August 18, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Xavier Doney celebrates first 410 Sprint Car win

WHEATLAND, Mo. — Young Xavier Doney had a night he won't forget Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway, capturing his first POWRi 410 Sprint Car victory at the POWRi Summer Thunder main event.

The 18-year-old from Odessa, Mo., led all 30 laps and held off Ayrton Gennetten in the late stages to earn the $5,000 victory.

Meanwhile, Richie Tosh of Salado, Ark., beat Derek Brown with a last-corner pass in the first Diamond Full Fender Challenge, with the POWRi Super Stocks and USRA Stock Cars. Those features were held in conjunction with the POWRi Summer Thunder that included the POWRi 305 Sprints and full programs for USRA Stock Cars and POWRi Super Stocks.

Doney was fast from the drop of the green, taking a 2.4-second lead over fellow front-row starter Gunner Ramey in the POWRi 410 feature by lap eight as the leaders caught lapped traffic. Ramey was cutting into the margin when a caution on lap 10 slowed the action.

Blake Hahn got around Ramey on the restart for second, but Doney was able to build a 1.8-second lead in the meantime with Gennetten moving into third.

Another caution came out on lap 16 as eighth-running Roger Crockett slowed on the speedway after a puff of smoke came from the motor.

Doney quickly moved back to the high groove as action resumed to try and protect his lead over the next 13 laps with veterans Hahn and Gennetten right behind. The youngster was able to open a 1.4-second lead by lap 22, but Gennetten quickly cut it to just under one second by lap 24.

Gennetten closed within three car lengths with three to go, but Doney held on to nail down the personal landmark win by .779 seconds. Hahn finished third with Kyle Bellm of Nixa, Mo., was fourth and Miles Paulus came home fifth.

"That was probably about the best 25 laps I've ever run," Doney said. "I made a few mistakes in there. The top's about as thin as it gets and it was really treacherous up there. I had to keep the car out of the wall and I almost put it in there a couple of times, but we managed.

"We got a good set-up on the car. I have to thank my dad for that. He's been working really good with me, helping learn all this winged set-up stuff. I have to thank all my sponsors. Everyone does a heck of a lot for this race team and I'm fortunate for it."

Gennetten, the POWRi 410 series points leader, said he just couldn't quite get to Doney in the late going.

"When you start fifth you want to get as far forward as you can," Gennetten said. "We fell back early and just kind of kept picking them off on the restarts. Xavier was the best car all night. He was really good her at the High Limits race and I knew he was the car to beat."

Doney served notice that he would be the man to beat by setting fast qualifying time with a lap of 13.638 seconds. He said he qualifying runs of seventh and fourth earlier this year with the Kubota High Limit Racing series gave him confidence, though he still had to carry the speed over 30 laps.

"It was a tricky race and I think that's the best I've driven here before," Doney said.

Tosh edges Brown in Full Fender Challenge thriller: Arkansas driver Richie Tosh edged Derek Brown of Stoutland in an absolute thriller to win the $1,500 Full Fender Challenge, matching the top 12 finishers from the POWRi Super Stock and USRA Stock Car features held earlier in the evening.

Starting order was determined by a draw and Brown, who won the Super Stocks feature earlier, started second with Johnny Fennewald, the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature winner, starting sixth.

Tosh, a close third after leading early in the Super Stock feature, began fifth in the Full Fender Challenge. But it was Brown who appeared on his way to a double victory most of the way.

Brown grabbed the lead on lap one and opened a 2.6-second gap on Tosh by lap seven when the first caution flew.After the restart, Brown and Tosh waged a battle at the front with Brown staying in front. Sixth-starting Fennewald, meanwhile, fell back to eighth by lap 11 after climbing as high as fifth at the caution.

Tosh pulled alongside Brown out of turn four on lap 15. Brown was able to fend off the challenge - until the final turn.

