Mullens Hits the Jackpot at Casino Speedway

Mullens finds lady luck on the last lap to deny Reese Solander his first USMTS victory.   

14th Annual Summersota Nationals presented by Evolution Powersports
Casino Speedway, Watertown, South Dakota 

Weather Conditions via NWS in Aberdeen, SD
75 Degrees
South wind 5-10 mph
Mostly Cloudy 

Car Counts via MRP live timing and scoring:
USMTS: 29
WISSOTA Street Stock: 14
Wissota Midwest Mods: 10 

Qualifying Quick Time:  Reese Solander 14.322  Only one group of qualifying tonight, no split groups. 
Dice of Doom Invert: 5 after taking a few races off, the dice returns! 
Real Race Wheel B-main: Joseph Thomas 
Provisionals: Troy Girolamo and Joe Duvall 
DNQ: 5 drivers didn't make the race with 29 entered, 24 car A-main field. 

Next Race: Inaugural Nebraska Nationals
Off Road Speedway, Norfolk, NE   

**SUMMIT USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt Points Standings after 6-17-2025 Post Tech** 

*Denotes Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year contenders
**Points are not the official USMTS national points.  I take the points per finish per the USMTS rule book.  Bonus points for laps lead and most laps lead are included each night.

Top 10 Recap: 
1) Tanner Mullens:  Tanner hit the 3 hearts at Casino Speedway.  Used a last lap pass to overtake Reese Solander for the win.  Nearly a clean sweep in the 3 disciplines of the night.  Took advantage of the invert after qualifying to start front row.  One of those nights where it paid off for Tanner.  Made up 23 points on Kyle Strickler to now be 1 point from 3rd (based on my points).

2) Reese Solander:  Cherry, Cherry, Orange for Reese at Casino Speedway.  It looked like visions of Lucas Oil Speedway battling Jim Chisholm for the win.  This time there wasn't a big TV to watch.  The invert didn't cause him to overdrive the car like previous quick time/inverts.  Took what the track and car gave him and progressed through the field.  Also jumps back into my top 10 for national points.

3) Rodney Sanders: Another productive night behind the wheel of his MB Customs #20.  The nights Rodney doesn't find victory lane, it's a good bet you'll still see him getting interviewed after the races with a top 4 finish.  Safe to call him the "senior member" of the USMTS full time drivers, he'll be like everyone else rolling into Off Road Speedway for the first time.

4) Travis Saurer:  An off and on driver for the USMTS in the past.  Tried his luck at Casino and was rewarded nicely.  With his open powerplant getting some TLC, his WISSOTA motor didn't disappoint him.  If not for a broken shock mount with 10 to go, he may have had something for the top 3.  For most of the feature Travis was one of the few to make the top side work for his car.  A good showing by the "Cowboy" for the regional drivers.

5) Jim Chisholm: It was a interesting night for the #24c team.  He had a run in with his brother Joe in the heat race battling for what would later be a spot in the A-main. Tried multiple lanes during the feature and advanced 4 spots from his 9th starting place.  Looking forward to a new track and less excitement on the track.

6) Kyle Strickler:  "Missed" it tonight as I would put it.  It was a quiet night for the 8 team.  Starting 3rd tonight, just wasn't the typical Strickler run battling for the lead or able to gain positions.  With Tanner gaining points on Kyle, look for a fired up 8 team at Off-Road Speedway.

7) Gary Christian: Another good top 10 run.  During the "Mother Nature" swing last week, the 58-team stayed up north rather than go back to Broken Bow, picking up a feature win at Deer Creek Speedway Saturday night.

8) Tyler Davis:  Good showing after some R&D and repair work was needed on his BOM chassis.  One of the many chassis builders on tour, it's not only a battle on the track but off the track to find that advantage to help customers and promote the brand.

9) Mike Stearns: A local driver who's dabbled in a variety of cars at Casino Speedway.  Mike held his own tonight and gained himself a top 10 finish. One thing many say, when they race a USMTS race, it'll only make them better down the road.

10) Wyatt Gaggero: A driver who continues to gain experience in the open mod program.  Wyatt's been running the Heartland Tour, along with the local tracks in his hometown Wichita area.  I've talked about him in our discord group last year as one to watch in the next 2-3 years.  His father has been a car owner in the USMTS in the past as well. That experience will be valuable if and when they want to expand their program.

Honorable Mention: Jayson Good Motorsports
When I saw the #85 checked in at Casino, I remember when his team ran USMTS in the 2020 and 2021 season.  Between the "Big Red hauler" that had its up and downs on the road, they always had a positive attitude through their social media platforms. It wasn't the end of the world, they were having fun and experiences new tracks and making friends in the racing family. They always took time to reply back to my comments which I appreciated.  These days, Jayson has moved on to racing late models and being a proud papa with his wife to their daughter.  He'll have a good crew chief in a few years. 

Follow Along: 
DirtInfo | Dirt Racing Analysis & Opinions  My writings can be found here.  As they say, things are "in the works" for some other projects.  Right now, I'll recap all the USMTS events, either in person, or thanks to the fine folks at RacinDirt | USMTS, Dirt Modifieds & Live Racing Streams.  The nights I'm at the track and in the pits,  I'll have a race recap similar to my Mason City USMTS fair race article. A modified version of the Recliner Reactions those nights will still be available. 

DirtInfo - YouTube I have a voice and face for writing so you won't see me here :).  A weekly podcast my discord friends put on with a buffet of racing topics, series, schedules and other topics of interest.  I will toss them a USMTS nugget or two when asked. More importantly, they'll always leave you with "One for the Road'.