Hendrix makes it two in a row, capturing USRA Stock Cars win in Lucas Oil Speedway headliner; Phillips, Jackson, Fennewald also prevail
WHEATLAND, MO. (May 1, 2021) – David Hendrix continued his hot early season start, picking up his second straight O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars triumph on Saturday night in Lucas Oil Speedway’s headliner.
Other feature winners during Round 3 of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series included Terry Phillips (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds), Kris Jackson (Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Johnny Fennewald (Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models).
A total of 90 cars checked into the pits as KY3 Presented $5 Night at the Races.
In the night’s added-lap, added-money feature it was all Hendrix as the Waynesville driver earned his second O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature victory in three attempts. Leading all 25 laps, Hendrix cemented his hold on the top spot in championship points while picking up $750.
“That track was awesome. This is my favorite kind of track,” Hendrix said. “The blacker it gets, the better we like it.”
Hendrix started outside of Keller on the front row and sprinted to the lead at the start and led Doug Keller and Robert White until a caution on lap five. On the restart, White went around Keller and began to put pressure on Hendrix.
Hendrix was able to open a one-second lead by lap eight but another caution on the next circuit again bunched the field. As the race settled into a prolonged green-flag run, Hendrix built his lead over White to 1.7 seconds by lap 20, as the leaders began to deal with lapped traffic.
Handling the slower cars with little trouble, while the race remained caution-free, Hendrix drove away from there to win by 2.39 seconds over White, of Lebanon.
“I’m just thankful the car was working good,” Hendrix said. “The brake pedal was getting a little spongy there for a while. I know Rob’s real good running around the bottom. I saw when he got into second and I thought, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to get my ducks in a row or I’m going to get passed.’ ”
Keller fell back to fifth before rallying to finish third. Lyle Dietrich was fourth and Jaylen Wettengel fifth.
Phillips wires USRA Modifeid field: Terry Phillips from Springfield set sail from the pole position and led every lap to win the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifeid main event.
Phillips, the United States Modified Touring Series points leader with two wins on that national circuit in 2021, finished 2.55 seconds in front of fellow front-row starter Chase Domer.
“This is a new car that I’ve never drove before,” Phillips said. “I had another guy driving it and he told me it wasn’t very good. I’m gonna have to argue with him about that.
“We just did a little testing here while we didn’t have any traveling shows to go to. The track was in good shape. Thanks to the people for coming out. This is a pretty good crowd.”
The only thing that slowed Phillips was the race’s lone caution, on lap two.
Matt Johnson rallied from 12th to finish third with track points leader Jason Pursley fourth and Dillon McCowan grabbing fifth.
Jackson earns B-Mod win: Reigning track champion Kris Jackson of Lebanon picked up his first feature win of the season, holding off a hard-charging JC Morton over the final 15 laps.
“Hats off to these guys on this race track,” Jackson said, echoing Terry Phillips’ and David Hendrix’s praise earlier to the track prep crew. “I know I’m probably the world’s worst to get on them when it gets a little rough and rainy. But they do a fantastic job.”
Jackson, who started sixth, moved into third behind JC Newell and Andy Byrant by lap fourth and, the next time around, emerged from a three-wide battle headed into turn three to take over the lead.
After a restart for a caution on lap six, Morton moved from his 13th-starting position and into second, with Bryant third and Eric Turner fourth.
It didn’t take long for Jackson and Morton to break away from the pack by half a straightaway. Jackson led Morton by two car lengths as they caught heavy lapped traffic on lap 15.
With both hugging the bottom groove, Morton finally went to the high side as the white flag waved. But he lost ground and Jackson was able to prevail by by five car lengths.
“I saw the (videoboard) coming down the backstretch and I saw him to the ouside,” Jackson said. “I knew it would be hard for him to get around me on the top. The car was really good tonight. I have to thank my guys. This is the old, standard set-up and it was good.”
Bryant finished third with Turner in fourth and Brian Bolin fifth.
Fennewald rolls in ULMA Late Model feature: Johnny Fennewald bounced back after a rough first two events of his season to capture the Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Model feature in dominating fashion.
The Appleton City driver won by about a half-lap margin over Larry Ferris. This after Fennewald, due to mechanical issues, failed to qualify for the feature in week one and wound up 11th in week two.
“We’ve had a lot of bad luck so far this year,” Fennewald said. “I couldn’t do it without all my guys. Tony Jackson Jr., if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be standing here tonight. He’s helped me out so much with this new car.
“Our luck hasn’t been good and we needed a night like tonight. Hopefully we can keep it up here. I have a lot of good help now and hopefully everything pays off.”
