WHEATLAND, MO. (Sept. 17, 2026) - Tyler Courtney roared from his 12th starting position to take the lead with five laps remaining and held on for an impressive victory Thursday night as the 16th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial opened at Lucas Oil Speedway.
Courtney was the fourth and final leader of the 30-lapper as the Interstate Batteries High Limit/POWRi 410 Sprints came together for the first time in the winged portion of the Hockett-McMillin. The Indianapolis native earned $10,000.
In the POWRi WAR Sprints portion of the program, Rylan Gray drove to victory to capture $2,000. Action resumes on Friday night with the second and final preliminary night of action. Drivers will earn points toward starting position for Saturday's $25,000-to-win High Limit/POWRi 410 Sprint lineup with the top four locking in starting spots.
The Hockett-McMillin Memorial pays tribute to the legacy of Jesse Hockett, from Warsaw, Mo., who was a national 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.
"I felt great all day, we just did not time in well and that has really been the story of our season," Courtney said in victory lane. "I felt really good and I felt really good in the heat race.
"Obviously starting 12th wasn't ideal. We had a forgettable weekend last weekend at Port Royal and for (the crew) to go to the shop and get a different car together and come here swinging like we did ... it shows they never quit and I never quit either."
After three cautions in the first half, the feature was a thriller the rest of the way under green conditions as Courtney picked his way to the front. He overtook Justin Peck on lap 25 after it appeared Peck was in command.
Giovanni Scelzi led the first two laps before fellow front-row starter Rico Abreu took over with caution slowing the action for the first time, on lap four. Scelzi went around the outside of Abreu in turn four after the restart to regain the lead.
Third-starting Peck grabbed second on lap seven but Scelzi opened a 1.3-second lead by lap 11. Meanwhile, Courtney caught and passed Abreu for third on lap 12.
Peck shot to the lead after the restart with Courtney second and Scelzi slipping to third. Just one lap later, caution No. 3 appeared at the halfway mark of the race. Peck had a clean restart and opened a 1.5-second lead by lap 21, appearing to be in control. But Courtney started to close in as the leaders entered lapped traffic and he wheeled into the lead on lap 26.
Winning his third High Limit feature at Lucas Oil Speedway, Courtney said determination was a huge part of his rally.
"We got into traffic there and I didn't even go to the middle until probably one or two laps too late," Courtney said. "I moved down after I got my him and I found (grip). You just never give up, right? That's what you're thinking with five to go.
"These wins are hard to come by. We have two more nights here to try and build on tonight."
Despite Peck's repeated attempts to slide Courtney in the closing laps, Courtney was up to the challenge and held off Peck by .781 seconds. It was a bit frustrating for Peck, who turned 28 on Thursday.
"I felt like we kind of threw that one away. I feel like we had the car to beat," Peck said. "I might have got a little impatient there in traffic. I could smell the rubber and I could feel it, like I needed to do something right away. I had those lapped cars running two-wide and I couldn't make much of a run on them.
"It just didn't work out, but all in all I'm really happy with our race car and our engine program right now and hopefully we can translate that into some wins here."
Scelzi was third with Ashton Torgerson fourth and Tanner Thorson fifth.
Qualifying saw Aaron Reutzel set a new track record with a lap of 12.779 after Brent Marks also had eclipsed the previous fast lap with 12.791. The record had been held by Rico Abreu at 12.829 seconds, set on June 29, 2024.
Gray hangs on in for wingless win: An excited Rylan Gray of Greenfield, Ind., scored his first career POWRi WAR Sprint victory in the wingless side of the action, leading all 25 laps to pick up $2,000 and valuable points toward Saturday night's feature lineup.
"I've got to thank everyone who works on this thing," Gray said in victory lane. "That's the hardest I've ever had to work for one in my life. I'm worn out. Man, that track was awesome."
The pole-starting Gray, 20, set the early pace with Riley Kreisel moving to second on lap four, trailing Gray by one second. Green's lead was down to a car length by lap eight with Ricky Lewis close behind in third.
Lewis grabbed second away from Kreisel on lap 10 and trailed the leader by .624-seconds when caution flew on lap 12r. Lewis continued to harass Gray after the restart, but was not able to muster up the pass.
Gray had opened a one-second lead when Kreisel's car slowed on the backstretch to bring out a lap-21 caution. Wagner grabbed second on the restart and applied pressure, but Gray was able to hang on for the victory.
Mario Clouser was third with Justin Zimmerman fourth and Wyatt Burks fifth.
