April 4, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Dishing new dirt, plus 12 things to look for during the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway season

WHEATLAND, Mo. — When drivers arrive for Lucas Oil Speedway’s first event of the 2024 season on Saturday, they’ll find a dirt surface refurbished in the offseason with 450 loads of new clay dirt.

Through two preseason Open Test and Tune sessions, Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager Danny Lorton said the surface has been smooth.

“We are learning it holds moisture more than before, but we are also in the rainy season and cool temperatures,” Lorton said. “So it’s hard to say if it will be the same when it starts warming up and we have hotter temps. Each night will be a learning curve for us, also.”

Lucas Oil Speedway starts its season with the 3rd annual Easter Bowl 150 Enduro headlining Saturday night’s action. The 150-lap lap race will pay the winner $1,500. The Enduro will come at the end of a program that includes the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models racing for $1,000 to win. The POWRi Midwest Mods and POWRi Pure Stock going also will be in action with $500 to win in their features.

The speedway is continuing to accept entries for the Enduro with entry fee $150. Drivers can preregister by calling into the speedway office at (417) 295-6048 and paying the entry fee via credit card or print off the

entry form from the website and drop it off with the fee.

Starting positions for the 150-lap, $1,500-to-win Enduro will be based on order of paid entries received. Drivers will start the race three-wide. Pit passes are $35.

Pit gates will open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5 p.m., hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.


Admission:

Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) - $12
Adults (13 and up) - $15
Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $12
Youth (ages 6-12) - $5
Kids (5 and under) - FREE
Family Pass - $35
Pit Pass - $35


12 things to watch during the 2024 season:

Big Lucas Oil MLRA kickoff: The Lucas Oil MLRA is back bigger than ever with the 11th annual Spring Nationals coming to Lucas Oil Speedway for a two-night show, April 12-13. Look for a star-studded field of top Late Model drivers with $7,000 up for grabs for the first-night feature win and a whopping $20,000 going to the winner on night two.

Chad Simpson will begin pursuit of a fifth MLRA championship after taking the crown in 2023. Show-Me Vintage Racers, POWRi Super Stocks and Legend Cars also will be in action both nights.

Kids in the Spotlight: Lucas Oil Speedway always does its part to make it fun for youngster in various ways. Flagman Mike Striegel will lead the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club Pit Tour each week with youngsters ages 5-12 eligible to sign up for a tour of the pits where they can meet drivers. Kids can sign up for the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club on the south end of the Midway after grandstand gates open.

Also returning in 2024 is the popular Kids Power Wheel Races with a 24V-36V class. The races will be held during intermission during Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series events on April 20, May 11, June 8, July 27 and Aug. 24. Kids can bring their own battery-powered cars to the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club sign-in or drop them at the pit gates and they will be brought to the front stretch at intermission.

July 4th Fireworks and Kids’ Bicycle Giveaway: One of the mid-summer traditions returns to celebrate the 4th of July with Casey’s Thursday Night Thunder. The Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series program, with all four weekly divisions in action, will conclude with a huge fireworks display choreographed to music.

Earlier, youngsters have a chance to take home a new bicycle with the annual RCR Designs Jr Fan Club bicycle giveaway. Kids can sign up on the Midway prior to the giveaway. New bicycles, for boys and girls, are collected year-round for the giveaway with money to go toward purchase of the bikes also accepted at the speedway office.

Track championship chases: Opening night for the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series is April 20th. Defending track champions are Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models), Bobby Williams (Ozark Golf Cars and Utility Vehicles USRA B-Mods), Ryan Middaugh (Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds) and Mason Beck (O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars).

Show-Me 100 a tradition like no other: It wouldn’t be Memorial Day Weekend without the signature event of Lucas Oil Speedway’s season. The 32nd annual Show-Me 100 Presented by the Missouri Division of Tourism, featuring the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and Lucas Oil MLRA returns May 23-25 with a $50,000 prize going to the winner of the final-night feature.

This year it will be an all-Late Model weekend as the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models also will be on the card all three nights.

Get ready for High Limit Sprints: There is a lot of excitement building toward a new event on the 2024 schedule, the Inaugural High Limit Racing Diamond Classic, June 28-29. The 410 Sprint Series, owned by Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, will feature the elite 410 Sprint drivers from around the nation.

Support class for the The High Limit Racing Diamond Classic is the Modified Invitational featuring the new Heartland Modified Tour. In addition to the racing action, the band Dirt Road Addiction will play following the action on Friday night, June 28th from 10:30 p.m.-1 a.m. on the south end of the Midway.

Drag boats set for a trifecta: Lake Lucas will roar to life three times in 2024 as the Kentucky Drag Boat Association returns. First up is the KDBA Summer Thunder on Lake Lucas (June 8-9), followed by the KDBA Show-Me Summer Shootout (Aug. 2-3) and the 14th annual Diamond Drag Boat Nationals (Aug. 30-Sept. 1). Saturday-night dirt track action will coincide with each drag boat event, giving fans a chance for a water-dirt doubleheader as a drag boat ticket including admission to the dirt track.

USMTS Show-Me Shootout in early August: The nation’s top national-touring modified drivers return for the 15th annual USMTS Slick Mist Show-Me Shootout on Aug. 3. The evening show will wrap up a big Saturday as the KDBA Show-Me Shootout for drag boats takes place next door on Lake Lucas.

Rodney Sanders won last year's Show-Me Shootout, one of five series feature wins en route to his fifth USMTS championship.

Big Buck 50 is back: One of the biggest events in the nation for POWRi Super Stocks is returning to the Lucas Oil Speedway schedule with the 8th annual Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt set for Oct. 3-5. The Big Buck 50 was held on an annual basis at Lucas Oil Speedway through 2020 and was a one of the highlights on the schedule. The winner will earn $10,000 on the final night.

The Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals also return to the schedule and will be run in conjunction with the Big Buck 50, making it a lucrative, action-packed weekend of Late Model and Super Stock racing at the same location. The MLRA feature winners will collect $5,000 and $10,000 on the respective nights.

USRA Nationals finds new calendar spot: The largest event of the season, in terms of entries, finds a new spot on the calendar. The Summit USRA Nationals moves to Sept. 17-21 after being held in early October over the past three seasons. Over the course of the week, B-Mods, Modifieds, Stock Cars, Tuners and Hobby Stocks under the USRA sanction will converge on Wheatland with more than 200 entries expected.

Hockett-McMillin Memorial: Open-wheel fans get three big nights in race that pays tribute to two home-state heroes. It’s the 14th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial, Sept 12-14, with many of the best Winged Sprint and Wingless Sprint drivers in the national on hand. The race pays tribute to the late sprint legend Jesse Hockett, who lost his life in a shop accident in 2010 and his cousin and crew chief, Daniel McMillin, who was killed in an automobile accident in 2006.

Monster Trucks for a grand finale: Some say the best event of the season is always the last one and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Outlaw Monster Trucks - Eve of Destruction always draws a capacity crowd. The Oct. 19 event also serves as an early Halloween celebration with fans encouraged to dress in costumes and kids to be ready for trick or treating before the big show begins.

For ticket information about any event on the 2024 Lucas Oil Speedway schedule, fans can contact Admissions Director Nichole 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.