May 12, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Phillips hangs on for USRA Heartland Modified Tour victory in Lucas Oil Speedway headliner

WHEATLAND, Mo. — Terry Phillips led all 30 laps, but it was a hard-fought battle to the finish as the veteran driver from Springfield captured a USRA Heartland Modified Tour feature win Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Phillips earned $2,000 for the victory, which also was the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modified headliner of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series. Phillips held off Gabe Hodges by .209 seconds in a close battle that came down to the final turn, pitting the old pro against a young gun.

Other feature winners on Vietti Marketing Group Night at the Races were Justin Wells (Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models), William Garner (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars) and JC Morton (Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods).

A total of 115 cars checked into the pits, including 50 USRA Modifieds.

Phillips, in his own Bloodline Race Car, utilized the low groove around the track from start to finish in his first added-money win at Lucas Oil Speedway in quite some time.

"I love coming up here. I run pretty decent in my Modified," Phillips said, noting the extra-thrill of victory in front of fans who rarely get to see him race near home as he's moved to top-level Modified racing full time in recent years.

Phillips started on the pole after the pre-race redraw and led the way as the 30-lap feature began. But five cautions through five completed laps prevented him from building a margin between himself and second-place Gabe Hodges.

As green-flag laps finally were logged and the race started to get a rhythm - it remained green the final 25 laps - Phillips led Hodges by just under one second when he caught lapped traffic on lap 13 with Tyler Wolff running a close third.

Phillips hugged the low groove - as did the other contenders - until Hodges ducked to his inside in turn three on lap 19. Phillips was able to fend him off and Hodges moved up the track on lap 21 with Wolff putting the pressure on him. That allowed Phillips to extend his league to one second by lap 25.

The leaders hit heavy traffic at the white flag adn Hodges closed in for one final charge. Phillips was able to hang on by a car length at the checkers with Wolff right behind.

Phillips said he felt the presence of Hodges throughout, especially in the late going.

"I was watching the 'prompter' down the back straightaway," Phillips said of the video board overlooking turn three. "I've been doing this for a little while, Just as long as I didn't get excited. I slowed down a little bit and made sure I hit my marks.

"He had a good run there, but our car felt good," the 57-year-old Phillips added. "Instead of going forward, I just slowed down a little bit. An old-man tactic, I guess."

Hodges, a 21-year-old from Lebo, Kan., said he thought he had a shot at passing Phillips on the final lap but wasn't quite able to get it done.

"We were really good in the feature, we just got all clogged up down on the bottom," Hodges said. "I wish I'd have went to the middle there a little sooner. I really thought I had it going on there that last lap, but just could quite get clear."

Reigning track champ Ryan Middaugh finished fourth with Paden Phillips coming home in fifth.

Wells prevails again in POWRi Late Models: Justin Wells of Aurora made it three Lucas Oil Speedway victories in as many attempts this season, holding off JC Morton for the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model feature win.

The reigning track champion held off Morton by about three car lengths at the finish to repel Morton's strong late charge. It was his 108th win in the 2006 TNT Chassis.

The feature took a while to get going as two cautions were recorded before a single lap was completed. When some green-flag laps were recorded, Wells wasted no time opening a three-second lead over Tucker Cox just five laps into the race.

Wells’ lead went away due to another pair of cautions at that point, as early top-five contenders Larry Jones and Joe Walkenhorst dropped out. Wells held a one-second lead over Morton by lap-10 when the race’s fifth caution flew.

As action resumed, Morton pulled alongside Wells down the backstretch on lap 13. Wells rode the high line to hold off the charge and maintain the lead, but by lap 17 he had again opened up nearly a one-second edge.

Morton mounted a last run on the final lap, but Wells held him off by one-half second for his latest victory.

Tyler Kuykendall made a late pass of Tucker Cox to finish third with Chad Walter completing the top five.

Garner grabs USRA Stock Cars win: William Garner took the lead on lap six and held off a late charge by Waylon Dimmitt to grab the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature win.

Brent Fielder started on the pole and led the opening five laps before Garner got around him on lap six. One lap later, the race’s first caution came out with another flying on lap nine when Fielder spun in turn two after he had been battling Jaylen Wettengel for second.

Wettengel, Dimmitt and Rodney Schweizer all were putting pressure on Garner after the restart with James McMillin also joining the fray. But as the foursome battled behind him, Garner was able to drive to a 1.2-second lead by lap 14.

