
Mullens wires field in USMTS Show-Me Shootout opener
WHEATLAND, Mo. (Aug. 1, 2025)—Tanner Mullens bounded to the front on the opening lap and went on to lead all 40 circuits to capture Friday night's opener of the 16th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment.
Mullens, of Wichita, Kan., outdistanced Tyler Wolff to earn the $5,000 prize at Lucas Oil Speedway. The Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt will go again on Saturday night in another 40-lapper for another $5,000 to win.
From the inside of row two, Mullens grabbed the lead shortly after the green, getting around pole-starter Nic Bidinger. He navigated two brief cautions and a bout with lapped traffic to score his third USMTS victory of the season and 16th overall win.
"I was fading there at the end," Mullens said of his 1.5-second win over Wolff. "The lappers were right the on bottom and the middle was getting really, really dirty. I would stay out there for a few laps and if I wasn't going to make it, I had to go back to the bottom.
"I'd seen Tyler (Davis) was getting close there. He's really good here and I knew it would be tough, but I held on until the end. It was a pretty good evening."
Mullens had a 1.4-second lead by lap five but the big early news was Davis, advancing to third from eighth. Ninth-starting Wolff, a few minutes after winning the Late Model feature, found himself in fifth after eight laps.
That's when the first caution flew for a spin in turn two. Davis took second away from Kyle Brown on the restart as Mullens pulled away.
Brown spun on lap 12 to bring out the second and final caution. Mullens got it rolling again after the restart and established a 1.5-second lead over Davis by the halfway mark.
Showing his strength on longer green-flag runs, Mullens' lead peaked at 2.4 seconds by lap 24. But as he encountered lapped traffic soon after, Davis began to slice into the margin and the gap was under one second by lap 29. Then as Mullens got around a pack of slower cars and Davis was held up, he had breathing room again.
Mullens was flawless from there as the race remained green. He won by 1.5 seconds over Wolff, who passed Davis for second with one to go.
"It feels good. We've ran good here in the past," Mullens said. "It's just kind of hit or miss. Here lately we've been a little bit better. I just can't thank everybody enough who's on the car."
Wolff said his only hope was to stay close and hope for a late-race caution.
"I was just trying to be patient," Wolff said. "We were close. We were just off a little bit, but overall, a good night for us. Getting to run a Late Model and Mod back-to-back is fun."
Tenth-starting Bobby Williams of Hermitage finished fourth and Bidinger was fifth.
USMTS championship points leader Rodney Sanders salvaged 10th after starting 17th. He finished one spot behind defending series champion, Jim Chisholm, who started 13th.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
16th Annual Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout presented by Foley Equipment – Night 1 of 2
Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Friday, Aug. 1, 2025
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.
HODGES FARMS & DREDGING QUALIFYING GROUP #1:
1. (17) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark., 17.556
2. (15) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa, 17.685
3. (9) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan., 17.735
4. (14) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan., 17.783
5. (1) 10 Dayton Pursley, Hermitage, Mo., 17.799
6. (3) 91 Joe Duvall, Justice, Okla., 17.835
7. (16) 22C Cole Campbell, Mexico, Mo., 18.029
8. (11) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 18.062
9. (2) 5 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan., 18.123
10. (5) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla., 18.147
11. (10) 97 Cole Anderson, Le Center, Minn., 18.218
12. (13) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas, 18.256
13. (6) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa, 18.413
14. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo., 18.450
15. (8) 68 Dean Wille, Warrensburg, Mo., 18.774
16. (12) 03 Jason Sivils, Bolivar, Mo., 18.790
17. (7) 33S Ben Stockton, Kansas City, Mo., 19.056
HODGES FARMS & DREDGING QUALIFYING GROUP #2:
1. (15) 1B Bobby Williams, Hermitage, Mo., 17.670
2. (6) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan., 17.736
3. (1) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M., 17.834
4. (5) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo., 17.870
5. (16) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan., 17.900
6. (13) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., 17.909
7. (12) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas, 17.947
8. (7) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan., 18.126
9. (2) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo., 18.132
10. (14) 29 Keith Hammett, Brookland, Ark., 18.160
11. (8) 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, Texas, 18.162
12. (4) 2G Troy Girolamo, Williston, N.D., 18.237
13. (10) 8 Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C., 18.240
14. (11) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La., 18.313
15. (9) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn., 18.411
16. (3) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla., 18.560
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (10 laps):
1. (2) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
2. (1) 10 Dayton Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
3. (3) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (4) 22C Cole Campbell, Mexico, Mo.
5. (5) 5 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
6. (6) 97 Cole Anderson, Le Center, Minn.
