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Bubak and Doney the big winners as 14th annual Hockett-McMillin Memorial concludes at Lucas Oil Speedway

2024-09-15 17:19

WHEATLAND, MO. (Sept. 14, 2024) - A pair of first-time champions celebrated feature victories Saturday night at the 14th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Jake Bubak emerged from an early three-car battle, wound up leading 24 of 25 laps and held off a late charge from Scott Bogucki to capture the POWRi 410 Sprint feature. Meanwhile, Xavier Doney made the leap from race runner-up a year ago into victory lane in the POWRi WAR Sprint division.

"This is really special," Bubak said. "The Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial is a big one, probably the biggest memorial race in sprint cars."

The Hockett-McMillin Memorial pays tribute to the legacy of Jesse Hockett of Warsaw, Mo., who was a star in both the winged and non-wing sprint divisions when he lost his life in a shop accident in 2010. His cousin and crew chief, Daniel McMillin, was killed in an automobile accident in 2006.

Bubak, of Arvada, Colo., scored his fifth career POWRi 410 feature victory and his first Hockett-Memorial trophy - plus a check for $10,000. He also was the winner in Friday night's preliminary feature, which was worth $3,000.

Bubak started on the pole and led the opening laps with Ayrton Gennetten close behind as Aaron Reutzel ran third. Reutzel advanced into second on lap six before Gennetten regained the spot the next time around.

With the top three separated by less than a half-second, Reutzel grabbed the lead on lap nine with an outside pass out of turn four, but Bubak took it back a lap later just before the race's first caution came out.

"That was pretty fun racing with Ayrton and Aaron," Bubak said. "I appreciate Aaron giving me a lane there. He raced me really clean. That was really cool and a lof of fun."

Bubak took off after the restart and needed just two laps to open a 1.8-second advantage over Gennetten with Reutzel third and in Bogucki fourth. Bubak continued to expand his cushion and it was 2.5 seconds by lap 20.

"That restart was good timing," Bubak said. "I guess (Reutzel) didn't beat me to the line, so I got to be the leader and choose where I wanted. We restarted and he just showed me I had to run a little harder in (turns) three and four. I started to run really hard up there and the car got better."

The aggressive driving paid off as Bubak was able to build a sizeable lead with the laps winding down.

"I think I was just being too conservative knowing this place is so hard on tires and I definitely killed these tires ... but I was gonna go for it," Bubak said. "I just ran as hard as I could up there."

Bogucki, of Mclaren Vale, South Australia, was on the move and roared into second by lap 21, but was still nearly two seconds behind Bubak with time running out. I turned out that Bogucki needed another lap or two.

Bubak was able to hold off the hard-charging Bogucki, winning by .693 seconds at the checkers as fireworks exploded over the infield.

"We were a little snug around the top side," Bogucki said. "Ayrton and Aaron could get up there and free up and Jake as well. I just committed to the bottom and I think I made one and two wider and it was making my entry easier.

"As long as I was running them down, I wasn't moving. It's great to be here. A great place, great facility and always a good time."

Reutzel wound up third with Thursday-night preliminary feature winner Gennetten fourth and Joe B. Miller fifth.

Doney prevails for POWRi WAR victory: One year after finishing as the runner-up and with some other near-misses in this race, Xavier Doney of Odessa, Mo., was able to get it done in the wingless portion of the Hockett-McMillin Memorial.

Doney took over the lead with 10 laps remaining and held off Jesse Vermillion of Greencastle, Ind., in a three-lap shootout after a late-race restart, to earn the $4,077 victory.

"I'll be waking up (Sunday) and pinching myself, making sure this isn't a dream," the 18-year-old Doney said after his seventh win of the season - but undoubtedly the biggest of his young sprint-car career.

"It really feels amazing," Doney added. "I guess the fifth time is the charm. It's the fifth race here and finally winning the Hockett, one of the biggest races in Missouri every year. It's a really special one to win."

One of a handful of drivers pulling double duty, Doney finished eighth in the 410 feature.

In the WAR division, he was the third and final leader of the 25-lapper that saw several contenders suffer misfortune.

Chase Howard, starting on the outside of row one, grabbed the early lead. Howard already had a three-second lead over defending race winner Ricky Lewis when a red flag stopped the action on lap two as former Hockett-McMillin race winner Wesley Smith jumped the cushion and rolled his car in turn three and Anthony Nicholson had a rollover in turn two.

A strong restart by Howard kept him in the lead, but trouble struck on lap six as Howard's motor went up in flames entering turn one. Kobe Simpson, a half-second behind Howard at that point, inherited the lead with Lewis third and Doney fourth.

The third-starting Simpson got away after the restart to open a nearly one-second lead over Lewis by lap 10. Doney moved around Lewis on the low side of turn four and into second on lap 12 and began to pursue Simpson.

