6/13/2025
United Rebel Late Model Series
Mullens Rockets from 20th to First After Early Trouble at Dodge City
DODGE CITY, Kan. (June 13, 2025) — In one of the most dramatic charges of the season, Tanner Mullens put on a show for the Dodge City Raceway Park crowd, storming from the 20th starting position to win the United Rebel Late Model Series A-Feature Saturday night.
The win didn’t come easy for the Wichita driver, who was sidelined during qualifying with mechanical trouble. “We broke a rocker during qualifying,” Mullens said in his post-race interview. “Thankfully, the Knight crew had a spare part back at the race shop, and we were able to get it fixed just in time for the feature.”
Despite missing his heat race and starting at the tail, Mullens wasted no time slicing through the field. With bold three-wide passes and momentum-building moves up top, he picked off cars lap after lap. By halfway, he was already inside the top five, and with just a few laps to go, he surged past race-long contenders Josh Leonard and Kip Hughes to take the lead and never looked back.
Leonard, who started second and ran up front all night, finished a strong second ahead of pole dash winner Hughes, who completed the podium. John Hansen and Brandon Conkwright rounded out the top five after solid runs through the heat races.
Jake Nightingale, who was fastest in Group B qualifying and a heat race winner, finished sixth. Dan Smith, Justin Bussell, Delbert Smith, and Braxten Leonard completed the top ten.
From heartbreak in qualifying to heroics in the feature, Mullens’ night was a testament to perseverance, teamwork, and raw speed.
United Rebel Late Model Series 21 Entries
A Feature 1 | 00:16:45.599
- 02-Tanner Mullens[20]; 2. 85-Josh Leonard[2]; 3. 60-Kip Hughes[1]; 4. 8H-John Hansen[3]; 5. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[4]; 6. 3J-Jake Nightingale[5]; 7. 92S-Dan Smith[10]; 8. 11B-Justin Bussell[7]; 9. 92-Delbert Smith[6]; 10. 85JR-Braxten Leonard[11]; 11. 01-Jesse Smith[14]; 12. 30-Kelly Yutterman[9]; 13. 25P-Mike Petersilie[13]; 14. 22-Kevin Newell[19]; 15. (DNF) 18B-Bob Bills[12]; 16. (DNF) 10-TeeJay Janousek[17]; 17. (DNF) 11H-Denver Howard[16]; 18. (DNF) 25X-Troy Burkhart[15]; 19. (DNF) 122-Damian Patocka[8]; 20. (DNF) 84-Gary Kilbourn[18]; 21. (DNS) 27D-Jared Dunkin
Pole Dash | 00:01:39.000
- 60-Kip Hughes[1]; 2. 85-Josh Leonard[4]; 3. 8H-John Hansen[7]; 4. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[5]; 5. 3J-Jake Nightingale[8]; 6. 92-Delbert Smith[3]; 7. 11B-Justin Bussell[6]; 8. 122-Damian Patocka[2]
Heat 1 | 00:02:20.000
- 11B-Justin Bussell[1]; 2. 60-Kip Hughes[2]; 3. 30-Kelly Yutterman[3]; 4. 25P-Mike Petersilie[4]; 5. 10-TeeJay Janousek[5]; 6. (DNS) 27D-Jared Dunkin
Heat 2 | 00:02:18.000
- 85-Josh Leonard[1]; 2. 92-Delbert Smith[3]; 3. 92S-Dan Smith[2]; 4. 01-Jesse Smith[4]; 5. 84-Gary Kilbourn[5]
Heat 3 | 00:02:18.000
- 3J-Jake Nightingale[1]; 2. 8H-John Hansen[2]; 3. 85JR-Braxten Leonard[3]; 4. 25X-Troy Burkhart[4]; 5. 22-Kevin Newell[5]
Heat 4 | 00:02:27.000
- 24C-Brandon Conkwright[1]; 2. 122-Damian Patocka[5]; 3. 18B-Bob Bills[3]; 4. 11H-Denver Howard[4]; 5. (DNS) 02-Tanner Mullens
Qualifying 1 | 00:00:49.000
- 11B-Justin Bussell, 00:15.862[2]; 2. 85-Josh Leonard, 00:15.869[6]; 3. 60-Kip Hughes, 00:16.058[4]; 4. 92S-Dan Smith, 00:16.273[5]; 5. 30-Kelly Yutterman, 00:16.576[11]; 6. 92-Delbert Smith, 00:16.579[7]; 7. 25P-Mike Petersilie, 00:16.937[1]; 8. 01-Jesse Smith, 00:17.048[3]; 9. 10-TeeJay Janousek, 00:17.124[8]; 10. 84-Gary Kilbourn, 00:17.429[10]; 11. (DNS) 27D-Jared Dunkin
Qualifying 2 | 00:03:44.000
- 3J-Jake Nightingale, 00:15.830[5]; 2. 24C-Brandon Conkwright, 00:16.079[6]; 3. 8H-John Hansen, 00:16.159[8]; 4. 02-Tanner Mullens, 00:16.574[10]; 5. 85JR-Braxten Leonard, 00:16.687[9]; 6. 18B-Bob Bills, 00:16.742[1]; 7. 25X-Troy Burkhart, 00:16.984[4]; 8. 11H-Denver Howard, 00:17.414[3]; 9. (DNS) 22-Kevin Newell; 10. (DNS) 122-Damian Patocka
Article Credit: Dalton Janousek
Submitted By: Dalton Janousek
