RODNEY SANDERS, ZACH VANDERBEEK AND JIM CHISOLM finished in the Top-3 on Saturday in the USMTS Spring Classic at Hamilton County Speedway. (Submitted photo/Tyler Rinken)

The Karl Chevrolet Hamilton County Speedway was the venue for the Summit USMTS National Championship on Saturday, presented by RacinDirt.

This was the second straight night of action to close out the 15th Annual Spring Classic, which concluded with a gripping 40-lap main event.

The racing and the racing surface were much different than Friday night’s show, but the result was the same, with five-time USMTS National Champion Rodney Sanders earning the top step on the Featherlite Trailer Top-3 podium.

Joe Chisholm grabbed the lead on lap 1, fending off Tom Berry Jr., but Berry countered on lap 2, swinging high to take control.

By lap 3, Sanders passed Chisholm for second before a lap-5 caution flew as Alex Williamson hit the pits with a flat tire, echoing his prior night’s trouble.

On lap 10, Zack VanderBeek used the low side to overtake Keith Foss for third. Meanwhile, Sanders pressed Berry by lap 12, going side by side, but VanderBeek slipped past Sanders for second on lap 13.

Running eighth, Kyle Strickler’s car smoked heavily on lap 19, signaling issues that surfaced later in the race. A lap-20 caution reshuffled the field after a lapped car clipped Berry, flattening his tire and giving Sanders the lead.

After the restart, Sanders led VanderBeek, Jim Chisholm, Foss and Joe Chisholm, with Jim Chisholm passing Foss for third on lap 21. Tanner Mullens reached fourth by lap 23, while Sanders built a three-second gap with 10 laps left.

Mullens overtook Jim Chisholm for third on lap 33, but a lap-36 caution erased Sanders’ lead. Mullens faded on the lap 37 restart with a flat tire, and though Strickler surged to third, his engine expired on lap 38, prompting another yellow.

For the final three-lap dash, VanderBeek chose the outside, Jim Chisholm the inside, but Sanders stayed untouchable, clinching his 123rd USMTS win and a $10,000 weekend sweep.

“We were pretty good again,” Sanders said. “It was definitely smoother than (Friday) night, so hats off to (Hamilton County Speedway track owner and promoter) Todd (Staley) and all of them. It feels good.

“There’s a lot of great cars here. It just feels good to be competitive with them and have a good run.”

Sanders — of Happy, Tex. — took the victory, followed by VanderBeek of New Sharon in second and Jim Chisholm of Osage in third. Williamson stormed from 16th to fourth, earning the FK Rod Ends Hard Charger award for the second night in a row.

Joe Chisholm finished fifth, trailed by Kyle Brown in sixth, Terry Phillips in seventh, Trevor Hughes in eighth and Tanner Mullens ninth despite his late issue. Keith Foss rounded out the top 10.

Sanders’ win pushed him to 701 points in the standings, just a single marker ahead of Jim Chisholm’s 700. Mullens held third with 636, Williamson has 619 and Joe Chisholm completed the top five with 614.

With eight races in the books, the USMTS road warriors are off until Memorial Day Weekend when the series returns for four straight nights of racing in Iowa and Minnesota which begins a grueling stretch of 13 races in 31 nights that spans seven states.