7. (7) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
8. (8) 68 Dean Wille, Warrensburg, Mo.
9. (9) 33S Ben Stockton, Kansas City, Mo.
FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (10 laps):
1. (2) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
2. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (1) 91 Joe Duvall, Justice, Okla.
4. (4) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
5. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (7) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
7. (5) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
8. (8) 03 Jason Sivils, Bolivar, Mo.
EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (10 laps):
1. (2) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
2. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (3) 1B Bobby Williams, Hermitage, Mo.
4. (5) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
5. (6) 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, Texas
6. (4) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
7. (7) 8 Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.
8. (8) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (10 laps):
1. (1) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
2. (3) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
3. (2) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
4. (4) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
5. (5) 29 Keith Hammett, Brookland, Ark.
6. (8) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
7. (7) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La.
8. (6) 2G Troy Girolamo, Williston, N.D.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
2. (1) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
3. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
4. (4) 5 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
5. (8) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La.
6. (7) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
7. (5) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
8. (6) 97 Cole Anderson, Le Center, Minn.
9. (11) 33S Ben Stockton, Kansas City, Mo.
10. (10) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
11. (9) 68 Dean Wille, Warrensburg, Mo.
REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (1) 22C Cole Campbell, Mexico, Mo.
3. (6) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
4. (8) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
5. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
6. (3) 7 Sean Gaddis, Diana, Texas
7. (7) 8 Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.
8. (9) 03 Jason Sivils, Bolivar, Mo.
9. (10) 2G Troy Girolamo, Williston, N.D.
10. (4) 29 Keith Hammett, Brookland, Ark.
SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (9) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
3. (8) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
4. (10) 1B Bobby Williams, Hermitage, Mo.
5. (1) 3B Nic Bidinger, Perry, Kan.
6. (7) 10 Dayton Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
7. (4) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (11) 38C Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo.
9. (13) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
10. (17) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
11. (6) 2SS Mark Smith, Anthony, N.M.
12. (20) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
13. (16) 22C Cole Campbell, Mexico, Mo.
14. (12) 91 Joe Duvall, Justice, Okla.
15. (22) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
16. (14) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
17. (26) 712 Trevor Hughes, Westville, Okla.
18. (25) 33S Ben Stockton, Kansas City, Mo.
19. (5) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
20. (15) 22H Dustin Hodges, Centralia, Mo.
21. (24) 25 Joe Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
22. (27) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
23. (2) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo.
24. (18) 71 Chad Melton, Mineral Wells, Texas
25. (23) 8 Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, N.C.
26. (21) 15G Geoff Lary, Minden, La.
27. (19) 5 Reece Solander, Emporia, Kan.
Lap Leader: Mullens 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Mullens 40.
Margin of Victory: 0.97 second.
Time of Race: 18 minutes, 53.028 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Strickler, Joe Chisholm.
Emergency Provisionals: Stockton, Hughes, Hoff.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Christian (started 20th, finished 12th).
Entries: 33.
Next Race: Aug. 2, Lucas Oil Speedway, Wheatland, Mo.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: .
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: .
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: .
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: .
JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: .
Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Lary.
American Racer – Smith.
Bear Graphix – Hoff.
Beyea Custom Headers – Williams.
Bryke Racing – Phillips.
BSB Manufacturing – Hodges.
Champ Pans – Bidinger.
Danny Crane Racing Engines – Pursley.
Driven Racing Oil – Mullens.
Dynamic Drivelines – Solander.
Edelbrock – Smith.
Fast Shafts – Davis.
Featherlite Trailers – Davis, Mullens, Wolff.
FK Rod Ends – Christian.
Gorsuch Performance Solutions – Mullens.
Harris Auto Racing – Joe Chisholm.
Hodges Farms & Dredging – Wolff.
Hooker Harness – Christian.
Hyperco – Wille.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Stockton.
Keyser Manufacturing – Sanders.
KSE Racing Products – Christian.
MD3 – Mullens.
MSD Performance – Williams.
Penske Racing Shocks – Campbell.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Pursley.
QA1 – Wolff.
Quarter Master – Jim Chisholm.
RaceQuip – Siebert.
RacerWebsite – Stockton.
Real Racing Wheels – Williams.
Rush RaceGear by Austin Witt – Hughes.
Simpson Race Products – Bidinger.
Sweet Manufacturing – Fuqua.
Swift Springs – swiftmove, Bidinger, Mullens.
Sybesma Graphics – Bidinger.
Total Power – Pursley.
VP Racing – Mullens.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Hammett.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Givens.
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