Just three laps later, the sixth-starting Doney took over the top spot with an inside pass off turn two. Doney said the low groove is one he patiently waited to make work to his advantage.

"I kind of scouted (the bottom) out during hot laps," Doney said. "Pretty much everywhere was quick in hot laps, except the bottom because the grease was there. I knew it would come in during this race and I stuck to the bottom and managed to get by the guys who were throwing slide jobs."

Vermillion, who started 17th, moved into second on a lap-17 restart and Doney fought him off for the lead over the next several laps. Doney's lead was .375 seconds over Vermillion when a caution flew on lap 22 as eighth-place Riley Kreisel spun in turn two.

That set up a three-lap shootout for the win. Before the field could complete a lap, Lewis took a wild flip between turns one and two. Lewis, who had charged back into the top 10 after changing the flat tire earlier, walked away from the wild ride which ended his chance for a repeat.

Doney was able to take it home from there as he beat Vermillion by .554 seconds at the finish. Simpson was third with Shawn Westerfield fourth and Kyle Shipley in fifth.

"We had the car set-up this time," Vermillion said. "I made up a lot of spots. You have to start top 10 to win these usually and I actually had a shot. I knew (Doney) would have to make a mistake off the bottom for me to get there.

"I screwed up on the last restart and he got me a little bit. That kind of sealed the deal."

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Sept. 14, 2024)

14th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial

POWRi 410 Winged Sprints

TRD A Feature - 1. 27B-Jake Bubak[1]; 2. 1X-Scott Bogucki[6]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 4. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[2]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 6. 98P-Miles Paulus[9]; 7. 79-Kyle Jones[13]; 8. 74-Xavier Doney[17]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[21]; 10. 17-Zach Hampton[16]; 11. 21-Gunner Ramey[23]; 12. 45X-Jace Park[5]; 13. 4W-Jamie Ball[8]; 14. 3-Howard Moore[15]; 15. 23-Lance Moss[19]; 16. 44-Chris Martin[11]; 17. 9$-Kyle Clark[20]; 18. 99X-Dalton Stevens[24]; 19. 24-Elijah Gile[22]; 20. 12X-Chase Randall[10]; 21. 23B-Brian Bell[14]; 22. 22M-Rees Moran[12]; 23. 20G-Noah Gass[7]; 24. 91-Riley Kreisel[18]

Max Papis Innovations LCQ 1 - 1. 98P-Miles Paulus[3]; 2. 44-Chris Martin[2]; 3. 79-Kyle Jones[4]; 4. 3-Howard Moore[5]; 5. 74-Xavier Doney[1]; 6. 23-Lance Moss[8]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 8. 21-Gunner Ramey[11]; 9. 14E-Kyle Bellm[10]; 10. 74N-Natalie Doney[9]; 11. (DNS) 77-Jack Wagner; 12. (DNS) 1JR-Steven Russell.

Hoosier Racing Tire LCQ 2 - 1. 12X-Chase Randall[1]; 2. 22M-Rees Moran[3]; 3. 23B-Brian Bell[5]; 4. 17-Zach Hampton[6]; 5. 91-Riley Kreisel[2]; 6. 9$-Kyle Clark[8]; 7. 24-Elijah Gile[9]; 8. 99X-Dalton Stevens[7]; 9. 75X-Glen Saville[11]; 10. 6AU-Brayden Cooley[10]; 11. 44H-Derek Hagar[4]; 12. 75-Tyler Blank[12]

POWRI WAR Sprints

TRD A Feature - 1. 74-Xavier Doney[6]; 2. 5-Jesse Vermillion[17]; 3. 21K-Kobe Simpson[3]; 4. 4J-Shawn Westerfeld[11]; 5. 4U-Kyle Shipley[15]; 6. 6-Mario Clouser[10]; 7. 15-Matt Sherrell[13]; 8. 79X-Kyle Jones[7]; 9. 77-Jack Wagner[9]; 10. 73-Samuel Wagner[18]; 11. 33W-Rece Wommack[16]; 12. 26-Zachary Clark[23]; 13. 24-Casey Shuman[12]; 14. 1-Paul White[22]; 15. 91-Riley Kreisel[4]; 16. 15E-Dakota Earls[20]; 17. 73V-Blake Vermillion[21]; 18. 49-Brian Ruhlman[24]; 19. 41-Ricky Lewis[1]; 20. 11W-Wyatt Burks[5]; 21. 2H-Luke Howard[19]; 22. 13-Chase Howard[2]; 23. 44-Wesley Smith[8]; 24. 16-Anthony Nicholson[14]

