MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association

• dirt track racing organizations

The Lucas Oil MLRA (Midwest Latemodel Racing Association) sanctions regional Super Dirt Late Model touring series events in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Iowa.

• Website
• Facebook

MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association Dirt Track Racing Schedule

We currently have no race schedule information for MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association. Please check back later.

MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association Dirt Track Racing News

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Spotlight: Fan favorite Cornell looks to make most in break from Super Late Models

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 24, 2024) - Kaeden Cornell ventured into the world of Super Late Model racing with big dreams and a limited budget. That combination usually doesn't lead to a great deal of success against teams that combine talent and money. The 23-year-old from Willard still has aspirations to compete at the highest level of Late Model racing, at some point. But for now, he and team owners Rick and Melissa Hoover, are returning to their roots. That isn't necessarily a bad thing for Cornell, a four-time Lucas Oil Speedway winner of the fan-voted Most Popular Driver Award from 2017-20. "Right now, I just want to race. I actually haven't got to race a lot the last couple of years," Cornell said. "I know it sounds cliche, but I want to win races." Driving the same Black Diamond chassis as he debuted in 2023 but with different tire, motor and shock packages, Cornell is back at Lucas Oil Speedway - at least occasionally - in the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model division. He finished second to reigning track champ Justin Wells in last week's Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series program and looks forward to giving it another go this Saturday night. "Any time I get to go back there, it's like a homecoming," Cornell said of Lucas. "That place is like home with all the laps we've made there. It's great to be back and see all the fans, the racers, the staff and everyone there. Everyone is always so nice there." Cornell started out at Lucas Oil Speedway in USRA B-Mods before becoming a championship contender in the weekly Late Model Series when Rick Hoover gave him a ride in 2017. He won three Late Model features in 2019 and two more in 2020. From 2021-23, he and Hoover Motorsports gave the higher levels of dirt Late Models a try and had a few top-10 runs scattered along the way. But the team was plagued by motor issues and had to back it down this season, after only attempting seven races in 2023. Despite the frustration, Cornell thinks he's become a wiser driver with some of that experience against the national and regional teams. "Just how hard those guys drive," Cornell said of his top takeaway. "You can't take one lap off. It's dog-eat-dog. That's why they're the best of what they do." Something that seems straightforward, such as time trials to earn a heat-race starting position, is of ultra importance. "You go out and make those two laps and I'd pull in and tell Dad (and crew chief Aaron Cornell) that I was exhausted," Cornell said. "You're just holding your breath the whole time because those laps are so important. If you start in the back against those guys, you might as well load up and go home. "The open Late Model deal, it straight-up comes down to funds. It's so expensive to be competitive. I'm so thankful for Rick and Melissa Hoover. They've been so good to me, giving me the opportunity to drive a Late Model." Cornell said there's a chance, if the season goes well, the team could enter a couple of Lucas Oil MLRA type of races late in the season. Two of his better runs came last fall, a 10th and a seventh on back-to-back nights at the MLRA Ron Jenkins Memorial. But for now, he's keeping his focus on once again winning at Wheatland and some other regional ovals. He plans to hit some other POWRi Late Model events and Cash Money Late Model Series races this summer. "At least we got the dust knocked off," he said of last week's runner-up finish. "I haven't got to race a bunch the last two years. It was good to be back at Lucas Oil Speedway, where we've made a bunch of laps. "I wish we had won our heat race and had a chance to start up front in the feature. Justin's really good. There's a reason he's in the Hall of Fame." Cornell''s sponsors include Hoover Motorsports, Cloverleaf Auto Repair, Asphalt Sealcoating and Striping, Oil & Octane Shop, Millard Family Chapel, Midwest Sheet Metal, Black Diamond Race Cars, Mullins Race Engines, Choate Farms, Swift Springs, TruForm Race Products, Dynamic Drivelines, Simpson Race Products, MyRacePass, SuperMoon Graphics, G-Six Detailing and Smoke Racing. USRA Stock Cars features on Saturday: Lucas Oil Speedway returns to action on Saturday with the Round 2 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series with Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Night at the Races. Headlining the action will be the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars, which will be running a special 25-lap, $750-to-win feature. The Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models, Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds and Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods also will be in action. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday with grandstands at 4:30, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. The earlier opening to the grandstands this season is to allow kids a chance to sign up for the RCR Designs Jr. Fan Club and take part in flagman Mike Striegel's Pit Tour prior to the races. Youngsters ages 5-12 eligible to sign up for a pre-race tour of the pits where they can meet drivers. Kids can sign up for the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club on the south end of the Midway after grandstand gates open. Saturday admission: Advance discount tickets (13 and up) online only - $12 Adults (13 and up) - $15 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12 Youth (ages 6-12) - $5 Kids (5-and-under - FREE Family pass - $35 Pit pass - $35 For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  OZARKS WEEKEND: MLRA ROLLS INTO CALLAWAY RACEWAY & LAKE OZARK SPEEDWAY

  Wheatland, Missouri (April 23, 2024) - The Lucas Oil MLRA will aim to get back on track this weekend as they close out the month of April with a pair of stops in the heart of Missouri's Ozark County this Friday and Saturday. For the first time in the 36-year history of the MLRA, the Callaway Raceway located just north of Jefferson City in the town of Fulton, Missouri, will open their doors to the touring series on Friday night April 26th. Just the third stop on the 2024 MLRA tour, Callaway has been described as a speedy ¼ mile semi-banked bull ring oval, known for producing great multi-groove racing. Friday night's main event will pay $5,000 to win. On Saturday April 27th, the MLRA will make its lone stop of the year at the Lake Ozark Speedway located just outside of Eldon, MO. The 4th Annual "Battle at the Beach" on the 1/3-mile venue will pay $7,000 to win and $700 to start. Chris Simpson and Chad Simpson split time in victory lane one year ago at the Lake Ozark Speedway in what was then a two-day event. Other MLRA winners from "The Lake" include the likes of Payton Looney, Jeff Taylor and 2019 MLRA Champion Will Vaught who has three Lake Ozark wins to his credit. Chad Simpson will enter the weekend with the Midwest Sheet Metal spoiler affixed to his Longhorn Chassis, indicative of the series point leader. The four-time MLRA champion enters with a 25-point margin over Tony Jackson Jr. and Chris Simpson who are tied for second. Justin Duty will enter the weekend 70 points out of the top spot in fourth, while Gordy Gundaker completes the top five and is only 80 markers out of the championship lead. Hodges Excited for Home Track Weekend In just his second year following the Lucas Oil MLRA, Dustin Hodges has shown great promise in competing with the series top tier drivers. This weekend the Centralia, Missouri driver finally gets to go racing at a pair of tracks he considers home tracks. After finishing 10th in the series overall standings in 2023 and 4th in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Standings, he knew he wanted to take another shot at following the MLRA in 2024. "We are a hundred times from where we were when we started the season last year to where we're at now. Ultimately that's why I decided to go ahead and try to make another go of it this year, knowing we finally know what we're into now," explained Hodges. "I'm about as confident as it gets with the car, so yeah I think we're in a lot better position than we were last year at this time." Hodges enters this weekend 9th in MLRA points, after the season opener at the Lucas Oil Speedway where he topped the 44-car field in capturing the MyRacePass "Overall Fast Time" on Saturday night and followed that up with his first ever MLRA heat race victory. Those small take-a-ways from the weekend have aided in building more confidence for his small race team. "Our car has been good when there is grip. We haven't lacked it going all the way back to the Show-Me last year and then the last MLRA race at Wheatland at the end of last year. We've definitely had the speed when there's grip, and were slowly getting it there when the track slows down, it's just unfortunately taking me longer knowing it's me at the wrenches trying to decide what changes to make to find a happy balance in the car." The driver of the Foundation Recovery Systems # 22 will be in the minority on Friday night when the series rolls into Callaway Raceway, as one of the few MLRA drivers to have ever raced at the Mid-Missouri bullring track. Hodges has multiple track championships at the venue, ranging from his days in the ULMA Late Model Series where he is a multi-time series champion, to his 2022 triumph in the USRA Modifieds where he collected six wins enroute to the title. "I'm excited to do this weekend, not only is it the closest which helps with the diesel bill a little bit, but also from a standpoint of me being confident in a track and knowing a track. I've got about a million laps around that place, I can probably run it in my sleep," he commented of Callaway Raceway. "When the surface is right and that track is right, I've yet to be at another quarter mile track that you can run three wide safely like you can at that joint." Over the past couple of seasons of following the MLRA Hodges has experienced numerous nights of being the new kid on the block with learning new tracks, and this time he notes it's nice to be heading to familiar territory. "For me I feel like it helps me out going to a familiar place, and with the tracks in general this weekend I feel like it levels the playing field a bit. When we go to places like Davenport you know the (Chad & Chris) Simpsons and some other guys really know that place like I know Callaway. So, for us going to a place like Callaway or Farmington, you know I just feel like it levels the playing field a bit and helps me in that sense." "I've always been a late model guy, so I enjoy just getting to fulfill this dream of doing this, and I'd like to keep doing it as long as financially it can happen. I think we've shown that we can definitely run with them, so as long as things will go our way and we can continue trying to find a little better balance when the track slows down, I think we can be there to play with them and contend," concluded Hodges. TWO TWO RACING MARKETING PARTNERS: Kimberling Enterprise, Foundation Recovery Systems, Just Jeff's, Show Me Heating & Air, Danny Mings Drywall, Veterans United, Iron Gate Real Estate/Sandy Crane, Mid American Carpenters Union, Afco, Melloway Fast Wraps, Floodzone Motorworks, Liters VP, Abbot & Wimer Attorneys at Law Firm, & Fastlane Tire & Auto. Team 22 Crew: John Doerr, Kyle Harrison, & Cale Turner Callaway Raceway: Fulton, MO-- Friday 4/26/24 Pit Gates: 2:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Hot Laps: - 7:00 PM Racing to Follow Admission: Adults $25, Seniors/Military $23, Youth (6 to 12) $10 Pit Passes: $45 Support Classes: B-Mods, Midwest Mods, POWRi Super Stocks Facebook: www.callaway-raceway.com Lake Ozark Speedway: "Battle at the Beach"-- Saturday 4/27/24 Pit Gates: 1:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:30 PM, Racing to follow Admission: Adults $30, Seniors/Military $28, Youth (6 to 12) $10 Pit Passes: $45 Support Classes: POWRi Midwest Mods, POWRi Super Stocks, POWRi B-Mods, & POWRi Hornets Website: www.LakeOzarkSpeedway.net For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA FLO Sports "The Official Broadcast Partner" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fluidyne, Fox Shocks, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoosier Race Tires, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance/Holly, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Outerwears, PEM, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Thermo Tech, Wieland, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Spotlight: Busy Dayton Pursley looks for more success in 2024

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 18, 2024) - Dayton Pursley grew up going to the races at Lucas Oil Speedway as his dad, long-time USRA Modified driver Jason Pursley, chased victories. So it was pretty special for Dayton when he won his first feature race at the speedway last summer. "That meant a lot to me," Dayton Pursley said of his Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mod victory last June. "I know from lap one through lap 20, I was the most nervous I'd ever been. I told myself every corner not to spin out, not to do anything wrong because JC Morton was closing on me. Just trying to run the best race I could." The 21-year-old from Hermitage is ready to chase more checkered flags this season, beginning with the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series opener on Saturday night. The B-Mods will headline the action with a special 25-lap, $750-to-win main event. It will be Public Telecommunicators Appreciation Night at the Races. In observation of National Public Telecommunicators Week, to show appreciation to the 911 dispatch agencies, all 911 dispatchers will be admitted FREE with ID or Badge. The Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models, Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds and O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will join the B-Mods. Pursley also picked up a feature win at Midway Speedway as part of a solid 2023 season. He finished third in Lucas Oil Speedway points, behind track champion Bobby Williams and two-time champ Morton. "It was a pretty good season," Pursley said. "I didn't get a lot of wins, but I got better with the car in my first year with it. I struggled early in the year, but the longer the season went the better I got." This season won't find Pursley chasing points, however, as his racing day job will keep him busy. As new crew chief for Brennon Willard on the Lucas Oil MLRA circuit, Pursley will be overseeing Willard's Capital chassis race car on weekends that the MLRA series is in action. That was supposed to have been the case this weekend, but MLRA action in Iowa was postponed by wet weather. "Whenever Brennon doesn't race, I'm going to race my car," Pursley said. "Throughout the week, I'll go home to my dad's shop and work on my race car and get it ready. Other than that, I'm a full-time crew chief/tire guy for Brennon." Pursley got experience working on Late Models a couple of years ago doing tire prep for Earl Pearson Jr. He sees it as a great way to spread his education of what it takes to build and maintain a full-time racing program. What he learns on the Late Models doesn't directly help in prepping a B-Mod, but he said there are some things that will be a benefit in his planned move to a USRA Modified a year from now. But overall, he's enjoying the Late Model knowledge he's picking up in a crew chief role. "It really has made my knowledge for the race car a lot better. I've learned so much already and it's only April," Pursley said. I'm working on shocks and the actual set-up of the race car. I think it will help me with my own racing career and then also helping my dad and uncle (Donnie Fellers). My knowledge is a lot more than it was four months ago." While he won't race weekly in 2024, Pursley said he has high hopes for making a splash in his Skyrocket Chassis at Wheatland and other speedways. "I'm gonna try to go to the bigger money races or go to Lucas and support them," Pursley said. "The more seat time a get and the more tracks I can say I raced at, the better it will be." Team sponsors include CPD Racing Shocks, Earl-F Electric, DF Safety Solutions, Tom Campbell Racing, Loto Lifts, DP Race Bodies, E3 Spark Plugs, Fast Shafts by Axle Exchange, Icon Race Graphics, Skyrocket Chassis, Balanced Speed and Dayton Pursley Racing. POWRi Super Stocks added to pair of programs: Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton has announced that the POWRi Super Stocks have been added as a special guest class to Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series programs on June 15 and July 27. Both events will pay $500 to win. Jr. Pit Tour and Kids Power Wheel Races: Pit gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday with grandstands at 4:30, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. The earlier opening to the grandstands this season is to allow kids a chance to sign up for the RCR Designs Jr. Fan Club and take part in flagman Mike Striegel's Pit Tour prior to the races. Youngsters ages 5-12 eligible to sign up for a pre-race tour of the pits where they can meet drivers. Kids can sign up for the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club on the south end of the Midway after grandstand gates open. Also returning in 2024, with this Saturday the first week, is the popular Kids Power Wheel Races with a 24V-36V class. The races will be held during intermission of Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series events on April 20, May 11, June 8, July 27 and Aug. 24. Kids can bring their own battery-powered cars to the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club sign-in or drop them at the pit gates and they will be brought to the front stretch at intermission. Saturday admission: Advance discount tickets (13 and up) online only - $12 Adults (13 and up) - $15 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12 Youth (ages 6-12) - $5 Kids (5-and-under - FREE Family pass - $35 Pit pass - $35 For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  IOWA BOUND: LUCAS OIL MLRA SET FOR "HAWKEYE LAND 40" & "SLOCUM 50" WEEKEND

  Wheatland, Missouri (April,16 2024) - A short week awaits the drivers and race teams of the Lucas Oil MLRA, as the series makes a quick turn-around and heads north for three nights of racing in the Hawkeye state starting this Thursday April, 18th. The series is coming off a successful opening weekend at the Lucas Oil Speedway which saw Jonathan Davenport topping the field of 44 entries both nights. A rare Thursday night date will get the triple header weekend underway on Thursday, when the MLRA teams up with Kay Promotions for the first annual "Hawkeye Land 40" at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, IA. The ¼ mile track rest on the grounds of the Cedar County Fairgrounds, which is just about 30 minutes northeast of Iowa City, IA. This will mark the MLRA's first ever visit to the semi banked dirt oval in the series storied 36-year history, with the night's winner collecting a $5,000 pay day. The eastern Iowa facility has hosted a limited number of regional Late Model events in recent years, with the majority of those being under the former IMCA Derry Brothers sanction. Wheatland, Iowa's Justin Kay was the dominating force in that era with five wins to his credit. The MLRA's top two drivers from a season ago in Chad and Chris Simpson, have also experienced success in the past at Cedar County under the now defunct Corn Belt Clash Series. Chris scored wins in 2011 and 2012, while brother Chad collected the victory back in 2010. For Chad Simpson, the 27-minute commute to the Cedar County Raceway from his Mount Vernon, IA race shop makes this a home race of sorts, much different than last weeks 6+ hour road trip to Lucas Oil Speedway. "It's definitely close to home, so that's a plus. This is probably the closest race track to my house, but probably the race track that I have raced the least at over the years. I've probably only race there two or maybe three times," he noted of Cedar County Raceway. "It's a fun little fairgrounds race track, and the Kay's (K-Promotions) are putting it on with Al doing the track prep and stuff, and it seems like everything those guys seem to touch and put together race track wise, turns out to be pretty good. It should be a nice little quarter mile bull ring for us." As for what he expects of the racing, he comments, "It will usually have some pretty good speed early in the night, and it usually gets really wide," he noted. "It's kind of one of them tracks that's got that top line that's really really good, but it's kind of on that edge of falling off the ledge too." After Thursday night's weekend kick off, action will head due south to the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa for two big nights of racing. Action will resume on Friday night April 19th with the $5,000 to win "Prelude To The Slocum", Presented by Midwest Performance & Power. The weekend will then conclude on Saturday April 20th, when teams battle for the coveted #5 trophy and the $10,555 pay day in the 50 lap "Slocum 50", Presented by Roederer's Pit Stop. The "Slocum 50" weekend has grown into one of the premier races on the MLRA schedule, even more so with its recent transition into a two-day event. This will mark the 16th annual edition of the Slocum 50 which was started to honor and remember the life of Late Model racer Brent Slocum who tragically lost his life at the facility in 2005 at the age of 28. The Brent Slocum Foundation now carries on the legacy of the former Late Model competitor, who competed primarily in IMCA Late Models at 34 Raceway and at the former Quincy Raceways (now Adams County Speedway) in Quincy, IL. Slocum accumulated numerous wins in his eleven-year career along with track championships and professional accolades. Shannon Babb scored his second career win in the Slocum 50 in 2023, joining four-time winner Bobby Pierce as the only two drivers who are multi-time winners of the event. Other recent winners from 2022 and 2021 include Dennis Erb Jr. and Jason Papich respectively. Defending, and now four-time MLRA champion Chad Simpson, will come into the weekend on top of the Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Challenge standings by virtue of his back-to-back 6th place finishes in this past weekend's season opener. Tony Jackson Jr. and Chris Simpson are knotted up in second, each just 25 points out of the top spot. Oregon's Justin Duty occupies the fourth spot, while Gordy Gundaker rounds out the top five. Cedar County Raceway: Tipton, IA: "Hawkeye Land 40" Thursday 4/18/24 Pit Gates: 3:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Hot Laps: - 6:30 PM Racing to Follow Admission: Adults $25, Kids (5 - 12yrs.) $10, Kids (4 & Under) FREE Pit Passes: Adults $35, Kids (12 & Under) $20 Support Classes: IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayPromotions 34 Raceway: West Burlington, IA: "Prelude To The Slocum" Friday 4/19/24 Pit Gates: 4:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:15 PM, Racing 7:00 PM Admission: Adults $25, Students (11-17) & Seniors 62+: $20, Kids 10 & Under: FREE Support Classes: IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, & 305 Sprints-Winged Website: www.34Raceway.com 34 Raceway: West Burlington, IA: "16th Annual Slocum 50" Saturday 4/20/24 Pit Gates: 4:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:15 PM, Racing 7:00 PM Admission: Adults $30, Students (11-17) & Seniors 62+: $25, Kids 10 & Under: FREE Support Classes: IMCA Modifieds & IMCA Stock Cars For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA FLO Sports "The Official Broadcast Partner" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fluidyne, Fox Shocks, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance/Holly, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Outerwears, PEM, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Thermo Tech, Wieland, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  WEEKEND SWEEP IN WHEATLAND: DAVENPORT WINS $20K MLRA "SPRING NATIONALS" FINALE  