"We struggled at the beginning of the year a lot and just worked on our program really hard," Gray said. "We're gonna try to come out here and sweep all three nights. I don't know if anyone has done that, but if we can it would be really cool. We have one night down."
16th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial (unofficial results)
Interstate Batteries High Limit/POWRi 410 Sprints
A Feature - 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[12]; 2. 26-Justin Peck[3]; 3. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[2]; 4. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 5. 88-Tanner Thorson[11]; 6. 19-Brent Marks[8]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 8. 1X-Scott Bogucki[16]; 9. 24D-Danny Sams III[9]; 10. 5-Kasey Jedrzejek[5]; 11. 9-Daison Pursley[24]; 12. 55-Brady Bacon[6]; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 14. 13-Tanner Holmes[14]; 15. 31-Scotty Thiel[15]; 16. 42-Sye Lynch[13]; 17. 11-Roger Crockett[22]; 18. 74-Xavier Doney[10]; 19. 57-Cam Sorrels[21]; 20. 66-Ryan Newton[19]; 21. 40-Howard Moore[18]; 22. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[23]; 23. 9R-Chase Randall[17]; 24. 52-Blake Hahn[20]
B Feature - 1. 57-Cam Sorrels[2]; 2. 11-Roger Crockett[1]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 4. 9-Daison Pursley[3]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[5]; 6. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[7]; 7. 2-Gage Montgomery[8]; 8. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 9. 12X-Landon Crawley[13]; 10. 28-Jace Park[12]; 11. 91-Garrett Benson[10]; 12. 19H-Hank Davis[6]; 13. 63-JJ Hickle[11]; 14. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss[14]
C Feature - 1. 12X-Landon Crawley[1]; 2. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss[3]; 3. 98P-Miles Paulus[7]; 4. 75-Tyler Blank[4]; 5. 74N-Natalie Doney[2]; 6. 15-Jack Potter[10]; 7. B8-John Barnard[9]; 8. 88C-Brogan Carder[5]; 9. G6-Kyle Jones[8]; 10. 22M-Rees Moran[6]
Heat 1 - 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 3. 26-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 5. 66-Ryan Newton[8]; 6. 9-Daison Pursley[1]; 7. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[5]; 8. 63-JJ Hickle[7]; 9. 12X-Landon Crawley[10]; 10. 88C-Brogan Carder[9]; 11. B8-John Barnard[11]
Heat 2 - 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 2. 5-Kasey Jedrzejek[4]; 3. 19-Brent Marks[6]; 4. 55-Brady Bacon[5]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[9]; 6. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[1]; 7. 2-Gage Montgomery[8]; 8. 28-Jace Park[7]; 9. 74N-Natalie Doney[10]; 10. 22M-Rees Moran[3]; 11. 15-Jack Potter[11]
Heat 3 - 1. 9R-Chase Randall[1]; 2. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 3. 1X-Scott Bogucki[2]; 4. 45X-Ashton Torgerson[5]; 5. 31-Scotty Thiel[3]; 6. 51B-Joe B Miller[8]; 7. 21-Brian Brown[7]; 8. 11-Roger Crockett[6]; 9. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 10. 98P-Miles Paulus[10]
Heat 4 - 1. 42-Sye Lynch[2]; 2. 40-Howard Moore[1]; 3. 74-Xavier Doney[4]; 4. 13-Tanner Holmes[3]; 5. 24D-Danny Sams III[5]; 6. 19H-Hank Davis[7]; 7. 91-Garrett Benson[9]; 8. 57-Cam Sorrels[6]; 9. 75-Tyler Blank[8]; 10. G6-Kyle Jones[10]
Qualifying - 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.779[11]; 2. 19-Brent Marks, 12.791[6]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett, 12.866[4]; 4. 57-Cam Sorrels, 12.869[13]; 5. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr, 12.893[2]; 6. 55-Brady Bacon, 13.021[36]; 7. 45X-Ashton Torgerson, 13.031[15]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III, 13.044[1]; 9. 26-Justin Peck, 13.072[3]; 10. 5-Kasey Jedrzejek, 13.084[12]; 11. 77-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.111[32]; 12. 74-Xavier Doney, 13.145[33]; 13. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.151[42]; 14. 22M-Rees Moran, 13.157[16]; 15. 