August 24, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Pursley, Garner celebrate first Lucas Oil Speedway track championships

WHEATLAND, Mo. — At long last, Jason Pursley could celebrate a Lucas Oil Speedway track championship - even if it wasn't exactly the way he would have planned it.

Pursley spun and damaged his car on the opening lap in the feature, but by merely taking the green flag on Saturday night Pursley clinched the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modified track championship in the Big Adventure RV Weekly Championship Series.

Henry Chambers went on to win the USRA Modified main event on Rempfer Memorial Season Championship Night Presented by Bill Roberts Chevrolet. Other feature winners were David Hendrix (O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars), Jaylen Wettengel (Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods) and Tucker Cox (Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models).

William Garner of Lebanon also earned his first track championship, capturing honors in the O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars division. JC Morton in the USRA B-Mods and Justin Wells in the POWRi Late Models already had wrapped up season championships prior to the action, starting the night with insurmountable points leads.

The championship-night program is named to honor Harold "Rowdy" Rempfer and his wife, Julia, who were killed in an automobile accident six years ago. Rowdy was the mayor of Wheatland and he and Julia both worked at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Chambers, a 16-year-old from Baldwin City, Kan., led all 20 laps to win his first USRA Modified feature at Lucas Oil Speedway, holding off reigning track champion Ryan Middaugh who charged from 23rd to second. Chambers also won a feature on Friday at Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Okla.

"I'm really happy to win here," Chambers said, noting that he was aware that Middaugh was lurking on the final restart. "I just figured I'd better haul ... on the (last) start, so I did."

But a story just as big was Pursley, the 48-year-old who's raced at Lucas Oil Speedway since the track opened nearly 20 years ago. Five times since 2015, Pursley had been the runner-up in points.

Pursley was running second behind fellow front-row starter Chambers on the opening lap when he spun between turns three and four and was hit by multiple cars - including his son, Dayton.

Pursley was unable to continue and credited with 20th place, but thanks to a 69-point lead to begin the night over Chad Lyle, who didn't start the feature, Pursley clinched the championship when the green flew. He didn't win a feature, but had five top-five finishes and three other top-10s this season.

"It's good to finally not be the first loser," Pursley said with a laugh, thanking car owner Tom Campbell and his sponsors for the support.

"It would have felt a lot better if I hadn't run out of talent on that first lap and tore my car up," Pursley said. "But it feels good to finally win the championship here. I've tried for a number of years and ran second a bunch."

Chambers dominated in a race that was filled with cautions that aided Middaugh's charge from the back of the pack to a contending position.

Middaugh rolled into second on lap 10, but Chambers had a 1.5-second lead. After the early flurry of cautions, the race remained green until lap 18 with Chambers 2.1 seconds clear. But one more caution set up a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Chambers was able to hang on after a solid restart and beat Middaugh by one second at the finish. Nathan Hagar was third with Mickey Burrell fourth and Kenton Allen fifth.

Hendrix wins in USRA Stock Cars as Garner secures title: Former track champion David Hendrix, running only his second O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars races of the season, posted a dominant win over Johnny Fennewald in the feature.

Meanwhile, the track championship went to seventh-place William Garner who had a large lead entering the night.

Fennewald started outside of row one and set a fast early pace, with a 1.1-second lead over Hendrix five laps in. A caution took away his margin and Hendrix pulled alongside on the restart and battled for the lead.

Hendrix used the high groove and finally made the pass on lap nine as those two opened a large gap over third-place Jaylen Wettengel.

Over the next few laps, Hendrix pulled away. He was nearly three seconds clear of Fennewald by lap 16 and by the time the checkers flew he was 5.68 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

It was an emotional win for Hendrix, his first trip to victory lane since the passing of his dad.

"It's the first win I've ever had without him here," Hendrix said. "We kind of took a break there for a couple of years to regroup a little bit. I want to thank everybody here at Lucas Oil Speedway for getting this one in. The track had some character in it, but you just have to cowboy up once in a while."

