By John Rittenoure
MEEKER, Okla. (March 22, 2025) – The Ortco, Inc. United Sprint League presented by Same Day Auto Repair opened the 2025 season Saturday at Red Dirt Raceway and Steven Shebester raced his way to victory in the Fairgrounds 50 Salute to Fairgrounds Speedway main event.
Shebester started outside front row, shot past pole setter Tyler Edwards on lap 2, and held on for 50 laps to win his fifth USL career main event.
While Shebester was setting the pace Edwards was holding down second and soon found himself battling with third place Joe Wood, Jr. until the third yellow flag of the night stopped the action on lap 18. Tanner Berryhill turned around against the wall in turns 3-4 and collected Edwards and Woods in the process. Edwards car caught fire due to a busted fuel cell. Fortunately safety crews were quickly on the scene and extinguished the fire and Edwards escaped unhurt.
The race restarted with defending series champion Johnny Kent giving chase in second but he was soon challenged by a hard charging Ty Hulsey. Hulsey started 13th and by the halfway point had worked his way into third. On lap 47 Hulsey was able to get around Kent for second but could not reel in Shebester over thee final three laps. Kent held on to third with 8th starting Ryan Padgett finishing fourth and Wood finishing fifth after his involvement in the lap 18 incident.
Tanner Conn led qualifying with a time of 13.756 over Kent’s time of 13.792. Shebester timed third. Conn started the main event in sixth due to the redraw but fell off the pace and finished 19th.
United Sprint League
Red Dirt Raceway, Meeker, Okla.
March 22, 2025
Morton Excavating A Feature (50 Laps): 1. 16S-Steven Shebester[2]; 2. 24H-Ty Hulsey[13]; 3. 55-Johnny Kent[3]; 4. 98-Ryan Padgett[8]; 5. 28-Joe Wood Jr[7]; 6. 24C-Craig Carroll[14]; 7. 50-Cody Whitworth[10]; 8. 8R-Ryker Pace[6]; 9. 6K-Brylee Kilmer[19]; 10. 17-Tanner Berryhill[16]; 11. 7D-David Baxter[21]; 12. 69-Greg York[23]; 13. 6T-Cameron Hagin[12]; 14. 5B-Brock Cottrell[11]; 15. 24T-Glenn Bratti[18]; 16. 5F-Patrick Prescott[20]; 17. 79-Tim Kent[9]; 18. 15-Brent Merchant[15]; 19. 6-Tanner Conn[4]; 20. 18J-Cody Jarvis[17]; 21. (DNF) 4-Tyler Edwards[1]; 22. (DNF) 18-Austin Shores[24]; 23. (DNF) 3-Charlie Harmon III[22]; 24. (DNF) 37-Jack Hall[5]
Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 6-Tanner Conn, 00:13.756[1]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent, 00:13.792[11]; 3. 16S-Steven Shebester, 00:14.009[17]; 4. 4-Tyler Edwards, 00:14.082[8]; 5. 37-Jack Hall, 00:14.177[6]; 6. 8R-Ryker Pace, 00:14.185[20]; 7. 28-Joe Wood Jr, 00:14.189[24]; 8. 98-Ryan Padgett, 00:14.267[23]; 9. 79-Tim Kent, 00:14.268[10]; 10. 50-Cody Whitworth, 00:14.297[4]; 11. 5B-Brock Cottrell, 00:14.327[15]; 12. 6T-Cameron Hagin, 00:14.328[21]; 13. 24H-Ty Hulsey, 00:14.357[3]; 14. 24C-Craig Carroll, 00:14.404[7]; 15. 15-Brent Merchant, 00:14.465[2]; 16. 17-Tanner Berryhill, 00:14.532[16]; 17. 18J-Cody Jarvis, 00:14.626[14]; 18. 24T-Glenn Bratti, 00:14.807[18]; 19. 6K-Brylee Kilmer, 00:14.865[19]; 20. 5F-Patrick Prescott, 00:15.096[5]; 21. 7D-David Baxter, 00:15.244[9]; 22. 3-Charlie Harmon III, 00:15.572[13]; 23. 69-Greg York, 00:15.607[22]; 24. (DNF) 18-Austin Shores, 00:15.607[12]
Lap Leaders: 1 Tyler Edwards, 2-50 Steven Shebester.
Margin of victory: 5.239.
2025 Winners: 3/22 – Steven Shebester.
Next Event: April 11, Tulsa Speedway.
About United Sprint League
Owned by Michael Tyre, the USL sanctions 360 two-barrel / 305 non-wing sprint car events throughout Oklahoma and surrounding states with goals of supporting sponsors and providing fans the the opportunity to enjoy the excitement of non-wing sprint car racing.
Website: https://www.myracepass.com/series/1794.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnitedSprintLeague.
About Ortco Inc.
Ortco Inc. manufactures qualify oilfield parts from American made bar and shaped steel on computerized CNC machinery. Products are then Heat Treated, coated for rust prevention, and warehoused for shipments across the globe. Ortco also utilizes high quality investment castings for safety clamps and various tongs.
Website: http://OrtcoInc.com.
United Sprint League Marketing Partners
Ortco, Inc., Same Day Auto Repair, Speed Stix Shocks, D&G Contracting, DFR Discount Tire, Morton Excavating, Kent Fireworks, H&R Auto Glass, Premier Self Storage, Risley’s Trash Service, Oklahomatidbits.