  Wheatland, MO (April 13, 2024) - Jonathan Davenport left no doubt on the opening weekend for the Lucas Oil MLRA, as he continued his dominance at the Lucas Oil Speedway in capturing Saturday nights 11th Annual MLRA "Spring Nationals" finale and its $20,000 payday. Davenport capped a near perfect weekend for his Nutrien Ag Solutions Longhorn team, coming just shy of the weekend sweep of all events when Dustin Hodges topped Davenport and the rest of the 44-car field to score his first career My Race Pass overall "Fast Time Award" with a lap of 14.788 seconds. The starting grid would find Hodges alongside of Davenport for the start of the sixty lap main event, with Davenport taking the early lead. The main event would go green for the first 25 circuits, with Davenport building up a lead of 4.801 seconds over Ricky Thornton Jr. and Mason Zeigler when the nights first caution waved on lap five as Chris Simpson stopped at the entrance of turn one. The green would wave over the field once again for another ten-lap stretch, until a spin for Matt Johnson on lap thirty five placed the field under the nights second caution. Garrett Alberson was on the move leading up to the caution, as he moved his Roberts Motorsports entry from 13th on the grid inside the top three in third position. The nights final caution waved just three laps later with 22 laps remaining as a multi car incident in turn three and four involving the likes of Trevor Gundaker, Hodges, Dillon McCowan, Cole Wells, & Dusty Leonard put the field under red. On the nights final re-start, the man on the move was 21st starting Mike Marlar who had now raced his way into fifth. For the second night in a row, Davenport controlled the restart and quickly put over a one second margin between himself and Thornton Jr. Thornton made an effort to chase him down on the restart, but it was to no avail for the second consecutive night, as Davenport cruised to the win by 4.237 seconds over Thornton Jr. Thornton Jr. nipped Alberson at the line for second, while Marlar completed his night in fourth, collecting the "Swift Springs Move Of The Race". Mason Zeigler completed the top five after finishing in third the night prior. "We were so good in that heat race, we was afraid to change anything," noted Davenport of his win in heat race # 3—a victory of nearly 5.5 seconds over Thornton Jr. "I feel like we over adjusted last night, so we did finally make some changes there at the very end, I don't know if it was the right one, but it sure made it a lot easier to drive. I could maneuver very well and the car was just really good and I'm happy with it." For much of the race Davenport had to contend with lap traffic as his biggest threat for the victory. "I got into a pretty good rhythm there and the biggest thing I felt like won me the race was the lapped cars. I just tried not to get complacent and get behind one even if it was the wrong line. I tried to just keep my momentum up and try to pass them in the next corner. I knew those guys were right on me, Ricky has been really good, and Garrett was coming up through there, Mason was in and out of the top three there. I kept looking at the board, and ya the 157 keep crawling up the board, I was trying my best to put him a lap down there so he didn't have a chance but congratulations to all those guys. We'll definitely sleep good tonight," he concluded. PODIUM FINISHERS: 3rd Garrett Alberson, 1st Jonathan Davenport, 2nd Ricky Thornton Jr. Photo Credit: Heath Lawson Thornton Jr. had opportunities to chase down the Davenport, who for the second night captured the MD3 "Most Laps Led", but in the end he was one spot shy. "The one yellow come out and I wanted to see how we compared, and he just drove off, so that's why we're here. I feel like we were a little better than the other night, but just not as good as we need to be. Hopefully when we come back for the Show-Me we'll be a little better than tonight and don't start so far back in a heat race, because that's a big deal here." Alberson grabbed his first podium of the year with a sold night from deep in the field. "I'm super excited, we started off kind of slow today. The track through us all for a curve ball, except for Davenport, he had it covered. It took us a while to get going there, we made some really good decisions before the race on our set up. That track was really fun, I kept thinking it was going to rubber here and there, but it kinda kept moving around and stayed slick and technical. We had a good race with Marlar there and got close to Ricky so I'm super excited about it," he noted of his third place run. A quick turn-around awaits the Lucas Oil MLRA, as a three-night stand in the Hawkeye state awaits teams starting on Thursday night April 18th. The "Hawkeye Land 40" will mark the MLRA's first ever visit to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa. The weekend will conclude with two consecutive nights of action on Friday and Saturday April 19th - 20th at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, IA. Friday nights "Prelude to the Slocum" will pay $5,000 to win, while Saturday nights 16th Annual "Slocum 50" will send the winner home with a $10,555 pay day. Lucas Oil Speedway Contingencies 4/13/24 Lap Leaders - (1 - 60) Cautions - 3 MyRacePass "Overall Fast Time Award" - Dustin Hodges (14.788 sec.) Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race - Cory Fostvedt MD3 "Most Laps Led" - Davenport (40) Swift Springs "Move of the Race" - Mike Marlar Sunoco Race Fuel "Rookie of the Race" - Aaron Marrant PEM Racing "4th Place Finisher" - Mike Marlar Fluidyne: "5th Place Finisher: - Mason Zeigler Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" - Rodney Sanders Sunoco "Engine Builders Challenge" - Clements Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" - Chad Simpson MSD Performance Holley: "1st B-Main NON-Qualifier" - Brennon Willard MD3 Last Place Finisher: - Garrett Smith Arizona Sport Shirt A Main 60 Laps | 00:41:23.151 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[13]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[21]; 5. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 6. 25-Chad Simpson[7]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[20]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[19]; 9. 49W-Justin Wells[3]; 10. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[9]; 11. 29-Rodney Sanders[15]; 12. 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[25]; 13. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[16]; 14. 36-Logan Martin[10]; 15. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 16. 76-Blair Nothdurft[14]; 17. 15D-Justin Duty[24]; 18. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[23]; 19. 1X-Matt Johnson[22]; 20. 11-Jeff Herzog[11]; 21. 78S-Steve Stultz[26]; 22. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[18]; 23. (DNF) 7W-Cole Wells[12]; 24. (DNF) 22H-Dustin Hodges[1]; 25. (DNF) 7D-Dusty Leonard[17]; 26. (DNF) 10S-Garrett Smith[5] B1- FAST Shafts 12 Laps | 00:14:16.842 1. 7D-Dusty Leonard[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[9]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[11]; 4. 78S-Steve Stultz[2]; 5. 3W-Brennon Willard[6]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[3]; 7. 44W-David Webster[12]; 8. 17T-Jeremy Tharp[14]; 9. (DNF) 15S-Clayton Stuckey[8]; 10. (DNF) 65-Jon Binning[10]; 11. (DNF) 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 12. (DNF) USA1-Chris Hawkins[4]; 13. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[5]; 14. (DNS) 7B-Shayne Bailey B2- Wieland 12 Laps | 00:13:33.548 1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[3]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson[1]; 4. 15D-Justin Duty[10]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[8]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[12]; 7. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[5]; 8. 71-Jim Body[9]; 9. 26-Glen Powell[14]; 10. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[6]; 11. (DNF) 50C-Kayden Clatt[11]; 12. (DNF) 17A-Austin Howes[13]; 13. (DNF) 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 14. (DNF) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[7] H1-Flo Sports 8 Laps | 00:04:10.098 1. 22H-Dustin Hodges[1]; 2. 10S-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 7D-Dusty Leonard[2]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[4]; 7. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[7]; 8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[8]; 10. 157-Mike Marlar[10]; 11. 7B-Shayne Bailey[11] H2-Simpson Race Products 8 Laps | 00:02:41.120 1. 49W-Justin Wells[1]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 3. 11-Jeff Herzog[4]; 4. 29-Rodney Sanders[3]; 5. 78S-Steve Stultz[5]; 6. USA1-Chris Hawkins[8]; 7. 3W-Brennon Willard[7]; 8. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[9]; 9. 65-Jon Binning[10]; 10. 44W-David Webster[6]; 11. (DNS) 17T-Jeremy Tharp H3-Earnhardt Technologies 8 Laps | 00:02:34.775 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 4. 76-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 5. 1X-Matt Johnson[8]; 6. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[7]; 7. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[3]; 8. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[6]; 9. 71-Jim Body[9]; 10. 50C-Kayden Clatt[11]; 11. (DNS) 17A-Austin Howes H4- Lucas Oil 8 Laps | 00:04:33.070 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 3. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 5. 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 7. 2-Tyler Stevens[5]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 9. 15D-Justin Duty[9]; 10. 82-Jace Parmley[8]; 11. 26-Glen Powell[11] For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA FLO Sports "The Official Broadcast Partner" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fluidyne, Fox Shocks, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance/Holly, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Outerwears, PEM, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Thermo Tech, Wieland, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Davenport wires field to complete MLRA Spring Nationals sweep at Lucas Oil Speedway

