Berry bounces back at Hamilton County Speedway

April 28, 2023

Tom Berry Jr. of Des Moines, Iowa, found redemption on the second night of the 13th Annual USMTS Spring Classic as he scored a $5,000 victory after coming up one lap short on Thursday at the historic Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa.

With the best of the best in dirt modified racing on the grounds, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt produced yet another thriller on a cold night at the oldest racetrack in the Hawkeye State.

The second of three nights of racing saw four-time Summit USMTS National Champion Jason Hughes take the early from the outside of the from row with Berry, the polesitter, slipping back a few spots when the green flag waved.

Berry eventually worked his way past some tough competition before wrestling the top spot away from Hughes with 12 laps in the books. The 28-year-old originally from Medford, Ore., led the rest of the way for his second win of the 2023 campaign.

“I figured Todd (Staley) was going to cancel so we were kind of behind on tire work,” Berry said. “We had a winning car last night and it didn’t result in that, and just shows how good our team is and how consistent we are no matter what the track conditions.”

One night earlier, Berry collided with Ebert and then took the lead with seven laps remaining. Ebert returned the favor with an aggressive slide-job on the final lap to steal the win.

“My dad just taught me from a young age to speak with your steering wheel and beat him on the track. It didn’t turn out our way and there’s no reason to bad mouth someone in that incident—we were just racing hard. It is what it is and we moved past it. If you hold on to it you’re not worrying about tonight.

“I wasn't even thinking I was going to run after qualifying and we just dug down. You really just had to know where to be on the track to maneuver and I feel like I was maneuvering better and all these guys, and just maybe a little younger and a little bit more in shape,” Berry said with a smile.

The finish of Friday night’s feature looked like the next-to-last lap of Thursday’s as Ebert came across the line in second place behind Berry.

Hughes held on to finish third while Will Krup bested another four-time champ, Rodney Sanders, for fourth after a great battle between those two.

Darron Fuqua came from 13th to get sixth at the stripe, but Brandon Givens earned the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger Award after racing to a seventh-place paycheck after rolling off 19th on the 24-car grid.

Although he passed more cars than Givens, 24th-starting Zack VanderBeek had to use a provisional starting spot making him ineligible for hard charger honors, but ‘The Z-Man’ made the most of it by finishing eighth. Dereck Ramirez and Alex Williamson rounded out the top t10.

Racing continues Saturday at the Hamilton County Speedway with the fire-breathing Outlaw Modifieds of the Summit USMTS National Championship competing for $10,000 to top tomorrow night’s finale. USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods, USRA Hobby Stocks and USRA Tuners will also be in action.

For more information, check out the event FAST FACTS or visit HamiltonCoSpeedway.

For its Silver Anniversary season, the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt currently features 45 nights of racing at 15 of America's premier dirt track racing venues in nine states. The winners of those events are set to earn more than $300,000 with nearly $2 million in purses and prize money earmarked for the 2023 campaign.

Watch every USMTS event online live and on-demand from anywhere on any device with RacinDirt. Download the app at Roku, Amazon Fire, iOS, Apple TV or on Google Play.

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OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Modified Touring Series
Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt
13th Annual USMTS Spring Classic – Night 2 of 3
Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City, Iowa
Friday, April 28, 2023

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. (2) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
2. (1) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
3. (4) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
4. (3) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
5. (5) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
6. (7) 4B Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
7. (6) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
8. (9) 88 Tanner Williamson, Fort Frances, ON
9. (10) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
10. (8) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
11. (11) 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.

FAST SHAFTS HEAT RACE #2 (8 laps):
1. (1) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
2. (4) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
3. (3) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
4. (5) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
5. (2) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
6. (8) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
7. (6) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
8. (9) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
9. (10) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
10. (11) 40 Jessy Willard, Mound City, Kan.
11. (7) 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.

EDELBROCK HEAT RACE #3 (8 laps):
1. (2) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.
2. (4) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
3. (5) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
4. (7) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
5. (6) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
6. (9) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
7. (1) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
8. (8) 25C Cody Thompson, Sioux City, Iowa
9. (10) 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
10. (3) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa

WIELAND HEAT RACE #4 (8 laps):
1. (2) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
2. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (3) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
4. (5) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
5. (1) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
6. (7) 1 Blake Arndt, Brownsdale, Minn.
7. (6) 21DB David Brown, Kellogg, Iowa
8. (10) 3F Cole Ferguson, Dexter, Iowa
9. (9) 5D Devon Havlik, Waterloo, Iowa
10. (8) 71 Dustin Strand, East Grand Forks, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #1 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
2. (3) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
3. (8) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
4. (5) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
5. (9) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
6. (4) 30 Dalton Kirk, Edgerton, Kan.
7. (10) 99L Steve Lavasseur, River Falls, Wis.
8. (7) 55H A.J. Hoff, Mantorville, Minn.
9. (11) 40 Jessy Willard, Mound City, Kan.
10. (12) 17 Jon Plowman, Woodbine, Iowa
11. (6) 4B Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa
12. (1) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
DNS – 3F Cole Ferguson, Dexter, Iowa
DNS – 83 Kylie Kath, Claremont, Minn.
DNS – 69 Lucas Schott, Chatfield, Minn.