The leaders found themselves in lapped traffic on the final cirdcuit and Tosh, diving low in turn four, beat Brown by a hood’s length at the checkers, the margin listed as .074 seconds.

"Man the racetrack got good," Tosh said. "You could run all over it. I knew Derek was gonna be tough. He got me in the first go-around there. I've known Derek since he was this little and come and watched me race, so it was good to race with him like that.

Tosh said he committed to the bottom of the track in the last few laps because he knew it would be tough to get around Brown on the high side.

"It worked out. Lapped traffic, we diced and sliced there a little bit," Tosh said. "It was a fun race and fortunate to get to do it."

Terry Schultz wound up third with Jared Hays fourth and J.T. Carroll fifth as the POWRi Stock Cars swept the top nine positions. Fennewald, in 10th, was the highest-finishing USRA Stock Car driver.

A total of 38 POWRi Super Stocks checked into the pits with 20 USRA Stock Cars entering the action.

Fennewald dominates USRA Stock Cars feature: Johnny Fennewald won the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars feature in dominant fashion, leading all 20 laps to earn $1,500.

The Appleton City driver started on the front row and opened a 1.6-second lead over Jaylen Wettengel by lap five, with William Garner running third and Waylon Dimmitt fourth.

As green-flag laps ticked by, Fennewald’s lead grew to 2.5 seconds by the halfway point on lap 10 as Wettengel fought to repel Garner.

The only thing that could save the rest of the field was a caution - and it never came. Fennewald beat Wettengel by 4.5 seconds with Garner third, Dimmitt fourth and Kris Jackson fifth.

"The track's really good tonight," Fennewald said. "I like it when it's slick, but we hit on something and that top was pretty dominant there. I knew it was gonna take somebody pretty fast to try and pass me in the middle or on the bottom."

That said, Fennewald correctly predicted that the odds were stacked against the Stock Cars against the Super Stocks. He said that lap times were about six-tenths of a second faster.

Brown scores POWRi Super Stocks win: Derek Brown made the decisive pass with four laps remaining, culminating a rally after he was fifth in the early going and went on to earn the POWRi Super Stocks feature.

Gary Clark advanced from eighth to second by lap five challenging the pole-starting Richie Tosh for the lead. But Clark’s car lost power and rolled to a stop in turn two on lap 10 to bring out the caution.

That left Tosh leading Colton Bourland and Brown as a restart started the second half of the 20-lapper. Brown slid to the inside of the leader on lap 12, but could not quite make the pass as the event’s fifth caution came out.

Brown jumped to the high side on lap 16 and made an outside pass stick out of turn four, taking the lead away form Tosh. Brown drove away from there to win by 1.15 seconds over Jared Hays, who made a late pass to take the runner-up spot away from Tosh.

Bourland wound up fourth with Aaron Poe fifth as the top 12 advanced to the Full Fender Challenge. Brown earned $1,500 for the win.

"When I faded back I thought it was all over," Brown said, noting how he fell out of the top four in the early laps before rallying. "Then the top kind of cleaned off and it got better and better and I just stuck with it."

POWRi 305 Sprints goes to Barnard: John Barnard, a 17-year-old from Sherman, Ill., grabbed the lead on lap nine and didn't give it up, earning his first POWRi 305 Sprint feature victory.

"I just focused on hitting my marks," Barnard said. "I didn't feel real good during our heat race, but we rebounded."

Tyler Elliott grabbed an early two-second advantage over Randy Martin. By lap seven, Barnard moved into second and made the pass of Elliott for the lead two laps later.

Following a lap-11 caution, the sixth-starting Barnard opened a 2.2-second lead in just four circuits and was pulling away when a yellow flag on lap 15 took that margin away.

Barnard took it home from there to capture the victory, 2.6 seconds clear of Elliott at the checkers. Martin finished third with Tyler Davenport fourth and James Turnbull fifth.


LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 17, 2024)


POWRi 410 Sprints

A Feature - 1. 74-Xavier Doney[1]; 2. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[5]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 4. 14E-Kyle Bellm[8]; 5. 98P-Miles Paulus[10]; 6. 14T-Jack Dover[6]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[7]; 8. 21-Gunner Ramey[2]; 9. 12X-Ricky Peterson[13]; 10. 79-Kyle Jones[18]; 11. 5-Kory Bales[20]; 12. 22M-Rees Moran[16]; 13. 3M-Howard Moore[19]; 14. 24-Casey Shuman[17]; 15. 1JR-Steven Russell[14]; 16. 45X-Jace Park[4]; 17. 11-Roger Crockett[9]; 18. 31-Kameron Key[12]; 19. 77-Jack Wagner[11]; 20. 91-Riley Kreisel[21]; 21. 73-Samuel Wagner[15]; 22. (DNS) 51-Mitchell Moore

Flying A Motorsports Heat 1 - 1. 20G-Noah Gass[1]; 2. 74-Xavier Doney[4]; 3. 77-Jack Wagner[6]; 4. 14T-Jack Dover[3]; 5. 12X-Ricky Peterson[2]; 6. 22M-Rees Moran[5]; 7. 5-Kory Bales[8]; 8. 51-Mitchell Moore[7]

Eibach Racing Heat 2 - 1. 21-Gunner Ramey[3]; 2. 14E-Kyle Bellm[5]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett[2]; 4. 45X-Jace Park[4]; 5. 1JR-Steven Russell[7]; 6. 24-Casey Shuman[6]; 7. 3M-Howard Moore[1]

Auto Meter Heat 3 - 1. 98P-Miles Paulus[1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 3. 31-Kameron Key[2]; 4. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 5. 73-Samuel Wagner[5]; 6. 79-Kyle Jones[6]; 7. 91-Riley Kreisel[7]

Qualifying - 1. 74-Xavier Doney, 00:13.638[5]; 2. 45X-Jace Park, 00:13.650[3]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:13.655[11]; 4. 14T-Jack Dover, 00:13.662[20]; 5. 21-Gunner Ramey, 00:13.674[1]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:13.684[6]; 7. 12X-Ricky Peterson, 00:13.791[2]; 8. 11-Roger Crockett, 00:13.827[13]; 9. 31-Kameron Key, 00:13.945[19]; 10. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:13.973[9]; 11. 3M-Howard Moore, 00:14.128[14]; 12. 98P-Miles Paulus, 00:14.139[18]; 13. 22M-Rees Moran, 00:14.241[15]; 14. 14E-Kyle Bellm, 00:14.270[7]; 15. 73-Samuel Wagner, 00:14.287[10]; 16. 77-Jack Wagner, 00:14.321[22]; 17. 24-Casey Shuman, 00:14.364[8]; 18. 79-Kyle Jones, 00:14.385[4]; 19. 51-Mitchell Moore, 00:14.464[12]; 20. 1JR-Steven Russell, 00:14.613[17]; 21. 91-Riley Kreisel, 00:14.616[16]; 22. 5-Kory Bales, 00:15.259[21]


POWRi 305 Sprints

A Feature - 1. B8-John Barnard[5]; 2. 49-Tyler Elliott[1]; 3. 14-Randy Martin[2]; 4. 12U-Tyler Devenport[13]; 5. 5T-James Turnbull[7]; 6. 4-Brett Combs[6]; 7. 10-Mike Trent[10]; 8. 63-Jack Thomas[9]; 9. 1-Greg Murry[12]; 10. 51-Alan Cunningham[11]; 11. 61A-Doug Fry[8]; 12. 4K-Kendall Weymuth[3]; 13. 74-Natalie Doney[4]

Flying A Motorsports Heat 1 - 1. 49-Tyler Elliott[5]; 2. 14-Randy Martin[7]; 3. 5T-James Turnbull[2]; 4. 63-Jack Thomas[1]; 5. 61A-Doug Fry[6]; 6. 1-Greg Murry[3]; 7. 12U-Tyler Devenport[4]

