Morton captures USRA B-Mod victory in Lucas Oil Speedway Weekly Racing Series headliner

WHEATLAND, MO. (April 17, 2021) – JC Morton led all but one of the 25 laps to capture the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature on a chilly Saturday night in the headliner of Lucas Oil Speedway’s program.

Others winners on the $uper $aver $pecial Night Program Presented by Ozarks FOX were Cole Henson (Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models), David Hendrix (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars), Tyler Davis (Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds) and Chris Countryman in the guest Pure Stocks class.

A total of 174 cars checked into the pits, including a whopping 75 B-Mods, on the cool-but-dry evening for Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series program No. 2 of 2021.

Morton, of Springfield, earned the win in the featured division and took home $750 courtesy of Clearlight Inn. He beat Dillon McCowan by two car lengths for his first feature win of the season – and nearly had two trips to victory lane after an impressive second-place run in his debut driving a ULMA Late Model.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been in one. I think with a little more experience, I’d have won two tonight,” Morton said of the near-sweep.

Morton set the pace through four laps of the B-Mod feature before he and McCowan swapped the top spot on laps five and six before the race’s first caution came out.

Seventh-starting Andy Bryant moved into third by lap 10, when the third caution waved. Meanwhile, five-time track champion Kris Jackson, who started 19th after having to run a B-Feature, was up to seventh.

McCowan worked his way alongside Morton on the lap following the restart, but Morton was able to re-establish command. As the race remained green the final 15 laps, Morton went on to prevail by 1.02 seconds over the 17-year-old from Urbana.

“Dillon kept showing me his nose there low and I kept blowing him off, running the middle and the top,” Morton said. “Finally he got to where he was there, there. That last yellow, it was time to move down there.

“I appreciate him running me clean and not driving through me. I’ve got to thank Scott Allen. This car, I can drive it on the bottom, in the middle or the top and it’s good.”

Andy Bryant finished third, followed by Jon Sheets and Jackson to round out the top five.

Henson earns ULMA Late Model win: Reigning Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Model track champion Cole Henson drove to his first Lucas Oil Speedway feature win since 2019, beating JC Morton to the finish line by 1.1 seconds.

Henson, of Russellville, won the points battle in 2020 despite not winning a feature. He was able to take care of that early in the new season.

“I don’t know if JC’s ever been in a late model before, but that was awesome for him,” Henson said. “I hope we put on a show for you fans. Thanks to everyone for staying around in the cold.

“Everybody that helps us with this car, I can’t thank them enough. I’m the lucky one who gets to drive it.”

Henson started on the pole and quickly opened a 4.1-second lead over second-place Johnny Fennewald by lap five, when a caution came out and wiped away that margin.

Fennewald was running third when he brought out another caution on lap nine, skidding into the infield after suffering some sort of mechanical problem.

Morton, making his Late Model debut in a car driven by Will Vaught to the opening-night feature win, moved into second from his fifth-starting position by lap seven.

Henson led Morton by 1.7 seconds when the race’s third and final caution flew on lap 17. Morton pulled alongside Henson on the outside, coming out of turn four to complete lap 18, but Henson was able to regain command over the final two circuits.

Todd McCoin finished third with Tucker Cox rallying from 13th to fourth and Matt Becker in fifth.

Hendrix scores first USRA Stock Car win: David Hendrix of Waynesville took over the lead with seven laps remaining and went on to earn his first O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Car feature win.

Hendrix, who started sixth, moved into contention by lap nine and pulled alongside race-long leader Derek Brown several times using the outside groove over the next few laps – in between caution flags.

Finally, on lap 13, Hendrix sailed past Brown coming out of turn four. Before the next circuit could be completed, third-running Gary Donaldson was collected in a turn-two incident as he battled with Brown for position.

Hendrix, a former track champion in the Street Stock division, drove away to win by 2.6 seconds over Doug Keller with Robert White third and Brown fourth. Keller and White got by Brown – the feature winner in week one – with two to go.

