With continuing inclement weather plaguing the mid west, racing options once again dropped one by one for this weekend. Fortunately, the storms riding north from Arkansas skirted past the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. So after a several year absence, I found myself once again at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks for the second time in this 2023 season. The dynamics of this opening two nights for the MLRA late model series was altered considerably when the World of Outlaw Illini 100 at Farmer City, Illinois was canceled mid week. The "middling" payout at Wheatland may not have normally attracted many of the national touring drivers, but it is just eight short weeks until the Show Me 100 $50,000 to win weekend at the three eights mile speed plant. So a strong mix of forty eight national and regional drivers signed in on Friday night hoping to take advantage of a test and tune session with a $5,000 payout.
On Saturday night, the winners' share would climb to $10,000, with USRA Stock Cars and USRA B Mods competing for a $750 top prize. A second night of SMVR vintage cars would round out the competition.
With $10,000 on the line for Saturday, four more super late models were added to the field, so with a pair of drivers heading home, fifty competitors paced a total one hundred fifteen cars signed in throughout the four divisions. Once again it was a cool night, but there was a large crowd of bundled up fans on hand to take in the action.
Late models kicked things off with time trial qualifying split into two groups. Jonathon Davenport paced the first group of twenty five with a quick lap of 15.680 seconds, which held up as the overall fast time. Defending MLRA series champion Chad Simpson topped the second group at 16.231, the track slowing up a bit as qualifying moved along. Following three heats for the vintage cars, the late models contested six eight lappers, lined up straight up by qualifying times. Not surprisingly, five of the six heats were won from the front row. Davenport, Logan Martin, Simpson, Spencer Hughes, and Brian Shirley took checkers from the front, while Jeff Herzog advanced from row two to capture heat two. After a less than stellar qualifying effort, top competitor Brandon Sheppard was headed into the top three in heat two when a sharp left turn by Dalton Imhoff sent the #B5 through the infield, relegating him to a B main.
With the top three from the heats moving to the forty lap main, a pair of twelve lap B mains added six more cars to the starting lineup. event. The only car unable to make the call was modified stand out Dustin Sorenson. Now behind the wheel of the Jimmy Mars #28, Dustin appeared to lose an engine on the opening lap of heat three, a race that saw rookie Dillon McCowan battle side by side with Martin for the win.
Kolby Vandenbergh topped the first B, with Sheppard again forced to take evasive action, finishing one spot out of a transfer. Friday feature winner Ricky Thornton Jr. outdueled Ryan Gustin in B main two. Gustin was making his first appearance of the weekend.
With heat races for the fifteen USRA Stock Cars and twenty six USRA B Mods complete, intermission included some track prep ahead of feature racing.
SMVR vintage cars kicked off the main events, battling for fifteen circuits. Damon Clevinger methodically worked his way forward from row five to take the checkers ahead of twelfth starting Chad Eickleberry.
Four MLRA provisional starters swelled the starting lineup to twenty eight cars. At the drop of the green, Davenport shot from his pole position to a large lead by the time lap one was scored. Simpson, his row one mate also left the pack behind in second, but by the fifth trip around, Davenport had opened a straightaway advantage. One lap later J.D. caught the back of the pack. As the race stayed green, Davenport worked effortlessly through the heavy traffic, always with a couple of lapped cars between himself and Simpson. Garrett Alberson established himself in third while the race to watch was an intense battle for fourth between Martin, Hughes, and Shirley. Early on Shirley apparently contacted the concrete wall, sustaining damage to his #3S, eventually causing him to fall off the pace. Incredibly there were no yellow flags to slow the action, and Davenport cruised to the victory. Simpson was strong in second, followed by Alberson. Hanging around outside the top ten, thirteenth starting Bobby Pierce was one of the few to find success running the high line around the track, and he began a charge to the front after the half way mark. The checkers stopped his march forward in fourth, and we were left to wonder what might have been with a late caution flag. Martin topped Hughes in the battle for fifth, while Payton Looney, Stormy Scott, Gordy Gundaker and Hall of Famer Billy Moyer rounded out the top ten.
The clock was flirting with 11:00, and with the temps dropping, we headed for the parking lot and the hour drive to our hotel. This turned out to be a fortuitous decision, as the Stock Car twenty lapper turned in to a crash filled marathon. Only four cars were around at the checkers, and the top two of David Hendrix and Bryan White played bumper cars before and after the checkers, as we witnessed thanks to the miracle of television. We were safely in our room when the curtain came down on the B Mod finale, as Kris Jackson came from row five to victory over Jon Sheets, Mitchell Franklin, Ryan Gilmore, and Colson Kirk.
The MLRA cars and stars will now travel to Kevin and Tammy Gundakers' Tri City Speedway near Pontoon Beach, Illinois next weekend for double header action. As of now, the forecast looks like we made be headed for more race friendly weather, so make plans to take in a race near you!
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