WHEATLAND, MO. (July 6, 2023) – One week has passed since JC Morton, long a top performer in the USRA B-Mod division, achieved one of his racing goals of winning in a Late Model.

Making it even sweeter, Morton pulled off a rare double by capturing both the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod and Hermitage Lumber Late Model features on the same night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

“It was a pretty neat deal,” Morton said of the Thursday Night Thunder sweep. The 33-year-old from Springfield made a last-lap pass in his No. 18 family-operated B-Mod before opening a big lead and then holding off veteran Justin Wells while driving the Moon Brothers-owned No. 72 Late Model.

“We’ve been trying on that deal about two years now,” Morton said of the Late Model. “We’ve had some stuff go wrong and haven’t got just a ton of races in it. We got some help from some drivers, namely Payton Looney, and things just kind of came together. We tweaked off what he gave us and it seems to be going in the right direction.”

Looney, from Republic, drove the car in one Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series program earlier this season when Morton was driving the B-Mod out of state. The knowledge helped the team get over the hump after Morton had a third-place feature finish a couple of weeks before the victory. Morton had two Late Model second places in 2022.

Morton began driving the Late Model for the Dale and Larry Moon out of Sedalia, Mo., two years ago. Not only was it a thrill to celebrate in victory lane for himself, but it was sweet to validate the decision to put him behind the wheel of the 10-year-old Rocket Blue-Gray chassis.

“They gave me a huge opportunity,” Morton said. “It’s pretty much a dream come true for me. It’s something I looked to do my whole career and I got an opportunity to do it thanks to them.

“Man, it feels better every time we go out. It’s a little different than our Mod because of the width of the car and you’ve got a nose piece. The air is a huge deal in them. I don’t see it as much in the Modified, but clean air is everything in those cars. You hear all the Lucas guys talking about it, like (Ricky) Thornton and (Jonathan) Davenport. You don’t realize it until you get into clean air like we had on Saturday.”

The confidence level in the car allowed Morton to drive it aggressively without the fear of wrecking it.

“I’m finally comfortable enough where I can stick it in there two or three wide and get in there and race and pass and not really worry about if I’m gonna stuff it into the wall or stuff it into another car,” he said. “I’ve finally got that comfort level of where I know how hard and how far I can go without tearing something up.”

Morton’s adrenaline was still running high when he dashed from victory lane in the B-Mod, where he made the final-corner pass to win, to the Late Model. He said there was definitely some positive momentum that he used to jump to the lead from the pole-position.

“The time on the track is the biggest thing that helps,” he said. “But I knew the top was there after the B Mod race. I started on the pole and knew what I had to do get the jump on the dude on the outside and get to the lead. Once I got to the lead, I knew had to try and maintain and hold me line there.”

From there, he built a comfortable lead before a caution with three laps to go made him earn it as veteran Justin Wells was right on his bumper. Wells is someone Morton said he’s watched and admired since he was a five-year-old.

“Mom and Dad worked on the MLRA back in ’95 or ’96 when I was five or six years old,” Morton said. “I watched Justin race pretty much his whole career. I told him in the tech building to be able to compete and race with you, after watching you as I grew up racing and winning and being pretty dominant throughout his career, is a cool deal to be involved in it.”

Now that he’s won in both cars on the same night, Morton said doing it again would be even better.

“We always talk about winning in both cars because it’s a pretty big deal,” he said. “It’s hard to do because of the competition in both classes is so stiff. To actually do it and be successful, that’s one thing. To be able to do it again would be even bigger.

“We have a really B-Mod going and the Late Model, I’m comfortable in now and it’s rolling in the right direction. Hopefully we can put another night together where we can win ’em both. We’ll see what happens.”

The next chance is scheduled for Saturday on Veterans and Military Appreciation Night. The program Presented by Townsquare Media and KIX 105.7 FM will find the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods as the featured division with a special 25-lap, $750-to-win main event. Meanwhile, all Military members, active or retired, will be admitted free with ID.

Also in action as the season points championships resume will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars, Hermitage Lumber Late Models and Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds.

Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. and grandstands at 5 with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

Saturday Dirt Track Admission

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 (Includes admission for two adults and up to three kids ages 6-15) – $35

Pit Pass – $35

UTV Short Course during the day: The day of racing at Lucas Oil Speedway is scheduled to begin early Saturday with UTV Short Course action on the off-road course.

Race classes include Pro Turbo, Pro N/A, Expert Turbo, Expert N/A, Amateur Turbo, Amateur N/A, Vet 40-plus Turbo, Vet 40-plus N/A, Women’s Turbo, Women’s N/A, Youth 800 N/A, Youth 1000 N/A, Youth Production Stock (ages 6-12), Youth Limited (ages 6-8), Youth Limited (Ages 9-12) and Youth 250 Modified.

Pit gates are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. with grandstands at 7:30, hot laps at 8 and racing at 9:40 a.m. Feature races will conclude the action prior to awards at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Spectator admission includes a pit pass and grandstand admission to Saturday night’s dirt-track program.

Saturday Off Road Admission

Advance Discount Tickets online only (16 and up) – $22

Adults GA/Pit Pass Combo (16 and up) – $25

Seniors (62 and up)/Military GA/Pit Pass Combo (62 and up) – $22

Youth GA/Pit Pass Combo (age 6 to 15) – $10

Kids GA/Pit Pass Combo (age 5 and under) – FREE

Family Pass GA/Pit Pass Combo – $60 (Includes admission for two adults and up to three kids ages 6-15)

Racers Pit Pass – $35 plus entry fee based on class

(Tickets include entry to the dirt track on Saturday night)

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