Fennewald started on the pole and opened up a 2.7-second lead over Ferris by lap five, when the race’s first caution flew. As the race returned to green, Fennewald quickly rebuilt his substantial lead – and then some – with a 4.1-second margin over Ferris by lap 10.
Things only got more lopsided from there. Fennewald, who won three straight track championships until his streak was snapped last year, distanced Ferris by eight seconds as the checkers flew.
JC Morton, in his second night behind the wheel of a Late Model, finished third with Cole Henson fourth and Todd McCoin in fifth.
LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (May 1, 2021)
Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series
O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars
A Feature – 1. 54-David Hendrix[2]; 2. 5-Robert White[3]; 3. 7-Doug Keller[1]; 4. 13-Lyle Dietrich[6]; 5. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[4]; 6. 12-Christopher Sawyer[9]; 7. 21P-Darren Phillips[5]; 8. 7J-Scott Johnson[8]; 9. 24W-Craig Wright[13]; 10. 69N-James Barker[12]; 11. 2A-Ace O’Neill[11]; 12. (DNF) 57-Richard Hines[7]; 13. (DNS) 31-Ed Griggs
Bill Robert Chevrolet Heat 1 – 1. 5-Robert White[1]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[2]; 3. 21P-Darren Phillips[5]; 4. 57-Richard Hines[7]; 5. 12-Christopher Sawyer[3]; 6. 69N-James Barker[6]; 7. (DNF) 24W-Craig Wright[4]
Bill Roberts Chevrolet Heat 2 – 1. 7-Doug Keller[3]; 2. 54-David Hendrix[6]; 3. 13-Lyle Dietrich[4]; 4. 7J-Scott Johnson[2]; 5. 31-Ed Griggs[5]; 6. 2A-Ace O’Neill[1]
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds
A Feature – 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 227-Chase Domer[2]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson[12]; 4. 38C-Jason Pursley[5]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 6. 155-Terry Kirk[3]; 7. 21-Ryan Middaugh[8]; 8. 292-Kyle Thompson[6]; 9. 98D-Paden Phillips[18]; 10. 9-Evan Hubert[7]; 11. 98-Robert Heydenreich[9]; 12. 89-Tyler Hibner[13]; 13. 03-Chase Jones[14]; 14. 23-Lucas Dobbs[15]; 15. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[11]; 16. 92-Tyler Grooms[16]; 17. 24D-Donnie Fellers[17]; 18. 27-Toby Ott[19]; 19. (DNF) 21R-Rusty Skaggs[10]; 20. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[20]
Heat 1 – 1. 227-Chase Domer[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 9-Evan Hubert[3]; 4. 292-Kyle Thompson[7]; 5. 21-Ryan Middaugh[8]; 6. 1X-Matt Johnson[6]; 7. 03-Chase Jones[5]; 8. 23-Lucas Dobbs[9]; 9. 24D-Donnie Fellers[10]; 10. 27-Toby Ott[4]
Heat 2 – 1. 75-Terry Phillips[8]; 2. 155-Terry Kirk[1]; 3. 38C-Jason Pursley[5]; 4. 98-Robert Heydenreich[4]; 5. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[2]; 6. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[9]; 7. 89-Tyler Hibner[3]; 8. 92-Tyler Grooms[7]; 9. 98D-Paden Phillips[10]; 10. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[6]
Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods
A Feature – 1. 65-Kris Jackson[6]; 2. 18-JC Morton[13]; 3. 28A-Andy Bryant[2]; 4. 99T-Eric Turner[7]; 5. 2X-Brian Bolin[8]; 6. 15-Ryan Edde[5]; 7. 10P-Dayton Pursley[14]; 8. 7J-Jake Richards[16]; 9. 83-JC Newell[1]; 10. 1F-Mitchell Franklin[4]; 11. 49-Patrick Royalty[10]; 12. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]; 13. 84-Dayton Newell[9]; 14. 9H-Nic Hanes[12]; 15. 42J-Donnie Jackson[18]; 16. 54-Shawn Whitman[19]; 17. 21F-Hannah Frazee[21]; 18. 121-Tim Phillips[23]; 19. 14T-Quentin Taylor[3]; 20. 24-Jerry Ellis[24]; 21. 56H-Scott Hall[20]; 22. 414-Ryan Thomas[17]; 23. (DNF) 42-Jerry Morgan[22]; 24. (DNF) 57-Randy Ainsworth[11]
