8/7/2019
Sanders captures 10th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout at Lucas Oil Speedway
WHEATLAND, Missouri - Rodney Sanders took command midway through Saturday night's 40-lap feature and went on to win the 10th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout Presented by Foley Equipment.
Sanders, of Happy, Texas, held off Dereck Ramirez and Terry Phillips in a two-lap shootout after a pair of late cautions wiped out his big lead. It was the long-time series regular's 91st career USMTS win, but his first triumph in a Modified at Lucas Oil Speedway.
"We won a Late Model race here a couple of years ago, but I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this place," said Sanders, the USMTS season points leader who picked up his fifth series win of 2019. It was worth $3,000.
"You can go out and win one night and not make it out of the B-main the next," Sanders added. "But if you have a good car, you can come from deep in the field."
Which he had to do after being forced to come through a B-main after a sixth-place heat-race finish. That left Sanders started outside of row seven in the main event, with a lot of work to do.
Tyler Wolff got the jump from his outside front row starting position and roared to the lead, building a two-second cushion over Marriott by lap seven.
As Wolff began to encounter lapped traffic by lap 10, Marriott cut into his lead and was within a couple of car lengths when the first caution waved on lap 12. Phillips was running third and Sanders had moved all the way from 14th to fourth.
Sanders gained momentum after the restart and soon was in second, then used a high-side pass out of turn four to move past Wolff and into the lead to complete lap 20.
It looked as if the race would go green the rest of the way, with Sanders checking out. He was leading Phillips by 3.2 seconds when a caution with just two laps remaining wiped out that cushion and gave Phillips, and third-running Ramirez a two-lap chance to steal the win.
Sanders was up for the challenge. He finished 0.7 seconds - or about three car lengths - clear of Ramirez with Phillips third, Hunter Marriott fourth and Jake O'Neil fifth.
"I was really tight down on the bottom and I had to really hit my marks to make it go down there," Sanders said of the late restarts. "I can't thank my crew enough. We struggled all night long. We were in a fire drill all night long."
Phillips, who won the Hunt for the Casey's Cup opener on Thursday in Park City, Kansas, had to make a quick engine change after blowing a motor during hot laps. His crew did so in time for him to earn a heat-race win.
"We were fortunate to get where we're at," Phillips said of his night. "I wish we'd have had a little more time to work on the car, but that's the way it goes. We were fortunate to get up there and stay in Dereck's way in the heat race. The new motor wasn't running. It was just thrashing.
"But all in all, it was a pretty good night."
Bryant earns B-Mod triumph: Andy Bryant took the lead early, then withstood challenges from season points leader Kris Jackson on multiple restarts over the final 12 laps to earn his second Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win of the season.
"The track was great tonight, nice and smooth," Bryant said. "Kris and I like racing each other. We both try to race the other as clean as possible. I have a lot of respect for him and I hope it's mutual."
Bryant, of Fort Scott, Kansas, started on the inside of row three and moved into the lead on lap two, taking over from front-row starter and lap one leader Dillon McCowan. Jackson and JC Morton were right behind when the race's first yellow bunched things on lap seven.
Just one lap after the restart, McCowan's car lost power in turn four to bring out another caution and put the big three of Bryant, Jackson and Morton - all former track champions - at the front of the pack.
Bryant flawlessly handled three restarts the remainder of the way, finally pulling away from six-time winner Jackson by a winning margin of 1.8 seconds. Morton wound up third with Tyler Kidwell fourth and Dan Daniels fifth.
Ott dominates Street Stocks feature: Wheatland's Toby Ott started up front and led all 20 laps in a dominant O'Reilly Auto Parts Street Stocks feature win. It was his fifth win of the season.
The Lucas Oil Speedway points leader wound up about a straightaway in front of runner-up Kyle Slader, who slipped past Johnny Coats with two laps remaining. Marc Carter finished fourth and Cody Frazon fifth.
Ott's official winning margin was 3.7 seconds, but his lead peaked at 5.1 seconds by lap 15. He got hung up in some lapped traffic the rest of the way, but his lead was big enough that he didn't have a lot of worry.
"Everything tonight went really well," Ott said. "The car was great on the bottom, even there late when I got into the lappers. Even there late I went to the middle and the car wanted to stick right there. The track was really good. It was racy everywhere for me."
Article Credit: Lyndal Scranton
