WHEATLAND, MO. (April 22, 2023) – Mason Beck led all 25 laps in a caution-free O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars main event Saturday night, capturing the headline feature at Lucas Oil Speedway.
The 19-year-old Beck, of Urbana, earned $750 for his first victory of the season as he finished a comfortable margin in front of runner-up Dean Wille.
Other features winners on the Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series program Presented by Thunderburst Media included Ryan Middaugh (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds), Ryan Gillmore (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Larry Ferris (Hermitage Lumber Late Models). The four features all ran caution-free on a night that action began two hours early due to cool and windy conditions.
Beck rolled to the lead on lap one from his second-row starting position. He led by 2.2 seconds over Colton Bourland by lap five as Bourland advanced from seventh at the start.
“We’ve been kind of having some bad luck with the redraw this season,” Beck said. “Last week we started third and didn’t have a very good car. This week, we tried some stuff that my dad wanted to do and he was right. I’m gonna have to give that to him.”
Beck’s lead grew to nearly three seconds by lap 10 as Dean Wille moved into second with Doug Keller third as Bourland fell back to fourth.
As action remained green, Beck continued to build his lead and it was 4.1 seconds concluding lap 20. All he had to do the rest of the way was to avoid mistakes and that he did. Beck prevailed by 4.02 seconds over Wille with Keller finishing third, William Garner fourth and two-time feature winner Robert White fifth.
“All thanks goes to Sniper Speed and Kris Jackson,” Beck said, adding that he enjoyed the drying track conditions. “I figured if we had more tracks like this, I’d do a lot more winning. I’m not very good at the tacky stuff. I’m a better dry-slick racer, but we finally got her done this year and got a win.”
Middaugh cruises in USRA Modifieds: Ryan Middaugh of Fulton grabbed the lead early and went on to post a comfortable victory in the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature.
Middaugh started fourth and grabbed the top spot on lap two away from pole-starting Mickey Burrell. By lap five, Middaugh already had a two-second margin with Burrell and Jason Pursley following.
Dylan Hoover advanced into the runner-up spot on lap eight before Pursley grabbed second the next time around. Meanwhile, Middaugh was cruising by himself up front, 2.8 seconds over his pursuers at the midpoint.
As the race ran all 20 laps under the green flag, Middaugh continued to pull away for his first win of the season at Lucas Oil Speedway after one victory in 2022. He finished 3.8 seconds in front of Hoover with Pursley third, Robbie Reed fourth and Burrell finishing fifth.
“We’ve been working on it and working on it. Man, we really needed this one,” Middaugh said. “We got one at Callaway a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve had a really rough start to the year. We totaled our truck and trailer the first night and tore the car all to heck.
“Thanks to my dad Randy for sticking behind us for sticking behind us. My wife, my daughter, my step-mom and just all of our partners. We finally found a used trailer and got it. I went to West Virginia on Thursday and picked up a new truck. It’s been really hectic. We haven’t been 100 percent prepared, but we’re almost there now.”
Gillmore earns B-Mod feature win: Ryan Gillmore of Springfield grabbed the lead away from Jason Pursley just before the halfway mark and went on to capture his first Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod win of the season.
JC Newell led lap one with fellow front-row starter Pursley edging him at the start-finish line to lead lap two. Pursley continued to set the pace over the next several laps, but Gillmore was closing in and applying pressure as he worked the bottom groove.
Gillmore was able to maneuver past Pursley for the lead, coming out of turn four on lap nine. He pulled away from there to open a 2.1-second lead by lap 13 as he encountered lapped traffic.
Once he got around the two slower cars, Gillmore took it home in the caution-free 20-lapper to beat Pursley by 2.8 seconds.
Ferris rolls in Late Model feature: Reigning track champion Larry Ferris of Nevada scored his first Hermitage Lumber Late Model feature victory of the season, dominating all 20 laps. He beat runner-up Justin Wells by 6.4 seconds.
Ferris earned $1,000 for the win, including bonus money from sponsors Wosoba Seed & Trucking, Reed Environmental and Dirt Track Specialist.
“I just want to thank Daniel Wosoba and Bryan Larimore for the added money. That makes a big difference and it really helps get the cars in,” Ferris said..
Ferris started on the outside of row one and he roared away for the early lead, distancing himself from Larry Jones by 2.5 seconds after just five laps with Bryon Allison running third.
Wells, winner of the two previous Late Model features this season, advanced from sixth to third but as he dueled with Jones, Ferris kept pulling away. His margin was 4.1 second by lap 10.
The only thing that might give anyone else a chance would have been a caution flag and it never came. Ferris’ command was seven seconds over Wells by lap 17 and he completed the mission with a full straightaway’s margin.
“Finally,” Ferris said of regaining his championship form of 2022, when he won four times. “The car’s always been good. I just haven’t been very good yet.”