“That’s some fun racing,” Hendrix said. “Me and the 11 car (Brown) were side by side for several laps and seriously, I was just grinning the whole time. I was like, man this is awesome, I’m having a blast.”

USRA Modified thriller goes to Davis: Tyler Davis of Haysville, Kansas, nipped by El Centro, California’s Lance Mari in a thrilling finish to take the Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modified feature win.

Mari charged into contention for the win late after Dillon McCowan, who had pressured the leader most of the way, fell out of contention.

“I knew the slider was coming on the last lap so I just loaded up on entry,” Davis said.

Davis, who started second, led all 20 laps but fourth-starting McCowan moved into the runner-up position by lap two.

McCowan used the outside line to pull alongside Davis to challenge for the lead on lap 10 but couldn’t quite complete the pass. As those two weaved through lapped traffic and broke away from the field, McCowan continued to give chase until a lap-16 caution.

Over the next lap after the restart, McCowan pulled off with mechanical issues. Davis then had to hold off Lance Mari’s charge over the final lap and did so by a half-car-length after Mari’s slider in turn four coming to the checkers.

Matt Johnson wound up third with TJ Tolan coming from 13th to fourth and Darron Fuqua fifth.

Countryman hangs on in Pure Stocks: Chris Countryman regained the lead with three laps remaining and held off Chris Tonoli for the Pure Stocks feature win.

Countryman, of Clever, sprinted from his pole-position starting spot to the lead and opened a one-second advantage over Bradley McDowell through five laps, when a caution bunched the field in the 15-lap feature.

McDowell slipped past Countryman on the restart and led until something on his car broke on lap nine, ending his race. David Doelz inherited the lead, followed by Countryman and Chris Tonoli.

Doelz, who started 11th, was three laps away from victory when he and Countryman made contact that sent the leader spinning, bringing out another caution.

“The 4D (Doelz) might have checked up a little bit and I hit a hole and it shoved the nose. I apologize to him,” Countryman said. “You never want to beat a guy that way, but that’s racing.”

Countryman led Tonoli to the white-flag lap when another caution turned it into a one-lap sprint. Countryman held on to beat Tonoli by a car length with McKinney third, William Garner fourth and Jimmie Workman fifth.

Lucas Oil Speedway results (April 17, 2021)

Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series

Missouri Metal Buildings ULMA Late Models

A Feature – 1. 31C-Cole Henson[1]; 2. 72-JC Morton[5]; 3. 7X-Todd McCoin[6]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[13]; 5. 00-Matt Becker[3]; 6. 42H-Chad Richwine[8]; 7. 96-Dalton Imhoff[2]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[9]; 9. (DNF) 99-Larry Jones[7]; 10. (DNF) 10-John Willard[11]; 11. (DNF) 21-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 12. (DNF) 16-Bobby Penney[10]; 13. (DNS) 23-Mark Simon

Heat 1 – 1. 96-Dalton Imhoff[1]; 2. 00-Matt Becker[2]; 3. 72-JC Morton[5]; 4. 99-Larry Jones[4]; 5. 14W-Dustin Walker[6]; 6. 10-John Willard[7]; 7. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[3]

Heat 2 – . 31C-Cole Henson[6]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[2]; 3. 7X-Todd McCoin[3]; 4. 42H-Chad Richwine[4]; 5. 16-Bobby Penney[5]; 6. (DNF) 23-Mark Simon[1]

Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A Feature – 1. 18-JC Morton[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 3. 28A-Andy Bryant[7]; 4. 8S-Jon Sheets[5]; 5. 65-Kris Jackson[19]; 6. 50-Justin Pearish[16]; 7. 1BB-Matthew Kay[21]; 8. 49W-Cole Wells[22]; 9. 90-Terry Schultz[17]; 10. 7G-Gabriel Hodges[23]; 11. 99T-Eric Turner[10]; 12. 83-JC Newell[20]; 13. 14J-Jacob Hodges[14]; 14. 22-Brian McGowen[11]; 15. 9H-Nic Hanes[15]; 16. 24-Jerry Ellis[18]; 17. 99H-Kameron Hanes[24]; 18. (DNF) 5-Reece Solander[1]; 19. (DNF) 22C-Cole Campbell[8]; 20. (DNF) 52B-Jeremy Chambers[9]; 21. (DNF) 10P-Dayton Pursley[13]; 22. (DNF) 19-Dylan Cantwell[6]; 23. (DNF) 9-Sam Petty[12]; 24. (DNF) 14T-Quentin Taylor[3]