REAL RACING WHEELS “B” MAIN #2 (12 laps, top 5 advance):
1. (2) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
2. (1) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
3. (5) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
4. (4) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
5. (7) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
6. (9) 25C Cody Thompson, Sioux City, Iowa
7. (3) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., El Paso, Texas
8. (10) 57 Duke Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D.
9. (8) 88 Tanner Williamson, Fort Frances, ON
10. (11) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
11. (6) 1 Blake Arndt, Brownsdale, Minn.
DNS – 21DB David Brown, Kellogg, Iowa
DNS – 5D Devon Havlik, Waterloo, Iowa
DNS – 71 Dustin Strand, East Grand Forks, Minn.
DNS – 45 Chase Holland, Success, Miss.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT “A” MAIN (30 laps):
1. (1) 11X Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines, Iowa
2. (4) 60 Dan Ebert, Lake Shore, Minn.
3. (2) 12 Jason Hughes, Watts, Okla.
4. (7) K9 Will Krup, Mt. Carmel, Ill.
5. (6) 20 Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas
6. (13) 87 Darron Fuqua, Mayetta, Kan.
7. (19) 10B Brandon Givens, Wichita, Kan.
8. (24) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, Iowa
9. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, Woodward, Okla.
10. (17) 15W Alex Williamson, Rushford, Minn.
11. (10) 24C Jim Chisholm, Osage, Iowa
12. (22) 65 Tyler Davis, Haysville, Kan.
13. (5) 21 Jacob Bleess, Chatfield, Minn.
14. (20) 75 Terry Phillips, Springfield, Mo.
15. (9) 4W Tyler Wolff, Fayetteville, Ark.
16. (23) 0 Jake O'Neil, Tucson, Ariz.
17. (16) 21K Kyle Brown, Madrid, Iowa
18. (21) 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa, Iowa
19. (15) 19SB Lance Mari, El Centro, Calif.
20. (14) 01 Jacob Hobscheidt, Plattsmouth, Neb.
21. (18) 58X Gary Christian, Broken Bow, Okla.
22. (11) 38T Dylan Thornton, Orcutt, Calif.
23. (12) 02 Tanner Mullens, Wichita, Kan.
24. (3) 4 Jeremy Nelson, Alexandria, Minn.

Lap Leaders: Hughes 1-12, Berry 13-30.
Total Laps Led: Berry 18, Hughes 12.
Margin of Victory: 0.686 seconds.
Time of Race: 30 minutes, 22.785 seconds (4 cautions, 1 red).
Provisional Starters: O’Neil, VanderBeek.
FK Rod Ends Hard Charger: Givens (started 19th, finished 7th).
Entries: 42.
Next Race: Saturday, April 29, Hamilton County Speedway, Webster City, Iowa.
Summit USMTS National Championship Points: Ebert 922, O'Neil 917, Wolff 909, Sanders 909, Hughes 902, Berry 893, Phillips 887, Krup 868, Fuqua 852, Chisholm 851.
Grant Junghans USMTS Rookie of the Year Points: Berry 893, Krup 868, Nelson 729, Christian 717, Holland 635.
FK Rod Ends USMTS Hard Charger Points: Givens 49, O'Neil 41, Hughes 40, Chisholm 40, Phillips 38.
Miller Welders USMTS Manufacturers Championship Points: Mullens 84, MBCustoms 82, Hughes 68, Harris 61, VanderBuilt 61.
Callies/JE Pistons USMTS Engine Builder of the Year Points: Mullins 87, Cornett 85, Stoen 82, Hatfield 69, ProPower 65.

Contingency Awards:
Aero Race Wheels – Holland.
American Racer – Arndt.
Beyea Custom Headers – Krup.
BigDeal Car Care – Berry, bigmove.
Bryke Racing – Wolff.
BSB Manufacturing – Christian.
Champ Pans – Sanders.
Collins Brothers Towing – Thornton.
Deatherage Opticians – Nelson.
Edelbrock – Nelson.
Fast Shafts – Krup.
FK Rod Ends – Givens.
Hooker Harness – Davis.
Hyperco – Holland.
Integra Racing Shocks & Springs – Carter.
Keyser Manufacturing – A. Williamson.
KSE Racing Products – Givens.
MD3 – Berry.
Mel Hambelton Racing – Ebert.
Midwest Wrap Co. – Thornton.
MSD Performance – Hughes.
Penske Racing Shocks – Bleess.
PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain – Sanders.
QA1 – Nelson.
Quarter Master – Ramirez.
RacerWebsite.com – Bass.
Salty’s BBQ & Catering – VanderBeek.
Simpson Performance Products – Bleess.
Summit Racing Equipment – Arndt, Hoff, Kath, Strand, T. Williamson.
Super Clean – Berry.
Swift Springs – Ebert, Plowman, Berry.
Sybesma Graphics – Berry.
VP Racing – Berry.
Wehrs Machine & Racing Products – Ferguson.
Wilwood Disc Brakes – Givens.