As the race remained caution-free the rest of the way, Dimmitt became Garner’s chief threat as the white flag waved. Garner was able to hold on by a half-car length or .109 seconds in a thriller.

Wettengel officially was elevated to a second-place finish after Dimmitt's car failed post-race tech. McMillin was third with Schweizer fourth and Mason Beck fifth.

Morton drives to B-Mod triumph: Springfield's JC Morton led all 20 laps for the Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mod feature win, dominating in a Bloodline Race Car just like the night's headliner and his stablemate Terry Phillips.

Morton - who also was a close second in the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model feature earlier in the evening - started third but had the lead by the completion of lap one. Pole-starting Andy Bryant gave chase with Bobby Williams in third.

As the drivers navigated a bumpy surface entering turn one, Morton opened up a 2.4-second cushion over Bryant by lap seven and had a 3.3-second command when a caution came out on lap eight.

Getting a clear track ahead after the restart, Morton wasted little time in pulling away from the field and re-establishing his comfortable lead as Bryant battled Eric Turner for second. By the time Morton caught up with lapped cars, he was three seconds clear with five to go.

But the event’s second caution put some mystery back into the outcome, forcing Morton to again execute on a restart. Bryant went to the high groove as the green flew, but Morton continued his dominance on the bottom.

Morton rolled from there and wound up 2.3 seconds ahead of Bryant with Turner third, Trevor Drake fourth and Williams fifth.

"The track had a little bit of character, but (the track crew) did good with all the rain we've had," Morton said, adding that he and Phillips have been working together to dial in the Bloodline cars.



LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (May 11, 2024)

USRA Heartland Modified Tour

A Feature - 1. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 2. 7G-Gabe Hodges[4]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[11]; 4. 21-Ryan Middaugh[3]; 5. 10B-Brandon Givens[7]; 6. 65-Tyler Davis[18]; 7. 02-Tanner Mullens[19]; 8. 91-Joe Duvall[8]; 9. 4-Dan Powers[14]; 10. 38C-Jason Pursley[17]; 11. 511-Tanner Barnhart[2]; 12. 44T-Tanner Black[20]; 13. 3B-Nic Bidinger[10]; 14. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[21]; 15. 88-Chad Wheeler[24]; 16. 127-Paden Phillips[6]; 17. 5-Robbie Reed[25]; 18. (DNF) 37D-Dakota Dale[12]; 19. (DNF) 87-Darron Fuqua[23]; 20. (DNF) 17-Henry Chambers[22]; 21. (DNF) 19R-Chris Kratzer[5]; 22. (DNF) 75M-Gunner Martin[13]; 23. (DNF) 75D-Tad Davis[9]; 24. (DNF) 73-Mickey Burrell[16]; 25. (DNF) 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[15]

B Feature 1 - 1. 38C-Jason Pursley[2]; 2. 44T-Tanner Black[4]; 3. 17-Henry Chambers[5]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[1]; 5. 87-Darron Fuqua[8]; 6. 88-Chad Wheeler[15]; 7. 98-Kenton Allen[13]; 8. 3J-Lewis Jackson[14]; 9. 18-Chad Lyle[10]; 10. 10P-Dayton Pursley[3]; 11. 247-Jarret Dotson[12]; 12. 23-Lucas Dobbs[6]; 13. 22B-Rick Beebe[16]; 14. 87H-Dewayne Hobbs[11]; 15. (DNF) 5-Robbie Reed[9]; 16. (DNF) L75-Lane Whitney[7]; 17. (DNF) 21J-Jacob Potter[17]

B Feature 2 - 1. 65-Tyler Davis[1]; 2. 02-Tanner Mullens[3]; 3. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[12]; 4. 18JR-Chase Sigg[2]; 5. 98C-Jeff Cutshaw[5]; 6. 22-Brian McGowen[14]; 7. 41-Chevy Coleman[16]; 8. 44K-Kelsie Black[6]; 9. 21T-Troy Gudmonson[8]; 10. 99T-Dalton Teel[13]; 11. 21X-Greg Scheffler[10]; 12. 66-Eric Johnson[11]; 13. (DNF) 747-Colton Eck[15]; 14. (DNF) 24D-Donnie Fellers[7]; 15. (DNF) 4B-Eric Brady[4]; 16. (DNF) 4R-Jared Russell[9]; 17. (DNS) 21W-Tracy Wolf