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 13, 2024) - Jonathan Davenport lived up to his nickname of "Superman" once again on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, completing a dominating weekend sweep of the 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. One night after leading all 40 laps to take home a $7,000 prize, Davenport paced all 60 circuits to once again outdistance Ricky Thornton Jr., and take home the $20,000 check. After winning five times at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023, the Blairsville, Ga., driver is two-for-two this season after beating Thornton by 4.23 seconds for his latest triumph in south-central Missouri. "We got a good starting spot from qualifying," Davenport said. "My guys have been doing a great job. We were so good in that heat race, we were afraid to change anything. We over-adjusted last night. We did finally make some changes there and i don't know if they were the right ones, we it sure made it easier to drive. I could maneuver very well. The car was really good." Just as he did a night earlier, Davenport sprinted to the lead at the start from his front-row starting position. He opened a 3.1-second lead just six laps in over Mason Zeigler with Thornton Jr. running third. By lap 12, Davenport caught lapped traffic and that allowed Zeigler to shave a half-second off his lead. It didn't take Davenport long to stretch his command back out to 4.07 seconds by lap 20 as Thornton moved into the runner-up spot. The long green-flag run from the start continued and Davenport threatened to make it a complete runaway as his lead hit 4.8 seconds by lap 25. That's when the first caution flew as Chris Simpson slowed on the track with a flat tire. Davenport rolled from the restart and needed just five laps to re-open a 1.5-second lead over Thornton with Garrett Alberson third and Zeigler fourth. His margin was 2.1 seconds when the race's second caution appeared on lap 35 after Matt Johnson's spin in turn four. It took only three laps after the restart for the next caution, with the top four unchanged. However, Mike Marlar continued an impressive march, going from 21st and into the fifth by lap 38 when a five-car pileup in turn three brought out the red to clean up the debris. When action resumed, it was more of the same with Davenport using the high groove to quickly open a two-second lead over Thornton by lap 43. Marlar continued to ascend using the extreme low line, passing Alberson for third on lap 46 and 2.5 seconds behind the leader. The race remained caution-free the rest of the way and that was all Davenport needed to weave his way through lapped traffic all the way to the checkers. Thornton held off Alberson for second with Marlar slipping to fourth in the final laps. Zeigler settled for fifth and reigning MLRA champ Chad Simpson was sixth for the second straight night. Davenport said he didn't change his driving approach after the cautions wiped out his sizeable leads, but he definitely kept an eye on the video board to see who was behind him. "I got into a pretty good rhythm there and the biggest thing that won me the race was through lapped cars," Davenport said. "I tried not to get complacent and get behind one. Even if it was the wrong line, I tried to keep my momentum up and try to pass them in the next corner. "I knew those guys were right on me. Ricky's been really good and Garrett was coming up through there." Thornton said he thought the final caution would provide him a chance to see how he matched up with Davenport after losing to him at the finish by just over a second on Friday night. "The one yellow came out and I thought I could at least see how comparable I am to him and he just drove off," Thornton said. "That's why we're here. We need to get better. We'll keep working. "Hopefully when we come back here for the Show-Me (May 23-25) we can finish a little better in the heat race. That's a big thing here." Dustin Hodges posted the fastest qualifying lap at 14.788 seconds out of Group A, while Davenport set fast time in Group B at 14.873. They both won their heats to secure front-row starting positions. Poe wins POWRi Super Stocks feature: Aaron Poe of Knob Noster emerged a narrow winner after a tight battle over the final 14 laps to earn the POWRi Super Stocks feature win. Ted Welschmeyer took the lead at the start over Friday-night winner Taylor Carver. Those two were side-by-side for the lead when a lap-six caution flew. Poe powered from third to the lead on the restart on lap seven. He and Welschmeyer battled it out from there with Poe riding the high groove and Welschmeyer the low side. That's how they stayed until the finish, with Poe, the reigning POWRi Super Stocks national champ, winning by .578 seconds. Afterward, Welschmeyer's car failed technical inspection. Brian Brown was elevated to second with Carver third, Derek Brown fourth and Derek Henson fifth. Clevenger rallies late to win SMVR feature: Damen Clevenger rallied in the final half of the Show-Me Vintage Racers main event to come away with the feature win over Friday-night winner Brandon Jordan. John Martin started on the pole and sprinted to the lead for the start, opening a two-second margin over Bryant Moyer by lap seven. Clevenger, who started seventh, moved into second by lap nine when a caution slowed the field. Jordan, re-starting fifth after beginning the race 14th, rolled into the lead on lap 11. He and Clevenger raced side-by-side over the next two laps with Clevenger forging into the lead with one to go. Clevenger was able to hang on to beat Jordan by .275 seconds for his third career SMVR win at Lucas Oil Speedway. "It helped me catch the lead car," Clevenger said of the caution. "The track was tacky and fast, especially down on the bottom once we got down there. That's where we ran them down at. It was a good, close race." Don Marrs wound up third with Jim Thorne fourth and David Isaacs fifth. LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 13, 2024) 11th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models A Feature - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 3. 58-Garrett Alberson[13]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[21]; 5. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[4]; 6. 25-Chad Simpson[7]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[20]; 8. 18D-Daulton Wilson[19]; 9. 49W-Justin Wells[3]; 10. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[9]; 11. 29-Rodney Sanders[15]; 12. 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[25]; 13. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[16]; 14. 36-Logan Martin[10]; 15. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 16. 76-Blair Nothdurft[14]; 17. 15D-Justin Duty[24]; 18. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[23]; 19. 1X-Matt Johnson[22]; 20. 11-Jeff Herzog[11]; 21. 78S-Steve Stultz[26]; 22. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[18]; 23. (DNF) 7W-Cole Wells[12]; 24. (DNF) 22H-Dustin Hodges[1]; 25. (DNF) 7D-Dusty Leonard[17]; 26. (DNF) 10S-Garrett Smith[5] Fast Shafts B Feature 1 - 1. 7D-Dusty Leonard[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[9]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[11]; 4. 78S-Steve Stultz[2]; 5. 3W-Brennon Willard[6]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[3]; 7. 44W-David Webster[12]; 8. 17T-Jeremy Tharp[14]; 9. (DNF) 15S-Clayton Stuckey[8]; 10. (DNF) 65-Jon Binning[10]; 11. (DNF) 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 12. (DNF) USA1-Chris Hawkins[4]; 13. (DNF) 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[5]; 14. (DNS) 7B-Shayne Bailey Wieland B Feature 2 - 1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[3]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson[1]; 4. 15D-Justin Duty[10]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[8]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[12]; 7. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[5]; 8. 71-Jim Body[9]; 9. 26-Glen Powell[14]; 10. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[6]; 11. (DNF) 50C-Kayden Clatt[11]; 12. (DNF) 17A-Austin Howes[13]; 13. (DNF) 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 14. (DNF) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[7] Flo Sports Heat 1 - 1. 22H-Dustin Hodges[1]; 2. 10S-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[6]; 5. 7D-Dusty Leonard[2]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[4]; 7. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[7]; 8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[8]; 10. 157-Mike Marlar[10]; 11. 7B-Shayne Bailey[11] Simpson Race Products Heat 2 - 1. 49W-Justin Wells[1]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 3. 11-Jeff Herzog[4]; 4. 29-Rodney Sanders[3]; 5. 78S-Steve Stultz[5]; 6. USA1-Chris Hawkins[8]; 7. 3W-Brennon Willard[7]; 8. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[9]; 9. 65-Jon Binning[10]; 10. 44W-David Webster[6]; 11. (DNS) 17T-Jeremy Tharp Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[2]; 4. 76-Blair Nothdurft[5]; 5. 1X-Matt Johnson[8]; 6. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[7]; 7. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[3]; 8. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[6]; 9. 71-Jim Body[9]; 10. 50C-Kayden Clatt[11]; 11. (DNS) 17A-Austin Howes Lucas Oil Heat 4 - 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 3. 7W-Cole Wells[6]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[2]; 5. 25J-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 7. 2-Tyler Stevens[5]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 9. 15D-Justin Duty[9]; 10. 82-Jace Parmley[8]; 11. 26-Glen Powell[11] Group A My Race Pass Qualifying - 1. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:14.788[9]; 2. 49W-Justin Wells, 00:14.884[3]; 3. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:15.143[6]; 4. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:15.274[21]; 5. 10S-Garrett Smith, 00:15.350[20]; 6. 29-Rodney Sanders, 00:15.356[13]; 7. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:15.372[17]; 8. 11-Jeff Herzog, 00:15.398[10]; 9. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.426[16]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:15.443[2]; 11. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.498[5]; 12. 44W-David Webster, 00:15.583[14]; 13. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:15.583[19]; 14. 3W-Brennon Willard, 00:15.681[7]; 15. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.733[1]; 16. USA1-Chris Hawkins, 00:15.739[22]; 17. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.835[11]; 18. 15S-Clayton Stuckey, 00:15.913[18]; 19. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.980[4]; 20. 65-Jon Binning, 00:16.009[15]; 21. 7B-Shayne Bailey, 00:16.552[8]; 22. 17T-Jeremy Tharp, 00:16.563[12] Group B My Race Pass Qualifying - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.873[11]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 00:14.916[7]; 3. 36-Logan Martin, 00:15.357[5]; 4. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:15.439[2]; 5. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel, 00:15.455[8]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:15.488[12]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.496[19]; 8. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.569[21]; 9. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:15.612[18]; 10. 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:15.615[1]; 11. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt, 00:15.637[3]; 12. 7W-Cole Wells, 00:15.700[9]; 13. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, 00:15.708[13]; 14. 25J-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.793[6]; 15. 1X-Matt Johnson, 00:15.816[14]; 16. 82-Jace Parmley, 00:15.824[22]; 17. 71-Jim Body, 00:15.840[4]; 18. 15D-Justin Duty, 00:15.918[20]; 19. 17A-Austin Howes, 00:15.973[15]; 20. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.060[16]; 21. 50C-Kayden Clatt, 00:16.702[10]; 22. 26-Glen Powell, 00:17.049[17] POWRi Super Stocks A Feature - 1. 45-Aaron Poe[5]; 2. 69-Brian Brown[7]; 3. 40-Taylor Carver[3]; 4. 11-Derek Brown[17]; 5. 27D-Derek Henson[9]; 6. 94-Kenny Carroll[8]; 7. 44-James Nighswonger[12]; 8. C1-Darrin Crisler[18]; 9. 04-Blaine Ewing[15]; 10. 164-Michael Muskrat[10]; 11. 1J-Josh Jones[1]; 12. 26M-Donnie Miller[4]; 13. 28K-Chris Kircher[14]; 14. 7M-Scott Johnson[6]; 15. 1X-Kris Lloyd[23]; 16. 94C-JT Carroll[20]; 17. 75M-Randy Moses Sr[19]; 18. 22-Lonnie Duncan[11]; 19. 10-Steve Beach[22]; 20. 35-Johnny Coats[21]; 21. 73-Francisco Escamila[25]; 22. (DNF) 1G-Nick Gibson[24]; 23. (DNF) 69C-Caleb Brown[16]; 24. (DNS) 3-Dale Douty III; 25. (DQ) 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[2] Heat 1 - 1. 7M-Scott Johnson[1]; 2. 1J-Josh Jones[7]; 3. 45-Aaron Poe[8]; 4. 3-Dale Douty III[4]; 5. 04-Blaine Ewing[9]; 6. C1-Darrin Crisler[6]; 7. 75M-Randy Moses Sr[2]; 8. (DNF) 1X-Kris Lloyd[3]; 9. (DQ) 73-Francisco Escamila[5] Heat 2 - 1. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[2]; 2. 40-Taylor Carver[5]; 3. 27D-Derek Henson[1]; 4. 164-Michael Muskrat[6]; 5. 22-Lonnie Duncan[8]; 6. 11-Derek Brown[7]; 7. 94C-JT Carroll[4]; 8. 10-Steve Beach[3] Heat 3 - 1. 69-Brian Brown[1]; 2. 26M-Donnie Miller[5]; 3. 44-James Nighswonger[2]; 4. 28K-Chris Kircher[3]; 5. 69C-Caleb Brown[8]; 6. 35-Johnny Coats[7]; 7. 94-Kenny Carroll[6]; 8. (DNF) 1G-Nick Gibson[4] Show-Me Vintage Racers A Feature - 1. 6-Damen Clevenger[7]; 2. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[14]; 3. 00K-Don Marrs[8]; 4. 113-Jim Thorne[5]; 5. 66-David Isaacs[9]; 6. 74-Rodney Ashworth[3]; 7. 88-Beth Martin[6]; 8. 14-Mickie Cook[2]; 9. 8X-Gary Proskocil[11]; 10. 42-Rob Brash[10]; 11. 72-WIlliam Holohan[12]; 12. 58-John Martin[1]; 13. 9D-Bryant Moyer[4]; 14. 1-Angela Ashworth[13] Heat 1 - 1. 58-John Martin[1]; 2. 6-Damen Clevenger[7]; 3. 9D-Bryant Moyer[4]; 4. 88-Beth Martin[6]; 5. 113-Jim Thorne[5]; 6. 14-Mickie Cook[2]; 7. 74-Rodney Ashworth[3] Heat 2 - 1. 00K-Don Marrs[1]; 2. 66-David Isaacs[2]; 3. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[7]; 4. 8X-Gary Proskocil[4]; 5. 42-Rob Brash[3]; 6. 72-WIlliam Holohan[5]; 7. 1-Angela Ashworth[6] Weekly Series Opener next: The first Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program is up next at Lucas Oil Speedway, with the Clear Creek Golf Car USRA B-Mods racing for $750-to-win in the headline feature. It will be Public Telecommunicators Appreciation Night at the Races next Saturday, April 20. In observation of National Public Telecommunicators week April 14-20, to show appreciation to the 911 dispatch agencies, all 911 dispatchers get in FREE with ID or Badge. The Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models, Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds and O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will join the B-Mods. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  Davenport does it again at Lucas Oil Speedway, capturing 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals opener

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 12, 2024) - Another season meant another trip to victory lane at Lucas Oil Speedway for Jonathan Davenport. The Blairsville, Ga., driver led all 40 laps Friday night and withstood a late charge from Ricky Thornton Jr., to capture the Night One feature at the 11th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. Davenport beat Thornton by 1.02 seconds to earn $7,000 in the MLRA season opener. This after winning four Lucas Oil MLRA or Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series features at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2024, plus the SRX Series main event here. "I don't know, this place just fits me," Davenport said of his success on the Wheatland dirt. "It constantly changes and gives us all a curve ball for sure. It feels good to come back after that special win the SRX Series. That was definitely cool. "I just have to thank my guys for all they do for me and thank Longhorn. This is a brand new car. All the guys back at the shop worked hard on this thing." A total of 44 Late Models were on hand for Night One of the Spring Nationals with 117 total entries in four divisions checking into the pits. The stakes will be even higher on Saturday night with $20,000 on the line for the Lucas Oil MLRA 60-lap feature win. "Thanks to all the fans for coming out," Davenport said, urging the fans to bring some friends for Saturday's finale. "We'll see if we can get another one." Davenport grabbed the lead at the start and opened a 1.5-second lead over Mason Zeigler four laps in when the first caution came out as Matt Johnson slowed in turn four. Garrett Smith got around Zeigler on the restart, but another yellow flew on lap six. A debris caution on lap nine, the race's third yellow, again halted Davenport's momentum as Smith, Zeigler and Tony Jackson Jr. gave chase. Finally getting an extended green-flag run, Davenport used the clean air to open a 2.4-second lead over Smith by lap 20, the event's midpoint. Meanwhile, Thornton rallied from his seventh-starting spot into third by lap 24 as he got around Zeigler. One lap later, Smith hit the wall exiting turn four and rolled to a stop to bring out caution No. 4. That erased Davenport's 2.6-second lead over Thornton, with Zeigler third and Jackson fourth. Davenport quickly moved away after the restart to lead by 1.9 seconds by lap 30 as Thornton was fighting off Zeigler for second. But Thornton started cutting into the margin as Davenport caught lapped traffic with seven laps remaining. Thornton made a final try on the final lap, diving low into turns three and four, but "Superman" was able to hang on by about five car lengths for the victory. Zeigler finished third with Garrett Alberson fourth and Jackson winding up fifth. "You never know who is coming from behind," Davenport said of the late going. "Ricky didn't qualify very well and I knew he'd be coming up through there, plus there were several other cars that didn't get a good qualifying lap in. "That's one thing about Wheatland. If you don't like the race track, just wait a minute because it's going to change. But I didn't get quite as slick tonight as I thought it would. The top stayed there longer than I thought it would." Thornton said the poor qualifying effort, which relegated him to seventh at the start, was too much to overcome. "Early in the night we were about a second off the pace to these guys," Thornton said. "We'll see if we can get a little better early in the night and start a little farther forward. But once the track slowed down, our car really came to us. "Congrats to J.D. His stuff looked really good and he was kind of on cruise control. Hopefully we can get a little better." The overall fast qualifier was Davenport, who paced Group B with a lap of 14.802 seconds. He went on to win his feature to earn a starting spot on the front row. Reigning MLRA champion Chad Simpson of Mount Vernon, Iowa, started sixth and finished sixth in the first series action of the season. Mike Marlar charged from 15th to finish seventh. POWRi Super Stocks win goes to Carver: Taylor Carver of Lockesburg, Ark., led all 20 laps for the POWRi Super Stocks feature win, holding off Ted Welschmeyer. Carver started third, but was able to grab the lead on lap one. After two cautions slowed the early action, Carver opened a 1.5-second lead over Welschmeyer who drove around Brian Brown on lap four to get into second. Carver caught lapped traffic by the midway point on lap 10 when the event's third caution bunch the field. Three more yellow flags over the next five laps prevented the leader from getting away. On final caution with two laps to go gave Welschmeyer one more chance, but Carver was up to the challenge and finished his flawless run. He prevailed by 1.07 seconds. Ed Griggs rallied from 13th to finish third with Kenny Carroll fourth and Brian Brown fifth. Jordan earns Show-Me Vintage Racers victory: Brandon Jordan of Pineville, Mo., took over the lead from pole-starting at the start and went on to capture the 15-lap Show-Me Vintage Racers feature. Jordan, who started outside of row one, won by 2.6 seconds. A caution with five laps remaining erased a three-second lead, but Jordan regrouped as action went green and cruised to the finish. Jordan dedicated the victory to his youngest granddaughter P.J. who was recently diagnosed with autism. "A lot of these kids are bullied and ridiculed and I think people need to make themselves aware that their mind just works a little differently," Jordan said. "A lot of the smartest people in the world also have autism. I'm so happy I could get this win. I wish they could have been here tonight." Jim Thorne finished third with Bryant Moyer fourth and Rodney Ashworth coming home in fifth. Lewis scores Legends win: Second-starting Jackson Lewis took the lead on lap four and led the rest of the way to grab the 15-lap Legends feature victory. Lewis, of Lakeview, Minn., beat Michael Weber by 1.6 seconds for the victory with Chance Gilbert finishing third, Jay Reynolds fourth and early leader and pole-starter Griffin McGrath fifth. LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 12, 2024) 11th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models A Feature - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 5. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[6]; 7. 157-Mike Marlar[15]; 8. 49W-Justin Wells[14]; 9. 15-Justin Duty[23]; 10. 32S-Chris Simpson[10]; 11. 11-Jeff Herzog[12]; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[22]; 13. 36-Logan Martin[9]; 14. 7W-Cole Wells[21]; 15. 22H-Dustin Hodges[11]; 16. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 17. (DNF) 29-Rodney Sanders[13]; 18. (DNF) 11G-Gordy Gundaker[20]; 19. (DNF) 10S-Garrett Smith[1]; 20. (DNF) 93-Mason Oberkramer[24]; 21. (DNF) 3W-Brennon Willard[25]; 22. (DNF) 1XM-Aaron Marrant[17]; 23. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[18]; 24. (DNF) 7D-Dusty Leonard[19]; 25. (DNF) 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[16] Fast Shafts B Feature 1 - 1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[1]; 2. 7D-Dusty Leonard[5]; 3. 7W-Cole Wells[9]; 4. 3W-Brennon Willard[2]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[11]; 6. 15-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[4]; 8. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[8]; 10. 65-Jon Binning[12]; 11. 93-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 12. USA1-Chris Hawkins[13]; 13. (DNF) 10-Jacob Magee[3]; 14. (DNS) 1A-Bryon Allison Wieland B Feature 2 - 1. 2-Tyler Stevens[1]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 4. 76-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 5. 17A-Austin Howes[8]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[3]; 7. 44W-David Webster[10]; 8. 17T-Jeremy Tharp[14]; 9. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[2]; 10. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[9]; 11. (DNF) 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 12. (DNS) 28G-Jim Greenway; 13. (DNS) 46-Earl Pearson Jr; 14. (DNS) 26-Glen Powell Flo Sports Heat 1 - 1. 10S-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 4. 29-Rodney Sanders[6]; 5. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[10]; 6. 10-Jacob Magee[2]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[3]; 8. 15-Justin Duty[8]; 9. 7W-Cole Wells[11]; 10. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 11. USA1-Chris Hawkins[9] Simpson Race Products Heat 2 - 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[2]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[8]; 5. 3W-Brennon Willard[4]; 6. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[10]; 7. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[7]; 8. 96-Dalton Imhoff[6]; 9. 93-Mason Oberkramer[9]; 10. 65-Jon Binning[11]; 11. (DNF) 1A-Bryon Allison[5] Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 25S-Chad Simpson[3]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 4. 49W-Justin Wells[2]; 5. 2-Tyler Stevens[5]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[6]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 8. 76-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 9. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[10]; 10. 26-Glen Powell[11]; 11. 28G-Jim Greenway[8] Lucas Oil Heat 4 - 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 11-Jeff Herzog[3]; 4. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[5]; 5. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[4]; 6. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[9]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 8. 17A-Austin Howes[10]; 9. 44W-David Webster[7]; 10. (DNF) 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 11. (DNF) 17T-Jeremy Tharp[11] Group A My Race Pass Qualifying - 1. 10S-Garrett Smith, 00:14.919[8]; 2. 25Z-Mason Zeigler, 00:15.131[1]; 3. 10-Jacob Magee, 00:15.442[19]; 4. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:15.454[11]; 5. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:15.576[3]; 6. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.731[4]; 7. 25-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.737[21]; 8. 3W-Brennon Willard, 00:15.771[18]; 9. 36-Logan Martin, 00:15.798[10]; 10. 1A-Bryon Allison, 00:15.827[20]; 11. 29-Rodney Sanders, 00:15.856[12]; 12. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 00:15.920[15]; 13. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:15.927[17]; 14. 15S-Clayton Stuckey, 00:15.949[13]; 15. 15-Justin Duty, 00:15.968[16]; 16. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:15.995[2]; 17. USA1-Chris Hawkins, 00:16.032[9]; 18. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:16.070[22]; 19. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.194[5]; 20. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:16.318[6]; 21. 7W-Cole Wells, 00:16.343[14]; 22. 65-Jon Binning, 00:17.328[7] Group B My Race Pass Qualifying - 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.802[20]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.097[14]; 3. 49W-Justin Wells, 00:15.287[16]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.355[18]; 5. 25S-Chad Simpson, 00:15.383[5]; 6. 11-Jeff Herzog, 00:15.412[8]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:15.486[9]; 8. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel, 00:15.696[19]; 9. 2-Tyler Stevens, 00:15.700[11]; 10. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson, 00:15.718[17]; 11. 82-Jace Parmley, 00:15.769[22]; 12. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:15.847[7]; 13. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.881[6]; 14. 44W-David Webster, 00:15.925[12]; 15. 28G-Jim Greenway, 00:15.968[10]; 16. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:16.009[4]; 17. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:16.032[2]; 18. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.048[21]; 19. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt, 00:16.144[3]; 20. 17A-Austin Howes, 00:16.364[1]; 21. 26-Glen Powell, 00:16.616[15]; 22. 17T-Jeremy Tharp, 00:16.697[13] POWRi Super Stocks A Feature - 1. 40-Taylor Carver[3]; 2. 21W-Theodore Welschmeyer[4]; 3. 31-Ed Griggs[13]; 4. 94-Kenny Carroll[8]; 5. 69-Brian Brown[5]; 6. 164-Michael Muskrat[6]; 7. 28K-Chris Kircher[19]; 8. 04-Blaine Ewing[12]; 9. 94C-JT Carroll[9]; 10. 10-Steve Beach[22]; 11. 1G-Nick Gibson[16]; 12. 69C-Caleb Brown[26]; 13. 53-Danny O'Neal[7]; 14. (DNF) 70-Patrick West[10]; 15. (DNF) C1-Darrin Crisler[2]; 16. (DNF) 1J-Josh Jones[20]; 17. (DNF) 35-Johnny Coats[1]; 18. (DNF) 75M-Randy Moses Sr[23]; 19. (DNF) 73-Francisco Escamila[14]; 20. (DNF) 27D-Derek Henson[11]; 21. (DNF) 45-Aaron Poe[27]; 22. (DNF) 1X-Kris Lloyd[28]; 23. (DNS) 3-Dale Douty III; 24. (DNS) 94F-Stanley Floyed; 25. (DNS) OO-Cory Flamm; 26. (DNS) 85-Nicholas Fritch; 27. (DNS) 88-Jay Prevete; 28. (DQ) 11-Derek Brown[15] Heat 1 - 1. 40-Taylor Carver[2]; 2. C1-Darrin Crisler[6]; 3. 164-Michael Muskrat[8]; 4. 53-Danny O'Neal[9]; 5. 70-Patrick West[10]; 6. 85-Nicholas Fritch[7]; 7. (DNF) OO-Cory Flamm[4]; 8. (DNS) 69C-Caleb Brown; 9. (DNS) 45-Aaron Poe; 10. (DQ) 1X-Kris Lloyd[5] Heat 2 - 1. 21W-Theodore Welschmeyer[2]; 2. 94C-JT Carroll[1]; 3. 27D-Derek Henson[3]; 4. 94-Kenny Carroll[9]; 5. 73-Francisco Escamila[4]; 6. 88-Jay Prevete[6]; 7. 1J-Josh Jones[7]; 8. 10-Steve Beach[8]; 9. 75M-Randy Moses Sr[5] Heat 3 - 1. 69-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 35-Johnny Coats[7]; 3. 04-Blaine Ewing[3]; 4. 31-Ed Griggs[4]; 5. 11-Derek Brown[5]; 6. 1G-Nick Gibson[8]; 7. 28K-Chris Kircher[6]; 8. 94F-Stanley Floyed[1]; 9. (DNF) 3-Dale Douty III[9] Show-Me Vintage Racers A Feature - 1. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[2]; 2. 88-Beth Martin[1]; 3. 113-Jim Thorne[5]; 4. 9D-Bryant Moyer[4]; 5. 74-Rodney Ashworth[11]; 6. 14-Mickie Cook[13]; 7. 8X-Gary Proskocil[16]; 8. 71-Mike Lawless[9]; 9. 42-Rob Brash[12]; 10. 72-WIlliam Holohan[14]; 11. 58-John Martin[7]; 12. 1-Angela Ashworth[17]; 13. 2B-Brian Cox[6]; 14. (DNF) 1A-Chad Eickleberry[10]; 15. (DNF) 8-Dan Schmidt[8]; 16. (DNF) 3-Ed Neil[3]; 17. (DNF) 6-Damen Clevenger[18]; 18. (DNF) 76-Kevin Prall[15] Heat 1 - 1. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[1]; 2. 9D-Bryant Moyer[3]; 3. 113-Jim Thorne[4]; 4. 3-Ed Neil[2]; 5. 74-Rodney Ashworth[6]; 6. 2B-Brian Cox[5] Heat 2 - 1. 6-Damen Clevenger[6]; 2. 1A-Chad Eickleberry[3]; 3. 71-Mike Lawless[2]; 4. 58-John Martin[1]; 5. 8X-Gary Proskocil[5]; 6. (DNF) 76-Kevin Prall[4] Heat 3 - 1. 88-Beth Martin[1]; 2. 14-Mickie Cook[3]; 3. 8-Dan Schmidt[6]; 4. 42-Rob Brash[2]; 5. 72-WIlliam Holohan[5]; 6. 1-Angela Ashworth[4] Legends A Feature - 1. 7-Jackson Lewis[2]; 2. 8W-Michael Weber[3]; 3. 01-Chance Gilbert[4]; 4. 07-Jay Reynolds[12]; 5. 64-Griffin McGrath[1]; 6. 77-Colton Utley[6]; 7. 57-Phil Burkybile Jr[11]; 8. 48-Austin Azeez[13]; 9. 58-Sean Johnson[5]; 10. 31-Mike Gilbert[8]; 11. 85-Zernie Vess[19]; 12. 7-James Hartman[21]; 13. 12M-Darren Murphy[14]; 14. 25-David Sappington[26]; 15. 18-Joe Crum[20]; 16. 84M-Paul Martin[25]; 17. (DNF) 35JR-Johnny Coats Jr[23]; 18. (DNF) 07T-Aaron Kloppe[22]; 19. (DNF) 67-Eric Tracy[16]; 20. (DNF) 70-Brad Sims[27]; 21. (DNF) 1-Tanner Foster[24]; 22. (DNF) 06-Lonnie Muhlbauer[9]; 23. (DNF) 55-Kenny Foster[18]; 24. (DNF) 777-Michael Seitz[17]; 25. (DNF) 88-Colin Bowen[10]; 26. (DNF) 44-Matthew Bowen[7]; 27. (DNS) 82L-Chris Luttrull Heat 1 - 1. 8W-Michael Weber[4]; 2. 44-Matthew Bowen[2]; 3. 88-Colin Bowen[1]; 4. 06-Lonnie Muhlbauer[7]; 5. 67-Eric Tracy[5]; 6. 55-Kenny Foster[6]; 7. 18-Joe Crum[3]; 8. 1-Tanner Foster[8]; 9. (DNF) 70-Brad Sims[9] Heat 2 - 1. 64-Griffin McGrath[7]; 2. 77-Colton Utley[3]; 3. 31-Mike Gilbert[4]; 4. 57-Phil Burkybile Jr[5]; 5. 82L-Chris Luttrull[1]; 6. 12M-Darren Murphy[9]; 7. 85-Zernie Vess[2]; 8. 35JR-Johnny Coats Jr[6]; 9. 25-David Sappington[8] Heat 3 - 1. 01-Chance Gilbert[3]; 2. 7-Jackson Lewis[8]; 3. 58-Sean Johnson[9]; 4. 07-Jay Reynolds[2]; 5. 48-Austin Azeez[6]; 6. 777-Michael Seitz[7]; 7. 7-James Hartman[5]; 8. 07T-Aaron Kloppe[4]; 9. 84M-Paul Martin[1] Coming up Saturday: The Lucas Oil MLRA drivers take aim at a $20,000 feature prize on Saturday night as the Spring Nationals conclude. The POWRi Super Stocks will be in action racing for $1,000 to win with the SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers also on the program. The first 500 fans through the grandstand gate on Saturday also will receive a free 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule magnet courtesy City Magnet. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstands at 5 both days, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. Saturday admission: Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $27 Adults (13 and up) - $30 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $27 Youth (ages 6-12) - $10 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family pass - $70 Pit pass - $45 For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  DAVENPORT CONTINUES WHEATLAND DOMINANCE: WINS SPRING NATIONALS OPENER