Max Papis Innovations LCQ 1 - 1. 77-Jack Wagner[2]; 2. 4J-Shawn Westerfeld[1]; 3. 15-Matt Sherrell[6]; 4. 4U-Kyle Shipley[3]; 5. 5-Jesse Vermillion[5]; 6. 2H-Luke Howard[10]; 7. 73V-Blake Vermillion[8]; 8. 26-Zachary Clark[11]; 9. 10-Bryan Debrick[9]; 10. B52-Blake Bowers[13]; 11. 6X-Frank Rodgers[15]; 12. 21-Caleb Stelzig[4]; 13. 15EX-Jason Earls[16]; 14. 2-Chad Goff[7]; 15. (DNS) 06-Rylan Gray; 16. (DNS) 57-Chase Parson; 17. (DNS) 15B-Quinton Benson

Hoosier Racing Tire LCQ 2 - 1. 6-Mario Clouser[1]; 2. 24-Casey Shuman[8]; 3. 16-Anthony Nicholson[3]; 4. 33W-Rece Wommack[14]; 5. 73-Samuel Wagner[2]; 6. 15E-Dakota Earls[5]; 7. 1-Paul White[7]; 8. 49-Brian Ruhlman[13]; 9. 11X-Tom Curran[4]; 10. 33-Bryson Smith[16]; 11. 27-Justin Johnson[15]; 12. 7S-Wade Seiler[12]; 13. 46M-Dusty Murray[11]; 14. 11WX-Chris Morgan[6]; 15. 21M-Michael Moore[10]; 16. (DNS) 79-Keith Martin

Summit USRA Nationals next: The Summit USRA Nationals return to Lucas Oil Speedway next week for the fourth consecutive year, with a test and tune kicking things off on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Pit gates will open at 1 p.m. with practice from 6-9 p.m.

The United States Racing Association's annual event will feature USRA Modifieds, American Racer USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Mensink Racing Products USRA Hobby Stock and USRA Tuners in action. Racing programs are set each night, Sept. 18-21.

Pit parking spots are still available. Overflow parking is located near Lake Lucas in the drag boat pit area. Call the USRA office at (515) 832-6000 for more info.

For ticket or camping information on any Lucas Oil Speedway event, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com.

For information about Lucas Oil Speedway, including schedules, point standings and other news, please visit LucasOilSpeedway.com.

CONTACT:

Danny Lorton

Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager

Office: (417) 282-5984

DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com



# # #

Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate, this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience.

For ticket and camping information and everything about the Show-Me 100 event, visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for all the information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.

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Complete Lucas Oil Speedway event information, archived race recaps, previews and driver features, along with ticket information and schedules can be found by visiting LucasOilSpeedway.com.

About Lucas Oil Speedway

Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five racing facilities in the nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri, and just an hour and a half from the Kansas City metro area, the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" lives up to its title.

Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. This year marks the 12th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, "Lake Lucas." New for 2017 was all-purpose built Off Road facility featuring a host of regional events.

Lucas Oil Speedway's dirt oval track plays host to some of the largest and most-popular events in the Midwest with national and regional touring series appearing frequently including: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.

In addition to the special events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series features the Late Models, USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods.

2024 Official Lucas Oil Speedway Marketing Partners

Arizona Sport Shirts

"The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil Speedway

Bill Roberts Chevrolet

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"The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway"

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Lucas Oil Products

"The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway

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Summit Racing Equipment

"The Official Sponsor" of Lucas Oil Speedway

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"The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil Speedway

2024 Lucas Oil Speedway Supporters Include:

AM Pyrotechnics, Alliance Sport Marketing, Arctic Food Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts, Berry Tractor and Equipment Co., Big Adventure RV, Bill Roberts Chevrolet, Bolivar Auto Sales & Detailing, Bolivar Farmers Exchange-MFA, Boone's BBQ Barn, Boubin Tire/American Racer, Bridal Cave, BWI Sanitation, Candlelight Creations-Dick's Wild Root Horseradish, Casey's, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, City Magnet, Clearlight Inn, Dixie Chopper, Eibach Springs, Farmers Insurance Agent Kristy Reynolds, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Foley Equipment-Cat Rental Store, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, Iconic Apparel, Impact Signs Awnings Wraps, In the Garden of Eden, KC Bobcat, Kluhsman Racing Components, Kona Ice, Lucas Cattle Company, MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welding, Missouri Division of Tourism, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, OakStar Bank, O'Bannon Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Ozark Golf Cars, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper, Ozarks Community Health Center, PEM, Pitts Homes, Pitts Realty, Pitts Cattle, Pomme de Terre Resort, Proboat, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, Rains Ice Company, RCR Designs, Real Racing Wheels, Rod End Supply, Ron Jenkins Accounting & Tax Service, Rugged Radios, Ryan E. Murphy Law Firm LLC, SBU Athletics, Safety Kleen, Scott Furniture, Sidetrack RV Park, Simpson Racing Products, Southwest Electric Cooperative, State Tech, Stillwater Resort, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels, Turn 1 Bar & Grill, US Army Corps of Engineers-Pomme de Terre, Vietti Marketing Group, Wheatland Motel, White's Marine Center, Wieland, Wild Animal Safari, Woods Supermarkets.