Justin Wells picks up first O'Reilly MLRA victory at Lucas Oil Speedway
by: Clint Brown

WHEATLAND, Mo. (June 10, 2006) - Excitement surrounded the grand opening of the new Lucas Oil Speedway and when the final checkered flag fell Justin Wells found himself with another reason to be excited - his first ever O'Reilly MRLA win.

The initial green flag flew and Jeff Floyd jumped out to the lead from the pole position, but the yellow came out as the field raced down the back stretch. Alan Vaughn slowed coming off of turn 2 which created a bottleneck that found CJ Lyle and Billy Murphy caught up in a wreck that ended their evening. Steve Kosiski also had to make a quick trip to the pits for repairs after making it through the wreck with slight damage. On the complete restart Floyd once again jumped out to the lead with Scott Drake and Mike Brown falling in behind him. On lap 4 Floyd slipped up coming out of turn two and brushed the wall which allowed Drake to power past and into the lead. Floyd was able to continue on, but was under heavy pressure from Brown in the third spot. On lap 6 Brown made the move stick as he raced past Floyd and quickly moved up on Drake to take the lead. With 12 laps in the books Justin Wells put his name into the frontrunner at as he moved into fourth spot and then into the third spot before the caution came out for the spun machine of Charlie Randolph on lap 15.

John Hampel pulled his machine into the infield under the caution which moved Wells up to third on the restart. Wells made the move on Drake for second with a high line move coming off of turn 4 and was able to take the position. Lap 20 found Steve Kosiski on a march to the front as he moved into fifth after starting from the back of the back from the initial caution of the race. Wells began to work the high side to get around Brown on lap 24 and took the top spot a lap later as Kosiski also worked his way around Floyd for the fourth spot. Lap 28 saw Floyd slip another spot as Al Purkey moved into the top 5 after starting the night off in the 17th spot. Brown got a run on Wells coming off of turn four with the white flag waving and the pair ran side by side as they headed off into turn one. Going down the back stretch and into turn three neither driver had a clear advantage and the drag race was on coming off turn four. Brown held the slight advantage, but Wells was able to get the run off the high side and crossed the line mere inches ahead of Brown for the win. Scott Drake held on for third with Steve Kosiski and Al Purkey rounding out the top five at the finish.

A total of thirty-nine cars signed in with Jimmy Morris, Jeff Floyd, Scott Drake, and Mike Brown coming out on top of the four heat races. Al Purkey and CJ Lyle came home with the wins in the two B features to make their way into the A. The winner of the Performance Bodies Nose Piece was Brett LaFollette while Al Purkey came home with the Weld Wheels Hard Charger Award.

Next up for the O'Reilly MLRA is a trip to Midway Speedway in Lebanon, MO on Friday, June 16, and the first trip for the series to Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO on Saturday, June 17.

For O'Reilly MLRA information call 816-650-5063 or 816-305-6572 or visit them on the web at www.mlraracing.com .

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Full Results
Lucas Oil Speedway
June 10, 2006

Heat 1
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 9M Jimmy Morris
2 23L Brett LaFollette
3 88B David Barker
4 8K TJ Kuykendall
5 07 Kelly Boen
6 1A Bryon Allison
7 9B Billy Murphy
8 Z2 Gary Webb
9 90K Steve Kempt
10 73B Shad Badder

Heat 2
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 F1 Jeff Floyd
2 10W Justin Wells
3 15T David Turner
4 00S Chris Smyser
5 33P Al Purkey
6 52K Steve Kosiski
7 25M Randy McGraw
8 2P RD Peterson
9 15E Shane Essary
10 9R Charlie Randolph

Heat 3
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 12D Scott Drake
2 2J Johnny Bone
3 10B Gary Billings
4 L88 Larry Clawson
5 05D Gary Dechant
6 46B Barney Bauernfeind
7 75A Shannon Annosostopolis
8 75H PJ Haskins
9 14M Reid Millard.

Heat 4
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 427 Mike Brown
2 2H John Hampel
3 8V Alan Vaughn
4 18S
Jack Sullivan
5 1V Will Vaught
6 66D Mike Danburg
7 24L CJ Lyle
8 4F Chad Frewaldt
9 68S Aaron Seabaugh
10 00F Richard Foster

B Feature #1
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 33P Al Purkey
2 1V Will Vaught
3 8K TJ Kuykendall
4 Z2 Gary Webb
5 9B Billy Murphy
6 66D Mike Danburg
7 1A Bryon Allison
8 73B Shad Badder
9 90K Steve Kempt
10 87W Trace Westling
11 14M Reid Millard
12 4F Chad Frewaldt

B Feature #2
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 24L CJ Lyle
2 52K Steve Kosiski
3 00S Chris Smyser
4 9R Charlie Randolph
5 46B Barney Bauernfeind
6 25M Randy McGraw
7 68S Aaron Seabaugh
8 75A Shannon Annostopolis
9 75H PJ Haskins
10 15E Shane Essary
11 2P RD Peterson
12 00F Richard Foster

A Feature - 30 Laps
Pos. Car Name, Hometown
1 10W Justin Wells
2 427 Mike Brown
3 12D Scott Drake
4 52K Steve Kosiski
5 33P Al Purkey
6 F1 Jeff Floyd
7 18S Jack Sullivan
8 23L Brett LaFollette
9 2J Johnny Bone
10 88B David Barker
11 9M Jimmy Morris
12 07 Kelly Boen
13 1V Will Vaught
14 9R Charlie Randolph
15 10B Gary Billings
16 1A Bryon Allison
17 05 Gary Dechant
18 15T David Turner
19 90K Steve Kempt
20 L88 Larry Clawson
21 2H John Hampel
22 8V Alan Vaughn
23 24L CJ Lyle
24 9B Billy Murphy