WHEATLAND, MO. (April 15, 2023) – After mechanical issues while leading dashed his hopes for a season-opening victory at Lucas Oil Speedway last month, nothing stood in JC Newell’s path to victory lane Saturday night.
Newell led all 25 laps and handled restarts after four cautions to earn the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win. It was his first at Lucas Oil Speedway since the 2021 season.
“It was a long night to lead for all 25 laps. Every caution had my nervous,” Newell said. “But it was a really good night.”
Newell, of Buffalo, picked up $750 for the victory, which headlined Round 2 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series Presented by Townsquare Media & KIX 105.7.
Other feature winners on the program included Rob White (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars), Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber Late Models) and Dillon McCowan (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds).
Newell and Zimmerman started on the front row and Newell grabbed the early lead with Zimmerman, Casey Thomas and Dustin Atkinson following. That’s how they ran through nine laps and caught lapped traffic. A lap later, caution flew for the first time for a call stalled in the exit opening to the pits.
Newell’s lead with six-tenths of a second over Zimmerman at the time with Thomas, JC Morton and Mitchell Franklin rounding out the top five with 15 laps remaining.
With a clear track ahead of him for the restart, Newell was able to open a 1.3-second lead by lap 14, when the event’s second yellow flag slowed the action. Franklin moved to second after the restart and was challenging Newell for the lead when a four-car pileup in turn one brought out another caution.
Newell cruised from there as the race ran caution-free the rest of the way. He prevailed by just under one second (.957) over Franklin with Atkinson finishing third, Morton fourth and Bobby Williams fifth.
It also was Newell’s first win in his Allen Autosports B-Mod, which he debuted last month. He said his father-in-law and car builder, Scotty Allen, helped with final prep on Saturday morning.
“It was a rocket ship tonight; I probably didn’t do a very good job of driving it those last five laps,” Newell said. “But it was really good and our Ruble Racing Engine really shined tonight.”
White wins another USRA Stock Cars feature: Rob White of Lebanon led all 20 laps to earn his second straight O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature win.
White blasted away from his starting spot on the pole and needed only three laps to open a 3.1-second lead over fourth-starting James Ellis. Mason Beck moved into second position on lap six, but trailed the leader by 5.2 seconds at that point.
Beck was able to whittle the margin down to 3.6 seconds by lap 14 while himself opening a similar gap over third-running William Garner. White’s lead was down to 2.6 seconds by lap 16 when the race’s long caution waved, setting up a four-lap shootout for the win.
Beck pulled alongside on the first lap after racing resumed, but was unable to get by. White held him off the rest of the way, winning by a car length. Ellis finished third with Christopher Sawyer fourth and Zack Willis coming home in fifth.
Wells scores another Late Model win: Justin Wells made it two-for-two this season in the Hermitage Lumber Late Model division, leading all 20 laps. The veteran driver from Aurora outdistanced runner-up JC Morton by 9.2 seconds or just over half a lap.
It was win No. 96 in his No. 98, a 2006 TNT Late Model that Wells calls “Old Faithful.” He earned $1,000 for the win, including bonus money from sponsors Wosoba Seed & Trucking, Reed Environmental and Dirt Track Specialist.
“This car was flawless all night,” Wells said. “I was a little worried about the weather today and about the track, but my goodness … the track was awesome.”
The race had a rough first portion with three cautions and one red flag before four laps were completed. The red came on lap two after a three-car accident in turn one resulting in John Rowland’s car landing on its roof. Rowland was not injured, but his car was done for the night.
Action was slowed again after lap two when Dowell’s car slowed on the backstretch and suddenly crossed toward the infield, leaving Tucker Cox nowhere to go and Cox plowed into the side of Dowell’s car in a hard hit.
Behind Morton, who advanced from ninth at the start, was Joe Walkenhorst in third, Tommy Cordray in fourth and Bryan Allison fifth.
