June 29, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Courtney takes command late to earn night one victory at Lucas Oil Speedway

WHEATLAND, Mo. — Tyler Courtney took the lead with five laps remaining Friday night and went on to capture Night One of the Kubota High Limit Racing Diamond Classic at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Courtney, of Indianapolis, roared from third and into the lead after a lap 24 restart and went on to earn $10,000 with his fourth Kubota High Limit Racing feature win of the season. He beat Brad Sweet at the finish with James McFadden capturing third.

The series returns for Saturday night's Diamond Classic finale with $25,000 awaiting the feature winner.

"The last time I ran here, I won in a Midget (in 2016) and it's pretty cool to come back in a winged car and have success," the ninth-starting Courtney said in victory lane. "That was fun, a lot of fun."

Courtney, driving for Clauson Marshall Racing, finished two seconds clear at the checkers as he pulled away from Brad Sweet and the rest after taking the lead on lap 25. He was the fourth and final leader of the 30-lapper.

"The track was quite a bit different than the heats, but I don't think you could ask for much more than that," Courtney said of the action-packed event. "There was racing everywhere. A hot day, but a great day."

Courtney picked up an additional $4,500 along with lucky fan Patrick Walker after the Durst Dice Roll, which was a nine - and Courtney won from ninth.

Sye Lynch won the drag race with fellow front-row starter Corey Day and grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, with Sweet settling into third. The top three were separated by only one second when the first caution flew on lap three.

Day grabbed the lead away from Lynch on the restart and used the cushion on the high side to open a 1.7-second lead in just four laps. He soon was dealing with lapped traffic and suddenly slowed to a crawl entering turn three on lap 10.

Day, who won two nights earlier at Lake Ozark Speedway, was unable to continue. Lynch re-inherited the lead with Sweet second and Courtney third. Lynch pulled away after the restart to lead by nearly two seconds by lap 15. Action ground to a half at that point as Brent Marks rolled his car in turn four, bringing out the red flag.

Sweet swept to the lead after the restart, coming on the outside of turn four to complete lap 17. Before he could get too far away from Lynch, a lap-20 caution flew as two cars spun in turn four.

Lynch was applying the heat to Sweet with Courtney right behind when a caution appeared on lap 23 for a one-car spin in turn four, leaving seven laps to settle things. Courtney took second away from Lynch on lap 24, then grabbed the top spot the next time around.

Courtney rolled from there, driving away for the victory over series points leader Sweet. McFadden, who started 13th, captured third with 14th-starting Tanner Thorson fourth and Lynch winding up fifth.

"Luckily I was third there and Sye got Brad to moving around," Courtney said. "I just stuck to my guns there and just ran the top as hard as I could and came away with the win."

Sweet said his car was not quite have the car dialed in enough to win.

"I'm happy to get locked into a little bit better spot for tomorrow," Sweet said. "That's important on this prelim nights to run top four. I felt I wasn't quite good enough to win, no matter which line I was trying to run or make work it seemed like someone was pushing me.

"Sye was getting back to my inside, so I committed to the inside. I just wasn't good enough. I had to slow the car down way too much to run the bottom, but running the top I would get spinning on the (turn) exit. Tyler was just clearly a little bit better than us tonight."

Marks of Myerstown, Pa., set the fast qualifying time with a lap of 13.039 seocnds. That came up just shy of the track record held by Garet Williamson, who ran a 12.998 in the POWRi 410 Bandit Sprint Series on Aug. 19, 2023.

Tyler Davis wins Heartland Modifieds: Tyler Davis of Haysville, Kan., took over the lead on lap 21 and held on to beat Tad Davis by half a second in the Heartland Modified Tour feature.

Tad Davis rolled to the lead at the start and opened a 1.1-second lead over Chad Wheeler by lap 10. The leaders hit heavy lapped traffic soon after with Wheeler pulling alongside Tad Davis a couple of times, but was unable to get by.

Tyler Davis joined the battle with Wheeler for second and he was able to take over with four laps to go. Gabe Hodges rallied late to grab third with Wheeler fourth and Kenton Allen coming home in fifth.

The winner said he felt the continuous green-flag run worked to his advantage. Tyler Davis started third, right behind Tad Davis and Wheeler.