31-Scotty Thiel, 13.173[40]; 16. 13-Tanner Holmes, 13.195[18]; 17. 88-Tanner Thorson, 13.201[23]; 18. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.203[21]; 19. 1X-Scott Bogucki, 13.215[7]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.229[24]; 21. 9-Daison Pursley, 13.234[20]; 22. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 13.250[8]; 23. 9R-Chase Randall, 13.266[31]; 24. 40-Howard Moore, 13.291[30]; 25. 63-JJ Hickle, 13.313[10]; 26. 28-Jace Park, 13.356[17]; 27. 21-Brian Brown, 13.362[37]; 28. 19H-Hank Davis, 13.364[9]; 29. 66-Ryan Newton, 13.380[27]; 30. 2-Gage Montgomery, 13.382[34]; 31. 51B-Joe B Miller, 13.406[14]; 32. 75-Tyler Blank, 13.460[5]; 33. 88C-Brogan Carder, 13.465[22]; 34. 52-Blake Hahn, 13.472[19]; 35. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss, 13.486[29]; 36. 91-Garrett Benson, 13.508[41]; 37. 12X-Landon Crawley, 13.542[25]; 38. 74N-Natalie Doney, 13.591[38]; 39. 98P-Miles Paulus, 13.690[26]; 40. G6-Kyle Jones, 13.797[39]; 41. B8-John Barnard, 13.938[28]; 42. 15-Jack Potter, 13.965[35]
POWRi WAR Sprints
A Feature - 1. 1-Rylan Gray[1]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[7]; 3. 6-Mario Clouser[11]; 4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[6]; 5. 11W-Wyatt Burks[3]; 6. 11X-Tom Curran[9]; 7. 44-Wesley Smith[18]; 8. 34-RJ Miller[10]; 9. 13-Chase Howard[14]; 10. 97-Cam Schafer[8]; 11. 73-Samuel Wagner[20]; 12. 41-Ricky Lewis[4]; 13. 11-James Lyerla[21]; 14. 6K-Jake Kouba[17]; 15. 33-Bryson Smith[13]; 16. 27-Justin Johnson[19]; 17. 33X-Justin Patocka[22]; 18. 76-Edison Aldrich[15]; 19. 91-Riley Kreisel[2]; 20. 2-Luke Howard[12]; 21. 98P-Ryan Padgett[16]; 22. 21K-Kobe Simpson[5]
B Feature - 1. 6K-Jake Kouba[2]; 2. 44-Wesley Smith[6]; 3. 27-Justin Johnson[5]; 4. 73-Samuel Wagner[1]; 5. 11-James Lyerla[12]; 6. 33X-Justin Patocka[7]; 7. 52-Dean Bowers[3]; 8. 99-Jarrett Weyant[10]; 9. 00W-Noah Whitehouse[11]; 10. 24LCR-Brett Combs[9]; 11. (DNS) 00-Nathan Schank; 12. (DNS) 79F-Cooper Sullivan; 13. (DNS) 6W-Isaac Chapple; 14. (DNS) B52-Blake Bowers
Heat 1 - 1. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[1]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[2]; 3. 97-Cam Schafer[3]; 4. 76-Edison Aldrich[5]; 5. 6K-Jake Kouba[6]; 6. 00-Nathan Schank[4]; 7. 24LCR-Brett Combs[7]; 8. 00W-Noah Whitehouse[8
Heat 2 - 1. 21K-Kobe Simpson[1]; 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks[3]; 3. 6-Mario Clouser[2]; 4. 2-Luke Howard[6]; 5. 98P-Ryan Padgett[8]; 6. 79F-Cooper Sullivan[5]; 7. 44-Wesley Smith[4]; 8. 11-James Lyerla[7]
Heat 3 - 1. 91-Riley Kreisel[4]; 2. 41-Ricky Lewis[3]; 3. 13-Chase Howard[1]; 4. 73-Samuel Wagner[2]; 5. 27-Justin Johnson[5]; 6. 33X-Justin Patocka[6]; 7. 99-Jarrett Weyant[7]
Heat 4 - 1. 1-Rylan Gray[4]; 2. 11X-Tom Curran[1]; 3. 34-RJ Miller[2]; 4. 33-Bryson Smith[3]; 5. 52-Dean Bowers[6]; 6. (DNS) 6W-Isaac Chapple; 7. (DNS) B52-Blake Bowers
Qualifying Group 1 - 1. 00-Nathan Schank, 15.423[1]; 2. 97-Cam Schafer, 15.449[7]; 3. 77-Jack Wagner, 15.563[8]; 4. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman, 15.690[5]; 5. 76-Edison Aldrich, 15.961[4]; 6. 6K-Jake Kouba, 16.376[6]; 7. 24LCR-Brett Combs, 16.569[3]; 8. 00W-Noah Whitehouse, 19.422[2]
Qualifying Group 2 - 1. 44-Wesley Smith, 15.074[2]; 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks, 15.269[6]; 3. 6-Mario Clouser, 15.550[5]; 4. 21K-Kobe Simpson, 15.565[3]; 5. 79F-Cooper Sullivan, 15.614[1]; 6. 2-Luke Howard, 16.173[4]; 7. 11-James Lyerla, 16.297[8]; 8. 98P-Ryan Padgett, 21.000[7]
Qualifying Group 3 - 1. 91-Riley Kreisel, 15.081[6]; 2. 41-Ricky Lewis, 15.529[7]; 3. 73-Samuel Wagner, 15.829[5]; 4. 13-Chase Howard, 15.878[2]; 5. 27-Justin Johnson, 16.181[3]; 6. 33X-Justin Patocka, 16.518[4]; 7. 99-Jarrett Weyant, 16.885[1]
dirt track racing advertisement
Qualifying Group 4 - 1. 1-Rylan Gray, 15.025[3]; 2. 33-Bryson Smith, 15.096[2]; 3. 34-RJ Miller, 15.303[1]; 4. 11X-Tom Curran, 15.593[6]; 5. 6W-Isaac Chapple, 20.001[4]; 6. 52-Dean Bowers, 20.002[5]; 7. B52-Blake Bowers, 20.003[7]