  Wheatland, MO (April 12, 2024) - On the heels of a 2023 campaign that found him in victory lane four times at the Lucas Oil Speedway, Jonathan Davenport picked up right where he left off, as he again visited victory lane on night # 1 of the 11th Annual MLRA "Spring Nationals" Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. A total of 44 cars checked in to contend for the $7,000 weekend opener, with Davenport scoring the win in his respective heat race behind the wheel of a new Longhorn chassis, after he collected the nights MyRacePass "Fast Time" Award with a lap of 14.802 seconds. Heat one winner Garrett Smith led the field to the green for the 40 lapper alongside Davenport, but series officials deemed that Smith jumped the initial start prior to the Nutrien Ag Solutions start zone, resulting in him being set back one row for the restart. Davenport would take advantage and grab the early race lead. A total of three cautions slowed the pace during the opening nine laps all while Davenport was able to fend off all challengers. Smith quickly found himself back in the second spot, but locked in a heated side-by-side battle with Mason Zeigler. The field began to work lapped traffic by lap 24, and just one lap later disaster struck Smith, as he got high exciting turn four and made heavy contact with the wall resulting in damage to his XR1 Rocket Chassis that would end his night. The restart would set up a 15-lap dash to the finish with seventh starting Ricky Thornton Jr. now up to second. JD would again move out to a comfortable lead only to see it slip away in the closing laps. With Thornton navigating the low line, he began to close ground on the leader as Davenport had to contend with heavy lapped traffic. In the end, Davenport went on to score his 13th career Lucas Oil MLRA late model feature and 11th all time at the Lucas Oil Speedway by 1.029 seconds. Thornton Jr., who won the season opener one year ago settled for second, with Ziegler finishing 3rd in his first start of the season. Garrett Alberson and two time series champion Tony Jackson Jr. rounded out the top five. "This place just fits me," commented Davenport following the win. "It constantly changes and gives us all a curve ball for sure. It feels good to come back after that special win with SRX Series, that was definitely cool." While Davenport has a perfect score on the night from start to finished, he noted that he wasn't surprised to see Thornton applying pressure by the conclusion of the 40 lapper. "You never know who is coming from behind. Ricky didn't qualify very well, so I knew he would be coming up through there and there were several other cars that didn't get a good qualifying lap in. That's one thing about Wheatland, if you don't like the race track just wait a minute because its going to change. It didn't quite get as slick tonight as I thought it would, the top stayed there a whole lot longer than I thought it would. We really over tightened and probably shouldn't have messed with it too much, but we thought we'd try a couple things with this new car and see how it would react." 2nd Ricky Thornton Jr., 1st Jonathan Davenport, 3rd Mason Zeigler Photo Credit: Heath Lawson Thornton echoed the sentiments of Davenport in saying, "Early in the night we were about a second off the pace of these guys, so we will see if we can get a little better early in the night and start a little further forward. I felt like as the track slowed down our car really came to us," noted Thornton Jr. "I was really good on the bottom, and actually I didn't want that last yellow to come out Under yellow they moved all of the tires back out on us, so the bottom was kind of destroyed after that. Hopefully tomorrow if we knock the tires in a little bit, they will leave them in." Zigler started and stayed in the top three for the entire event for his first podium on the year. "I was just a little too tight to be maneuverable right there in the feature. But yeah, first night out feels really good. I think I have a general idea as to what we did that made us a little too snug to get down in the bottom when I needed to in traffic. I'm happy were here for two nights so we can give it another shot tomorrow." Saturday nights MLRA "Spring Nationals" Finale will feature a 60-lap showdown paying an event record $20,000 to the winner. Prior to the start of the finale MLRA officials and drivers will pay tribute to longtime series photographer and official Lloyd Collins who recently passed after a battle with cancer. Lucas Oil Speedway Contingencies 4/12/24 Lap Leaders - Jonathan Davenport (1 - 40 ) Cautions - 4 MyRacePass "Overall Fast Time Award" - Jonathan Davenport (14.802 sec.) Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race - Cory Fostvedt MD3 "Most Laps Led" - Jonathan Davenport (40) Swift Springs "Move of the Race" - Justin Duty Sunoco Race Fuel "Rookie of the Race" - Aaron Marrant Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher" - Jeff Herzog PEM Racing "4th Place Finisher" - Garrett Alberson Fluidyne: "5th Place Finisher: - Tony Jackson Jr. Sunoco "Engine Builders Challenge" - Clements Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" - Tony Jackson Jr. MSD Performance Holley: "1st B-Main NON-Qualifier" - Daulton Wilson MD3 Last Place Finisher: - Matt Johnson Arizona Sport Shirt A Main 40 Laps | 00:34:00.841 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 3. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[3]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 5. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 6. 25S-Chad Simpson[6]; 7. 157-Mike Marlar[15]; 8. 49W-Justin Wells[14]; 9. 15-Justin Duty[23]; 10. 32S-Chris Simpson[10]; 11. 11-Jeff Herzog[12]; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[22]; 13. 36-Logan Martin[9]; 14. 7W-Cole Wells[21]; 15. 22H-Dustin Hodges[11]; 16. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 17. (DNF) 29-Rodney Sanders[13]; 18. (DNF) 11G-Gordy Gundaker[20]; 19. (DNF) 10S-Garrett Smith[1]; 20. (DNF) 93-Mason Oberkramer[24]; 21. (DNF) 3W-Brennon Willard[25]; 22. (DNF) 1XM-Aaron Marrant[17]; 23. (DNF) 2-Tyler Stevens[18]; 24. (DNF) 7D-Dusty Leonard[19]; 25. (DNF) 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[16] B1- FAST Shafts 12 Laps | 00:10:47.968 1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[1]; 2. 7D-Dusty Leonard[5]; 3. 7W-Cole Wells[9]; 4. 3W-Brennon Willard[2]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[11]; 6. 15-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[4]; 8. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[8]; 10. 65-Jon Binning[12]; 11. 93-Mason Oberkramer[10]; 12. USA1-Chris Hawkins[13]; 13. (DNF) 10-Jacob Magee[3]; 14. (DNS) 1A-Bryon Allison B2- Wieland 12 Laps | 00:07:24.109 1. 2-Tyler Stevens[1]; 2. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[5]; 4. 76-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 5. 17A-Austin Howes[8]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[3]; 7. 44W-David Webster[10]; 8. 17T-Jeremy Tharp[14]; 9. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[2]; 10. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[9]; 11. (DNF) 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 12. (DNS) 28G-Jim Greenway; 13. (DNS) 46-Earl Pearson Jr; 14. (DNS) 26-Glen Powell H1-Flo Sports 8 Laps | 00:05:20.376 1. 10S-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[5]; 4. 29-Rodney Sanders[6]; 5. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[10]; 6. 10-Jacob Magee[2]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[3]; 8. 15-Justin Duty[8]; 9. 7W-Cole Wells[11]; 10. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 11. USA1-Chris Hawkins[9] H2-Simpson Race Products 8 Laps | 00:04:14.186 1. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[2]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[8]; 5. 3W-Brennon Willard[4]; 6. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[10]; 7. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[7]; 8. 96-Dalton Imhoff[6]; 9. 93-Mason Oberkramer[9]; 10. 65-Jon Binning[11]; 11. (DNF) 1A-Bryon Allison[5] H3-Earnhardt Technologies 8 Laps | 00:02:31.480 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 25S-Chad Simpson[3]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[4]; 4. 49W-Justin Wells[2]; 5. 2-Tyler Stevens[5]; 6. 82-Jace Parmley[6]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 8. 76-Blair Nothdurft[9]; 9. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[10]; 10. 26-Glen Powell[11]; 11. 28G-Jim Greenway[8] H4- Lucas Oil 8 Laps | 00:06:47.430 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 11-Jeff Herzog[3]; 4. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[5]; 5. 1/4-Jaxon Ertel[4]; 6. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[9]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 8. 17A-Austin Howes[10]; 9. 44W-David Webster[7]; 10. (DNF) 46-Earl Pearson Jr[8]; 11. (DNF) 17T-Jeremy Tharp[11] For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA FLO Sports "The Official Broadcast Partner" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fluidyne, Fox Shocks, Hellraizer Jacks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance/Holly, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Outerwears, PEM, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Thermo Tech, Wieland, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Spotlight: Racing veteran Vanzandt eager to take his MLRA shot

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 10, 2024) - One of the newcomers on the Lucas Oil MLRA series in 2024 probably has more lifetime laps to his credit that most of his opposition. Certainly, Jimmy Vanzandt has seen and done about all there is during a racing career of more than four decades. The Springfield-based driver has competed on dirt and pavement over the years and even gave the MLRA a brief whirl more than 20 years ago. In recent seasons, he's been a regular on the Cash Money Late Model Dirt Series. "I decided after last year that I wanted to do something different and I was running out of years to do it," Vanzandt said. "I thought I would try the MLRA. I ran it years ago, back when Kenny Essary had it. So I thought I'd try it. I know I'm crazy, because these guys are super fast. "If I can make the show, I'll be happy. But I'm gonna have fun either way." Vanzandt, who turns 63 in about a week, plans to hit MLRA races within an eight-hour radius from home. It begins this Friday and Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway for the 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. The doublelheader begins on Friday when the MLRA standouts compete for a $7,000 feature win. The stakes are even higher on Saturday with the feature winner collecting $20,000. Vanzandt said he decided the time was right to chase one of his remaining racing dreams and see how he stacks up against some of the best in the business. "I've never got the opportunity to do this before," Vanzandt said. "I'm probably not gonna go out and win races, but I'm gonna give it my all. Who knows? We'll see what happens. I'm gonna make as many shows as I can. "If we do really good, it's hard to say how many races I[ll run. If you're doing good, you can sometimes get resources you couldn't come up with before." Vanzandt wound up fifth in Cash Money points a year ago after finishing third in the 2023 standings. He has a new Longhorn chassis and Roush-Yates motor with tech and set-up support from Billy Moyer Jr., who has moved from the driver's seat into a consulting role. Moyer Jr. helped Vanzandt dial the car in during a test session last week at Batesville, Ark. Vanzandt's career began about 47 years ago at the Springfield Fairgrounds. He's driven Bombers, Street Stocks, Modifieds and Sportsman cars over the years, in addition to the Late Model on pavement and dirt. He was a consistent contender on the asphalt at Lebanon I-44 Speedway for several years before returning to dirt about five years ago. "The dirt is a lot more fun," Vanzandt said. "Just the people. It's a different world. Everybody's friendly and can't wait to help you, it seems like. I've got a lot of buddies with tractor trailer rigs that we buddy up with. They don't treat me different than anybody else does. "With the dirt there's a lot more cleaning, a lot more maintenance. You have to stay up on everything." Helping him stay up with maintenance are crew members Perry "P Dog" Burton and Mark Reynolds. Team sponsors include Dirtworx General Contracting, Mossy Oak Properties, Double Down Asphalt, Hauter Fireworks, Pappy's BBQ, Carrie's Place, Gunny's Mill, Queen City Bail Bonds, Vanzandt's Affordable Auto Repair and Simpson Performance Products. "We're just going to go out and try to make shows and have as much fun as we can," Vanzandt said. The MLRA season was scheduled to open last weekend with the Winter Meltdown at Tri-City Speedway, but that event was canceled due to wet grounds from heavy rain earlier in the week. Also in action Friday will be the POWRi Super Stocks running for $500 to win with the Show-Me Vintage Racers and Legends will be racing. On Saturday, the POWRi Super Stocks will be in action racing for $1,000 to win with the SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers also on the program. POWRi Super Stocks, Legends and SMVR drivers are asked to fill out a MyRacePass driver profile sheet online to help the announcers. This weekend's action will be shown on Flo Racing and MAVTV and an updated profile info form would help immensely. A practice session will be held for all competitors racing this weekend will be held on Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. Pit passes are $30 with grandstand admission free. Limited concessions will be available on the pit side. The first 500 fans through the grandstand gate on Saturday will receive a free 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule magnet courtesy City Magnet. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstands at 5 both days, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. Friday admission: Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $22 Adults (13 and up) - $25 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $22 Youth (ages 6-12) - $10 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family pass - $60 Pit pass - $40 Saturday admission: Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $27 Adults (13 and up) - $30 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $27 Youth (ages 6-12) - $10 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family pass - $70 Pit pass - $45 For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  MLRA HEADS TO LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY FOR 11TH ANNUAL "SPRING NATIONALS"