B Feature 1 – 1. 90-Terry Schultz[1]; 2. 1BB-Matthew Kay[3]; 3. 31-Luke Phillips[4]; 4. 50D-Dylan Dorris[14]; 5. 98-James Gates[7]; 6. 11W-Waylon Dimmitt[13]; 7. 9R-Cody Stillwell[8]; 8. (DNF) 44-Braden Stoner[6]; 9. (DNF) 58M-Jamie Mauk[9]; 10. (DNF) 28C-Shane Creech[11]; 11. (DNF) 7K-DUSTIN GIBBS[10]; 12. (DNF) 77-Jeff Douty[5]; 13. (DNF) 21-Jacob Potter[12]; 14. (DNF) 42M-Jerry Morgan[2]; 15. (DNS) 99D-Dalton Teel

B Feature 2 – 1. 24-Jerry Ellis[1]; 2. 49W-Cole Wells[3]; 3. 98K-Kenton Allen[4]; 4. 25-Matthew Clark[12]; 5. 12-Parker Smith[7]; 6. 20-Barry White[9]; 7. 121-Tim Phillips[10]; 8. 42-Steve Wharf[8]; 9. 55-Jimmy Borgmann[13]; 10. 56H-Scott Hall[5]; 11. 7-Kynsey Collins[6]; 12. 39-Dwight Brown[11]; 13. (DNF) 8X-Scott Chism[2]; 14. (DNS) 60-Cody Nivens; 15. (DNS) 37W-Frank Waszkiewicz

B Feature 3 – 1. 65-Kris Jackson[1]; 2. 7G-Gabriel Hodges[3]; 3. 15R-Ryan Edde[2]; 4. 49-Patrick Royalty[4]; 5. 1M-Richard Magee[7]; 6. 15-Cayden Stacye[8]; 7. 28-Wesley Briggs[11]; 8. 55G-Luke Gideon[6]; 9. 216-Philip Jackson[10]; 10. (DNF) 19R-Cole Stillwell[9]; 11. (DNF) 20L-Jeremy Lahey[13]; 12. (DNF) 4B-Brayton Skaggs[5]; 13. (DNS) 17H-Weston Holman; 14. (DNS) 42J-Donnie Jackson; 15. (DNS) 7R-Tristan Rice

B Feature 4 – 1. 83-JC Newell[2]; 2. 99H-Kameron Hanes[3]; 3. 46-Brice Gotschall[14]; 4. 83S-Scott Campbell[12]; 5. 68-Ricky Watkins[4]; 6. 54-Shawn Whitman[6]; 7. 4-Andrew Sheetz[7]; 8. (DNF) 2X-Brian Bolin[1]; 9. (DNF) 34-Donnie Aust[5]; 10. (DNF) 12G-Austin Greer[10]; 11. (DNF) 14-Aaron Johns[11]; 12. (DNF) 414-Ryan Thomas[13]; 13. (DNF) 61-Sturgis Streeter[8]; 14. (DNS) 11-Jimmy Willis

Heat 1 – 1. 14T-Quentin Taylor[6]; 2. 24-Jerry Ellis[2]; 3. 8X-Scott Chism[4]; 4. 14J-Jacob Hodges[10]; 5. 414-Ryan Thomas[11]; 6. 7-Kynsey Collins[8]; 7. (DNF) 25-Matthew Clark[1]; 8. (DNF) 83S-Scott Campbell[7]; 9. (DNF) 20L-Jeremy Lahey[5]; 10. (DNS) 44-Braden Stoner; 11. (DNS) 99D-Dalton Teel