Wells finished second with Jones third, Allison fourth and Joe Walkenhorst fifth.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (April 22, 2023)
Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series
O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature – 1. 0F-Mason Beck[3]; 2. 68-Dean Wille[1]; 3. 7K-Doug Keller[9]; 4. 7-William Garner[10]; 5. 5-Robert White[8]; 6. 2-Colton Bourland[7]; 7. 85H-Mike Hailmann[16]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[2]; 9. 21F-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 10. 63-Scott Brown[12]; 11. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 12. 83-James Ellis[6]; 13. 21-Darren Phillips[11]; 14. 12-Christopher Sawyer[14]; 15. 11-Christine Holt[13]; 16. 24-Blayne McMillin[17]; 17. (DNS) 7D-Danny Holt
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 1 – 1. 0F-Mason Beck[4]; 2. 8M-James McMillin[5]; 3. 5-Robert White[1]; 4. 7K-Doug Keller[2]; 5. 74-Rodney Schweizer[8]; 6. 21-Darren Phillips[3]; 7. 12-Christopher Sawyer[7]; 8. 85H-Mike Hailmann[9]; 9. (DNF) 24-Blayne McMillin[6]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 2 – 1. 21F-Johnny Fennewald[3]; 2. 2-Colton Bourland[1]; 3. 83-James Ellis[2]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[7]; 5. 7-William Garner[6]; 6. 63-Scott Brown[8]; 7. 11-Christine Holt[4]; 8. 7D-Danny Holt[5]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature – 1. 21-Ryan Middaugh[4]; 2. 99-Dylan Hoover[5]; 3. 38C-Jason Pursley[2]; 4. 5-Robbie Reed[7]; 5. 73-Mickey Burrell[1]; 6. 92-Tyler Grooms[8]; 7. 12JR-Jory Stotts[6]; 8. 101-Tyson Dickson[3]; 9. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[11]; 10. (DNS) 27H-Theodore Harrell; 11. (DNS) 47-Chet Buckley
Heat 1 – 1. 5-Robbie Reed[3]; 2. 99-Dylan Hoover[5]; 3. 21-Ryan Middaugh[4]; 4. 73-Mickey Burrell[7]; 5. 38C-Jason Pursley[9]; 6. 92-Tyler Grooms[10]; 7. 101-Tyson Dickson[2]; 8. 12JR-Jory Stotts[1]; 9. (DNF) 27H-Theodore Harrell[11]; 10. (DNF) 47-Chet Buckley[6]; 11. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[8]
Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature – 1. 66G-Ryan Gillmore[3]; 2. 10P-Dayton Pursley[2]; 3. F1-Mitchell Franklin[7]; 4. 1B-Bobby Williams[5]; 5. 18-JC Morton[9]; 6. 99T-Eric Turner[8]; 7. 83-JC Newell[1]; 8. 66-Ethan Isaacs[11]; 9. 15-Ryan Edde[6]; 10. 46-Brice Gotschall[4]; 11. 2-Quentin Taylor[10]; 12. 6T-Michael Taylor III[13]; 13. 24-Jerry Ellis[14]; 14. D86-Donald McIntosh[12]; 15. 2G-Eric Graves[16]; 16. 25-Clayton Schroer[15]; 17. 6W-Matt Wacht[17]; 18. (DNF) 21A-Andrew Hodges[18]; 19. (DNF) 03-TC Hambrick[19]
Heat 1 – 1. 46-Brice Gotschall[1]; 2. 15-Ryan Edde[4]; 3. 99T-Eric Turner[5]; 4. D86-Donald McIntosh[2]; 5. 6T-Michael Taylor III[6]; 6. (DNF) 21A-Andrew Hodges[3]
Heat 2 – 1. 66G-Ryan Gillmore[1]; 2. 10P-Dayton Pursley[5]; 3. 18-JC Morton[2]; 4. 2-Quentin Taylor[6]; 5. 25-Clayton Schroer[4]; 6. 2G-Eric Graves[3]
Heat 3 – 1. 1B-Bobby Williams[3]; 2. F1-Mitchell Franklin[4]; 3. 83-JC Newell[1]; 4. 66-Ethan Isaacs[5]; 5. 24-Jerry Ellis[6]; 6. (DNF) 6W-Matt Wacht[7]; 7. (DNF) 03-TC Hambrick[2]
Hermitage Lumber Late Models
A Feature – 1. 51-Larry Ferris[2]; 2. 98W-Justin Wells[6]; 3. 99-Larry Jones[1]; 4. 1A-Bryon Allison[3]; 5. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[5]; 6. 68-Dean Wille[8]; 7. 50-Kayden Clatt[7]; 8. 40-Josh Newman[10]; 9. 98-Jarrett Ballard[12]; 10. 149-John Rowland[11]; 11. (DNF) 72-JC Morton[4]; 12. (DNF) 00-Landan Harris[9]; 13. (DNS) 1T-Tucker Cox; 14. (DNS) 6-Bob Cummings
Wosoba Seed & Trucking Heat 1 – 1. 51-Larry Ferris[4]; 2. 99-Larry Jones[1]; 3. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[3]; 4. 50-Kayden Clatt[2]; 5. 00-Landan Harris[7]; 6. (DNS) 6-Bob Cummings; 7. (DNS) 1T-Tucker Cox
Reed Environmental & DTS Heat 2 – 1. 98W-Justin Wells[6]; 2. 72-JC Morton[1]; 3. 68-Dean Wille[5]; 4. 1A-Bryon Allison[3]; 5. 40-Josh Newman[4]; 6. 149-John Rowland[2]; 7. 98-Jarrett Ballard[7]
Doubleheader next weekend with Off Road and Dirt Track: Off Road Truck racing will return to Lucas Oil Speedway for the first time in several years during the MidAmerica Outdoors Championship Series, next Friday and Saturday. MidAmerica Outdoors will debut its Pro Lite Truck Championship Series to coincide with its MAO Side-by-Side Series racers in an action packed two days.
A large field of UTV Side by Sides in various classes along with the Pro Lite Trucks are expected for the MAO Series. The Pro Lites are similar in appearance to the popular Pro 2 Trucks that once entertained fans at Wheatland.
Practice is set for 9:30 a.m.-noon Friday with qualifying action in the afternoon on the Off Road course. Saturday’s racing is tentatively set to begin at 9 a.m.
Anyone with an Off Road ticket can attend Saturday night’s Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series on the dirt track for free. Round 4 will find the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds running a 25-lap, $1,000-to-win main event. The Hermitage Lumber Late Models, O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars and the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods also will be in action.
Grandstand gates at the dirt track open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.
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