"When we first took off, it was kind of humid out here tonight and it's easy to spin the tires," Tyler Davis said. "Once we got rolling, the maneuverability of our car showed. We've got some new stuff we were trying tonight and it was pretty good.

"I'm glad to get back to victory lane. We've been getting our butt kicked lately against the USMTS Tour. I'm just happy to be up here."

The Heartland Modified Tour will again be in action as support class for Saturday's Diamond Classic finale.



LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (June 28, 2024)

Kubota High Limit Racing Diamond Classic

A Feature - 1, Tyler Courtney. 2, Brad Sweet. 3, James McFadden. 4, Tanner Thorson. 5, Sye Lynch. 6, Justin Peck. 7, Hunter Schuerenberg. 8, Chris Windom. 9, Jacob Allen. 10, Zeb Wise. 11, Ryan Timms. 12, Cory Eliason. 13, Kasey Kahne. 14, Spencer Bayston. 15, Rico Abreu. 16, Xavier Doney. 17, Brenham Crouch. 18, Parker Price Miller. 19, Howard Moore. 20, Jace Park. 21, Garet Williamson. 22, Gage Montgomery. 23, Brent Marks. 24, Tyler Blank. 25, Brian Bell. 26, Corey Day.

B Feature - 1. 23B-Brian Bell[2]; 2. 79-Gage Montgomery[3]; 3. 55-Chris Windom[4]; 4. 75-Tyler Blank[10]; 5. 8-Cory Eliason[1]; 6. 12X-Roger Crockett[9]; 7. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[6]; 8. 77-Jack Wagner[15]; 9. 22M-Rees Moran[7]; 10. 50K-Kyle Bellm[14]; 11. 73-Samuel Wagner[8]; 12. 21-Brian Brown[5]; 13. 9P-Parker Price Miller[11]; 14. 42B-Andy Bishop[12]; 15. 8S-Steve Short[13]; 16. 21R-Gunner Ramey[16]

Dash - 1. 42-Sye Lynch[2]; 2. 14-Corey Day[3]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[5]; 4. 13-Justin Peck[8]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[1]; 6. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]; 7. 19-Brent Marks[7]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu[6]

Heat 1 - 1. 13-Justin Peck[1]; 2. 1-Brenham Crouch[2]; 3. 45X-Jace Park[7]; 4. 19H-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]; 5. 5T-Ryan Timms[6]; 6. 79-Gage Montgomery[8]; 7. 8-Cory Eliason[4]; 8. 12X-Roger Crockett[5]; 9. 8S-Steve Short[9]

Heat 2 - 1. 9-Kasey Kahne[2]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[3]; 4. 14-Corey Day[4]; 5. 3M-Howard Moore[6]; 6. 21-Brian Brown[5]; 7. 22M-Rees Moran[9]; 8. 9P-Parker Price Miller[8]; 9. 77-Jack Wagner[7]

Heat 3 - 1. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 74-Xavier Doney[2]; 3. 88-Tanner Thorson[5]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[4]; 5. 5-Spencer Bayston[6]; 6. 23B-Brian Bell[3]; 7. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[7]; 8. 75-Tyler Blank[9]; 9. 50K-Kyle Bellm[8]

Heat 4 - 1. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch[4]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 6. 55-Chris Windom[6]; 7. 73-Samuel Wagner[8]; 8. 42B-Andy Bishop[7]; 9. 21R-Gunner Ramey[9]

Qualifying Group A - 1. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:13.050[5]; 2. 14-Corey Day, 00:13.136[14]; 3. 13-Justin Peck, 00:13.179[2]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.190[18]; 5. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.212[15]; 6. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:13.213[3]; 7. 19H-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.223[4]; 8. 83-James McFadden, 00:13.309[12]; 9. 12X-Roger Crockett, 00:13.424[8]; 10. 21-Brian Brown, 00:13.483[11]; 11. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:13.491[16]; 12. 3M-Howard Moore, 00:13.502[1]; 13. 45X-Jace Park, 00:13.523[7]; 14. 77-Jack Wagner, 00:13.623[13]; 15. 79-Gage Montgomery, 00:13.635[9]; 16. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:13.942[10]; 17. 8S-Steve Short, 00:13.959[6]; 18. 22M-Rees Moran, 00:14.050[17]

