in the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt.

Following up a decisive win in Fast Shafts Heat Race #2, Timm jumped to the lead at the start of the race and maintained a healthy lead over Jake O'Neill, but with 22 laps in the books, a melee between multiple lapped cars left the leader with nowhere to go.

The results of the crash saw Timm limp to the infield and out of the race with a broken drive shaft.

When the race resumed, O'Neil took over the top spot and dominated the second half of the race until the final lap when O'Neil nearly had his victory stolen at the checkered flag by Jim Chisholm.

Chisholm was one of the few drivers to find a way to make the shortest way around the fastest for himself. He closed the gap over the final handful of laps, and then drove underneath O'Neil as the pair exited turn four.

By the narrowest of margins, O'Neil passed by the flagstand ahead of Chisholm by a scant 0.048 second and earned $3,000 and a couple of hot Valentino's pizzas for his efforts.

“I knew somebody was going to be there,” O'Neil said in Victory Fuel Victory Lane. “I was struggling really bad. I kept falling off on the right rear, I don't know if it was going away, but I couldn't turn going in over here (turn one). I could get in okay over there (turn 3) but from the middle off I was just terrible.

“The last lap I told myself ‘Just don't screw up' and what do I do? In both corners I screw up like a dummy. I feel bad for Jake (Timm) because he probably had the car to win. I didn't have nothing for him so I was biding my time”

Jim Chisholm, who earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award after starting tenth on the gird en route to his runner-up paycheck, emerged from the show as the USMTS points leader.

Terry Phillips finished third and joined the top two on the Featherlite Top-3 podium while Alex Williamson scratched and clawed his way to a fourth-place finish.

Williamson, who drew the worst starting spot for the heat races, was moving forward in the main event but came to the Danny Racing Engines Hot Pit early on. He changed a tire and made his way back to the front from the back of the field.

The top-finishing Nebraskan was Jacob Hobscheidt of Plattsmouth who finished fifth. The rest of the top ten were Tyler Davis, Rodney Sanders, Jason Hughes—who won the last time the USMTS competed at the Beatrice Speedway in 2007—Kyle Brown and Dan Ebert.

2 for Grant Junghans: The USMTS returns to Don Marrs' Lakeside Speedway on Thursday and Friday, Aug. 8-9, for the 7th and 8th Annual Grant Junghans Memorial races to celebrate the life of one of the most popular dirt modified racers of all time.

Thursday's event will see double features paying $2,222 to win each before returning Friday night for $12,002 to win and no less than $1,002 to start the main event for licensed drivers.

Last year's race at the Lakeside Speedway was rained out, hence the doubleheader this year.

USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods will round out the three-division program each night.

Entry fees, spectator tickets and pit pass sales will benefit the Grant Junghans Memorial Fund which supports research and funding for childhood cancer.

The Lakeside Speedway is a high-banked 4/10-mile dirt oval located 1 west of I-435 (exit 18) on SR 5 (northwest of Kansas City) to 5615 Wolcott Dr, Kansas City, KS 66109.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
Mel Hambelton Racing USMTS Central Region
3rd Annual Battle by the Big Blue presented by Valentino's
Beatrice Speedway, Beatrice, Neb.
Wednesday, Aug. 7, 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. (3) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.
2. (5) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
3. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (4) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
5. (9) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
6. (2) 3T Nate Thompson, Fremont, Neb.
7. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (8) 16 Austin Svoboda, David City, Neb.
9. (1) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (4) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
2. (1) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (5) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (7) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (2) 32 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
6. (6) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (3) 4B Brandon Verbeek, Hickman, Neb.
8. (8) 18M Mason Richards, Denton, Neb.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
2. (1) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
3. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (5) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
5. (3) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
6. (6) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
7. (8) 18 Terry Richards Jr.., Denton, Neb.
8. (7) X52 Sean Manning, Bennington, Neb.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, all advance):
1. (1) 32 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
2. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (3) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
4. (6) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (11) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
6. (4) 18 Terry Richards Jr.., Denton, Neb.
7. (8) 16 Austin Svoboda, David City, Neb.
8. (5) 3T Nate Thompson, Fremont, Neb.
9. (10) X52 Sean Manning, Bennington, Neb.
10. (7) 4B Brandon Verbeek, Hickman, Neb.
11. (9) 18M Mason Richards, Denton, Neb.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (6) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
2. (10) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
3. (9) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (11) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
5. (13) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
6. (3) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
7. (12) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
8. (8) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
9. (16) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
10. (7) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
11. (14) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
12. (18) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
13. (17) 7G Gabe Hodges, Lebo, Kan.
14. (1) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
15. (24) 4B Brandon Verbeek, Hickman, Neb.
16. (4) 30 Jordan Grabouski, Beatrice, Neb.
17. (25) 18M Mason Richards, Denton, Neb.
18. (2) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
19. (19) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
20. (20) 18 Terry Richards Jr.., Denton, Neb.
21. (21) 16 Austin Svoboda, David City, Neb.
22. (15) 32 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
23. (22) 3T Nate Thompson, Fremont, Neb.
24. (23) X52 Sean Manning, Bennington, Neb.
25. (5) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls , Wis.