  Wheatland, Missouri (April 9, 2024) - The Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) will kick off their 2024 season in record breaking fashion this weekend, when the series invades the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri for the 11th Annual MLRA "Spring Nationals" Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. Two complete nights of racing action awaits what is expected to be a star-studded field of racers, all competing for their share of the record purse which will exceed $90,000 in total for the two-day event. Drivers will have an opportunity to get dialed in on Thursday night April 11th with an open practice session at the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. The first official green flag of the season will drop on Friday night April 12th with racers battling for a $7,000 top prize and the upper hand in being the first to secure the Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Spoiler for the season. Saturday night will feature the biggest pay out in MLRA Spring Nationals history, with the winner driving away with $20,000. All drivers making the weekend finale on Saturday will earn a minimum of $1,000. Prior to the start of Saturday nights "A" Main, race teams and officials will take part in a special on track ceremony honoring the life and contributions of long time MLRA series photographer and official Lloyd Collins, who recently passed following a brief battle with cancer. Collins was greatly respected and well known all around the pits from the racers and teams to his fellow photographers. One driver who is looking to get off to a quick start this weekend is the MLRA's defending Sunoco Race Fuels "Rookie of the Year" winner Dillon McCowan of Urbana, MO. The now 20-year-old jumped onto the late model scene one year ago after a successful run in the USRA Modified ranks, where he snagged a pair of track championships at the Lucas Oil Speedway. The driver of the Scott Bailey powered Longhorn has already competed just shy of twenty nights in 2024 following the early season "Speedweeks" tour and feels it has prepared him and made him better for the MLRA season ahead. "Starting the season off down in Florida I think helped us a lot, it kinda kick started our year. Hopefully we can take what we have learned from the races we ran already this year and carry that off into the MLRA season." "We are going to try and chase after the championship again this year and run the full season with the MLRA. Coming off last year we had a really great season. It could have went a little bit better, but we had a couple of really strong finishes and we were blessed with how good we did last year, so hopefully we can transition that off into this year." Dillon McCowan # 8 Photo Credit: Lloyd Collins FastTrack Photos In 2023 McCowan parked his Sonic # 8 on the MLRA podium with third place finishes in two of the last three series events. More impressive for the rookie was his ability to contend with the best in the business in almost every event at the Lucas Oil Speedway, as he logged 5 top ten finishes in 7 starts, which included a 6th place finish in the Show-Me 100. For the upcoming season, McCowan has also brought on board a new crew chief in Tony Rogers. "He said he was ready to get back into the late model business, so we are excited to have him with us. We have been around each other for a long time, you know the whole team has, and we thought it would be a really good fit to have him on board," noted McCowan. Rogers spent numerous years turning wrenches for 2016 MLRA champion Jesse Stovall, and most recently worked in the modified ranks for Terry Phillips Racing. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regulars Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jonathan Davenport both made stops in MLRA victory lane one season ago during the Spring Nationals weekend. Now with a handful of nights of getting to race door to door with drivers of that caliber, McCowan is confident that added experience will begin to pay dividends for his team. "It's crazy to get to go out there and run sometimes in the front with the best in the business, and the idols I've looked up to and wanted to race with for a long time. Getting out there and being with them and learning from them, you know just trying to pick up on the little things that they do that will get me going faster every time I'm out there." With this weekend being just the beginning of a long 25 race MLRA schedule for McCowan and his MLRA counterparts, it will be key for everyone to get off to a good start at a track that hosts ten points events in determining the season champion. "The last thing we want is to leave the home track having to play catch-up," he noted. "Hopefully we can run upfront and carry that speed off into this year, and I think if we can have a good finish, we all will be really happy with that for sure. If you can have a good run and get out front it can really help to set up the whole season." Lucas Oil Speedway: Wheatland, MO (Practice Nite)--Thursday 4/11/24 Hot Lap/Practice - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Pit Passes: $30, Grandstand: FREE Website: www.LucasOilSpeedway.com Lucas Oil Speedway: Wheatland, MO (Race Day Info)--Friday 4/12/24 Pit Gates: 4:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:30 PM, Racing - 7:05 PM Admission: Adults (13+) $25, Seniors (62+)/Military $22, Youth (6-12) $10, Kids (5 & Under) FREE, Family Pass $60, Pit Pass $40 Support Classes: POWRi Super Stocks, Legends, SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers Lucas Oil Speedway: Wheatland, MO (Race Day Info)--Saturday 4/13/24 Pit Gates: 4:00 PM, Grandstands 5:00 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:30 PM, Racing - 7:05 PM Admission: Adults (13+) $30, Seniors (62+)/Military $27, Youth (6-12) $10, Kids (5 & Under) FREE, Family Pass $70, Pit Pass $40 Support Classes: POWRi Super Stocks, & SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway ready for 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals this weekend

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 8, 2024) - Lucas Oil Speedway plays host to its first multi-night special of the season on Friday and Saturday with many of the nation's top Late Model stars expected for the 11th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts. Chad Simpson of Mount Vernon, Iowa, will begin pursuit of a third straight series championship on Friday when the MLRA standouts compete for a $7,000 feature win. The stakes are even higher on Saturday with the feature winner collecting $20,000. Simpson earned three MLRA feature wins and seven top-five finishes in 2023 when he earned his fourth series championship. He finished 270 points in front of Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa. Third-place points finisher Dillon McCowan of nearby Urbana was third while earning MLRA Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. The MLRA Series figures to be as competitive as ever. Four-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Earl Pearson Jr., announced recently that he and his Jason Rauen-owned team will follow the MLRA circuit this season from their base in Farley, Iowa. Pearson, 52, dropped from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series last month citing a lack of crew help. That ended nearly a 20-year continuous run on the national series. Pearson has four career MLRA victories with his last coming in April 2019 at Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee, Okla. The MLRA season was scheduled to open last weekend with the Winter Meltdown at Tri-City Speedway, but that event was canceled due to wet grounds from heavy rain earlier in the week. Also in action Friday will be the POWRi Super Stocks running for $500 to win with the Show-Me Vintage Racers and Legends will be racing. On Saturday, the POWRi Super Stocks will be in action racing for $1,000 to win with the SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers also on the program. POWRi Super Stocks, Legends and SMVR drivers are asked to fill out a MyRacePass driver profile sheet online to help the announcers. This weekend's action will be shown on Flo Racing and MAVTV and an updated profile info form would help immensely. A practice session will be held for all competitors racing this weekend will be held on Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. Pit passes are $30 with grandstand admission free. Limited concessions will be available on the pit side. The first 500 fans through the grandstand gate on Saturday will receive a free 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule magnet courtesy City Magnet. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and grandstands at 5 both days, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. Friday admission: Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $22 Adults (13 and up) - $25 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $22 Youth (ages 6-12) - $10 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family pass - $60 Pit pass - $40 Saturday admission: Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $27 Adults (13 and up) - $30 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $27 Youth (ages 6-12) - $10 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family pass - $70 Pit pass - $45 For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, 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, 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.

• 
  Tattershell captures Easter Bowl Enduro 150 as Lucas Oil Speedway opens season

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 6, 2024) - In order to capture the Easter Bowl Enduro 150 on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, it took avoiding on-track mayhem and mechanical malfunction while also getting a passing grade in the post-race trip to the tech building. Will Tattershell of Bois D'Arc, Mo., was able to meet all three of those standards. As a result, despite taking the checkered flag in second place, Tattershell came away the $1,500 first prize in the headliner of Lucas Oil Speedway's season-opening program. Other feature winners included Logan Roark (POWRi Midwest Mods), Justin Wells (POWRi Hermitage Lumber Late Models) and Darin Porter (POWRi Pure Stocks). A total of 95 cars checked into the pits in the four divisions. The finale was the third annual marathon and it appeared that Derrek Wilson of Chanute, Kan., was the winner of the race that took one hour and four minutes to complete. Wilson took the lead with 45 laps remaining and held it to the finish, taking an apparent win over Tatterhsell by about a straightaway's margin. But Wilson was disqualified afterward when his car failed post-race inspection. Kevin Perkins of Sedalia took the lead on lap 47 and built an 11.6-second lead by lap 60. Alex Thomas cut the gap to just under six seconds when Perkins had a flat right-front tire on lap 84 and had to pull off, giving the lead to Thomas. Wilson was 9.1 seconds behind when Perkins went off, but he began to chase down Thomas. He caught him on lap 105, taking the lead in turn two. Tattershell was in third, 10 seconds behind Thomas as the only other car on the lead lap at that point. Wilson's lead was 4.7 seconds by lap 120 with Tattershell 7.2 behind the leader as the finish began to come into focus. Thomas, who set the early pace as he started on the pole, began to fade by lap 130 and surrendered the runner-up position to Tattershell with 20 to go. Wilson maintained his lead as the laps continued to click away. Tattershell kept cutting into the deficit, drawing within 4.5 seconds of Wilson with 10 laps to go. But Wilson cleared lapped traffic and was able to maintain his lead at just over four seconds with five remaining. Wilson, with earlier Enduro wins this season at Springfield Raceway and 81 Speedway, hung on from there and took the checkers 6.3 seconds clear of Tattershell. Bill Polzin of Creighton, Mo., officially wound up second with Thomas, of Macks Creek taking third followed by Blake Davidson and Jet Herrick. Roark earns Midwest Mods win: Logan Roark made the winning pass with five laps remaining and went on to earn the POWRi Midwest Mods feature victory in a race plagued by multiple early cautions. Jacob Hall started third and found his way into the lead on lap two, taking over from pole-starting Jacob Long. Roark, who started fifth, moved into the runner-up spot by last three and worked in the inside line to try and get around the leader. Finally getting some consistent green-flag laps after six cautions before five official laps were completed, Roark pulled alongside Hall on lap 15 and was able to get by for the lead. Roark, of Henley, Mo., held on from there. He worked through lapped traffic and finished .982 seconds in front of Hall. It was Roark's second feature win in two nights as he prevailed at Midway Speedway on Friday. "I was just trying to hit my marks every lap," Roark said of his strategy as he waited for some green-flag laps and the winning move. "I knew he had a good hot rod. Wow, what a race." Steve Muilenburg rallied from 10th to third with Pete Richardson winding up fourth and Scott Campbell was fifth. Justin Wells rolls in Late Models: The POWRi Hermitage Lumber Late Model feature winner was a familiar face. Justin Wells, who captured 11 feature wins last season at Lucas Oil Speedway, started the new season with a convincing triumph. Wells, of Aurora, beat Payton Looney by 2.8 seconds at the finish. He led all 25 laps with only two cautions delaying his march to victory lane and the $1,000 first prize. "You could add both the ages of the second and third place (drivers) and they're not my age," Wells said with a laugh. Justin Wells outgunned Cole Wells at the start and opened a 2.4-second lead by lap six, when the race's first caution flew. When action resumed, Payton Looney needed just two laps to move around Cole Wells for second. Catching the elder Wells was another matter. Justin Wells poured it on, opening a 3.3-second lead by lap 14 when a second caution wiped out the big lead with 11 to go. Wells gradually pulled away after the restart as the race stayed caution-free and rolled to the win over Looney, a former Show-Me 100 winner who was driving for Moon Brothers Racing. Tyler Kuykendall finished third with Jim Greenway fourth and Justin Russell fifth. Porter wires field in Pure Stocks: Darin Porter of California, Mo., led all 20 laps for the POWRi Pure Stocks feature victory. Porter started on the pole with Trevor Wilson to his outside and they ran 1-2 through the early portion with Robbie Jones in third. Porter had a 1.4-second lead at the midway point on lap 10 and his lead surpassed two seconds just two laps later. Without a caution over the final 15 laps to slow him down, the defending POWRi Pure Stocks national points champion kept rolling and beat Wilson by 3.6 seconds at the finish. Justin Pike wound up in third with Grayon McKinney fourth and Chris Tonoli in fifth. LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 6, 2024) Easter Bowl Enduro 150 A Feature - 1. 81WT-Will Tattershell[9]; 2. 11A-Bill Polzin[6]; 3. 42-Alex Thomas[1]; 4. 8B-Blake Davidson[39]; 5. 12-Jet Herrick[19]; 6. 44D-harold Hawk[35]; 7. 3P-Kevin Perkins[7]; 8. 10-Josh Stringer[10]; 9. 723-Dustin McNamara[23]; 10. 2T-Tom Lampe[27]; 11. 07-Jordan Goddard[29]; 12. 85-Nicholas Fritch[11]; 13. K4-Jack Wood[12]; 14. 1L-Zachary Lescault[13]; 15. 15-Curt Turpin[16]; 16. 1T-Tara Turpin[17]; 17. 55-Dallas Butchee[18]; 18. 41-Aaron Copher[20]; 19. 00X-Anthony Stark[21]; 20. 8-William Parr[4]; 21. 3-Kevin Synder[2]; 22. 32-Michael Groesbeck[34]; 23. 69A-Tyler McCoy[37]; 24. 7J-Jacob Walker[24]; 25. 279-Scott Benedix[14]; 26. 22-Troy Mitchell[38]; 27. 24J-Jermey Catron[5]; 28. 33-Michael Gillis[33]; 29. 203-George Turpin[32]; 30. 1-Trenton Parr[3]; 31. 94-Henry Whaley Jr[15]; 32. 1K-Butch Knox[8]; 33. 0-John Lampe[26]; 34. 179-Scott Lampe[28]; 35. 77J-wayne russell[30]; 36. 44-Shane Headley[36]; 37. 27-Payten Dinges[22]; 38. (DNS) 13SS-Andrew Pavlovic; 39. (DQ) 317-Derrek Wilson[25] POWRi Midwest Mods A Feature - 1. 17-Logan Roark[5]; 2. 101-Jacob Hall[3]; 3. 33M-Steve Muilenburg[10]; 4. 64-Pete Richardson[6]; 5. 83-Scott Campbell[11]; 6. 23-Dakota Dillon[4]; 7. 221-Jerry Brown[26]; 8. 662-Cayden Campbell[9]; 9. 5D-Dustin Dennison[18]; 10. 12X-Darren Burt[15]; 11. 2J-Jordan Beard[2]; 12. 27-Terry Williams[19]; 13. E1-John Eagleburger[8]; 14. 25-Eli Muilenburg[17]; 15. 55K-Kenny Hubbard[21]; 16. 17L-Richard Lampe[7]; 17. 35-Justin Dick[14]; 18. (DNF) 3N1-Jacob Long[1]; 19. (DNF) 10-Cody Bray[12]; 20. (DNF) 29-Justin Oliver[25]; 21. (DNF) 12-Zach Brollier[22]; 22. (DNF) 33-Michael Gillis[13]; 23. (DNF) 22-Chase Walters[20]; 24. (DNF) 99L-Jeff Lockard[23]; 25. (DNF) V31-Brandon Vignoe[24]; 26. (DNS) 33G-Michael Groesbeck Heat 1 - 1. 3N1-Jacob Long[6]; 2. 2J-Jordan Beard[9]; 3. 17L-Richard Lampe[8]; 4. 10-Cody Bray[1]; 5. 35-Justin Dick[3]; 6. 25-Eli Muilenburg[4]; 7. 22-Chase Walters[5]; 8. (DNS) V31-Brandon Vignoe; 9. (DNS) 29-Justin Oliver Heat 2 - 1. 101-Jacob Hall[4]; 2. 17-Logan Roark[6]; 3. 662-Cayden Campbell[5]; 4. E1-John Eagleburger[9]; 5. 33-Michael Gillis[2]; 6. 33G-Michael Groesbeck[3]; 7. (DNF) 12-Zach Brollier[7]; 8. (DNF) 99L-Jeff Lockard[8]; 9. (DQ) 221-Jerry Brown[1] Heat 3 - 1. 23-Dakota Dillon[3]; 2. 64-Pete Richardson[5]; 3. 83-Scott Campbell[1]; 4. 33M-Steve Muilenburg[8]; 5. 12X-Darren Burt[4]; 6. 5D-Dustin Dennison[6]; 7. 27-Terry Williams[2]; 8. 55K-Kenny Hubbard[7] POWRi Hermitage Lumber Late Models A Feature - 1. 98-Justin Wells[1]; 2. 72-Payton Looney[6]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[3]; 4. 28-Jim Greenway[8]; 5. 12J-Justin Russell[4]; 6. 20-Alan Westling[11]; 7. 31C-Cole Henson[5]; 8. 33-Paul Glendenning[7]; 9. 99-Larry Jones[14]; 10. 21P-Darren Phillips[10]; 11. 7J-Jake Morris[12]; 12. 74-Kyle Bates[15]; 13. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[16]; 14. (DNF) 49-Cole Wells[2]; 15. (DNF) X15-Bobby Ruff II[13]; 16. (DNF) 90-Joe Walkenhorst[9] Heat 1 - 1. 98-Justin Wells[3]; 2. 12J-Justin Russell[1]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[8]; 4. 28-Jim Greenway[4]; 5. 21P-Darren Phillips[5]; 6. 20-Alan Westling[2]; 7. X15-Bobby Ruff II[7]; 8. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[6] Heat 2 - 1. 49-Cole Wells[2]; 2. 31C-Cole Henson[1]; 3. 72-Payton Looney[5]; 4. 33-Paul Glendenning[8]; 5. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[3]; 6. 7J-Jake Morris[6]; 7. 99-Larry Jones[7]; 8. (DNF) 74-Kyle Bates[4] POWRi Pure Stocks A Feature - 1. 21-Darin Porter[1]; 2. 30-Trevor Wilson[2]; 3. 87-Justin Pike[5]; 4. 05G-Grayson McKiney[6]; 5. 71-Chris Tonoli[3]; 6. 90X-Tim Jones[12]; 7. 7-Karla Lampe[14]; 8. 23-Mark Simon[7]; 9. 714-Dustin Isaacs[9]; 10. 54-Dennis Crenshaw[13]; 11. 07-Jordan Goddard[8]; 12. 23R-Jeff Reid[15]; 13. (DNF) 27D-Dominick Dattoli[10]; 14. (DNF) 26-Zachary McDowell[11]; 15. (DNS) 21M-Payton McDowell; 16. (DQ) 20-Robbie Jones[4] Heat 1 - 1. 20-Robbie Jones[1]; 2. 30-Trevor Wilson[6]; 3. 87-Justin Pike[3]; 4. 23-Mark Simon[4]; 5. 27D-Dominick Dattoli[5]; 6. 26-Zachary McDowell[7]; 7. 54-Dennis Crenshaw[2]; 8. (DQ) 21M-Payton McDowell[8] Heat 2 - 1. 21-Darin Porter[8]; 2. 71-Chris Tonoli[6]; 3. 05G-Grayson McKiney[3]; 4. 07-Jordan Goddard[4]; 5. 714-Dustin Isaacs[2]; 6. 90X-Tim Jones[1]; 7. 7-Karla Lampe[7]; 8. 23R-Jeff Reid[5] MLRA Spring Nationals next: The 11th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts is next with doubleheader action Friday and Saturday, April 12-13. Friday night's feature winner will earn $7,000 with a big $20,000 prize going to the Saturday winner. Also in action Friday will be the POWRi Super Stocks running for $500 to win and the SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers and Legend cars will be racing. On Saturday, the POWRi Super Stocks will be in action racing for $1,000 to win with SMVR Show-Me Vintage Racers will be in action. The pits open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05 both nights. A test session is set from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, only for the classes racing on Friday and Saturday. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, 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.