Eibach Racing Heat 2 - 1. 4K-Kendall Weymuth[1]; 2. 74-Natalie Doney[2]; 3. 4-Brett Combs[3]; 4. B8-John Barnard[6]; 5. 10-Mike Trent[4]; 6. 51-Alan Cunningham[5]


Full Fender Challenge (USRA Stock Cars/POWRi Super Stocks)

Feature - 1. 11-Richie Tosh[5]; 2. 11B-Derek Brown[2]; 3. 30-Terry Schultz[13]; 4. 4-Jared Hays[19]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[3]; 6. 66-Matthew Kay[20]; 7. 2-Colton Bourland[15]; 8. 25S-Brian Schutt[16]; 9. 45-Aaron Poe[17]; 10. 21-Johnny Fennewald[6]; 11. 7-William Garner[11]; 12. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[22]; 13. 69-Brian Brown[12]; 14. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[4]; 15. 27D-Derek Henson[24]; 16. J211-Kris Jackson[10]; 17. 41-Bryan White[23]; 18. 12-Christopher Sawyer[14]; 19. 8M-James McMillin[21]; 20. 11D-Waylon Dimmitt[18]; 21. 74-Rodney Schweizer[8]; 22. 32-Brent Fielder[1]; 23. 05G-Grayson McKiney[9]; 24. (DNF) 54-David Hendrix[7]



O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars

A Feature - 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[2]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[5]; 3. 7-William Garner[3]; 4. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[1]; 5. J211-Kris Jackson[8]; 6. 74-Rodney Schweizer[4]; 7. 54-David Hendrix[10]; 8. 12-Christopher Sawyer[14]; 9. 32-Brent Fielder[7]; 10. 41-Bryan White[6]; 11. 05G-Grayson McKiney[12]; 12. 8M-James McMillin[18]; 13. 14-Cam Perry[11]; 14. 0F-Mason Beck[19]; 15. 35-Johnny Coats[9]; 16. 39JR-Robert Southerland[15]; 17. 83-James Ellis[13]; 18. 22-Dawson Fennewald[16]; 19. 5K-Steve Herrick[17]; 20. 34-Blake Bolton[20]

Heat 1 - 1. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[5]; 2. 7-William Garner[7]; 3. 74-Rodney Schweizer[8]; 4. 35-Johnny Coats[1]; 5. J211-Kris Jackson[10]; 6. 14-Cam Perry[3]; 7. 83-James Ellis[2]; 8. 22-Dawson Fennewald[9]; 9. 5K-Steve Herrick[6]; 10. (DNF) 34-Blake Bolton[4]

Heat 2 - 1. 21-Johnny Fennewald[4]; 2. 41-Bryan White[1]; 3. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[8]; 4. 32-Brent Fielder[7]; 5. 54-David Hendrix[6]; 6. 05G-Grayson McKiney[3]; 7. 12-Christopher Sawyer[2]; 8. 39JR-Robert Southerland[10]; 9. 8M-James McMillin[9]; 10. 0F-Mason Beck[5]


POWRi Super Stocks

A Feature - 1. 11B-Derek Brown[4]; 2. 4-Jared Hays[5]; 3. 11-Richie Tosh[1]; 4. 2-Colton Bourland[2]; 5. 25S-Brian Schutt[10]; 6. 45-Aaron Poe[6]; 7. 69-Brian Brown[9]; 8. 27D-Derek Henson[19]; 9. 30-Terry Schultz[17]; 10. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[13]; 11. 66-Matthew Kay[7]; 12. 94C-JT Carroll[12]; 13. 25-Aaron Murry[18]; 14. 26M-Donnie Miller[21]; 15. G1-Tony Anglin[24]; 16. 04-Blaine Ewing[16]; 17. 69C-Caleb Brown[15]; 18. 53-Danny O'Neal[20]; 19. (DNF) B4-Brian Worley[14]; 20. (DNF) 56-Mark Davis[11]; 21. (DNF) KEG1-Jeremy Russell[3]; 22. (DNF) 4G-Gary Clark[8]; 23. (DNF) 44K-Robert Knowles[23]; 24. (DNF) 28K-Chris Kircher[22]

