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Mullens pounces late for first USMTS Modified win at Lucas Oil Speedway "Wednesday Night Madness"

WHEATLAND, Missouri (June 3, 2020) - Tanner Mullens took command late when race-leader Terry Phillips suffered a mechanical failure and picked off the United States Modified Touring Series "Wednesday Night Madness" feature at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Mullens, of Wichita, Kansas, earned $2,500 for the victory in a race that turned out to be a dandy after a slow start. It was the third-generation racer's first career USMTS triumph.

Dereck Ramirez finished second with Ryan Gustin - driving Ramirez's backup car - third and Dustin Sorensen fourth in the special weeknight event.

"We've been close a few times," Mullens said of tasting USMTS victory. "To finally get one feels pretty good. I just can't thank all my sponsors enough."

The early portion of the race was marred by four cautions through the first seven laps. Mullens, a third-generation racer starting on the pole, led the way with Gustin and Ramirez running behind him and Dustin Sorensen fourth.

The race settled down and went caution-free the rest of the way. Gustin made a pass for the lead on lap 16 with Mullens regaining the point four laps later and holding it until Phillips passed him coming out of turn four to complete lap 26.

Those two swapped the lead two more times over the next three laps times until Phillips, the veteran from Springfield who started the feature 13th, seemed to have command with a 1.6-second lead. But his car began to slow and pulled to the infield on lap 36 with Mullens making the seventh and final pass of the 40-lapper.

"I think he had us there," the 27-year-old Mullens said of Phillips. "We just held on to the end. It was getting pretty rough down there, so I don't know if he broke something or what it was. We're just glad to be up here on the front straightaway."

Ramirez finished 2.19 seconds behind the winner after passing Gustin in the final laps. He said it was a good night considering both Ramirez cars finished near the front.

"We had pretty good cars," Ramirez said. "Gustin was good up top and I don't know what happened. His motor was smoking. Hopefully that's OK.

"I guess second is the name of the game for me. I think it's 16 or 17 times the last two years."

Forty-three Modifieds were on hand in a program that included the first visit of the USRA Iron Man Stock cars to Lucas Oil Speedway.

The special program came about as the USMTS looks to make up for lost events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series returns to Lucas Oil Speedway Aug. 8 for the 11th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment.

The Wheatland event kicked off a four-race swing for the USMTS drivers, with stops Thursday at 81 Speedway (Park City, Kansas), Friday at Humboldt Speedway (Humboldt, Kansas) and Saturday at Tri-State Speedway (Pocola, Oklahoma).

Keller's late move takes USRA Stock Car main: In the USRA Stock car main event, points leader Doug Keller of Easton, Missouri, used a last-lap pass in turn four to overtake Bill Crimmins and earn the $750 first prize.

Front-row starters Crimmins and Keller raced side by side through three laps, with Keller leading the first two and Crimmins passing him coming out of turn four to complete lap three. He would hold onto that lead all the way until the 25th and final circuit, when Keller made the winning move.

Crimmins, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, had a 1.5-second lead with just three laps remaining when Keller began to reel him in. He was right on Crimmins' back bumper while taking the white flag.

"The lapped traffic was getting there and I knew I only had one shot," Keller said. "I was reeling him back in once I found the line in three and four. I just had to go wherever he doesn't, so I went high and if he crossed over I was like, 'hell, I've got to go low and give it a try.'

"That lapped car pushed and I thought, 'that might be all I need.'"

"Lapped car," Crimmins said succinctly, of the difference at the end. Crimmins added even in disappointment, he enjoyed the trip to Lucas Oil Speedway and "I wish it wasn't so far away."

Todd Staley finished third with Patrick Graham fourth and Jessie Brown fifth.