• 
  Dishing new dirt, plus 12 things to look for during the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway season

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 3, 2024) - When drivers arrive for Lucas Oil Speedway's first event of the 2024 season on Saturday, they'll find a dirt surface refurbished in the offseason with 450 loads of new clay dirt. Through two preseason Open Test and Tune sessions, Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton said the surface has been smooth. "We are learning it holds moisture more than before, but we are also in the rainy season and cool temperatures," Lorton said. "So it's hard to say if it will be the same when it starts warming up and we have hotter temps. Each night will be a learning curve for us, also." Lucas Oil Speedway starts its season with the 3rd annual Easter Bowl 150 Enduro headlining Saturday night's action. The 150-lap lap race will pay the winner $1,500. The Enduro will come at the end of a program that includes the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models racing for $1,000 to win. The POWRi Midwest Mods and POWRi Pure Stock going also will be in action with $500 to win in their features. The speedway is continuing to accept entries for the Enduro with entry fee $150. Drivers can preregister by calling into the speedway office at (417) 295-6048 and paying the entry fee via credit card or print off the entry form from the website and drop it off with the fee. Starting positions for the 150-lap, $1,500-to-win Enduro will be based on order of paid entries received. Drivers will start the race three-wide. Pit passes are $35. Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5 p.m., hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. Admission: Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) - $12 Adults (13 and up) - $15 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12 Youth (ages 6-12) - $5 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family Pass - $35 Pit Pass - $35 12 things to watch during the 2024 season: Big Lucas Oil MLRA kickoff: The Lucas Oil MLRA is back bigger than ever with the 11th annual Spring Nationals coming to Lucas Oil Speedway for a two-night show, April 12-13. Look for a star-studded field of top Late Model drivers with $7,000 up for grabs for the first-night feature win and a whopping $20,000 going to the winner on night two. Chad Simpson will begin pursuit of a fifth MLRA championship after taking the crown in 2023. Show-Me Vintage Racers, POWRi Super Stocks and Legend Cars also will be in action both nights. Kids in the Spotlight: Lucas Oil Speedway always does its part to make it fun for youngster in various ways. Flagman Mike Striegel will lead the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club Pit Tour each week with youngsters ages 5-12 eligible to sign up for a tour of the pits where they can meet drivers. Kids can sign up for the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club on the south end of the Midway after grandstand gates open. Also returning in 2024 is the popular Kids Power Wheel Races with a 24V-36V class. The races will be held during intermission during Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series events on April 20, May 11, June 8, July 27 and Aug. 24. Kids can bring their own battery-powered cars to the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club sign-in or drop them at the pit gates and they will be brought to the front stretch at intermission. July 4th Fireworks and Kids' Bicycle Giveaway: One of the mid-summer traditions returns to celebrate the 4th of July with Casey's Thursday Night Thunder. The Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series program, with all four weekly divisions in action, will conclude with a huge fireworks display choreographed to music. Earlier, youngsters have a chance to take home a new bicycle with the annual RCR Designs Jr Fan Club bicycle giveaway. Kids can sign up on the Midway prior to the giveaway. New bicycles, for boys and girls, are collected year-round for the giveaway with money to go toward purchase of the bikes also accepted at the speedway office. Track championship chases: Opening night for the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series is April 20th. Defending track champions are Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models), Bobby Williams (Ozark Golf Cars and Utility Vehicles USRA B-Mods), Ryan Middaugh (Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds) and Mason Beck (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars). Show-Me 100 a tradition like no other: It wouldn't be Memorial Day Weekend without the signature event of Lucas Oil Speedway's season. The 32nd annual Show-Me 100 Presented by the Missouri Division of Tourism, featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA returns May 23-25 with a $50,000 prize going to the winner of the final-night feature. This year it will be an all-Late Model weekend as the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models also will be on the card all three nights. Get ready for High Limit Sprints: There is a lot of excitement building toward a new event on the 2024 schedule, the Inaugural High Limit Racing Diamond Classic, June 28-29. The 410 Sprint Series, owned by Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, will feature the elite 410 Sprint drivers from around the nation. Support class for the The High Limit Racing Diamond Classic is the Modified Invitational featuring the new Heartland Modified Tour. In addition to the racing action, the band Dirt Road Addiction will play following the action on Friday night, June 28th from 10:30 p.m.-1 a.m. on the south end of the Midway. Drag boats set for a trifecta: Lake Lucas will roar to life three times in 2024 as the Kentucky Drag Boat Association returns. First up is the KDBA Summer Thunder on Lake Lucas (June 8-9), followed by the KDBA Show-Me Summer Shootout (Aug. 2-3) and the 14th annual Diamond Drag Boat Nationals (Aug. 30-Sept. 1). Saturday-night dirt track action will coincide with each drag boat event, giving fans a chance for a water-dirt doubleheader as a drag boat ticket including admission to the dirt track. USMTS Show-Me Shootout in early August: The nation's top national-touring modified drivers return for the 15th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout on Aug. 3. The evening show will wrap up a big Saturday as the KDBA Show-Me Shootout for drag boats takes place next door on Lake Lucas. Rodney Sanders won last year's Show-Me Shootout, one of five series feature wins en route to his fifth USMTS championship. Big Buck 50 is back: One of the biggest events in the nation for POWRi Super Stocks is returning to the Lucas Oil Speedway schedule with the 8th annual Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt set for Oct. 3-5. The Big Buck 50 was held on an annual basis at Lucas Oil Speedway through 2020 and was a one of the highlights on the schedule. The winner will earn $10,000 on the final night. The Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals also return to the schedule and will be run in conjunction with the Big Buck 50, making it a lucrative, action-packed weekend of Late Model and Super Stock racing at the same location. The MLRA feature winners will collect $5,000 and $10,000 on the respective nights. USRA Nationals finds new calendar spot: The largest event of the season, in terms of entries, finds a new spot on the calendar. The Summit USRA Nationals moves to Sept. 17-21 after being held in early October over the past three seasons. Over the course of the week, B-Mods, Modifieds, Stock Cars, Tuners and Hobby Stocks under the USRA sanction will converge on Wheatland with more than 200 entries expected. Hockett-McMillin Memorial: Open-wheel fans get three big nights in race that pays tribute to two home-state heroes. It's the 14th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial, Sept 12-14, with many of the best Winged Sprint and Wingless Sprint drivers in the national on hand. The race pays tribute to the late sprint legend Jesse Hockett, who lost his life in a shop accident in 2010 and his cousin and crew chief, Daniel McMillin, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2006. Monster Trucks for a grand finale: Some say the best event of the season is always the last one and the O'Reilly Auto Parts Outlaw Monster Trucks - Eve of Destruction always draws a capacity crowd. The Oct. 19 event also serves as an early Halloween celebration with fans encouraged to dress in costumes and kids to be ready for trick or treating before the big show begins. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, 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.

• 
  WASHED OUT: MLRA "WINTER MELTDOWN" CANCELLED AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY  

  Pontoon Beach, Illinois (April 3, 2024) - For the second consecutive season, the Lucas Oil MLRA's season opening "Winter Meltdown" at the Tri-City Speedway has fallen victim to mother nature. Heavy storms rocked the Granite City, Illinois area late Monday and into Tuesday leaving behind in excess of 2" of rainfall and a waterlogged facility. With saturated grounds and limited chances for drying weather heading into the weekend, track promotors Kevin and Tammy Gundaker were forced to make the difficult decision to cancel. "Looking out over the track this morning it's clear that there is no way we can put on a good show for the drivers and fans of the MLRA and Tri-City Speedway this weekend," commented Kevin Gundaker. "Out of respect for the race teams, we just felt that making the early decision was the right thing to do in this situation. Being a racing family ourselves we know how expensive travel can be for the race teams, and this way it will allow drivers and fans alike a chance to make alternative racing plans for the upcoming weekend if they so choose." "We look forward to having the MLRA back at Tri-City this fall for their annual Championship Weekend. It's always great being a part of crowning a champion, it's just unfortunate that we won't be able to jump start the season for MLRA this weekend," concluded Gundaker. 11TH ANNUAL MLRA "SPRING NATIONALS" UP NEXT-- The Lucas Oil MLRA will now look towards the 11th Annual MLRA "Spring Nationals" on April 12th - 13th at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. With a record purse on tap for the event, officials are expecting a strong contingent of regional MLRA teams and national touring competitors. A practice session will be help for all competitors on Thursday night April 11th from 6 - 9 pm to get the weekend started. Friday night will feature a $7,000 to win main event, before Saturday nights $20,000 to win weekend finale. For additional details on the MLRA "Spring Nationals" be sure to visit www.LucasOilSpeedway.com. For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY "WINTER MELTDOWN" OPENS SEASON FOR LUCAS OIL MLRA

  Wheatland, Missouri (April 2, 2024) - The Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) is set to begin their 36th consecutive season of action with a double header this weekend at the Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. The 1st Annual "Winter Meltdown" will serve as the opening round of an exciting 27 race schedule in 2024, before the series returns to Tri-City for the annual MLRA Championship weekend in October to close out the season. The season opener will be comprised of two complete points paying events starting on Friday night April 5th, as drivers compete in a $5,000 to win main event that will also pay $500 to start. Action will resume on Saturday, April 6th when the stakes increase, paying the victor $7,000 for their efforts, while all qualifiers will be guaranteed $700 for starting the weekend finale. "There is no doubt that everyone has cabin fever, and they are ready to go racing," commented Kevin Gundaker, whom along with wife Tammy and their family operate the 3/8-mile facility just east of St. Louis, MO. "Having the MLRA is a really good fit to be able to open our season with, I'm excited to have Ernie (Leftwich) and his group in here and excited to get 2024 going." Chad Simpson enters the 2024 season as the defending Lucas Oil MLRA Champion. In 2023 the Mount Vernon, Iowa driver scored his second consecutive series title, and fourth all time. Simpson's four championships tie him for third best all time with Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Terry Phillips. Al Purkey's seven titles and Alan Vaughn's five continue to lead the way. Simpson is expected to contend for the series title once again, behind the wheel of his Longhorn by Wells Chassis. He will also attempt to become just the second driver ever in series history to capture three consecutive championships, a feat accomplished only by Alan Vaughn from 2002 to 2004. Drivers will get an opportunity to shake off the rust with an open practice session on Thursday night April 4th from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, which is something that Kevin Gundaker says is key for a lot of people. "As a driver you get to knock some rust off before you actually race. I know there are quite a few guys that also have new cars this year so it will give them a feel for that and an opportunity to try some different things without being in race mode. And for us on the track side, it gives us a feel for what the racetrack might need and what it's going to be like right out of the box." Both MLRA weekends at Tri-City Speedway fell victim to mother nature in 2023, but early forecast projections for this weekend's season opener look to be dry and ideal for getting the early spring racing season kicked off. No single driver has yet to become a repeat winner during MLRA action at Tri-City, with nine different drivers having visited victory lane to date. Two-time MLRA series winner Logan Martin, along with 2023 Sunoco Race Fuel Rookie of the Year runner-up Trevor Gundaker, are the most recent winners, both sharing time in victory lane during the 2022 season finale weekend. Gundaker also noted that time trial qualifying is going to be critical as always for all the competitors looking to get a jump on the points season. "Qualifying is definitely important. I tell my sons the two most important laps you will make all night are the first two because everybody has such good equipment and the parity in racing today makes it hard to have to come from a little further back." Tri-City Speedway: Pontoon Beach, IL (Practice Info)--Thursday 4/4/24 Pit Gates: 5:30 PM Hot Laps/Practice - 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM Pit Passes: Adults $30, Kids (6 - 12 yrs.) $15 Grandstand: FREE to Watch Website: www.tricityspeedway.net Tri-City Speedway: Pontoon Beach, IL (Race Day Info)--Friday 4/5/24 Pit Gates: 2:00 PM, Grandstands 5:30 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:30 PM, Racing 7:15 PM Admission: Adults $25, Kids (12 & Under) FREE Support Classes: MARS Modifieds- $1,000 to Win Tri-City Speedway: Pontoon Beach, IL: (Race Day Info)--Saturday 4/6/24 Gates: 2:00 PM, Grandstands 5:30 PM Racing: Hot Laps - 6:30 PM, Racing to follow Admission: Adults $25, Kids (12 & Under) FREE Support Classes: MARS Modifieds- $1,000 to Win For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway season fires up Saturday, headlined by Easter Bowl 150 Enduro

  WHEATLAND, MO. (April 1, 2024) - Lucas Oil Speedway is set to fire up a new season on Saturday night with the third annual Easter Bowl 150 Enduro headlining the action. The 150-lap lap race is nearly an anything-goes event. Action will be non-stop for the duration, unless a car comes to a stop in the racing groove and is blocking the track or a dangerous situation presents itself and requires a red flag. The winner earns $1,500. Jeremy Wilson of Humboldt, Kansas, dominated in last year's event, leading 138 of the 150 laps. He finished nearly two laps in front of runner-up Michael Gillis of Clever with Curtis Turpin of Eldon two laps behind the winner in third. "The Easter Bowl 150 Enduro always is an exciting event and one that the fans enjoy," Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton said. "We're looking forward to seeing another fun race to help kick off our season, along with three other divisions of cars." Lorton said the speedway is continuing to accept entries for the Enduro with entry fee $150. Drivers can preregister byc alling into the speedway office at (417) 295-6048 and pay the entry fee via credit card or print off the entry form from the website and drop it off with the fee. Starting positions for the 150-lap, $1,500-to-win Enduro will be based on order of paid entries received. Drivers will start the race three-wide. Pit passes are $35. The Easter Bowl 150 winner will earn $1,500 with prize money paid to the top 10 finishers with payouts: 2nd - $1,000; 3rd - $750. 4th - $500. 5th - $300. 6th - $250. 7th - $200. 8th - $175. 9th - $150. 10th - $125. Also in action will be the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models racing for $1,000 to win, plus POWRi Midwest Mods and POWRi Pure Stock going after $500 to win in their features. Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5 p.m., hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05. Admission: Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) - $12 Adults (13 and up) - $15 Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12 Youth (ages 6-12) - $5 Kids (5 and under) - FREE Family Pass - $35 Pit Pass - $35 Driver information needed: Drivers planning on racing at at Lucas Oil Speedway this season are encouraged by keep their MyRacePass profile up to date. Meanwhile, track announcer Shane Friebe is asking for them to also fill out a driver information form online. There will be a number of nights on both Flo Racing and MAV-TV broadcasts and the more information about each driver, the better. Legends added to April 12th portion of MLRA Spring Nationals: The 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals are set for April 12-13. Legend cars have been added to the program on the first night to join the MLRA, Show-Me Vintage Racers and POWRi Super Stocks. Classes for night two will be MLRA, SMVR and POWRi Super Stocks. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, Rains Ice Company, 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.

