10.13.19 MLRA Late Models Results
Wheatland, MO (October 13, 2019) – After a difficult opening night at the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals, Tony Jackson got the ultimate redemption on Sunday evening picking up the MLRA season finale at the Lucas Oil Speedway. The win for the 2013 MLRA series champ was his first of the season under the MLRA banner and fourth with the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series (CCSDS) in the weekends co-sanctioned event.
Jackson got his night off to a strong start by capturing the win in his respective heat race, placing him on the DirtonDirt.com Pole for the 40 lap event. Disaster struck fellow front row starter Tyler Bruening on the races initial start as he jumped the cushion and spun at the top of turns one and two. With Bruening moving to the tail, it slid Saturday night winner Ryan Gustin to the outside front row for the re-start.
Jackson Jr. quickly took command over Gustin and Payton Looney until a Reid Millard spin on lap 2 again slowed the field. Back under green, Jackson Jr. proved early he had the car to beat. With Jackson Jr. chasing the tail of the field, it provided him with a great battle in his rear view between the likes of Payton Looney, Gustin, and Jackson’s teammate Raymond Merrill.
The races final slow down came on lap 14 just as the leaders began to navigate lapped traffic. The restart gave Looney a prime opportunity as well to gain his own redemption, after concluding Saturday nights action on his top after a pile up on the races initial start. For the final re-start of the year, Jackson again proved to be untouchable as he cruised to a 4.303 second win, lapping all but the top 12 cars.
Looney finished second in his new Capital Chassis, with MLRA Series Champion Will Vaught grabbing third after starting 13th. Gustin and CCSDS Point Leader Timothy Culp rounded out the top five.
Jackson Jr. snagged $3,000 for his efforts along with a $750 bonus in memory of Ron Jenkins-the original builder of Wheatland Raceway. “We’ve had a good car ever since we unloaded,” stated Jackson Jr. “We broke a shock on the first lap last night and just had to stay out there for points.”
Using patience to methodically work his way through the field he continued, “Sometimes you’ve just got to take the good with the bad. Sometimes the lapped traffic helps you and sometimes it hurts you. They had a pretty good pace tonight so I wasn’t real anxious to get by them-it was good, concluded the Lebanon, Mo driver.
The Atnip Motorsports entry of Looney had a great finish to his weekend after spending countless hours overnight thrashing to repair his ride from Saturday nights roll over. “It was a pretty late night but we got it patched back up and fortunately it wasn’t tore up too bad. It was a really fun race,” noted Looney. “I kind of pulled up alongside of him and thought maybe we would be able to race a little bit, but I just didn’t have anything for him.”
The biggest win of the night came with the culmination of the 2019 MLRA Campaign as Will Vaught scored third and secured his first ever series title. “Last night we kind of missed the set up and being conservative—that doesn’t ever go together,” joked a jubilant and relieved Vaught in victory lane. “We got a decent finish last night and the car was a lot better tonight. We changed a lot of things on the car today and worked hard to get this thing a lot faster, we just needed a caution at the end.”
As a two time MLRA series runner up, including 2018, Vaught concluded, “I have never been a points racer, but this last couple years has fit our schedule with the kids playing sports and racing themselves. Eric (Barnes) has worked really hard at the shop and a lot of this is for him. Just to be able to do this with my family is the biggest and most important thing to me.”
Logan Martin was also awarded the 2019 MLRA Sunoco Race Fuels.Rookie of the year Award at the conclusion of the race weekend. Martin Recorded 10 top five finishes along with 15 top ten’s on the season.
The Lucas Oil MLRA Championship Banquet scheduled for November, 9th will take place at the Lucas Lodge just outside of Wheatland, MO. Doors will open at 5:30 pm with social hour from 6-7pm and dinner and awards to follow. For tickets contact Nicole McMillan at 417-282-5984 or email mholman@lucasoil.com . All ticket request must be received by November 2nd.
Lucas Oil Speedway Contingencies 10/13/19
Allgaier Motorsports Racing Shocks Award – Payton Looney
Casey’s General Store’s “Hard Charger of the Race” – Will Vaught
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky “Most Laps Led” – Tony Jackson Jr.
DirtonDirt.com “Pole Award” – Tony Jackson Jr.
Hooker Harness “11th Place Finisher” – Brent Larson
Midwest Sheet Metal “Points Leader Spoiler Challenge” – Will Vaught
Mittler Brothers Machine and Tool “Crew Chief of the Race” – Casey Mooneyham
Performance Bodies “Performer of the Race” – Tony Jackson Jr.
RacingJunk.com “Hard Luck Award” – Jeremy Grady
Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Logan Margin
Lucas Oil Racing TV A Feature (40 Laps) : 1.Tony Jackson Jr. 2.Payton Looney 3.Will Vaught 4.Ryan Gustin 5.Timothy Culp 6.Chad Simpson 7.Mason Oberkramer 8.Raymond Merrill 9.Mitch McGrath 10.Logan Martin 11.Brent Larson 12.BJ Robinson 13.Brian Rickman 14.Jason Papich 15.Hunter Rasdon 16.Morgan Bagley 17.Tyler Bruening 18.Colton Horner 19.Joseph Gorby 20.Terry Phillips 21.Jake Timm 22.Steve Drake 23.Reid Millard 24.Jeremy Grady
Allgaier Motorsports Racing Shocks B Feature 1 (10 Laps) : 1.Chad Simpson 2.Colton Horner 3.Steve Drake 4.Brian Rickman 5.Mark Burgtorf 6.Clyde Ward 7.Chad Mallett 8.Reid Millard 9.Ryan Johnson
MAV TV Motorsports B Feature 2 (10 Laps) : 1.Jake Timm 2.BJ Robinson 3.Mitch McGrath 4.Scott Crigler 5.Jeremy Grady 6.Morgan Bagley 7.Kaeden Cornell 8.Terry Henson
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 1 (10 Laps) : 1.Tony Jackson Jr. 2.Hunter Rasdon 3.Jason Papich 4.Chad Simpson 5.Jake Timm 6.Scott Crigler 7.Kaeden Cornell 8.Terry Henson
Casey’s General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps) : 1.Raymond Merrill 2.Brent Larson 3.Terry Phillips 4.Mason Oberkramer 5.Jeremy Grady 6.Brian Rickman 7.Reid Millard 8.Clyde Ward
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat 3 (10 Laps) : 1.Tyler Bruening 2.Payton Looney 3.Will Vaught 4.Mark Burgtorf 5.Colton Horner 6.Mitch McGrath 7.Steve Drake 8.Ryan Johnson
Midwest Sheet Metal Heat 4 (10 Laps) : 1.Ryan Gustin 2.Joseph Gorby 3.Timothy Culp 4.Logan Martin 5.BJ Robinson 6.Chad Mallett 7.Morgan Bagley
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