Jason Cummins won the USRA Modified feature.

The 2017 racing season came to an end Friday night at Chateau Raceway in Lansing, Minn., with Season Championship Night. The season actually ended up being about half the number of shows that were planned back in the spring. Friday was just the 11th night of racing action during this year out of a planned 21. Mother Nature took care of the other 10.

However the drivers packed lots of action into the season in what little time they were allowed with some of the best racing around. Excellent track conditions all year allowed for a lot of two- and three-wide action race after race and week after week with thrilling action every night.

Jason Cummins put an exclamation point on his track championship as he took home his eighth feature win of the season the USRA Modifieds with another impressive run. Cummins started back outside row five for the season finale which saw Greg Pfeifer Jr. of Austin jump from row two to the front on lap one. Pfeifer proceeded to stretch out a lead over Darwyn Karau of Kasson while Cummins tried to pick his way through the field.

It took seven laps for him to make it into the top five and another eight laps before he was able to move up to fourth as Greg Jacobson of Waseca was glued to his line and gave Cummins all he could ask for. Lap after lap, Cummins challenged for the spot but couldn’t make the move stick until he went way to the bottom on lap 15 and slid by for the spot in turn two.

Once clear of Jacobson, Cummins took just three laps to reel in the top three and take over the top spot, picking off two cars on lap 17 and sliding past Pfeifer a lap later.

Pfeifer, who had a heat win on the night, came home in second ahead of a late-charging Jacob Bleess of Chatfield. Jacobson was fourth ahead of Joe Ludeman of Grand Meadow.

Greg Jensen of Albert Lea waited until the final night of the season to pick up his first win of the year as he scored a heat win. Pfeiffer ended up second in points followed by Karau, Doug Hillson of Blooming Prairie and Jensen.

There was a little drama in the Out-Pace USRA B-Mod feature with the track championship still not set in stone. Kadden Kath started in row two of the 17-car feature needing at least a 14th-place finish to wrap up his second title since 2013. What seemed like a pretty sure thing for the Owatonna driver who had five feature wins under his belt this year, and top-three finishes in eight of the previous 10 nights coming into the evening.

However, mayhem happens and on lap one it let loose putting everything in doubt. Coming into complete lap one the front of the field got all twisted up and Kath was right in the middle of it. He took hits on both sides of the car, completely tearing the right side sheet metal. Looking a little worse for wear, he was able to keep it on the track.

Another caution after the ensuing restart sent a few more cars to the pits, leaving just 13 cars still running and thus ensuring his top-14 run was in hand and the track championship as well. There was still the matter of the race itself to decide and Andrew Bleess of Chatfield, starting outside front row, grabbed the early lead over Nate Chodur of Lake Mills, Iowa. Bleess survived the early cautions and continued to lead despite heavy pressure from Chodur.

Chodur finally got a good run on lap six and took over the top spot while behind him fans were treated to some more of the wild two- and three-wide action that has been the trademark of the track all season. Eventually, Taylor Ausrud of Hayfield outran Matt Brooks of Austin for the runner-up spot behind Chodur, who capped a perfect night with the win as he also scored one of the two heat wins.

Nate Chodur won the Out-Pace USRA B-Mod feature.

Bleess came home in fourth ahead of the mangled car of Kath. Brooks, who made the move up to Out-Pace USRA B-Mods this year from Pure Stocks, picked up his first win of the season in his heat earlier in the night. Jayden Larson of Mankato was second in the final points standings ahead of Brooks, Chodur and Raey Hastings of Austin.