McCowan claims USRA Modifieds feature: Dillon McCowan of Urbana wasted little time moving from his fifth starting position, advancing to the front by lap five and going on to capture the 20-lap Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified win.
McCowan is the two-time reigning track champ in the division, but is chasing Lucas Oil MLRA Late Model Rookie of the Year honors in 2023. This was his first USRA Modified action of the season at his home track.
“I’d like to thank my entire family and all my sponsors and everybody who helps us get up and down the road,” McCowan said. “We came from Iowa last night and this morning. It was a long haul. We got here with maybe two minutes to spare to get checked in.”
McCowan roared past early pace-setter Matt Johnson on the inside going into turn two and didn’t look back. He opened a four-second lead by the halfway mark and was on his way to a lopsided final margin when a lap-14 caution wiped out his margin.
Ryan Middaugh got around Johnson on the restart, but McCowan quickly opened up a comfortable margin as the final six laps remained green. Driving a new Bloodline Race Car, he finished 2.6 seconds in front of Middaugh with Johnson third, Nic Bidinger fourth and Paden Phillips fifth.
“I want to say a special thanks to Cole Stansberry and Terry Phillips for putting me in this car and giving me this chance,” McCowan said. “This car is absolutely amazing. It’s one of the best-handling A Mods I’ve ever drove.”
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 15, 2023)
Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series
Ozarks Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature – 1. 83-JC Newell[2]; 2. F1-Mitchell Franklin[8]; 3. J2-Dustin Atkinson[4]; 4. 18-JC Morton[6]; 5. 1B-Bobby Williams[5]; 6. 46-Brice Gotschall[12]; 7. 90-Terry Schultz[18]; 8. 15-Cayden Stacye[14]; 9. 2-Quentin Taylor[20]; 10. 6-Jay Flinn[13]; 11. 39-Dwight Brown[16]; 12. (DNF) 01B-Brett Holman[22]; 13. (DNF) Z28-Randy Zimmerman[1]; 14. (DNF) 42C-Casey Thomas[3]; 15. (DNF) 8S-Jon Sheets[7]; 16. (DNF) 10P-Dayton Pursley[15]; 17. (DNF) 42J-Donnie Jackson[11]; 18. (DNF) 33D-Adam Dunwoodie[19]; 19. (DNF) 27-Terry Williams[21]; 20. (DNF) 21-Dalton Teel[10]; 21. (DNF) 80-Thomas Yount[23]; 22. (DNS) 11S-Logan Smith; 23. (DNS) 2X-Brian Bolin
Heat 1 – 1. J2-Dustin Atkinson[1]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets[4]; 3. 42C-Casey Thomas[7]; 4. 46-Brice Gotschall[2]; 5. 15-Cayden Stacye[6]; 6. 90-Terry Schultz[5]; 7. 2-Quentin Taylor[3]
Heat 2 – 1. Z28-Randy Zimmerman[3]; 2. 83-JC Newell[2]; 3. 2X-Brian Bolin[5]; 4. 21-Dalton Teel[8]; 5. 6-Jay Flinn[7]; 6. 39-Dwight Brown[1]; 7. 27-Terry Williams[4]; 8. 80-Thomas Yount[6]
Heat 3 – 1. F1-Mitchell Franklin[2]; 2. 1B-Bobby Williams[4]; 3. 18-JC Morton[6]; 4. 42J-Donnie Jackson[1]; 5. 10P-Dayton Pursley[5]; 6. 11S-Logan Smith[3]; 7. 33D-Adam Dunwoodie[7]; 8. 01B-Brett Holman[8]
O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature – 1. 5-Robert White[2]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[3]; 3. 83-James Ellis[4]; 4. 12-Christopher Sawyer[6]; 5. 77-Zack Willis[7]; 6. 3C-Chad Staus[5]; 7. 24-Blayne McMillin[1]; 8. (DNF) 7-William Garner[8]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 1 – 1. 7-William Garner[2]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[4]; 3. 3C-Chad Staus[3]; 4. 24-Blayne McMillin[1]; 5. 12-Christopher Sawyer[7]; 6. 77-Zack Willis[8]; 7. 83-James Ellis[6]; 8. (DNF) 5-Robert White[5]
