Will Vaught, who will run a hit and miss schedule in 2017, based on when he is available to race and the venue where the racing is taking place, made his opening night a success as he topped the MLRA Late Model feature Friday night, April 14th at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland Missouri.
I was supposed to be covering two opening race nights back up in Wisconsin but the weather was dreadful there all week, and when the first was canceled and odds of the second one taking place seemed remote, I threw myself and a few clothes in the Camry and off we went in search of some sunshine. Where that was found was the Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri and on top of the sunshine being present, it didn't hunt much that I was also able to get to one of the best facilities on this planet for some great Late Model racing.
I don't care how many times I have the privilege of attending races at Lucas Oil Speedway, every time I walk into the place it still takes my breath away. It is truly an amazing place and any race fan who has not yet been there absolutely must put it on their "to do" list to get there at least once. Of course, it doesn't matter who fancy the facility is if the racing isn't good and while that might have been a problem when the track first opened, it no longer is the case. More banking has been added in turn two to the area where it kind of washed out before, and I noticed that cars were able to work the high side of the track on both ends and still be able to carry that momentum down the chutes. The track started out a little heavy early Friday, but it quickly slicked off and provided for multiple groove racing with hardly a hint of dust. It was smooth and made for a fine night of racing.
Along with the MLRA Late Models, the USRA Modifieds and Street Stocks were also in action, with a three class program that was just right in length as they were not guilty of trying to run too many support classes to "beef" up the back gate.
Forty one Late Models signed in to race along with twenty Streets and nineteen Modifieds. I was a little surprised that there weren't more Modifieds on hand but perhaps the Friday night racing made it a little difficult for some of the cars to get there. Also, there are a couple of other Friday night tracks that were in action and their cars will likely add to the field on Saturday. However, one can not complain about the quality of the open wheel cars on hand and it was a bit of a surprise to see Ken Schrader join the field on Friday. And for the first time in quite some time, He would prove to be a worthy challenger in the Modified division.
A late arriving Jeff Roth and Joe Godsey missed qualifying and had to start tail back in their heats, a tough thing to do. Unfortunately, neither was able to make the show after they were either on their way to Davenport for the MARS race or already there, and had to turn around. Now they must decide whether to stay or take a shot at driving back to West Burlington Saturday night.
A "yeah" and a "boo" both must go out to MLRA as they start their new season. The first thing all Late Models had to do when they arrived on the grounds was head for the inspection building. However, the "yeah" part was that a big part of that inspection was of safety gear and all their personal gear(helmets, shoes, uniform, safety devises and even undies) were checked to make sure they were up to par and not outdated. It is remarkable in this day and age how drivers will spend thousands on speed stuff but not bother to keep their helmets and seat belts up to date so good for officials to check them.
The "boo" part is a change of the format for MLRA for 2017 and to verify this, I went right to their portable office to make sure I was correct. For 2017, drivers will draw for their heat races but will then group qualify out of hot laps, with the cars starting straight up out in their heats, fastest in front. They will then redraw for the feature, finishing position by finishing position so if you will a heat, you are guaranteed to start in the first two rows, assuming there are four heat races. No more will you see the interesting lineups for the heat and drivers making big charges from the back to gain many passing points. Passing points are a thing of the past. The only exception to this change will be if the local promoter of the event strongly insists against it but MLRA will pressure them to not mess with their format.
So, if you are a fan of the "Summer Nationals", you will like this. If, you like myself, find the "Summer Nationals" format to be an albatross that makes for boring and predictable racing, you won't be pleased with MLRA for 2017. One disgruntled fan sitting near me, when he found out about the change was heard to mutter, "Guess I'll have to go to more Deery races now." This is one area where my Late Model series, the WISSOTA Shaw Trucking Challenge Series and the Deery Brothers, have it all over the others with passing points and no time trials. But I digress.
Mike Stadel was on hand all the way from Rapid City South Dakota. He is a top notch Late Model driver in that region but racing opportunities for Late Models are somewhat limited and he is far away from a lot of the other action. Even to go to eastern South Dakota where WISSOTA Late Models are strong is an all day trip. So, he likes to run open motor shows when he can and has showed up for this event at Wheatland several times over the years but always seems to have horrible luck. Well, it continued Friday night when he got put into the wall on the first lap of his heat race in an accident not of his fault. "Full Throttle" Stadel, a nick name inherited from his father Les, was done for the night without even completing a lap.