Daily on-track schedule (Friday-Saturday):
Pits and Grandstands open - 4 p.m.
Driver registration - 4:15-5:30 p.m.
Drivers' meeting - 5:45 p.m.
Engine heat - 6 p.m.
Hot laps - 6:30 p.m. (racing to follow)
Pit passes, reserved and general admission ticket packages are available online via High Limit at https://bit.ly/LucasHockett.
Daily adult admission at the gate:
Friday - $37
Saturday - $47
For campground info, call the speedway at (417) 282-5984.
CONTACT:
Casey Shuman
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984
Email: CShuman@lucasoilspeedway.com
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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.
In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on X, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway, on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on Lucas Oil Speedway's TikTok.
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 racing facilities in the nation. Located in Wheatland, Mo., approximately an hour from Springfield 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, United States Modified Touring Series and the High Limit Sprint Racing Series, POWRi Sprint Cars and POWRi WAR Sprints.
In addition to the special events, the Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series features the Late Models, USRA Modifieds, USRA Stock Cars, USRA B-Mods and Super Stocks.
2026 Official Lucas Oil Speedway Marketing Partners
Bill Roberts Chevrolet
"The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Iconic Apparel
"The Official Merchandise Provider of Lucas Oil Speedway"
Lucas Oil Products
"The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper
"The Official Soft Drink" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Rugged Radios
"The Official 2-Way Communications Provider" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Summit Racing Equipment
"The Official Sponsor" of Lucas Oil Speedway
Sunoco Race Fuels
"The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil Speedway
2026 Lucas Oil Speedway Supporters Include:
Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging, Alliance Sport Marketing, Arctic Food Equipment, Berry Tractor and Equipment Co., Big Adventure RV, Bill Roberts Chevrolet, Bolivar Auto Sales & Detailing, Bolivar Farmers Exchange-MFA, Boubin Tire/American Racer, Bridal Cave, Candlelight Creations-Dick's Wild Root Horseradish, Casey's, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, City Magnet, Clear Creek Golf Cars, Clearlight Inn, Eagle Machine, Eibach Springs, Encounter Ministry Inc., Fast Shafts, FSE Fire Systems, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Foley Equipment-Cat Rental Store, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Heart of America Beverate, Henry's Towing Service, Heritage Tractor, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, Iconic Apparel, In the Garden of Eden, Kluhsman Racing Components, Lucas Cattle Company, MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welding, Missouri Eagle, MyRacePass, OakStar Bank, O'Bannon Bank, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Outerwears Performance Products, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr. Pepper, Ozarks Community Health Center, PEM, Pitts Homes, Pitts Realty, Pitts Cattle, RACEceiver, RacinDirt.com, RCR Designs, Real Racing Wheels, Rod End Supply, Rugged Radios, Ryan E. Murphy Law Firm LLC, SBU Athletics, Safety Kleen, Scott Furniture, Sidetrack RV Park, SMSI, Southwest Electric Cooperative, Southwest Septic, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels, Super 8 Bolivar Mo., Super Splash, USA Bassin, US Army Corps of Engineers-Pomme de Terre, VAG - Veterans Golfers Assoc., Vietti Marketing Group, WacoBill.com, Wheatland Motel, White's Marine Center, Wieland, Woods Supermarkets.