James McMillin finished third, Wettengel was fourth and Mason Beck fifth.

Garner, of Lebanon, was thrilled with his first Lucas Oil Speedway title. He captured four feature wins along the way.

"We just worked a lot harder this year," Garner said. "Josh (Franklin) helped me out quite a bit and we've got something going pretty good. We just kept working on it all year and got it tuned in pretty good. I have to thank Josh and Mitchell Franklin. We had good, consistent runs and I have to thank everybody who supports me."

Wettengel earns B-Mod win as Morton takes points: Jaylen Wettengel of Topeka, Kan., grabbed the lead on lap six, after points champion JC Morton had a mechanical issue, and went on to capture his first Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mod victory of the season.

Morton started on the pole and had a 2.1-second lead when a caution flew on lap five when Tanner Kade slowed in turn four. During the caution, Morton had a fire under his hood after his car had white smoke coming out since the race’s beginning.

Morton had to restart at the rear of the field in 15th after a quick trip to the hot pits - but he had already done enough to clinch his third track championship. Morton made it to 10th before pulling off on lap 11 and settling for 14th.

Wettengel inherited the lead with Hoyt Miller second and J.T. Carroll in third. It took Wettengel five laps to build a 2.4-second command as the race hit the midpoint. Caution flew again on lap 14 with Wettengel one second ahead of Carroll, with Bobby Williams third and Miller fourth.

One lap after the restart, Williams made contact with Wettengel on the backstretch and Wettengel spun to a stop. Williams was sent to the pits by officials under caution and Wettengel reinstated to the lead.

Wettengel, who was second in the USRA Stock Cars division points, took it home from there, beating a charging Jon Sheets by 1.3 seconds for the victory.

"I smelled Morton on the pace lap," Wettengel said of the champ's pending issues. "I didn't expect it to go that way. I know for sure if he'd have stayed out, he would have smoked me. But a win's a win and I'll take it. It's kind of ironic that I won in my B-Mod, the car that I always complain about."

Morton said a valve cover came loose and that was his issue with the smoke and brief fire. After that was fixed, he had a flat left rear take away his chances for a rally.

"It's been a pretty good year," said Morton, who also won titles in 2016 and 2018. "I just have to thank all my sponsors and my family."

Terry Schultz wound up third with Blake Wimmer fourth and Carroll fifth.

Cox grabs POWRi Late Models win and Wells earns repeat title: The final feature of the night and of the regular season saw Tucker Cox of Jefferson City start on the pole and lead all 20 laps for his first Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Model feature win of the season.

Cox opened a .651-second lead over Chad Walter by lap 10 when a caution for debris slowed the action. One lap later, Dylan Hoover’s car dropped fluid on the track to bring out a lengthy caution for cleanup.

When action resumed, Cox again set the paced by about five car lengths over Walter. But Cox, a five-time winner this year at Callaway Raceway, began to stretch his margin and was 1.5 seconds ahead with one more caution for debris, with three laps remaining, leading to another restart

Cox took it home from there, beating Walter by 1.3 seconds. Tommy Cordray finished third with Tyler Brown fourth and Bobby Ruff fifth.

"I was trying to conserve a little bit and keep it in one piece," Cox said of the multiple cautions. "Dad told me they were closing in so I had to get up on the wheel a little bit there."

Wells, an 11-time feature winner this season, pulled off seven laps into the event and wound up eighth. He entered the night a commanding 440 points ahead of Cox for a repeat of his title in 2023.

"The risk wasn't worth the reward, tearing a bunch of stuff up," Wells said of the track conditions after morning rain that led to his rare DNF. "A bunch of friends were out here and we just wanted to keep it all in one piece.

"A lot of good people and a lot of hard work," Wells said of keys to his success. "Usually if we get beat, we just go on and work harder."

Power Wheels crowns season champ: The Kids' Power Wheel season-long series, featuring youngsters ages 5-12, saw Morrow Sheets of Nevada win the race at intermission. Morrow also was crowned the season points champion as another season of racing for the kids came to a close.


LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 24, 2024)
Rempfer Memorial Season Championships Presented by Bill Roberts Chevrolet


Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A Feature - 1. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[3]; 2. 8-Jon Sheets[8]; 3. 90-Terry Schultz[6]; 4. 20-Blake Wimmer[12]; 5. 94C-JT Carroll[5]; 6. 03-Chase Jones[14]; 7. 56-Hoyt Miller[2]; 8. 2X-Cole Hamilton[11]; 9. 8S-Clayton Smith[9]; 10. 23N-Kenny Nutter[17]; 11. 86R-Trent Rodgers[19]; 12. 42J-Donnie Jackson[21]; 13. (DNF) 1B-Bobby Williams[10]; 14. (DNF) 18-JC Morton[1]; 15. (DNF) 8X-Scott Chism[16]; 16. (DNF) 11L-Logan Smith[13]; 17. (DNF) F1-Mitchell Franklin[4]; 18. (DNF) 30-Rex Harris[18]; 19. (DNF) 19-Tanner Kade[22]; 20. (DNF) 55-Colson Kirk[7]; 21. (DNS) 55K-Terry Kirk; 22. (DNS) 3DJR-Dylan Daniels

Heat 1 - 1. 94C-JT Carroll[1]; 2. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[6]; 3. 8-Jon Sheets[5]; 4. 20-Blake Wimmer[8]; 5. 55K-Terry Kirk[2]; 6. 8X-Scott Chism[7]; 7. 3DJR-Dylan Daniels[4]; 8. 42J-Donnie Jackson[3]

Heat 2 - 1. 18-JC Morton[5]; 2. 55-Colson Kirk[2]; 3. 90-Terry Schultz[6]; 4. 2X-Cole Hamilton[4]; 5. 11L-Logan Smith[7]; 6. 23N-Kenny Nutter[1]; 7. (DQ) 19-Tanner Kade[3]

Heat 3 - 1. 56-Hoyt Miller[3]; 2. F1-Mitchell Franklin[5]; 3. 8S-Clayton Smith[1]; 4. 1B-Bobby Williams[6]; 5. 03-Chase Jones[7]; 6. 30-Rex Harris[4]; 7. 86R-Trent Rodgers[2]


O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars

A Feature - 1. 54-David Hendrix[4]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[2]; 3. 8M-James McMillin[14]; 4. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[1]; 5. 0F-Mason Beck[9]; 6. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[3]; 7. 7-William Garner[5]; 8. 22-Dawson Fennewald[11]; 9. 12-Christopher Sawyer[8]; 10. 05G-Grayson McKiney[10]; 11. 34-Blake Bolton[6]; 12. 24-Blayne McMillin[13]; 13. 83-James Ellis[12]; 14. (DNF) 74-Rodney Schweizer[15]; 15. (DNF) 41-Bryan White[7]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat 1 - 1. 91J-Jaylen Wettengel[5]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald[7]; 3. 7-William Garner[6]; 4. 12-Christopher Sawyer[3]; 5. 0F-Mason Beck[2]; 6. 22-Dawson Fennewald[8]; 7. 83-James Ellis[4]; 8. 24-Blayne McMillin[1]

Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 - 1. 11-Waylon Dimmitt[3]; 2. 54-David Hendrix[5]; 3. 34-Blake Bolton[1]; 4. 41-Bryan White[6]; 5. 05G-Grayson McKiney[2]; 6. (DNF) 8M-James McMillin[7]; 7. (DNF) 74-Rodney Schweizer[4]


Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds

A Feature - 1. 17-Henry Chambers[1]; 2. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[23]; 3. 55-Nathan Hagar[17]; 4. 73-Mickey Burrell[4]; 5. 98K-Kenton Allen[9]; 6. 23-Lucas Dobbs[18]; 7. 99T-Dalton Teel[20]; 8. 88-Jimmy Dowell[8]; 9. 21T-Troy Gudmonson[7]; 10. 5-Robbie Reed[16]; 11. 24D-Donnie Fellers[15]; 12. (DNF) 21-Greg Scheffler[10]; 13. (DNF) 03-Jason Sivils[21]; 14. (DNF) 18JR-Chase Sigg[3]; 15. (DNF) L75-Lane Whitney[14]; 16. (DNF) 98-Jeff Cutshaw[13]; 17. (DNF) 10P-Dayton Pursley[5]; 18. (DNF) 00-Jesse Stovall[6]; 19. (DNF) 21W-Tracy Wolf[11]; 20. (DNF) 38C-Jason Pursley[2]; 21. (DNS) 3D-Dexton Daniels; 22. (DNS) 18-Chad Lyle; 23. (DNS) 92-Daniel Scrogham

Heat 1 - 1. 17-Henry Chambers[6]; 2. 00-Jesse Stovall[3]; 3. 73-Mickey Burrell[8]; 4. 3D-Dexton Daniels[5]; 5. (DNF) 23-Lucas Dobbs[7]; 6. (DNF) 92-Daniel Scrogham[1]; 7. (DNF) 99T-Dalton Teel[2]; 8. (DNF) 21M-Ryan Middaugh[4]

Heat 2 - 1. 18JR-Chase Sigg[3]; 2. 21T-Troy Gudmonson[2]; 3. 88-Jimmy Dowell[4]; 4. 21-Greg Scheffler[7]; 5. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[6]; 6. 24D-Donnie Fellers[8]; 7. 55-Nathan Hagar[5]; 8. (DNF) 18-Chad Lyle[1]

Heat 3 - 1. 10P-Dayton Pursley[1]; 2. 38C-Jason Pursley[7]; 3. 98K-Kenton Allen[4]; 4. 21W-Tracy Wolf[6]; 5. L75-Lane Whitney[2]; 6. 5-Robbie Reed[5]; 7. (DNF) 03-Jason Sivils[3]


Hermitage Lumber POWRi Late Models

A Feature - 1. 1T-Tucker Cox[1]; 2. 23-Chad Walter[2]; 3. 5-Tommy Cordray[5]; 4. 10T-Tyler Brown[11]; 5. (DNF) X15-Bobby Ruff II[8]; 6. (DNF) 99H-Dylan Hoover[7]; 7. (DNF) 72-JC Morton[3]; 8. (DNF) 98-Justin Wells[10]; 9. (DNF) 1A-Bryon Allison[4]; 10. (DNF) 99-Larry Jones[9]; 11. (DNS) 74-Kyle Bates; 12. (DNS) 13D-Danny Dovenspike; 13. (DNS) 28-Jim Greenway; 14. (DQ) 21P-Darren Phillips[6]

Heat 1 - 1. 72-JC Morton[2]; 2. 1A-Bryon Allison[3]; 3. 5-Tommy Cordray[4]; 4. 99H-Dylan Hoover[5]; 5. 99-Larry Jones[7]; 6. 98-Justin Wells[6]; 7. 10T-Tyler Brown[1]

Heat 2 - 1. 1T-Tucker Cox[3]; 2. 23-Chad Walter[6]; 3. 21P-Darren Phillips[2]; 4. X15-Bobby Ruff II[1]; 5. (DNF) 74-Kyle Bates[5]; 6. (DNF) 28-Jim Greenway[4]; 7. (DNS) 13D-Danny Dovenspike


Ron Jenkins Memorial, Diamond Drag Boat Nationals next: Labor Day Weekend will find a full schedule of action on both the Lucas Oil Speedway dirt oval and the drag boat track.

The Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models will hold the 10th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial Presented by Rugged Radios on Friday and Saturday nights. Joining the MLRA Late Models both nights will be the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds, Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods and Show-Me Vintage Racers.

Both days will find pit gates opening at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 4:30, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

Next door on Lake Lucas, the 14th annual Diamond Drag Boat Nationals sanctioned by the Kentucky Drag Boat Association will take place with qualifying rounds Friday and Saturday and eliminations on Sunday.

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.