Heat 2 – 1. 28A-Andy Bryant[3]; 2. 65-Kris Jackson[2]; 3. 9H-Nic Hanes[6]; 4. 2X-Brian Bolin[8]; 5. 42M-Jerry Morgan[11]; 6. 68-Ricky Watkins[10]; 7. 4-Andrew Sheetz[9]; 8. 19R-Cole Stillwell[4]; 9. 216-Philip Jackson[1]; 10. 21-Jacob Potter[7]; 11. (DNS) 42J-Donnie Jackson

Heat 3 – 1. 19-Dylan Cantwell[4]; 2. 90-Terry Schultz[1]; 3. 9-Sam Petty[7]; 4. 7G-Gabriel Hodges[6]; 5. 31-Luke Phillips[8]; 6. 77-Jeff Douty[9]; 7. 61-Sturgis Streeter[5]; 8. 15-Cayden Stacye[11]; 9. 121-Tim Phillips[10]; 10. 28-Wesley Briggs[3]; 11. (DNF) 7R-Tristan Rice[2]

Heat 4 – 1. 18-JC Morton[7]; 2. 22C-Cole Campbell[6]; 3. 98K-Kenton Allen[2]; 4. 56H-Scott Hall[1]; 5. 55G-Luke Gideon[8]; 6. 9R-Cody Stillwell[9]; 7. 7K-DUSTIN GIBBS[5]; 8. (DNF) 11W-Waylon Dimmitt[10]; 9. (DNF) 50D-Dylan Dorris[11]; 10. (DNF) 46-Brice Gotschall[3]

Heat 5 – 1. 99T-Eric Turner[2]; 2. 8S-Jon Sheets[8]; 3. 83-JC Newell[4]; 4. 99H-Kameron Hanes[5]; 5. 4B-Brayton Skaggs[1]; 6. 54-Shawn Whitman[7]; 7. 58M-Jamie Mauk[6]; 8. 20-Barry White[10]; 9. 12G-Austin Greer[3]; 10. 39-Dwight Brown[11]; 11. (DNF) 37W-Frank Waszkiewicz[9]

Heat 6 – 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 2. 52B-Jeremy Chambers[6]; 3. 10P-Dayton Pursley[7]; 4. 49-Patrick Royalty[4]; 5. 1BB-Matthew Kay[10]; 6. 1M-Richard Magee[2]; 7. 42-Steve Wharf[8]; 8. (DNF) 17H-Weston Holman[9]; 9. (DNF) 55-Jimmy Borgmann[1]; 10. (DNF) 60-Cody Nivens[3]

Heat 7 – 1. 5-Reece Solander[8]; 2. 22-Brian McGowen[5]; 3. 49W-Cole Wells[2]; 4. 50-Justin Pearish[9]; 5. 34-Donnie Aust[1]; 6. 98-James Gates[7]; 7. 12-Parker Smith[10]; 8. 11-Jimmy Willis[4]; 9. 28C-Shane Creech[6]; 10. 14-Aaron Johns[3]

O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars

A Feature – 1. 54-David Hendrix[6]; 2. 7-Doug Keller[3]; 3. 5-Robert White[13]; 4. 11-Derek Brown[1]; 5. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[12]; 6. 13-Lyle Dietrich[4]; 7. 93-Sam Scott[10]; 8. 04-Chad Walker[5]; 9. 21P-Darren Phillips[14]; 10. 12-Christopher Sawyer[16]; 11. 73-Jeremy Pitts[18]; 12. 24K-Daniel King[11]; 13. 24W-Craig Wright[17]; 14. 69N-James Barker[15]; 15. (DNF) 28D-Gary Donaldson[2]; 16. (DNF) 33T-Thomas Ground[7]; 17. (DNF) 7J-Scott Johnson[9]; 18. (DNS) 32-Dennie Belknap

Heat 1 – 1. 13-Lyle Dietrich[2]; 2. 04-Chad Walker[4]; 3. 54-David Hendrix[7]; 4. 33T-Thomas Ground[8]; 5. 7J-Scott Johnson[1]; 6. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[5]; 7. 5-Robert White[9]; 8. 69N-James Barker[3]; 9. 24W-Craig Wright[6]