• 
  CHRIS SIMPSON SEEKING A FAST START TO 2024 WITH LUCAS OIL MLRA

  Wheatland, Missouri (March 22, 2024) - Leaving the Lucas Oil Speedway after the season opening MLRA Spring Nationals in 2023, few people probably had Chris Simpson on their radar to be a contender for the series season championship. A guy that had just recorded back-to-back 25th place finishes had put himself into a deep hole, but his remarkable season turn-a-round may be one of the best examples in recent years of a team that had a never give up attitude. It was that perseverance for the Oxford, Iowa driver that led his race team to a runner-up finish in the final championship standings. "We struggled pretty much both nights at Wheatland, which got our hopes down and we weren't sitting very good points wise. Those first two nights just killed us, you know I pulled off not thinking of running the whole series and at the end of the year it bit me pretty hard," commented Simpson. "But to see where we started and where we ended up, obviously we only had the one win and I definitely feel like we left a couple more on the table, but we were right there. I think we added it up the other day and we had like eight second place finishes. And anytime you can look back at a year and see you had that many top fives or that many top twos you know your stuff is pretty good and there isn't a real big reason to go making a lot of changes." The driver of the Hoker Trucking # 32 bounced back in a big way over the next four races by finishing no worse than 5th, while mixing in a pair of runner-up finishes and scoring his 16th career MLRA victory at the Lake Ozark Speedway. It was that string of top five runs that eventually helped lead Simpson into considering a full time run at the MLRA title, something he is not accustomed to doing. "I planned on running all the way to Wheatland and then if we needed a provisional (Show-Me 100) I would have it and that's like three grand to start. At that point we were second in points, and I felt like we had quite a few races left to make up ground on Chad (Simpson), but obviously with the rainouts and stuff like that it just didn't go in our favor," explained the 40-year-old Simpson. For much of his racing career Simpson has preferred to run an outlaw schedule, picking and choosing where to race from week to week. In fact, his last top five points finish prior to 2023 came back in 2014 when he finished 4th in the former Corn Belt Clash series standings. "When you run kind of an outlaw schedule you go and if you do good you do good, if you don't you go home and it's not like you've got to worry about it. Just running for points puts another worry on you, but I think it makes you better too." Juggling a busy sales occupation in the family's business, Five Star Shop Service, and with having three very active children, also adds to the complexity of a series commitment for anyone he explains. "Running the series is hard, and I know it's hard for Chad too. With kids and youth sports, my son is in youth baseball, my youngest daughter is in youth softball, and my oldest daughter is in volleyball. Those are just times you will never get back if you don't go spend time with them and do those things. Hopefully the schedules will work out again this year so we can be at every race, but yet make it to a bunch of the kid's activities as well." Of his sixteen career wins, which dates to Lakeside Speedway in 2009, Simpson has managed to accumulate victories at 11 different MLRA venues over the years. It's that quick to adapt versatility that makes him a regular threat for the win. With another trio of new tracks on this year's MLRA schedule, including a short road trip of 45 minutes to the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, IA, things appear to be setting up nicely for another possible run to the title. "I think a lot of why I'm able to adapt quickly is a testament to my racing from over the years. Because like back when guys like my brother were following the WDRL or MLRA per say, I kind of branched out instead and went to places like LaSalle, I went to places like Fairbury, IL. I think just me jumping out and racing different tracks has helped me a ton as far as going to a new track and being competitive. Just going to all those different tracks really helps you, so when you do follow a series or go to a new track it's easier to adapt." Since first jumping into the world of late model racing, where he originally shared a ride with brother Chad between their home tracks of Farley Speedway (now 300 Raceway) and West Liberty Raceway, Simpson notes how much the sport of dirt late model racing has evolved. "The technology and just all that we have to do anymore has changed things, and especially the amount of money we have to spend to stay up front. It was there back then just not to this degree, and I try to be real smart about it," he commented of the racers budget. "I really liked it when MLRA had you mark four tires, and you ran the same four tires all night. I think for a team like me and a team like anybody running the MLRA schedule they love that because for one it's a lot less tire work. And for me, the way we grew up racing was on hard tires, so you had to learn to take care of your stuff. I think that's what some of the younger guys don't do is throughout the night they don't take care of their tires, or in a longer race they don't take care of their tires and you can kind of see that at the end of the races with guys like me being more used to it. We just grew up where that's what you had to do, if you were going to finish up front you had to take care of your equipment." While his series leading four second place finishes from a year-a-go, including three to his brother and eventual series champion Chad, might not have been enough to capture the title, he notes that the season did bring back one important element--having fun. "Honestly, for me last season was just fun racing with Chad again. We were at a point where we were super competitive, and we had a few differences between the years with all the different things that come along with racing, but honestly it was fun again. As most people around noticed me and Chad parked with each other wherever we went and that's how it should be, we're brothers. He's been super successful in the MLRA stuff, and I've been successful too, I've just never really stuck it out and ran a full series as long as he has been, but he's been awesome doing it." "It's nice if I'm down crew guys or if he's down crew guys at times, we can help each other and have a few beers or grill out afterwards and just kind of hang out. That part made it fun again for me last year." With a furry of nine nights of racing on the MLRA schedule during the month of April, Chris Simpson will find out quick if 2024 will be the season where he quite possibly puts a championship trophy on his mantle come seasons end. "It's always nice to have the "W's", but obviously when you're running up front you really can't complain. As of right now we are going right out of the gate with our best car, best motors, and going to try and jump in the points lead right away," he concluded. Chris Simpson Racing/Marketing Partners: Hoker Trucking, Randy Davidson Trucking, C&J Trucking, Hot Rod Septic Treatment, HD Equipment, RLM, Capital Signs, IITI, & Factory CS.  For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Hellraizer Jacks Sponsoring Pit Crew Challenge at Show-Me 100

  BATAVIA, Ohio (March 20, 2024) - Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series officials are excited to announce Hellraizer Jacks Inc. has joined the growing list of marketing partners for the 2024 season. The Hellraizer Jacks Pit Crew Challenge will take place at Lucas Oil Speedway during the Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 weekend. Race Teams that have perfect attendance with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the Lucas Oil MLRA will be eligible to compete in the competition. The Pit Crew Challenge will be a timed event to see which driver and crew can enter the designated pit box, change two right side tires, and exit the pit box the fastest. Each crew will utilize a Hellraizer Jack during the competition. The winning team of the Hellraizer Pit Crew Challenge will receive $2,000 in cash plus a new Hellraizer Demon Jack valued at $1,515. The 2nd place crew will receive $1,000 in cash. There will also be a $1,000 cash award to the Best Appearing Crew, which will be judged based on their crew uniforms and overall team appearance. Hellraizer Jacks Inc. owned by Tim Sheets is based in Mooresville, NC and builds Billet Aluminum Jacks that are used in various forms of motorsports including NASCAR, asphalt short track racing and in dirt racing divisions all across the country. Hellraizer Jacks can be found at various parts vendors including Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series partner Behrents Performance Warehouse. To learn more about Hellraiser Jacks Inc visit their website at https://www.hellraizerjacks.com or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039680186132. "We are thrilled to have Hellraizer Jacks Inc. sign on as a marketing partner and title sponsor of the Pit Crew Challenge during the Show-Me 100 weekend. Adding to the already mega Show-Me 100 weekend, the Pit Crew Challenge will showcase the pit crews and give them an opportunity to win some cash awards and a new jack for their race team. In addition, the Best Appearing Crew award should make for some interesting and good-looking pit crews as they display their talents in front of a huge audience. We appreciate Tim Sheets and his company coming on board with the series and adding another great program to the series for the race teams," stated Wayne Castleberry, Sales and Marketing for Lucas Oil Motorsports. The 2024 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season continues March 22-23 with trips to Atomic Speedway and Brownstown Speedway. For the latest news, results, championship standings and more about the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, please visit www.lucasdirt.com.   About Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Founded in 2005, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series showcases the talents of the top dirt late model drivers from across the country. In 2024, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction 63 events across 16 states, including some of the biggest marquee events in the industry, providing dirt slinging, sideways, door-to-door racing action lap after lap. The series receives national exposure through a television package streamed live via FloRacing, with select broadcasts on MAVTV Motorsports Network. The in your face excitement of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is second to none in motorsports. For more information, including the latest news, tour schedule, driver information, and more, visit the official website at: www.LucasDirt.com. 2024 Official Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Marketing Partners   2024 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Partners Include: Advanced Powder Coating, Allstar Performance, Arizona Sport Shirts, ARMSLIST.com, Automotive Racing Products (ARP), Behrent's Performance Warehouse, Big River Steel, Bilstein Shocks, Black Diamond Chassis, Boyd Bilt Fabrication, Brandon Ford, Brodix, Buzz Electric Bicycles, Capital Race Cars, Clements Racing Engines, Coltman Farms Racing, Cornett Racing Engines, Dave Warren Powersports, Deatherage Opticians, Dirt Draft, E3 Spark Plugs, Earnhardt Technologies Group, Fast Shafts, FLORacing, FOX Shocks, General Tire, Heartbeat Hot Sauce, Heath Lawson Photography, Hellraizer Jacks, Holmatro, Hoosier Tire, Keyser Manufacturing, Longhorn Chassis, Lucas Oil Products, MAVTV Motorsports Network, MD3, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, Midwest Sheet Metal, Miller Welders, MSD, MyRacePass, Nutrien Ag Solutions, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Outerwears, Penske Racing Shocks, Performance Bodies, Poske's Performance Parts, Pro Power Racing Engines, ProtectTheHarvest.com, Rocket Chassis, Rugged Radios, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson Race Products, Slicker Graphics, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Summit Racing Equipment, Thermo-Tec Automotive Products, Todd Steel Buildings, UNOH - University of Northwestern Ohio, Vic Hill Race Engines, Victory Fuel, Whelen Engineering Company, Wieland Metal Services, Wilwood, Xceldyne, and 5150 Race Trailers

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Preseason Spotlight: Late Model veteran Walkenhorst ready for 25th year in sport

  WHEATLAND, MO. (March 19, 2024) - Joe Walkenhorst will mark a quarter-century driving a race car in 2024 when the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model season fires up at Lucas Oil Speedway. All but one of those years spent driving a Late Model. The feeling of wheeling the high-powered car around the dirt is an experience like no other, the 56-year-old resident of nearby Elkton said. "Late Models, just the feel of them, when they're really hooked up they feel like they're gonna throw you out the right side of the seat," Walkenhorst said of the appeal. "They are just so quick and fun." Walkenhorst will be looking to build off a strong 2023 season when action in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series begins next month. He finished fourth in points a year ago with nine top-five finishes in 17 events, though most of his best runs came in the first half of the season. "Then I don't know what happened, but something went away on the car," Walkenhorst said. "I don't know if it was a shock or the rear-end. We ended up rebuilding the front end, the rear end, the middle, went through all the shocks. Finally, the last race of the year, we got it to come back. "All in all it was decent. Not what we were shooting for, but we got some pretty stiff competition there, too." Walkenhorst, a native of Lee's Summit, began racing in 1999 driving a Super Stock at Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg. He grew up going to the races to watch his dad, Ed Walkenhorst, drive a Late Model at I-70 Speedway in Odesssa. "I had to wait until I could afford to race," Walkenhorst said. "That's the biggest obstacle we had to overcome to go racing. But I started racing at Warrensburg in the Super Stock, which was basically a Late Model with a Stock stub, back in the day, and we had success from the git-go. We won four or five races the first year and the next year went to Super Late Models. That was quite a learning curve." Walkenhorst has raced nearly ever year since, though not always with a full schedule due to other commitments. He moved to Elkton, six miles south of Wheatland, a few years ago after his parents retired and bought a place there. "My dad decided that living in the city wasn't where he needed to be," Joe Walkenhorst said. "He found a farm in Elkton, just six miles south of the track. I bought three aces right next to them and built a house. I'm an only child and decided I needed to be close to them when they got to the age where they needed help." The only downside is a 230-mile round trip drive each workday to his job in Kansas City. That's why Walkenhorst said it's important to have good help in preparing his car, during the week and on race nights. Tony Allen, a former crewman for national-touring drivers Jason Papich and Earl Pearson Jr., has helped him the last couple of years. Garrett Eth has come on board to help daily maintenance and prep tires. Daughter Mariah Walkenhorst has been another mainstay in helping with crew duties. "Tony Allen has been with me last couple of years," Walkenhorst said. "He got tired of going on the road. We've been friends for a while and I told him, 'if you want come wrench for me on Saturday nights I'll buy you a pit pass and a hot dog and you can still get your racing fix and don't have to travel.' He's been great helping me set up the car and make the right adjustments. "Garrett Eth is a young kid wanting to learn and I'm getting him started on tires. It's a huge help for me. During the week I'm pretty much by myself and I'm on the road four hours a day. It helps to have a young buck to help out." Walkenhorst said his goals for this season are simple as he plans to race at Lucas Oil Speedway weekly. With the class under POWRi sanction, he also plans to hit some races at the track where he started, in Warrensburg. "I definitely want to get a win, if not multiple wins, and beat Justin," Walkenhorst said of Justin Wells, who dominated at the track last season. Joe drives a Black Diamond chassis that he bought from Wells a few years ago. "We're good friends and I take my whoppings accordingly," Walkenhorst said of Wells. "He's real good people." The Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series Weekly Opener is set for April 20th with all four divisions in action. The season-opening 3rd annual Easter Bowl Enduro 150 is set for April 6. Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models plus POWRi Midwest Mods and POWRi Pure Stocks will be in action that night. Driver information needed: Drivers planning on racing at at Lucas Oil Speedway this season are encouraged by keep their MyRacePass profile up to date. Meanwhile, track announcer Shane Friebe is asking for them to also fill out a driver information form online. There will be a number of nights on both Flo Racing and MAV-TV broadcasts and the more information about each driver, the better. Legends added to April 12th portion of MLRA Spring Nationals: The 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals are set for April 12-13. Legend cars have been added to the program on the first night to join the MLRA, Show-Me Vintage Racers and POWRi Super Stocks. Classes for night two will be MLRA, SMVR and POWRi Super Stocks. Test and Tunes: The second and final Open Test and Tune is set for 2-6 p.m. March 30 at Lucas Oil Speedway. Pits open at 1 p.m. and pit passes are $30. Grandstand admission is free. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, Rains Ice Company, 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.

• 
  HERZOG AIMING TO CONTINUE CLIMB TOWARDS THE TOP WITH LUCAS OIL MLRA  

  Wheatland, Missouri (March 15, 2024) - Jeff Herzog had high aspirations of following the full Lucas Oil MLRA tour one year ago. But as racing often goes, those plans were derailed in a single corner in early June, forced him to the sidelines for a trio of events. Now, with the season opener at the Tri-City Speedway just three weeks out, the driver from Festus, Missouri is locked and loaded and ready to give it another shot at a full tour run in 2024. Having already completed some pre-season testing, Herzog will get his MLRA season under way at a pair of familiar tracks, the Tri-City Speedway on April 5th - 6th, followed by the first of five weekend get-a-ways on the season to the Lucas Oil Speedway on April 12th - 13th. "It's a huge positive going somewhere that we've went almost every weekend the past several years," commented Herzog of Tri-City. "We have had some luck there and we've had some decent runs, but never got the win there yet, so it kind of eludes me." The driver of the Dan Althoff Trucking # 11 got his best career MLRA finish at the time at Tri-City during the MLRA season finale in 2021, a 6th place run after qualifying for the pole in the main event. "I have high hopes for this year. If everything starts out good, I'm gonna try for the championship, but it's a big hill to climb so we will just see what happens." Weekend number two also sets up nicely for Herzog, as he and the series return to the confines of the Lucas Oil Speedway, a track where he raced into the national spotlight during the 2023 "Show-Me 100", after setting overall quick time during the "Tribute to Don & Billie Gibson" qualifying night. He would go on to score the win in his respective heat race that night, but his results as a whole in 2023 at Lucas has him excited to get back to the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks." "What's weird about Wheatland is I went back there probably in 2015/16 or so, and the track was dry. No traction, no cushion to lean on, nothing. We went out there and slid off the racetrack going into the corner, and I backed it into the wall, and I was like man I hate this place. We never really went back until this past year, and now I love the place." After advancing twelve spots and finishing a very strong 16th in the Show-Me 100, the season took a nose-dive for Herzog just days later at Tri- City where he nosed into the turn three wall before rolling and destroying his Capital Chassis in a World of Outlaws event. However, thanks to a great relationship with Capital Race Cars, the 39-year-old was back up and running by mid-summer. "Capital jumped on top of it and got me a new one in pretty short order," he notes. "I just can't say enough about them guys with Charles (Swaney), Marshall (Green), and Shane (Clanton) and everybody there. They are great to work with, and you know everything just clicks being able to have that kind of a relationship with a chassis builder." He expects that relationship to continue to prove beneficial in 2024 with friend and fellow competitor Tony Jackson Jr. now piloting the Capital house car. "We're kinda teaming up with Tony on things and we are gonna try testing some things and try some new things coming up here shortly. After their Florida trip, I think we're seeing everybody (Capital) really jumping in now and wanting to push forward some more. I believe he's trying some new things to help make the Capital program better, which is good for everybody." Herzog is a three-time track champion at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, claiming the top spot three out of four years from 2017 to 2020, making him no stranger to chasing championship hardware if he so chooses to in 2024. But as he explains, for the time being his days of running weekly for points are on the back burner with bigger aspirations. "Track championships are a little different than a series championship you know. People don't really tend to look at track championships anymore, it doesn't really pay the bills you know. It's just kind of another regular night payout basically to win a championship. It is a notch in your belt you can say, but I'm ready to go after bigger things these days, trying to keep putting our best foot forward and keep trying to get better and better." The Lucas Oil MLRA series champion is set to collect a $20,000 pay day at seasons end, something that would be huge for this single car, single engine, race team. "You gotta kinda take your licks on the chin and keep moving, but at the same time with these cars anymore man you've got to be on kill all night long. You've gotta take chances when they arise, but at the same time you can't go out and tear up your stuff either, so luck plays a huge role in everything." Despite missing three nights due to his misfortunes a year ago, Herzog was able to finish the year with three MLRA top tens and a 7th place finish in the overall standings, just 30 points out of the top five. He also matched his career best finish of 6th in the "Wiener Nationals" at the Moberly Motorsports Park, an event that ended up being the season finale for the MLRA. "Racing is a year-to-year deal, and you never know what's going to happen. You've got to start out every year with a positive attitude, and I'm kind of one of them guys where I feel you kinda make your own luck in a way," explained Herzog. "A lot of races are won at the shop, so we do our due diligence with trying to keep spare parts, make sure we nut and bolt check everything every week, and go through the car and try to do preventative maintenance more than anything, just to make sure that we don't have any parts failures or something stupid that puts us behind the eight ball." "At the end of the season we want to be able to say we were there and in contention you know. I have high hopes and expectations. If you go to the track thinking your gonna lose you might as well not even go, so I'm trying to stay positive and put the best foot forward." Jeff Herzog Racing/Marketing Partners: Dan Althoff Trucking, Bloomsdale Bank, Fixture Contracting, Painting Solutions, Lance Drury Law, National Electrical, Cashinyourguns.com, LiveWire Express, SMCI, P&A Drywall Supply, McCains Towing and Auto Body, Ste. Gen County Abstract, Presley's Glass, Bauman Oil, Tire Bargains, Lakenan Insurance, Arnold Farms, Phine Designs, Custom Service Crane, & Mulllins Race Engines. For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Roll Call: Lucas Oil Speedway weekly drivers invited to post photo for chance to win pit pass