Qualifying Group B - 1. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.039[6]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:13.049[10]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:13.146[14]; 4. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:13.171[16]; 5. 74-Xavier Doney, 00:13.179[12]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.183[2]; 7. 23B-Brian Bell, 00:13.223[1]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.258[9]; 9. 88-Tanner Thorson, 00:13.292[17]; 10. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.360[13]; 11. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:13.395[4]; 12. 55-Chris Windom, 00:13.450[8]; 13. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:13.555[5]; 14. 42B-Andy Bishop, 00:13.632[7]; 15. 50K-Kyle Bellm, 00:13.678[3]; 16. 73-Samuel Wagner, 00:13.689[11]; 17. 75-Tyler Blank, 00:13.717[18]; 18. 21R-Gunner Ramey[15]



Heartland Modified Invitational

Wehr's Machine A Feature - . 65-Tyler Davis[3]; 2. 75D-Tad Davis[2]; 3. 7G-Gabe Hodges[5]; 4. 88-Chad Wheeler[4]; 5. 98-Kenton Allen[7]; 6. 91-Joe Duvall[22]; 7. 75-Terry Phillips[11]; 8. 38C-Jason Pursley[15]; 9. 22B-Rick Beebe[14]; 10. 4W-Tyler Wolff[9]; 11. 18JR-Chase Sigg[16]; 12. 17-Henry Chambers[13]; 13. 21-Ryan Middaugh[24]; 14. 10B-Brandon Givens[26]; 15. 75M-Gunner Martin[19]; 16. 18-Chad Lyle[21]; 17. 247-Jarret Dotson[17]; 18. (DNF) 19R-Chris Kratzer[6]; 19. (DNF) 68-Dean Wille[20]; 20. (DNF) 712-Trevor Hughes[10]; 21. (DNF) 21X-Greg Scheffler[12]; 22. (DNF) 3B-Nic Bidinger[8]; 23. (DNF) 02-Tanner Mullens[18]; 24. (DNF) 37D-Dakota Dale[1]; 25. (DNF) 10P-Dayton Pursley[25]; 26. (DNS) 41-Chevy Coleman

ARMI Contractors Heat 1 - 1. 37D-Dakota Dale[2]; 2. 65-Tyler Davis[7]; 3. 19R-Chris Kratzer[8]; 4. 75-Terry Phillips[6]; 5. 18JR-Chase Sigg[3]; 6. 247-Jarret Dotson[1]; 7. (DNF) 91-Joe Duvall[4]; 8. (DNF) 21-Ryan Middaugh[5]; 9. (DNS) 10B-Brandon Givens

Kenny's Tile Heat 2 - 1. 75D-Tad Davis[3]; 2. 98-Kenton Allen[1]; 3. 3B-Nic Bidinger[5]; 4. 4W-Tyler Wolff[8]; 5. 17-Henry Chambers[6]; 6. 38C-Jason Pursley[9]; 7. 68-Dean Wille[7]; 8. (DNF) 41-Chevy Coleman[2]; 9. (DNF) 10P-Dayton Pursley[4]

S&S Fishing & Rental Heat 3 - 1. 88-Chad Wheeler[1]; 2. 7G-Gabe Hodges[8]; 3. 712-Trevor Hughes[2]; 4. 21X-Greg Scheffler[4]; 5. 22B-Rick Beebe[6]; 6. 02-Tanner Mullens[5]; 7. 75M-Gunner Martin[3]; 8. 18-Chad Lyle[7]

Saturday schedule and autograph session: Action resumes on Saturday with pit gates opening at 4 p.m., grandstands at 4:30 with hot laps at 6:15 and racing at 7:05.

A drivers' autograph session has been added to the Saturday schedule from 5-5:30 p.m. on the midway.


Saturday admission:

Adults (13 and up) - $40
Seniors (62-and-up)/Military - $37
Youth (ages 6-12) - $10
Kids (5-and-under) - FREE
Family pass - $90
Pit pass - $45

For ticket information on any Lucas Oil Speedway event, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com.