March 6, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Lucas Oil Speedway Preseason Spotlight: 'Most Popular Driver' Franklin eager for more success

WHEATLAND, Mo. — Mitchell Franklin’s long-sought first feature victory at Lucas Oil Speedway last June drew a loud ovation from the fans. It was a sign of things to come for the 25-year-old Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mod driver from Camdenton.

Following the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series season, Franklin was voted by the fans as the speedway’s Most Popular Driver for the first time. He was humbled by the honor.

“I know I have a bunch of fans because they always come and talk to me,” Franklin said earlier this week. “But I was watching the video from the night I won. You can see the front stretch fans stand up and they’re all hootin’ and hollerin’ for me.

“It’s a very humbling feeling when you see that. It makes you feel like you’re doing something right. They’re what keeps this sport going, so we need to make sure we take care of them.”

Franklin is eager to run it back in 2024 and see if he can win a few more features and build an even larger fan base. He’s looking to debut a new Josh Franklin Motorsports car early in the season with plans to race most weeks at Lucas Oil Speedway while branching out and traveling to some big-money races around the Midwest.

“We’ll probably have to start out in our old car,” Mitchell Franklin said. “We’ve got a new one built and we’ve got the tub in it, but can’t really afford to (finish) putting it together until I sell my old car. If it doesn’t sell before the season, I’ll start with my old car.

“He’s keeping busy,” Mitchell said of his dad’s business, which builds Modifieds and Stock Cars. “I just hope we can continue our success this year and sell him some more cars.”

There was a lot of conversation after his first feature win whether Mitchell or Josh was more excited.

“I was pretty excited, but I think he probably got more glory from that than I did,” Mitchell said. “I was out front, minding my own race but dad was watching and felt the real suspense. My job was just to hit my marks, but he was able to see the cars behind me closing.

“I rolled off turn two on the final lap and I saw him doing dang near cartwheels. It was probably about equal, but it was a great feeling for sure.”

With six top-five finishes in 12 Lucas Oil Speedway events, Mitchell Franklin continued his climb in 2023 as one of the area’s rising B-Mod stars. He cemented his status with a final-night feature win at the USRA Nationals worth $2,000. Franklin said the win was nice, but wasn’t as sweet as it should have been because it came after apparent winner JC Morton was disqualified in post-race tech inspection.

That didn’t diminish the strong run by Franklin, who started 21st in the main event.

“We did start 21st and were able to pass 20 of the fastest cars around,” Franklin said. “JC unfortunately had some difficulty in the tech shed. No one wants to win one that way. We were willing to take it just because of the prestige that race has and where we started.

“We’re kind of, I say a low-buck team. We don’t have the funds some other teams have and we do it all ourselves. It was a huge win for us, really. But you want to jump around and scream, hoot and holler and stuff. You have to have respect for the other guy. He was on the highest of highs and it got taken away. We kept it low-key and celebrate among ourselves and didn’t make too much of it.

“We’re gonna go try to win it straight-up this year,” Franklin said, adding that he can’t wait to get the new car to the track.

“My car is a little older than the guys who are having success right now. I’d like to get on an even playing field with them and share notes and see if we can make this one just as fast as the one I’ve got,” he said.

Team sponsors include KennyCarroll Excavating, Icon Graphics and Apparel, Urbane Wire, J&S Custom Cabinets, Meek’s, Ellis Coatings, Duke’s Auto Body, Franklin Motorsports, MoBell Audio, Whitman Trucking, Whitetail Trophy Hunt, CPD Shocks, KS Engineering and Ray’s Lake Service.

Lucas Oil Speedway season opens with March 30th Test & Tune: The 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule begins with an Open Test & Tune on Saturday, March 30, from 2-6 p.m. Contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information on season passes for any event on the schedule.

High Limit Racing Diamond Classic tickets on sale: Reserved-seat tickets plus two-day passes for one of the most-anticipated racing events on the Lucas Oil Speedway 2024 schedule, the inaugural Lucas Oil Speedway High Limit Racing Diamond Classic, are on sale.

The High Limit Diamond Classic is set for June 28-29 when the High Limit Racing Series makes their first ever appearance at Lucas Oil Speedway. The High Limit Sprint Car Series is co-owned by Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson and features top 410 sprint car drivers from around the country.

Support class for the The High Limit Racing Diamond Classic is the Modified Invitational featuring the Heartland Modified Tour. An invitational format will be used to select 24 modified drivers to compete alongside the High Limit Racing Sprint Cars both nights.

Show-Me 100 3-day passes on sale: All reserved seats and remaining 3-day passes for the 32nd annual Show-Me 100 are now on sale. The 3-day passes are $115 apiece and do not include pit passes. Those must be purchased separately if access to the pit area is desired.

Campground reservations also are now being accepted for the Show-Me 100, which features the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA.

Fans can contact McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway scheduled.