The track will announce its plans for the awards banquet in the coming weeks. Next season's schedule will be out at a later date as well, but fans can expect to see a test 'n' tune sometime in April with more exciting racing action to follow for the 62nd season at the Chateau Raceway.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

OFFICIAL RESULTS
United States Racing Association
Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series
Chateau Raceway, Lansing, Minn.
Friday, Sept. 1, 2017

USRA MODIFIEDS

Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 1-Greg Jensen, [2]; 2. 77G-Greg Jacobson, [6]; 3. 33-Joe Ludemann, [3]; 4. 21-Jacob Bleess, [7]; 5. 72-Doug Hillson, [5]; 6. 11V-Alex Hanson, [9]; 7. 61T-Tammy Soma Clark , [1]; 8. 77-Jacob Stark, [8]; 9. 20JR-David Wytaske, [4].

Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 73JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr, [2]; 2. 71-Jason Cummins, [5]; 3. 111JR-Keith Tourville, [1]; 4. 29H-Joe Horgdal, [6]; 5. 23-Darwin Karau, [7]; 6. 1A-Dwaine Hanson, [3]; 7. 95-Keith Foss, [8]; 8. 24-Charlie Steinberg, [4].

Feature 1 (25 laps): 1. 71-Jason Cummins-New Richland, [10]; 2. 73JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr-Austin, [4]; 3. 21-Jacob Bleess-Chatfield, [5]; 4. 77G-Greg Jacobson-Waseca, [2]; 5. 33-Joe Ludemann-Grand Meadow, [8]; 6. 95-Keith Foss-Winona, [16]; 7. 72-Doug Hillson-Blooming Prairie, [9]; 8. 1A-Dwaine Hanson-Lakeville, [12]; 9. 29H-Joe Horgdal-Kasson, [3]; 10. 1-Greg Jensen-Albert Lea, [7]; 11. 77-Jacob Stark-Austin, [14]; 12. 23-Darwin Karau-Kasson, [1]; 13. 11V-Alex Hanson-Northwood IA, [11]; 14. 111JR-Keith Tourville-Webster WI, [6]; 15. 24-Charlie Steinberg-Kasson, [17]; 16. 61T-Tammy Soma Clark-Rochester , [13]; 17. 20JR-David Wytaske-Grand Meadow, [15].

OUT-PACE USRA B-MODS

Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. 44-Matthew Brooks, [4]; 2. 83-William Steinberg, [1]; 3. 2-Andrew Bleess, [6]; 4. 83X-Kadden Kath, [3]; 5. 30-Scott Demmer, [9]; 6. 3A-Taylor Ausrud, [8]; 7. 21T-Taylor Ovrebo, [7]; 8. 31-Raey Hastings IV, [5]; 9. 26G-Bryce Gerber, [2].

Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. 88-Nate Chodur, [2]; 2. 20J-Jackson Hale, [4]; 3. 36K-Jayden Larson, [8]; 4. 81K-Caleb Korpi, [6]; 5. 5-Jesse Baer, [7]; 6. 39T-Cody Torgerson, [1]; 7. 4-Derek Clement, [5]; 8. 54-Jett Sorensen, [3].

Feature 1 (18 laps): 1. 88-Nate Chodur-Lake Mills IA, [5]; 2. 3A-Taylor Ausrud-Hayfield, [11]; 3. 44-Matthew Brooks-Austin, [9]; 4. 2-Andrew Bleess-Chatfield, [2]; 5. 83X-Kadden Kath-Owatonna, [3]; 6. 4-Derek Clement-Spring Valley, [16]; 7. 54-Jett Sorensen-Rochester, [17]; 8. 21T-Taylor Ovrebo-Wells , [13]; 9. 31-Raey Hastings IV-Austin, [14]; 10. 39T-Cody Torgerson-Pemberton, [12]; 11. 81K-Caleb Korpi-Claremont, [10]; 12. 26G-Bryce Gerber-Austin, [15]; 13. 5-Jesse Baer-Minnesota Lake, [4]; 14. 36K-Jayden Larson-Mankato, [8]; 15. 83-Billy Steinberg-Kasson, [7]; 16. 30-Scott Demmer-Ellendale, [6]; 17. 20J-Jackson Hale-Rochester, [1].