Sorensen triples up in USMTS Double Down Showdown

May 30, 2022

The four-night Memorial Day Weekend for the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt wrapped up Monday at the Mason City Motor Speedway with points leader Dustin Sorensen dominating the 8th Annual Double Down Showdown.

The win, worth $5,000, was the third of the 2022 campaign for the 21-year-old top gun from Rochester, Minn., and ninth of his short career. That moved him into a tie with Brad Waits for 23rd on the all-time USMTS wins list.

After earning the Sybesma Graphics Pole Award, Sorensen set sail and let his followers battle back and forth for second-place money. A pair of early cautions and some late-race traffic issues allowed defending USMTS National Champion Dereck Ramirez to narrow the gap, but once in the clear Sorensen pulled away again to an eight-car-length victory.

Ramirez, who started ninth on the 23-car grid, settled for second with Zack VanderBeek, Cayden Carter and FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award winner Tanner Mullens following him to the checkered flag.

Dan Ebert fought hard for a sixth-place paycheck, Rodney Sanders secured the seventh spot, Jake Timm took eighth, Jason Hughes nabbed ninth and Terry Phillips climbed six positions to round out the top 10.

Ramirez and Mullens are both two-time winners at the North Iowa Fairgrounds Action Track. With his effort, Sorensen joined Hughes, Sanders, Phillips and Lucas Schott with one win apiece.

No rest for the wicked: Three days from now on Thursday, June 2, the 3rd Annual Wehrs Machine Bullring Bash—twice voted as the USMTS Race of the Year—takes place at the Dallas County Speedway in Urbana, Mo., where the previous two feature races were decided in the final corner on the final lap.

The following night, drivers will cross the border into Kansas to hunt a top prize of $20,002 to win and a minimum $1,002 to start at the 6th Annual Grant Junghans Memorial on Friday, June 3, at the legendary Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City.

Back on the other side of the border, the tripleheader kickoff to an unbelievable month of June events concludes Saturday, June 4 with the inaugural Bushwhacker presented by RacinDirt at the all-new spectacular I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo.

If you can’t be there in person, witness all the action from anywhere on any device with your RacinDirt Pit Pass where you can watch live and access exclusive content on your desktop and laptop computers, as well as a suite of apps for added convenience including Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TVGoogle Play.

Visit usmts.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USMTS news delivered to your inbox.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
8th Annual Double Down Showdown
Mason City Motor Speedway, Mason City, Iowa
Monday, May 30, 2022

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 PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #1 (8 laps):
1. (1) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
2. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
3. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (6) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
5. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
7. (8) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (7) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
9. (9) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (2) 77T Tripp Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo.
2. (4) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
3. (3) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
4. (6) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (5) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
6. (8) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
7. (7) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
8. (9) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
9. (1) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (1) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
2. (3) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (5) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
4. (2) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
5. (4) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
6. (6) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
7. (9) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
8. (8) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
9. (7) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
10. (10) 8L Lyle Sathoff, Sherburn, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
2. (2) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
3. (3) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
4. (4) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
5. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (5) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
7. (7) 56 Colton Horner, Houston, Texas
DNS – 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (10 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (1) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
2. (2) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (6) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
4. (4) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (3) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
6. (8) 8L Lyle Sathoff, Sherburn, Minn.
7. (5) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
8. (7) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (40 laps):
1. (1) 19 Dustin Sorensen, Rochester, Minn.
2. (9) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (2) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
4. (3) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
5. (13) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (5) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
7. (8) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
8. (6) 49 Jake Timm, Winona, Minn.
9. (7) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
10. (16) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
11. (18) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.
12. (10) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
13. (12) 44S Shane DeVolder, Pacifica, Calif.
14. (4) 77T Tripp Gaylord, Lakewood, Colo.
15. (19) 2G Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
16. (15) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
17. (20) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
18. (23) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
19. (11) 45 Chase Holland, Saucier, Miss.
20. (14) 85 Jayson Good, Watertown, S.D.
21. (17) 38T Dylan Thornton, Santa Maria, Calif.
22. (22) 8C Chris Clark, Jackson, Wyo.
23. (21) 7 Al Hejna, Clear Lake, Iowa
DNS – 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.

Lap Leader: Sorensen 1-40.
Total Laps Led: Sorensen 40.
Margin of Victory: 1.514 seconds.
Time of Race: 19 minutes, 49.338 seconds (2 cautions).
Provisional Starters: Clark, Plowman.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Mullens (started 13th, finished 5th).
Entries: 27.
Next Race: Thursday, June 2, Dallas County Speedway, Urbana, Mo.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Sorensen 1128, Mullens 1044, Ramirez 1001, VanderBeek 988, Sanders 969, Timm 964, Phillips 937, Schott 936, Hughes 922, Bleess 888.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Carter 829, Brown 724, Thornton 702, DeVolder 701, Horner 642.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: MBCustoms 111, Mullens 92, Hughes 89, VanderBuilt 81, LG2 60.
Compstar/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Action 92, Cornett 88, Stoen 77, Hatfield 64, Mullens 59.

Contingency Awards:
American Racer – Carter.
Beyea Custom Headers – Carter.
BigDeal Car Care – Sorensen, Mullens.
Bryke Racing – Givens.
BSB Manufacturing – Thornton.
Champ Pans – Mullens.
Deatherage Opticians – Gaylord.
Edelbrock – Carter.
Fast Shafts – Gaylord.
FK Rod Ends – Mullens.
Hooker Harness – Bleess.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Holland.
Keyser Manufacturing – Phillips.
KS Engineering – Schott.
KSE Racing Products – Hughes.
Mel Hambelton Ford Racing – Ramirez.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Clark.
MSD Performance – VanderBeek.
Penske Racing Shocks – DeVolder.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Hejna.
QA1 – Carter.
RacerWebsite.com – Ahumada.
Simpson Performance Products – VanderBeek.
Summit Racing Equipment – Clark, Erickson, Sanders, VanderBeek.
Super Clean – Sorensen.
Swift Springs – DeVolder, Sorensen, Good.
Sybesma Graphics – Sorensen.
Tire Demon – Ahumada.
VP Racing Fuels – Sorensen.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Erickson.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Ahumada.

USMTS OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Chevrolet Performance, Compstar, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, Intercomp, K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers Motorsports, KS Engineering, KSE Racing Products, Malvern Bank, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD Performance, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, Super Clean, VP Racing Fuels, Wrisco Industries.

USMTS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: ARMI Contractors, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DAY Motorsports, Hacienda Mechanical, Mel Hambelton Racing, Midwest Wrap Co., Miller Welders, PBM Performance Products, Rancho Milagro Racing, RHRSwag.com, S&S Fishing & Rental, Salty's BBQ & Catering, YouDirt.com.

USMTS CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, BigDeal Car Care, Bryke Racing, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Deatherage Opticians, Edelbrock, Hooker Harness, Integra Racing Shocks and Springs, JE Pistons, Keyser Manufacturing, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies & Parts, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, Simpson Performance Products, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Tire Demon, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Racing.way.