Heat 2 – 1. 28D-Gary Donaldson[3]; 2. 11-Derek Brown[7]; 3. 7-Doug Keller[9]; 4. 32-Dennie Belknap[8]; 5. 93-Sam Scott[5]; 6. 24K-Daniel King[2]; 7. 21P-Darren Phillips[4]; 8. 12-Christopher Sawyer[6]; 9. (DNF) 73-Jeremy Pitts[1]

Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds

A Feature – 1. 65-Tyler Davis[2]; 2. 19SB-Lance Mari[1]; 3. 1X-Matt Johnson[7]; 4. 99T-TJ Tolan[13]; 5. 87-Darron Fuqua[6]; 6. 38C-Jason Pursley[3]; 7. 89-Tyler Hibner[12]; 8. 5-Robbie Reed[10]; 9. 227-Chase Domer[18]; 10. 21-Ryan Middaugh[20]; 11. 98D-Paden Phillips[14]; 12. 99-Nathan Hagar[8]; 13. 03-Chase Jones[11]; 14. 155-Terry Kirk[9]; 15. 92-Tyler Grooms[23]; 16. 6-Jason Payton[19]; 17. 73-Jay Arnold[17]; 18. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 19. (DNF) 9-Evan Hubert[22]; 20. (DNF) 292-Kyle Thompson[5]; 21. (DNF) 74-Rodney Schweizer[24]; 22. (DNF) 21TW-Tracy Wolf[21]; 23. (DNF) 5D-Josh Dunn[15]; 24. (DNS) 11-Darren Shaw

B Feature – 1. 73-Jay Arnold[3]; 2. 227-Chase Domer[2]; 3. 6-Jason Payton[7]; 4. 21-Ryan Middaugh[6]; 5. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[1]; 6. 9-Evan Hubert[5]; 7. 92-Tyler Grooms[12]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[14]; 9. 50-Leroy Morrison[17]; 10. 93D-Josh Dugan[16]; 11. 194-Scott Phillips[15]; 12. 379-Cole Stanberry[8]; 13. (DNF) 21R-Rusty Skaggs[4]; 14. (DNF) 88-Jimmy Dowell[19]; 15. (DNF) 24D-Donnie Fellers[11]; 16. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[18]; 17. (DNF) 49-Cole Wells[9]; 18. (DNF) 33-Ryan Stiens[13]; 19. (DNS) 23-Lucas Dobbs; 20. (DNS) 07-Daniel Harris; 21. (DNS) 98-Robert Heydenreich

Heat 1 – 1. 65-Tyler Davis[6]; 2. 155-Terry Kirk[2]; 3. 89-Tyler Hibner[3]; 4. 21TW-Tracy Wolf[1]; 5. 98D-Paden Phillips[9]; 6. 9-Evan Hubert[7]; 7. 07-Daniel Harris[4]; 8. 33-Ryan Stiens[8]; 9. 194-Scott Phillips[5]; 10. (DNS) 23-Lucas Dobbs

Heat 2 – 1. 38C-Jason Pursley[3]; 2. 99-Nathan Hagar[1]; 3. 03-Chase Jones[4]; 4. 1X-Matt Johnson[9]; 5. 11-Darren Shaw[8]; 6. 6-Jason Payton[5]; 7. 24D-Donnie Fellers[7]; 8. 92-Tyler Grooms[2]; 9. 50-Leroy Morrison[6]

Heat 3 – 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 292-Kyle Thompson[4]; 3. 99T-TJ Tolan[3]; 4. 227-Chase Domer[1]; 5. 21R-Rusty Skaggs[6]; 6. 21-Ryan Middaugh[7]; 7. 49-Cole Wells[9]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[8]; 9. 93D-Josh Dugan[5]

Heat 4 – 1. 19SB-Lance Mari[7]; 2. 5-Robbie Reed[2]; 3. 87-Darron Fuqua[6]; 4. 73-Jay Arnold[1]; 5. 5D-Josh Dunn[9]; 6. 379-Cole Stanberry[5]; 7. (DNF) 75L-Lane Whitney[4]; 8. (DNF) 88-Jimmy Dowell[3]; 9. (DNS) 98-Robert Heydenreich