Chase Junghans was a bit of a surprise with his appearance. Even more surprising was the fact that he brought a Modified as well as a Late Model to race. He unloaded a new MB Modified to get laps on this weekend as he joins the list of drivers "eyeballing" the upcoming events paying huge money for the Modifieds this Summer.
Bad luck struck area driver Josh Poe as he appeared to blow a motor in hot laps and he was done for the night without getting a lap of competition in.
Andrew Kosiski unloaded a brand new Rocket Late Model and he was quick right out of the box. In fact, he was the overall quick qualifier of the night, but MLRA does not give any awards for such an honor. He raced well in the heat, not so well in the feature but shows great promise with the car.
Another driver that surprised with his entry was Jeremy Grady from Story City Iowa. Grady, who has ran both IMCA and open motor events in recent years, showed with a new Black Diamond chassis and announced he is running for Rookie of the Year.
The premier event of the night was the twenty five lap Late Model feature. Twenty four cars started and only one yellow flag slowed the pace but , my oh my, how significant that yellow was. Tony Jackson Jr. was taking no prisoners in the early going as he got up on the cushion and boldly charged from the third row to take the lead. Vaught set off after him while Terry Phillips was also making a big advance.
Payton Looney had started on the pole and he was racing well in third for most of the event, with Phillips trying to get past him while racing with Rodney Sanders. As the race moved into its second half, Jackson started to slow just a bit as he struggled with lapped traffic and Vaught caught right up to him. Will was ready to pass I believe for the lead when Jackson got into the back of Kosiski and the scramble allowed Tony to gain a few car lengths.
All that went away with only five laps to go when the lone yellow flew for a spin. On the green, Jackson completely "overcooked" turn one, slid high on the track and allowed both Vaught and Phillips to get past him. Will was the pleased recipient of the opening and then drove on for the win while Phillips gave him some stiff challenges in the last couple of laps. Jackson settled for third but he was very disappointed while Sanders held of Jesse Stovall for a top five finish. It was a very surprising turn of events as several drivers commented on the new tire rule for the right rear which will apparently take some adjusting to.
The Modifieds ran last on the card and they did a fine job too, with only one yellow flag in their twenty lap main event. Ken Schrader, looking mighty racy on this night, won a heat race and then drew the pole for the main event. Jon Sheets, would start outside of him but completely jump the first corner, losing several spots. Jeff Cutshaw and Terry Schultz would challenge Schrader but Kenny was in the groove and would maintain his lead.
However, the yellow for a spin bunched things up and suddenly, Sheets became a factor again as he used the high side to move into second and then began to work on Schrader. With only about five laps to go, he found and opening and made a clean inside pass to take over the top spot. From there, he pulled away by several car lengths as he drove on to victory. Cutshaw, Matt Dotson and Schultz completed the top five.
The Street Stock class at Lucas Oil Speedway is a very good one, with quality looking cars that race well also. Nineteen of them took the green flag for their main event. Marc Carter started on the pole and he led the majority of the race. For whatever reason Friday, the Streets didn't have much success using the high side so they pretty much lined up on the low side of the track.
One driver who has some success on top, gaining several positions that way was Burl Woods. After starting sixth, he eventually would work his way into second and began to pressure Carter for the lead. The Streets had a few more yellows, all for minor spins, and the last few with seven laps to go.
On the green, Woods was putting heavy pressure on, and when Carter slid up the track just a bit, Burl was right there to blast past him, take the lead and then open up some distance to the finish. Carter had to settle for second ahead of Brian Schutt, Kenny Carroll and Toby Ott.
Racing got started just a bit late with the first green not waving until almost 8 pm, but after that it was nearly nonstop racing with the final checkered waving about 10:30 pm. It seemed like kind of a small crowd but how to you size the crowd at such a huge facility where fans can be found in the grandstands, VIP areas and even watching from their cars?
Dan Robinson was the RPM Promoter of the Year in 2016 and there is a reason why. Because of my late schedule change due to the weather, I didn't request credentials until the day before the race. No matter, I was treated first class when I arrived and had no problems at all getting in. Fans and competitors that live in this area and are able to either watch or compete here on a regular basis are extremely lucky. It truly is "The Diamond" of a dirt track.
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