August 14, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Garner rides breakthrough season into Diamond Full Fender Challenge at Lucas Oil Speedway

WHEATLAND, Mo. — After finishing as runner-up an agonizing five times in 2023 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars class, William Garner has solved the puzzle to find his way to victory lane this season at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Garner, a 24-year-old from Lebanon, has four feature wins this season and leads the division championship standings by 43 points over Jaylen Wettengel.

“It makes it nice going into a race knowing that you have a fast, competitive car and you’ve had the runs you’ve had,” Garner said. “It gives you confidence.”

Garner and his fellow USRA Stock Car competitors will get a unique test this Saturday night as the first Diamond Full Fender Challenge is held in conjunction with the POWRi Summer Thunder featuring the POWRi 410 and 305 Sprint cars.

The Full Fender Challenge will find the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars running their usual program, along with the POWRi Super Stocks with heats and a feature of their own as a guest class. Both of those feature winners will earn $1,500 and the top 12 from each will advance into another 20-lapper with starting positions drawn.

The winner of that combined Stock Cars/Super Stocks main event will earn another $1,500 - plus some bragging rights. Garner said there’s been a lot of mostly good-natured talk between drivers from the divisions about which full-bodied car is superior.

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Garner said. “There’s gonna be a lot of bragging rights. I just hope we all have fun and hopefully it makes it where everything goes good. But there’s been a lot of smack talking, for sure.

“Hopefully we can go out and put on a good show for the fans and next year maybe have a little big bigger purse.”

The Super Stocks ran at Lucas Oil Speedway as the regular full-body division through 2020 before the USRA Stock Cars became part of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series the next season.

There are some notable differences in the rules packages between the two, though Garner said the Stock Cars will be allowed in the rules to be a part of the end-of-season Super Stocks Big Buck 50 in October. He said he’s currently scheduled to be on vacation that week, but said there’s a chance he may return in time to enter the Big Buck Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt, which pays $10,000 to win on Oct. 5th.

Right now, Garner is focused on Saturday’s doubleheader and a possible first Lucas Oil Speedway track championship. He was second to Mason Beck a year ago after coming home second - often to Beck - so often. This year he’s been able to turn the tide, without any magical formula, in his Franklin Motorsports chassis.

“Nothing really different,” Garner said of his driving. “There at the beginning of the year we were just trying stuff and bouncing ideas. Me and my Dad (Jeremy) were talking about different stuff, and me and dad decided to try something. It worked. We had to tune on it for about two races and since then the car drives really good.”

A highlight came on July 20th when Garner won two features on the same night. He came from behind to capture the opener, which was a makeup from the High Limits Diamond Classic postponement from a few weeks earlier. Garner called it one of his career highlights.

“That was by far the best one because these Stock Cars are so competitive and there are so many good drivers,” Garner said. “That night I was able to win the first one. The second one, I got up to the front and once I made the pass for the lead, I was like ‘Man, I have a good race car, I just have to keep hitting my marks’ and we were able to win it, too. It’s hard to do that, especially with these guys.”

Finishing off the regular season with a track championship - to go with the his title in 2022 at Dallas County Speedway - would be another big feather in his hat.

“It would mean a lot,” he said. “Just winning a championship at Lucas is doing something. Anybody that wins a championship there is a good driver and they’ve had a lot of success. That helps your career and helps you get your name out there more by winning a championship there.

Garner was quick to point out that the team’s success goes far beyond him behind the wheel. He gave special shout-outs to Josh and Mitchell Franklin, his family and all of his sponsors.

“If it wasn’t for all of them, we wouldn’t be running how we are,” Garner said.

Team sponsors include Icon Graphics, Franklin Motorsports, Eagle Machine, Mitchell Capital Management, Court Probationary Services, Leerose Puppies, E-co Equipment & Solutions, Bar T Cattle, G&M Transport, Johnny Fennewald Roofing & Seamless Gutters, Midwest Sheet Metal, Richardson’s Carpet, Devlin-Nichols Tax & Accounting, Hogan Land Title, Arrowhead Building Supply and Garner Construction.

POWRi Summer Thunder for Sprint Cars: Fans get a racing program featuring both ends of the dirt-track spectrum on Saturday with an open-wheel portion of the show featuring POWRi Summer Thunder, with POWRi 410 Outlaw Sprints along with the POWRi 305 Sprints.

The payout for the POWRi 410 Outlaw Sprints is: 1. $5,000, 2. $2,500, 3. $1,250, 4. $1,000, 5. $900, 6. $800, 7. $750, 8. $700, 9. $675, 10. $650, 11. $625, 12. $600, 13. $575, 14. $550, 15. $525, 16-20:$500. Non-qualifiers: $100.

The 410 portion of the open-wheel program could be a preview for some of the drivers for the 14th annual Jesse Hockett-Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway, Sept. 12-14.

Payout for the POWRi 305 Sprints will be: 1. $1,000, 2. $600, 3. $500, 4. $400, 5. $350, 6. $325, 7. $300, 8. $290, 10. $270, 11. $260, 12-20: $250. Non-qualifiers: $100.

For more information on the POWRi Sprints, visit POWRi.com.

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


Ticket information:

Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $22
Adults (13 and up) - $25
Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $22
Youth (ages 6-12) - $10
Kids (5 and under) - FREE
Family pass - $60
Pit pass - $45


Camping (Daily Rates):

Dry Camping - $15/Night (up to 6 people) ($5 additional a night per person)
Reserve Dry - $25/Night (limited Availability) (up to 6 people) ($5 additional a night per person)
Reserved Electric & Water - $40/Night (up to 6 people) ($5 additional a night per person (Limited Availability)

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

For information about Lucas Oil Speedway, including schedules, point standings and other news, please visit LucasOilSpeedway.com.