Pure Stocks

A Feature – 1. 22C-Chris Countryman[1]; 2. 71-Chris Tonoli[3]; 3. 05G-Grayson McKiney[2]; 4. 7W-William Garner[14]; 5. 24-Jimmie Workman[5]; 6. 3-Jerry Wheeler[15]; 7. 7-Steve Lourenco[8]; 8. 14-Cody Ohrenberg[17]; 9. 22R-Kolby Arthbone [10]; 10. 7G-Shannon Geller[12]; 11. 26-Bradley McDowell[4]; 12. 41-Mason Beck[6]; 13. 69-Dylan Bowman[19]; 14. 24H-Trenton Houston[13]; 15. 57D-Dalton Roberts[20]; 16. 57-Justin Roberts[23]; 17. 12S-Matt Darnell[22]; 18. 88R-Robin Showers[18]; 19. 4D-David Doelz[11]; 20. 2-Zack Williams[21]; 21. 16-Kody Johnson[24]; 22. (DNF) 53-Richard Burks[16]; 23. (DNF) 30-Trevor Wilson[7]; 24. (DNF) 7X-Spencer Reiff[9]

B Feature – 1. 14-Cody Ohrenberg[11]; 2. 88R-Robin Showers[4]; 3. 69-Dylan Bowman[2]; 4. 57D-Dalton Roberts[14]; 5. 2-Zack Williams[3]; 6. 12S-Matt Darnell[10]; 7. 57-Justin Roberts[1]; 8. 16-Kody Johnson[7]; 9. 88-John Hunter[8]; 10. 65-Larry Hedrick[5]; 11. (DNF) 93-Daniel Barton[9]; 12. (DNS) 54-Dennis Crenshaw; 13. (DNS) 25X-Rodger Detherage; 14. (DNS) 12C-Casey Hofer; 15. (DNS) 23-Scott Simmons

Heat 1 – 1. 22C-Chris Countryman[7]; 2. 05G-Grayson McKiney[8]; 3. 22R-Kolby Arthbone[4]; 4. 7G-Shannon Geller[1]; 5. 3-Jerry Wheeler[5]; 6. 69-Dylan Bowman[3]; 7. 88R-Robin Showers[6]; 8. 16-Kody Johnson[2]; 9. (DNF) 93-Daniel Barton[11]; 10. (DNF) 25X-Rodger Detherage[10]; 11. (DNF) 54-Dennis Crenshaw[9]

Heat 2 – 1. 26-Bradley McDowell[2]; 2. 41-Mason Beck[4]; 3. 7X-Spencer Reiff[5]; 4. 4D-David Doelz[6]; 5. 24H-Trenton Houston[1]; 6. 53-Richard Burks[7]; 7. 2-Zack Williams[3]; 8. 23-Scott Simmons[10]; 9. (DNF) 14-Cody Ohrenberg[9]; 10. (DNS) 57D-Dalton Roberts

Heat 3 – 1. 71-Chris Tonoli[3]; 2. 7-Steve Lourenco[2]; 3. 24-Jimmie Workman[8]; 4. 30-Trevor Wilson[9]; 5. 7W-William Garner[1]; 6. 57-Justin Roberts[7]; 7. 65-Larry Hedrick[6]; 8. 88-John Hunter[4]; 9. (DNF) 12S-Matt Darnell[5]; 10. (DNS) 12C-Casey Hofer

Open Wheel Showdown next: Some of the nation’s premier Sprint and Midget racing is next on the schedule at Lucas Oil Speedway with the 10th annual Impact Signs, Awning & Wraps Open Wheel Showdown next Saturday night.

The tripleheader of open-wheel action features the RacinBoys ASCS Warrior Region presented by Impact, Signs, Awnings and Wraps and the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region presented by Smiley’s Racing Products; the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints and the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series.

Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6 and racing at 7:05.