B Feature 1 – 1. 414-Ryan Thomas[6]; 2. 54-Shawn Whitman[3]; 3. 21F-Hannah Frazee[2]; 4. 121-Tim Phillips[7]; 5. 8X-Scott Chism[8]; 6. 31-Luke Phillips[4]; 7. 28-Wesley Briggs[12]; 8. 4-Andrew Sheetz[10]; 9. 21G-Greg Scheffler[5]; 10. 11W-Waylon Dimmitt[1]; 11. 55G-Luke Gideon[9]; 12. 28C-Shane Creech[11]; 13. (DNS) 39-Dwight Brown; 14. (DNS) 58M-Jamie Mauk
B Feature 2 – 1. 42J-Donnie Jackson[2]; 2. 56H-Scott Hall[3]; 3. 42-Jerry Morgan[1]; 4. 24-Jerry Ellis[6]; 5. 11-Jimmy Willis[8]; 6. 80-TJ Yount[5]; 7. 57J-John Fellers[4]; 8. 1M-Richard Magee[7]; 9. 122-Doug Scism[11]; 10. 0K-Tracy Killian[10]; 11. (DNS) 25G-James Gish; 12. (DNS) 10T-Samuel McDaniel; 13. (DNS) 08-Chad Neill
Heat 1 – 1. 15-Ryan Edde[2]; 2. 83-JC Newell[11]; 3. 9H-Nic Hanes[4]; 4. 57-Randy Ainsworth[8]; 5. 11W-Waylon Dimmitt[7]; 6. 57J-John Fellers[3]; 7. 80-TJ Yount[9]; 8. 8X-Scott Chism[6]; 9. 08-Chad Neill[10]; 10. (DNF) 25G-James Gish[5]; 11. (DNF) 10T-Samuel McDaniel[1]
Heat 2 – 1. 65-Kris Jackson[2]; 2. 2X-Brian Bolin[4]; 3. 1F-Mitchell Franklin[9]; 4. 10P-Dayton Pursley[6]; 5. 54-Shawn Whitman[5]; 6. 21G-Greg Scheffler[3]; 7. 31-Luke Phillips[10]; 8. 11-Jimmy Willis[7]; 9. 55G-Luke Gideon[11]; 10. 122-Doug Scism[1]; 11. 28-Wesley Briggs[8]
Heat 3 – 1. 14T-Quentin Taylor[3]; 2. 49-Patrick Royalty[2]; 3. 84-Dayton Newell[6]; 4. 14W-Dustin Walker[5]; 5. 42J-Donnie Jackson[4]; 6. 42-Jerry Morgan[10]; 7. 414-Ryan Thomas[8]; 8. 1M-Richard Magee[9]; 9. 0K-Tracy Killian[7]; 10. 28C-Shane Creech[11]; 11. (DNF) 58M-Jamie Mauk[1]
Heat 4 – 1. 99T-Eric Turner[1]; 2. 28A-Andy Bryant[8]; 3. 18-JC Morton[4]; 4. 7J-Jake Richards[2]; 5. 56H-Scott Hall[5]; 6. 21F-Hannah Frazee[9]; 7. 24-Jerry Ellis[7]; 8. 121-Tim Phillips[10]; 9. 4-Andrew Sheetz[3]; 10. (DNF) 39-Dwight Brown[6]
Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models
A Feature – 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[2]; 2. 51-Larry Ferris[1]; 3. 72-JC Morton[3]; 4. 31C-Cole Henson[5]; 5. 7X-Todd McCoin[4]; 6. 00-Matt Becker[10]; 7. 7J-Jake Morris[7]; 8. 1T-Tucker Cox[8]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff[12]; 10. 42H-Chad Richwine[6]; 11. 7F-Jay Fields[11]; 12. (DNF) 0X-Jason Sivils[14]; 13. (DNF) 6-Bob Cummings[13]; 14. (DNF) 99-Larry Jones[9]
Ozarks Coca-Cola Heat 1 – 1. 72-JC Morton[2]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[7]; 3. 31C-Cole Henson[5]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[4]; 5. 00-Matt Becker[3]; 6. 96-Dalton Imhoff[6]; 7. (DNF) 0X-Jason Sivils[1]
Ozarks Coca-Cola Heat 2 – 1. 51-Larry Ferris[5]; 2. 7X-Todd McCoin[4]; 3. 42H-Chad Richwine[1]; 4. 7J-Jake Morris[6]; 5. 99-Larry Jones[2]; 6. 7F-Jay Fields[7]
Moms are admitted free next week: NMI/VMG Marketing Group and Wild Animal Safari team up to present Round Four of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series next Saturday night with FREE admission for all Mothers courtey of NMI/VMG. The Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds will have a special 25-lap, $1,000-to-win feature with Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models, O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars and the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods also in action.
For ticket information for any event during the 2021 Lucas Oil Speedway season, contact McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com. Fans also can use the online ticketing system.
Category: Missouri