B Feature - 1. 30-Terry Schultz[2]; 2. 25-Aaron Murry[1]; 3. 27D-Derek Henson[7]; 4. 53-Danny O'Neal[5]; 5. 26M-Donnie Miller[6]; 6. 28K-Chris Kircher[15]; 7. 44K-Robert Knowles[18]; 8. G1-Tony Anglin[17]; 9. 1G-Nick Gibson[19]; 10. 164-Michael Muskrat[16]; 11. 67-Devin Erwin[4]; 12. 21X-Jess Sims[20]; 13. (DNF) 8D-Darek Wiss[13]; 14. (DNF) 41-Cragar Harris[3]; 15. (DNF) 9H-Aaron Halpain[8]; 16. (DNF) 94F-Elmo Floyd[9]; 17. (DNF) 94-Kenny Carroll[12]; 18. (DNF) 18K-Kyle Cotter[10]; 19. (DNF) G0-Jimmy Ngo[11]; 20. (DNS) 21-Ethan Lamons; 21. (DNS) 16-Logan Thompson; 22. (DNS) 22-Craig Wiggens

Heat 1 - 1. 11-Richie Tosh[7]; 2. 66-Matthew Kay[4]; 3. KEG1-Jeremy Russell[10]; 4. 25-Aaron Murry[2]; 5. 67-Devin Erwin[3]; 6. 9H-Aaron Halpain[6]; 7. 94F-Elmo Floyd[9]; 8. 8D-Darek Wiss[8]; 9. 16-Logan Thompson[5]; 10. (DNF) 22-Craig Wiggens[1]

Heat 2 - 1. 4-Jared Hays[2]; 2. 4G-Gary Clark[4]; 3. 69-Brian Brown[6]; 4. 30-Terry Schultz[3]; 5. 04-Blaine Ewing[8]; 6. 41-Cragar Harris[9]; 7. 27D-Derek Henson[10]; 8. 94-Kenny Carroll[5]; 9. 28K-Chris Kircher[7]; 10. (DNS) 21-Ethan Lamons

Heat 3 - 1. 2-Colton Bourland[5]; 2. 25S-Brian Schutt[2]; 3. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[3]; 4. B4-Brian Worley[6]; 5. 53-Danny O'Neal[4]; 6. 26M-Donnie Miller[7]; 7. 18K-Kyle Cotter[8]; 8. G0-Jimmy Ngo[9]; 9. (DNF) 1G-Nick Gibson[1]

Heat 4 - 1. 11B-Derek Brown[3]; 2. 45-Aaron Poe[5]; 3. 94C-JT Carroll[2]; 4. 56-Mark Davis[7]; 5. 69C-Caleb Brown[9]; 6. (DNF) 164-Michael Muskrat[1]; 7. (DNF) G1-Tony Anglin[6]; 8. (DNF) 44K-Robert Knowles[8]; 9. (DNF) 21X-Jess Sims[4]


Season Championships next: Track champions will be crowned in all four of the Lucas Oil Speedway Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series divisions next Saturday, Aug. 24, on Rempfer Memorial Season Championship Night Presented by Bill Roberts Chevrolet. Classes in action will be the Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models, Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars and Clear Creek Golf Car USRA B-Mods.

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

The final Kids' Power Wheel races will be held during intermission. Youngsters ages 5-12 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.

Flagman Mike Striegel also will lead a Kids' Pit Tour prior to the races. Those interested can sign up at the RCR Designs Jr Fan Club table before 5:15 p.m. for a chance to go on the tour.

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.