Heat 1 - 1. 10B-Brandon Givens[1]; 2. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 3. 37D-Dakota Dale[5]; 4. 75M-Gunner Martin[8]; 5. 10P-Dayton Pursley[9]; 6. 4B-Eric Brady[10]; 7. 21T-Troy Gudmonson[7]; 8. 87H-Dewayne Hobbs[2]; 9. (DNF) 22-Brian McGowen[3]; 10. (DNF) 747-Colton Eck[4]

Heat 2 - 1. 91-Joe Duvall[1]; 2. 75D-Tad Davis[3]; 3. 3B-Nic Bidinger[6]; 4. 4-Dan Powers[8]; 5. 23-Lucas Dobbs[4]; 6. 44K-Kelsie Black[7]; 7. 5-Robbie Reed[5]; 8. 66-Eric Johnson[2]; 9. (DNS) 21J-Jacob Potter; 10. (DNS) 21W-Tracy Wolf

Heat 3 - 1. 7G-Gabe Hodges[2]; 2. 4W-Tyler Wolff[1]; 3. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[4]; 4. 73-Mickey Burrell[7]; 5. 38C-Jason Pursley[10]; 6. 17-Henry Chambers[9]; 7. 87-Darron Fuqua[8]; 8. (DNF) 3J-Lewis Jackson[3]; 9. (DNF) 88-Chad Wheeler[6]; 10. (DNF) 41-Chevy Coleman[5]

Heat 4 - 1. 19R-Chris Kratzer[2]; 2. 21-Ryan Middaugh[8]; 3. 65-Tyler Davis[3]; 4. 18JR-Chase Sigg[6]; 5. 98C-Jeff Cutshaw[1]; 6. L75-Lane Whitney[5]; 7. 4R-Jared Russell[7]; 8. 21X-Greg Scheffler[9]; 9. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[10]; 10. (DNF) 22B-Rick Beebe[4]

Heat 5 - 1. 511-Tanner Barnhart[3]; 2. 127-Paden Phillips[10]; 3. 68-Dean Wille[2]; 4. 44T-Tanner Black[5]; 5. 02-Tanner Mullens[9]; 6. 24D-Donnie Fellers[6]; 7. 18-Chad Lyle[7]; 8. 247-Jarret Dotson[4]; 9. 98-Kenton Allen[8]; 10. 99T-Dalton Teel[1]



Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models

A Feature - 1. 98-Justin Wells[2]; 2. 72-JC Morton[8]; 3. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[3]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[7]; 5. 23-Chad Walter[12]; 6. 49B-Andy Bryant[9]; 7. 12J-Justin Russell[10]; 8. 145-Kyle Graves[16]; 9. 88-Jimmy Dowell[13]; 10. 20-Alan Westling[20]; 11. 28-Jim Greenway[6]; 12. 99H-Dylan Hoover[14]; 13. 74-Jason Sivils[15]; 14. 3-Richard Kimberling[19]; 15. (DNF) 7J-Jake Morris[5]; 16. (DNF) 99-Larry Jones[1]; 17. (DNF) 90-Joe Walkenhorst[4]; 18. (DNF) 18B-Scott Bergen[18]; 19. (DNS) X15-Bobby Ruff II; 20. (DNS) 18-Shawn Eggeman

Heat 1 - 1. 99-Larry Jones[4]; 2. 7J-Jake Morris[2]; 3. 28-Jim Greenway[1]; 4. 1T-Tucker Cox[6]; 5. 49B-Andy Bryant[7]; 6. 23-Chad Walter[3]; 7. 88-Jimmy Dowell[9]; 8. 74-Jason Sivils[10]; 9. (DNF) 18B-Scott Bergen[5]; 10. (DNS) 20-Alan Westling

Heat 2 - 1. 98-Justin Wells[1]; 2. 8K-Tyler Kuykendall[4]; 3. 90-Joe Walkenhorst[6]; 4. 72-JC Morton[3]; 5. 12J-Justin Russell[10]; 6. X15-Bobby Ruff II[2]; 7. 99H-Dylan Hoover[9]; 8. 145-Kyle Graves[8]; 9. 18-Shawn Eggeman[7]; 10. (DNF) 3-Richard Kimberling[5]