Additional details about both series, including schedules, point standings and archived news, can be found at USMTS.com and USRAracing.com.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (June 3, 2020)
Wednesday Night Madness
United States Modified Touring Series
Casey's General Store A-Main (40 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[2]; 3. 4RG-Ryan Gustin[7]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 5. 22H-Dustin Hodges[3]; 6. 87-Darron Fuqua[16]; 7. 20-Rodney Sanders[8]; 8. 27X-Calvin Iverson[10]; 9. 12-Jason Hughes[21]; 10. 4RX-Jared Russell[23]; 11. 65-Tyler Davis[11]; 12. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[6]; 13. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[19]; 14. 9-Kevin Rutherford[22]; 15. 6-Casey Skyberg[12]; 16. 91-Joe Duvall[14]; 17. 7F-Daniel Franklin[24]; 18. 75-Terry Phillips[13]; 19. 23-Adam Kates[9]; 20. 4W-Tyler Wolff[17]; 21. 62-Hunter Marriott[25]; 22. 21-Jacob Bleess[26]; 23. 16S-Chad Lyle[4]; 24. 55-Nathan Hagar[15]; 25. 68-Dean Wille[20]; 26. 65J-Kris Jackson[18]
Real Racing Wheels B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 55-Nathan Hagar[8]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[2]; 4. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[3]; 5. 12-Jason Hughes[4]; 6. 4RX-Jared Russell[5]; 7. 292-Kyle Thompson[12]; 8. 55D-Michael Dotson[9]; 9. 0-Jake O'Neil[11]; 10. 7-Shayne Bailey[14]; 11. 24D-Donnie Fellers[7]; 12. 62-Hunter Marriott[10]; 13. 85D-Mark Dotson[13]; 14. 38C-Jason Pursley[16]; 15. 134-Robert Heydenreich[15]; 16. 51G-Lucas Gibbs[6]
Real Racing Wheels B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 91-Joe Duvall[1]; 2. 87-Darron Fuqua[3]; 3. 65J-Kris Jackson[5]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[6]; 5. 9-Kevin Rutherford[7]; 6. 7F-Daniel Franklin[2]; 7. 16-Austin Siebert[8]; 8. 90-Terry Schultz[9]; 9. 8-Dillon McCowan[14]; 10. 9S-Kenny Schrader[4]; 11. 444-Brooks Strength[12]; 12. 11N-Gene Nicholas[13]; 13. 96J-Jaxon Saathoff[11]; 14. 00-Cody Jolly[15]; 15. 21-Jacob Bleess[10]
Simpson Racing Products Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4RG-Ryan Gustin[3]; 2. 22H-Dustin Hodges[5]; 3. 20-Rodney Sanders[9]; 4. 9S-Kenny Schrader[2]; 5. 51G-Lucas Gibbs[4]; 6. 55D-Michael Dotson[6]; 7. 62-Hunter Marriott[7]; 8. 85D-Mark Dotson[8]; 9. 134-Robert Heydenreich[1]
Fast Shafts Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33Z-Zack VanderBeek[2]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[4]; 3. 6-Casey Skyberg[5]; 4. 91-Joe Duvall[8]; 5. 12-Jason Hughes[9]; 6. 16-Austin Siebert[7]; 7. 21-Jacob Bleess[6]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[3]; 9. 00-Cody Jolly[1]
Edelbrock Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[2]; 2. 27X-Calvin Iverson[1]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[5]; 4. 4RX-Jared Russell[4]; 5. 68-Dean Wille[3]; 6. 9-Kevin Rutherford[8]; 7. 0-Jake O'Neil[6]; 8. 444-Brooks Strength[9]; 9. 38C-Jason Pursley[7]
MSD Performance Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 16S-Chad Lyle[1]; 2. 23-Adam Kates[3]; 3. 7F-Daniel Franklin[4]; 4. 4W-Tyler Wolff[8]; 5. 65J-Kris Jackson[7]; 6. 90-Terry Schultz[5]; 7. 96J-Jaxon Saathoff[6]; 8. 7-Shayne Bailey[2]
VP Race Fuels Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[3]; 2. 65-Tyler Davis[1]; 3. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[4]; 4. 87-Darron Fuqua[7]; 5. 24D-Donnie Fellers[2]; 6. 55-Nathan Hagar[8]; 7. 292-Kyle Thompson[6]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]

USRA Iron Man Stock Cars
Christie Door A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 7-Doug Keller[1]; 2. 35C-Bill Crimmins[3]; 3. 14-Todd Staley[5]; 4. 1G-Patrick Graham[2]; 5. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[7]; 6. 11B-Jesse Brown[4]; 7. 00W-Nick Whalen[16]; 8. 3T-Peyton Taylor[20]; 9. 417-Kevin Anderson[14]; 10. 110W-Gerald Wahwahsuck[13]; 11. 2J-Steve Jackson[6]; 12. 35-Curt Vanbeek[8]; 13. 91-CJ Turner[10]; 14. 20-Robbie Jones[11]; 15. 99W-Edwin Wells[12]; 16. 5X-Jerry Brown[15]; 17. 14J-Aaron Johns[19]; 18. 31-James McMillin[17]; 19. 05-Brett Heeter[9]; 20. 00-Andy Altenburg[18]
Medieval Chassis Heat 1: 1. 35C-Bill Crimmins[1]; 2. 14-Todd Staley[2]; 3. 7-Doug Keller[5]; 4. 31-James McMillin[6]; 5. 110W-Gerald Wahwahsuck[7]; 6. 14J-Aaron Johns[3]; 7. 91-CJ Turner[4]
MSD Heat 2: 1. 11B-Jesse Brown[1]; 2. 3T-Peyton Taylor[4]; 3. 2J-Steve Jackson[2]; 4. 05-Brett Heeter[5]; 5. 20-Robbie Jones[3]; 6. 417-Kevin Anderson[6]; 7. 00W-Nick Whalen[7]
American Racer Heat 3: 1. 1G-Patrick Graham[2]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 3. 00-Andy Altenburg[4]; 4. 35-Curt Vanbeek[6]; 5. 99W-Edwin Wells[3]; 6. 5X-Jerry Brown[5]

Weekly Series returns Saturday: TA/Petro along with ThunderBurst Media presents Round 4 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series on Saturday. The Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods will headline the action with a 25-lap, $750-to-win feature sponsored by Rains Ice.

Gates are scheduled to open at 4 p.m. Saturday with hot laps at 6:30 and opening ceremonies at 7.

Ticket prices:
Adults (16 and over): $12
Seniors (62 and over)/Military: $9
Youth (ages 6-15): $5
Kids (5 and under): FREE
Family Pass: $30
Pit Pass: $30

For ticket questions or information for any event this season, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.

CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984
DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com

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