  WHEATLAND, MO. (March 13, 2024) - With Lucas Oil Speedway's first of two Open Test & Tunes coming up on Saturday, it's time for the annual "Roll Call" for those planning to race in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series this season. Drivers are invited to post a photo of their car - in the comments section on the same "roll call" post as this story - on the Lucas Oil Speedway Facebook page. Not only will it be a fun way to look ahead to the new season, it's a chance to win one free season crew pass in each of the weekly divisions. Drivers should post a photo of their car, plus their name and division in which they are competing. The photo receiving the most "likes" in the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models, Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds, Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods and O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will earn that driver the free crew pass for the upcoming season. The contest will conclude on Friday, March 29th - day before the second and final scheduled Test and Tune session. "We've done this the last couple of years and it was a lot of fun," Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton said. "It's a chance for the drivers to show off their cars and for the fans to get an idea of who's coming to race with us in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series - and also gives the drivers a chance to win the crew pass." The Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series Weekly Opener kicks off the season on April 20th with all four division in action. The season-openng 3rd annual Easter Bowl Enduro 150 is set for April 6. Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models plus POWRi Midwest Mods and POWRi Pure Stocks will be in action. Driver information needed: Drivers planning on racing at at Lucas Oil Speedway this season are encouraged by keep their MyRacePass profile up to date. Meanwhile, track announcer Shane Friebe is asking for them to also fill out a driver information form online. There will be a number of nights on both Flo Racing and MAV-TV broadcasts and the more information about each driver, the better. Legends added to April 12th portion of MLRA Spring Nationals: The 11th annual MLRA Spring Nationals are set for April 12-13. Legend cars have been added to the program on the first night to join the MLRA, Show-Me Vintage Racers and POWRi Super Stocks. Classes for night two will be MLRA, SMVR and POWRi Super Stocks. Test and Tunes: Due to popular demand, Lucas Oil Speedway has added an Open Test and Tune session for this Saturday, from 2-4 p.m. The pit office will open at noon for this Saturday's Test and Tune with pit passes $30. Spectators will be free on the grandstand side, but there will be no concessions available. The March 30th Test and Tune will be from 2-6 p.m. with pits opening at 1 p.m. and pit passes $30. For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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 "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, Rains Ice Company, 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.

• 
  NOW'S THE TIME: AARON MARRANT TO CHASE MLRA'S SUNOCO ROOKIE TITLE  

  Wheatland, Missouri (March 11, 2024) - Aaron Marrant will be the first to tell you that the 2023 race season was quite possibly the toughest in his near 20-year racing career. However, with the turn of the calendar the Richmond, Missouri driver is ready to flip the script in 2024, as he and his team embark on their journey to capture the Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) Rookie Of The Year, presented by Sunoco Race Fuels. Marrant, along with team owners Michael and Misty Meise, have made their fair share of starts with the MLRA series in recent years, but with a transition to a Longhorn chassis and a move to Durham Ford horsepower in the offseason, he feels now is their best opportunity to commit full time to the series' 27 race schedule. "I work a 40-hour a week job, my car owner (Michael) owns a small business and works in that business. So, I mean it's just hard for us to make the whole schedule usually and it seemed like this year the schedule wasn't quite as bad on the midweek races and Thursday, Friday, Saturday shows and all that, so we're going to give it a shot," commented Marrant. The 38-year-old Marrant has been circling the dirt in and around the Kansas City area since 2005, racking up numerous victories and championships along the way in the modified ranks before hooking up with Meise nearly eight years ago. "They had somebody else driving for them and then they had other commitments or whatever, and they just called and asked if I wanted to drive their late model. I was like heck yeah I'll drive it," he recalls of his partnership with Meise. "I drove it a couple of nights at the end of the year I think back in 2015 I believe, and then Mike was like do you wanna do this and run for points at Lucas (Oil Speedway) and ULMA stuff, and again I was like yeah, we can do that."  From the start of their late model ventures the team found early success, with Marrant winning track titles at Lucas Oil Speedway and numerous features at a collection of tracks in the central Missouri area in addition to ULMA (United Late Model Association) championships in 2017 and 2019. The 2020 season brought the driver of the Burlington Auto Repair entry his first real taste of super late model racing, as they ventured into the open motor world for the first time. Proving he knew his way around the Lucas Oil Speedway, Marrant collected his first ever "Fast Time Award" with the Lucas Oil MLRA that season at the Ron Jenkins Memorial, before going on to record a fifth place finish that night. Now, after four years of part time racing with the MLRA, he is confident they have the equipment and some experience to compete full time for rookie honors, while also knowing how challenging the task at hand will be. "We were really successful in ULMA and we even raced our ULMA car with the MLRA a couple times and run top ten and run decent. But I'm here to tell you there is a big difference in chassis going from 650 horsepower to 900 horsepower. Experience goes out the window, when you drive a 900-horsepower race car there's nothing that's going to prepare you for that."  Marrant is hopeful the team can get in a couple of nights of racing on the new package in mid-March at Arrowhead Speedway and Springfield Raceway before the MLRA opener on April 5th - 6th at the Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL. "2023 was a huge struggle," he noted. "I started racing cars in 2005 and last year was by far the worst year of racing I've ever had. I mean we struggled, and it didn't matter what we did, it didn't help. That's why it prompted the whole change of the entire program-- motor, car, everything." With the plans on running the full MLRA schedule, Marrant also explains how important seat time will be when it comes to contending for top fives and victories. "Our struggles from last year were kind of part of the decision on trying to run the whole schedule. We need to race more, and I mean we're so far behind on experience and it's hard to gain experience when your racing 22 times a year and everybody you're racing against is racing 45 or 50 nights. We really don't have a comfort, so the new car is not going to be that different for us. We're just hoping that we can get out there and race more, because you're not going to get experience from just staying home." "These cars have got so advanced and it's really hard on the super late model level to keep up with everything that's going on without an engineer or a crew chief or someone you know that's just in it all the time. I mean me and Michael, we just come home on Saturday night, he washes the car on Sunday and we go back to work on Monday and that makes it really hard for us. We just gotta race more, we need laps, so that's what were going to try to do this year with planning on running the whole schedule." In 2023 Marrant competed in only 12 MLRA events and logged just one top ten, that being an 8th place at the Moberly Motorsports Park in Moberly, MO. His best season came just one year prior when he logged a pair of MLRA top five runs including a 3rd place podium run in his back yard at the Lakeside Speedway. It's tracks like Lakeside and Lucas Oil Speedway that have him excited to get this seasons MLRA schedule underway. "It's a big help going to a track you're familiar with, because when you're traveling, you're trying to learn the car, trying to learn the set-up, and then you throw on top of it a new track that I've never been to, or I've been to once. I mean yeah, that makes it hard. It makes a huge difference when I'm already comfortable at the track that were going to and I already know the track. That makes it easier on us to just focus on learning the car and set-up and keeping up with the track, and I'm not having to learn the track as we go."  With the 2023 season of struggles now behind them, Marrant is optimistic he can get the team back to their winning ways once again. "I mean its crazy to even say after last year, but we've had multiple top fives and a quick time, so I know we're capable of doing it if we can just put it all together. This year we're really trying to get it in victory lane and that's saying a lot, but I mean I don't see why we couldn't do it if we get the new car and motor figured out. And like I said, racing more isn't going to do anything but help us get faster." Aaron Marrant Racing/Marketing Partners: Burlington Auto Repair, Summit Heating & Cooling, Rickets Meise Properties, Mainstreet Auto Body, Mark & Doni Conarroe, Bob Morton Enterprises, AT Transportation.  Car Owners: Michael and Misty Meise  Special Thanks: Kurt Swenson & Scott "Big Riggs" Young For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com. **2024 MLRA WINNERS CIRCLE PROGRAM** Once again in 2024 the MLRA will continue it's "Winners Circle Program" by awarding $200 in appearance money to the top (10) in points at each venue with perfect attendance, in addition to purse money earned. For full program details contact Series Director Ernie Leftwich. For all of the latest news and information fans are encouraged to visit the series website: Explore MLRARACING.COM Hit the Road the the Lucas Oil MLRA and stay up to date via our Social Media Accounts: Facebook X Instagram CONTACT: Ernie Leftwich Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director Mobile: (417) 309-3509 Email Ernie Leftwich 2024 Official Lucas Oil MLRA Marketing Partners Arizona Sport Shirts "The Official Merchandise Provider" of Lucas Oil MLRA Cedar Creek Beef Jerky "The Official Beef Jerky" of Lucas Oil MLRA General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Hoosier Race Tires "The Official Race Tire" of Lucas Oil MLRA Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil MLRA MAVTV Motorsports Network "The Official Television Network" of Lucas Oil MLRA MyRacePass "The Official Timing System" of Lucas Oil MLRA Rugged Radios "The Official Radio" of Lucas Oil MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels "The Official Fuel" of Lucas Oil MLRA 2024 MLRA Supporters Include: Arizona Sport Shirts, Behrents Performance Warehouse, Cedar Creek Beef Jerky, Dirt Car Lift, Earnhardt Technologies, Fast Shafts, Fast Track Photos, Fox Shocks, Hoosier Race Tires, Hooker Harness, Lucas Cattle Co., MD3, Midwest Sheet Metal, MSD Performance, MyRacePass, Outerwears, PEM, Performance Bodies, Protect The Harvest, Rugged Radios, Strange Oval, Sunoco Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Whelen, Xceldyne Lucas Oil MLRA 700 E. Highway 54, P.O. Box 8, Wheatland, MO 65779 +1 (417) 282-5984

• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Preseason Spotlight: Allison ready for busier Late Model season

  WHEATLAND, MO. (Feb. 6, 2024) - After one of the most-consistent seasons of any Lucas Oil Speedway driver, in any of the four Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series divisions, Bryon Allison is ready for even bigger things in 2024. Allison wound up second in the Hermitage Lumber Late Model class last season, 104.5 points behind track champion Justin Wells. While Allison did not win a feature, the veteran driver from Marshall posted 11 top-five finishes in 14 points races at Lucas Oil Speedway. "It was good," Allison said of his season. "We haven't got to race a lot over the last few years and the technology has changed quite a bit with the springs and stuff. We've been trying to get back up to speed with all of that stuff and as the year went on, we got consistently faster. The end of the year wound up really well. We'll just keep working on things." This year, Allison is excited about the opportunity to expand his role for the Moon Brothers Racing team out of Sedalia. Along the Black Diamond that Allison is set to drive in the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models division, the team has added a newer Rocket chassis for Allison to do some open Late Model racing in Lucas Oil MLRA and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events visiting Wheatland. "Any time you get back into an open car, it's a lot of fun," said Allison, who has some past experience racing in the MLRA series. "It's exciting to get to race against some of the big teams. It's gonna be a fun year. Hopefully everything works out." Allison started his racing career in 1993 at Sedalia in the Street Stock division and after a couple of years moved into Super Stocks and began winning races. "Then I moved into Late Models and ran at Sedalia quite often and also ran at Wheatland Raceway, before it was Lucas Oil Speedway," Allison said. "For a few years we ran some MLRA stuff and finished top 10 in the MLRA several years ago. We've primarily just been running Late Models ever since." Allison ran the full season in 2023, racing 23 times overall after entering only 13 races combined the previous six seasons. The runner-up finish to Wells was an impressive season, all things considered. "Justin's tough," Allison said. "I've raced against him years ago in MLRA. He's smooth and he's good. Just a tough competitor. I like racing against him. He'll make you a better racer. He makes you think. You're gonna have to get up on the wheel to beat that guy." This winter has been spent preparing the cars, including getting a Durham Race Engines motor refreshed. Andy Durham, like Allison is a Marshall native. Durham is now based in North Carolina and has gone on to become one of the nation's top motor builders. "I've known Andy since he was a young kid," Allison said. "His family still lives here in Marshall. I talk to his dad and brother quite regularly and I've known Andy since way before he got started building engines. Everybody around here is proud of him. He's done a tremendous job for a kid building motors in a single garage to where he is now." Allison said another exciting thing in the season ahead is the racing debut of his 7-year-old grandson, Jackson Burton, who is going to start racing micro-sprints. "My wife is gonna have to split time between our racing and our grandson's," Bryon said. "This will be his first year and we're really excited about that." The 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule begins with an Open Test & Tune on Saturday, March 30, from 2-6 p.m. Contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information on season passes for any event on the schedule. High Limit Racing Diamond Classic tickets on sale: Reserved-seat tickets plus two-day passes for one of the most-anticipated racing events on the Lucas Oil Speedway 2024 schedule, the inaugural Lucas Oil Speedway High Limit Racing Diamond Classic, are now on sale. The High Limit Diamond Classic is set for June 28-29 when the High Limit Racing Series makes their first ever appearance at Lucas Oil Speedway. The High Limit Sprint Car Series is co-owned by Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson and features top 410 sprint car drivers from around the country. Support class for the The High Limit Racing Diamond Classic is the Modified Invitational featuring the Heartland Modified Tour. An invitational format will be used to select 24 modified drivers to compete alongside the High Limit Racing Sprint Cars both nights. Show-Me 100 3-day passes on sale: All reserved seats and remaining 3-day passes for the 32nd annual Show-Me 100 are now on sale. The 3-day passes are $115 apiece and do not include pit passes. Those must be purchased separately if access to the pit area is desired. Campground reservations also are now being accepted for the Show-Me 100, which features the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA. Fans can contact McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled. CONTACT: Danny Lorton Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Office: (417) 282-5984 DLorton@lucasoilspeedway.com  # # # 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. Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With its entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. Click LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984. The Lucas Oil Speedway EZ Texting number is (417) 804-4141. In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway 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-Buick "The Official Truck" of Lucas Oil Speedway Dixie Chopper "The Official Mowers of Lucas Oil Speedway" General Tire "The Official Tire" of Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Products "The Official Oil" of Lucas Oil Speedway MAVTV "The Official Television Network" 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 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-Buick, 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, Frog Signs, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare, Hermitage Lumber, HICKAMO Country Store, Hobbytime Motorsports, 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, ProThings Apparel, RACEceiver, Racinboys.com, RacinDirt.com, Rains Ice Company, 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.

MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association Dirt Track Racing Videos

• April 12th-13th, 2024: 11th Annual MLRA Spring Nationals Presented by Arizona Sport Shirts

MLRA - Midwest LateModel Racing Association Dirt Tracks

• 
  34 Raceway Race TrackWest Burlington, Iowa, USA
• 
  Adams County Speedway Race TrackQuincy, Illinois, USA
• 
  CJ Speedway Race TrackColumbus Junction, Iowa, USA
• 
  Davenport Speedway Race TrackDavenport, Iowa, USA
• 
  Deer Creek Speedway Race TrackSpring Valley, Minnesota, USA
• 
  I70 Speedway Race TrackOdessa, Missouri, USA
• 
  Lake Ozark Speedway Race TrackEldon, Missouri, USA
• 
  Lucas Oil Speedway Race TrackWheatland, Missouri, USA
• 
  Moberly Motorsports Park Race TrackMoberly, Missouri, USA
• 
  TriCity Speedway Race TrackGranite City, Illinois, USA