O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars

A Feature - 1. 7-William Garner[2]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[3]; 3. 8M-James McMillin[9]; 4. 74-Rodney Schweizer[15]; 5. 0F-Mason Beck[4]; 6. 41-Bryan White[7]; 7. 211-Derek Brown[17]; 8. 0-Chase Galvan[5]; 9. 85-Darrin Schmidt[10]; 10. 12-Christopher Sawyer[8]; 11. 5K-Steve Herrick[13]; 12. 05G-Grayson McKiney[14]; 13. 5DJ-DJ Barnes[11]; 14. 5-Robert White[16]; 15. 24-Blayne McMillin[12]; 16. (DNF) 32-Brent Fielder[1]; 17. (DNF) 83-James Ellis[18]; 18. (DQ) 11-Waylon Dimmitt[6]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat 1 - 1. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[3]; 2. 0F-Mason Beck[5]; 3. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[1]; 4. 8M-James McMillin[4]; 5. 41-Bryan White[8]; 6. 24-Blayne McMillin[2]; 7. 05G-Grayson McKiney[6]; 8. 74-Rodney Schweizer[9]; 9. 5-Robert White[7]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 - 1. 32-Brent Fielder[4]; 2. 7-William Garner[7]; 3. 0-Chase Galvan[5]; 4. 12-Christopher Sawyer[3]; 5. 85-Darrin Schmidt[1]; 6. 5DJ-DJ Barnes[8]; 7. 5K-Steve Herrick[9]; 8. (DNF) 211-Derek Brown[6]; 9. (DNF) 83-James Ellis[2]



Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A Feature - 1. 18-JC Morton[3]; 2. 28-Andy Bryant[1]; 3. 99T-Eric Turner[14]; 4. 7L-Trevor Drake[16]; 5. 1B-Bobby Williams[5]; 6. 8-Jon Sheets[18]; 7. 56-Hoyt Miller[17]; 8. 19-Tanner Kade[6]; 9. 42-Jerry Morgan[9]; 10. C3-Chad Staus[10]; 11. 11L-Logan Smith[13]; 12. 2-Quentin Taylor[8]; 13. 66-Ryan Gillmore[11]; 14. 37-Wesley Long[25]; 15. 03-Chase Jones[7]; 16. 214-Eric Spreer[22]; 17. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[4]; 18. 8S-Clayton Smith[26]; 19. 181-Luke Nieman[23]; 20. 22-Chad Donaldson[19]; 21. 00-Cason Harris[15]; 22. 711-Thomas Yount[21]; 23. (DNF) 94C-JT Carroll[24]; 24. (DNF) 27-Terry Williams[27]; 25. (DNF) 55-Colson Kirk[12]; 26. (DNF) 14W-Travis Wolf[20]; 27. (DNF) 34-Mark Schafman[2]

Heat 1 - 1. 28-Andy Bryant[4]; 2. 19-Tanner Kade[2]; 3. 2-Quentin Taylor[1]; 4. 03-Chase Jones[7]; 5. 56-Hoyt Miller[5]; 6. 00-Cason Harris[9]; 7. 22-Chad Donaldson[3]; 8. 214-Eric Spreer[6]; 9. 37-Wesley Long[8]

Heat 2 - 1. 18-JC Morton[1]; 2. 1B-Bobby Williams[3]; 3. C3-Chad Staus[2]; 4. 55-Colson Kirk[5]; 5. 99T-Eric Turner[8]; 6. 7L-Trevor Drake[9]; 7. 711-Thomas Yount[4]; 8. 94C-JT Carroll[7]; 9. (DNF) 27-Terry Williams[6]

Heat 3 - 1. 34-Mark Schafman[2]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[4]; 3. 42-Jerry Morgan[1]; 4. 11L-Logan Smith[5]; 5. 66-Ryan Gillmore[9]; 6. 8-Jon Sheets[7]; 7. 14W-Travis Wolf[3]; 8. 181-Luke Nieman[6]; 9. 8S-Clayton Smith[8]



Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 next: Lucas Oil Speedway will take next weekend off to get ready for the 32nd annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by Missouri Division of Tourism. The May 23-25 event will feature the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, co-sanctioned by the Lucas Oil MLRA, plus Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model programs.

The Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 will feature $10,000-to-win main events on Thursday with the 11th annual Cowboy Classic and on Friday for the Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson. Saturday's 100-lap finale will award the winner $50,000. Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, is the defending race champion.

For ticket information about the Show-Me 100 or 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.

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