Hermitage Lumber Late Models
A Feature – 1. 98-Justin Wells[1]; 2. 72-JC Morton[9]; 3. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[6]; 4. 5-Tommy Cordray[4]; 5. 1A-Bryan Allison[8]; 6. 99-Larry Jones[3]; 7. 662-Cayden Campbell[5]; 8. (DNF) X15-Bobby Ruff II[13]; 9. (DNF) 51-Larry Ferris[7]; 10. (DNF) 88-Jimmy Dowell[2]; 11. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[12]; 12. (DNF) 7J-Jake Morris[10]; 13. (DNF) 149-John Rowland[11]
Wosoba Seed & Trucking Heat 1 – 1. 1A-Bryan Allison[2]; 2. 99-Larry Jones[1]; 3. 51-Larry Ferris[4]; 4. 5-Tommy Cordray[3]; 5. 72-JC Morton[5]; 6. 1T-Tucker Cox[6]; 7. (DNF) X15-Bobby Ruff II[7]
Reed Environmental & DTS Heat 2 – 1. 98-Justin Wells[6]; 2. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[4]; 3. 662-Cayden Campbell[2]; 4. 88-Jimmy Dowell[3]; 5. 7J-Jake Morris[5]; 6. 149-John Rowland[1]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature – 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 2. 21-Ryan Middaugh[2]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson[1]; 4. 3B-Nic Bidinger[10]; 5. 127-Paden Phillips[6]; 6. 38C-Jason Pursley[4]; 7. 5-Robbie Reed[11]; 8. 85-Tyler Shaw[9]; 9. (DNF) 03-Chase Jones[7]; 10. (DNF) 12JR-Jory Stotts[12]; 11. (DNF) 21W-Tracy Wolf[3]; 12. (DNS) 92-Tyler Grooms
Heat 1 – 1. 21W-Tracy Wolf[2]; 2. 03-Chase Jones[3]; 3. 127-Paden Phillips[4]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[7]; 5. 92-Tyler Grooms[1]; 6. 1X-Matt Johnson[6]; 7. 21-Ryan Middaugh[5]; 8. 38C-Jason Pursley[9]; 9. 85-Tyler Shaw[8]; 10. 3B-Nic Bidinger[10]; 11. 5-Robbie Reed[11]; 12. 12JR-Jory Stotts[12]
Next up: The O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars will headline the April 22nd Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program with a special 25-lap, $750-to-win main event. The Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds, Hermitage Lumber Late Models and Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods also will be in action.
Pit gates open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05 p.m.
Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series ticket info:
Advance Discount Tickets online only (16 and up) $12
Adults (16 and up) $15
Seniors (62 and up)/Military $12
Youth (6-15) $5
Kids (5 and under) FREE
Family Pass $35
Pit Pass $35
SRX roster of drivers expands, with tickets on sale: General admission tickets for the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race scheduled for Aug. 17 at Lucas Oil Speedway remain on sale. Some of the biggest names in racing will be on hand as the SRX Thursday Night Thunder event will be the finale in the six-race series.
Drivers previously announced for the Wheatland event include Tony Stewart, Kenny Wallace, Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Clint Bowyer, reigning SRX Champion Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Tickets for the SRX event are $35 in advance and $40 at the gate (ages 16 and over). Kids (ages 6-15) will be $20 with ages 5-and-under free. Advance tickets can now be purchased via Stubwire – https://www.stubwire.com/event/srxespnthursdaynightthunder/lucasoilspeedway/wheatland/28075/ Pit passes are $50 and must be purchased the day of the event.
For information about any event at Lucas Oil Speedway in 2023 contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.
CONTACT:
Danny Lorton
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Office: (417) 282-5984