Lap Leaders: Timm 1-22, O'Neil 23-40.
Total Laps Led: Timm 22, O'Neil 18.
Margin of Victory: 0.048 second.
Time of Race: 38 minutes, 2.626 seconds (5 cautions).
Provisional Starters: none.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Chisholm (started 10th, finished 2nd).
Entries: 25.
Next Race: Thursday-Friday, Aug. 8-9, Lakeside Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Chisholm 2176 Timm 2142 Sanders 2016 Phillips 1953 Ebert 1902 Mullens 1814 Hughes 1772 Davis 1730 Williamson 1692 Christian 1640.
Mel Hambelton Racing USMTS Central Region Points: Chisholm 718 Timm 681 Phillips 652 Sanders 618 Ebert 607.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Hobscheidt 1637 Hodges 1504 Glenn 822 Chisholm 574 Shannon 409.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Sanders 129 Timm 121 Chisholm 113 Ebert 96 Phillips 81.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: Skyrocket 173 Rage 164 MBCustoms 160 Mullens 152 Bloodline 116.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: KSE 195 Mullins 174 OFI 168 Hatfield 142 Durham 139.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Verbeek.
American Racer – Grabouski.
Bear Graphix – Solander.
Beyea Custom Headers – Williamson.
Bryke Racing – Verbeek.
BSB Manufacturing – Svoboda.
Champ Pans – Hobscheidt.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – Davis.
Deatherage Opticians – Grabouski.
Edelbrock – Christian.
Fast Shafts – Timm.
Featherlite Trailers – O'Neil, Chisholm, Phillips.
FK Rod Ends – Chisholm.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – O'Neil.
Hooker Harness – Mullens.
Hyperco – Lavasseur.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Timm.
Keyser Manufacturing – Ebert.
KSE Racing Products – Brown.
MD3 – Timm.
MSD Performance – Williamson.
Penske Racing Shocks – Hodges.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Solander.
QA1 – Lavasseur.
Quarter Master – Brown.
RacerWebsite.com – Williamson.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – Hughes.
Simpson Race Products – Lavasseur.
Summit Racing Equipment – Grabouski, M. Richards, T. Richards, Solander, Thompson.
Sweet Manufacturing – Grabouski.
Swift Springs – Chisholm, O'Neil, Verbeek.
Sybesma Graphics – Christian.
Total Power –Fuqua.
Victory Fuel – O'Neil.
VP Racing – O'Neil.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Manning.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Sanders.

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.

With live and on-demand coverage of every USMTS event plus exclusive interviews, instant replays, multiple camera angles and more, subscribe to RacinDirt for live streaming on all of your devices.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Callies Performance Products, Chevrolet Performance, Fast Shafts, Featherlite Trailers, FK Rod Ends, KSE Racing Products, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, TicketSmarter, VP Racing - Heartland, Wieland.