MASON CITY, Iowa — After 48 victories in three seasons and back-to-back USRA B-Mod National Championships, Jim Chisholm figured he was ready for the next step in 2022.On Tuesday night at the Mason City Motor Speedway, the 19-year-old from Osage, Iowa, proved that he and his family made the right decision as Chisholm earned his first USMTS triumph in his rookie season.Still hunting his first USRA Modified win, Chisholm now has a notch on his belt with the Summit USMTS National Championship presented by RacinDirt—the pinnacle of dirt modified racing.With Dan Ebert to his right, Chisholm launched ahead from the pole position to take the lead at the start of the race but he was never able to shake Ebert from his shadow. Ebert peeked to the inside and outside of Chisholm on several occasions but never could wrestle to top spot away.Finally, following a caution on lap 29, Ebert threw a slide job at the leader in turn 4 and streaked by the flag stand as the new leader to complete lap 31.Ebert’s time in the spotlight was short-lived, however, as Chisholm raced ahead six laps later and then proceeded to leave the pack in his wake.In honor of Casey Arneson, an additional two laps were added to the length of the feature race making it a 42-lap main event. Arneson, who competed for several years with the USMTS alongside his brother, Austin Arneson, tragically lost his life in a UTV accident on July 1. He was 27.Fittingly, with two laps to go in the main event, the yellow flag waved when defending USMTS National Champion Dereck Ramirez came to a stop on the racetrack with a flat right rear tire.The sudden two-lap dash to the finish didn’t seem to bother Chisholm as he drove away from the field to win after having an advantage of nearly three seconds over second-place when the caution occurred.While Chisholm celebrated his $5,000 triumph with his family and crew members, Terry Phillips powered by two cars in the final two laps to claim the runner-up paycheck.
Doming from 14th on the starting rid, Darron Fuqua held off Jacob Bleess for third with Tanner Mullens completing the top five.
The Finish:
Feature (42 Laps): 1. (1) 24C Jim Chisholm, 2. (5) 75 Terry Phillips, 3. (14) 87 Darron Fuqua, 4. (4) 21 Jacob Bleess, 5. (7) 02 Tanner Mullens, 6. (3) 19 Dustin Sorensen, 7. (2) 60 Dan Ebert, 8. (10) 10C Cayden Carter, 9. (11) 21K Kyle Brown, 10. (17) 20 Rodney Sanders, 11. (21) 44S Shane DeVolder, 12. (9) 12 Jason Hughes, 13. (15) 33Z Zack VanderBeek, 14. (6) 38T Dylan Thornton, 15. (8) 4R Dereck Ramirez, 16. (18) 19SB Lance Mari, 17. (23) 8C Chris Clark, 18. (13) 0 Jake O’Neil, 19. (22) 24 Aaron Benson, 20. (19) 15W Alex Williamson, 21. (20) 65X Carlos Ahumada Jr., 22. (12) 91 Joe Duvall, 23. (16) 20JR Todd Shute, DNS – 56 Colton Horner
Keyword: Chisholm Savors First USMTS Trophy In Mason City