August 31, 2024 | By Lyndal Scranton

Chris Simpson captures opening-night win at 10th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Ron Jenkins Memorial

WHEATLAND, Mo. — Veteran Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, picked up his first career victory at Lucas Oil Speedway, winning Friday's opening-night 10th annual Lucas Oil MLRA Ron Jenkins Memorial Presented by Rugged Radios.

Simpson took the lead on lap 11 of the 30-lapper and held off Billy Moyer to collect $7,000 and his 17th career MLRA victory. Simpson's winning total that included a $2,000 bonus from Mary Jenkins Holt in memory of Ron Jenkins, builder of the original Wheatland Raceway.

"We haven't had a stellar year. We've had a pretty decent year, but nothing to be bragging about,' said Simpson, who began the night 45 behind his brother, Chad, in the MLRA championship chase. "This points race is pretty tight. Me and my brother are probably gonna put on a hell of a show to end it."

Moyer, driving a new Longhorn chassis from Double L Motorsports, said he's still getting used to the car but was pleased with his result.

"We're guessing at a lot of things we do," Moyer said. "Now that we've got a night under our belts we can work on it a little bit and make it a little better.

"It was a good track," Moyer added. "They did a good job, with the weather. It was fun for everybody and Chris had the best car tonight. He got it done."

Simpson started ninth and survived an onslaught on cautions to move into contention from his ninth-starting position.

Pole-starting Jeff Herzog led from the start, opening up a 1.5-second lead over Ryan Johnson by lap six. Chris Simpson got around Johnson for the runner-up spot a lap later and gave chase, with the event’s third caution flying on lap eight.

Johnson was running in the top four when he was part of a four-car tangle on lap nine to bring out a fourth caution. As the race struggled to get into any rhythm due to the excess of cautions, Herzog led Chris Simpson, BMoyer and Chad Simpson to the restart.

Simpson grabbed the lead away from Herzog on lap 11 with an inside pass out of turn four. He was able to extend his lead to 1.6 seconds by lap 15 over Moyer, who moved into second that time around. But before another lap could be compelted, Mason Oberkramer and Gordy Gundaker got together in turn four for caution No. 5.

Johnson spun and collected Brennon Willard on lap 18 to make it a half-dozen cautions. Chris Simpson led Moyer by just under a half-second with Chad Simpson in third with 12 laps remaining.

The race ran caution-free the rest of the way and Simpson dominated, rolling to a 2.7-second lead by lap 24 as Tony Jackson Jr. rolled into third behind Moyer. Simpson lost some ground over the final laps, but held on for a comfortable 1.3-second win over Moyer.

"I didn't know how the track was. They got a lot of rain," Simpson said, noting a mid-afternoon thunderstorm that soaked the speedway. "The bottom was so greasy during our heat races, we couldn't even touch it. We had to run the middle there.

"It was a good track. I had to move up there at the end. Chad, my crew guy, told me Moyer was coming on the top so I moved up and kind of sailed from there."

Jackson finished third with MLRA points leader Chad Simpson fourth and Herzog fifth.

Kayden Clatt set fast overall qualifying lap, at 15.914 seconds, to earn a $500 bonus courtesy of Mary Jenkins Holt, again in Ron Jenkins' memory. Clatt and Dillon McCowan tangled in turn four on the opening lap and McCowan, fourth in season points, was unable to continue while Klatt wound up 14th.

Spalding rolls to USRA Modifieds win: Chris Spalding of Montgomery City, Mo., led the final 17 laps for the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modified victory, beating runner-up Jeff Cutshaw.

Spalding took the lead away from fellow front-row starter Chase Sigg on lap four as the pair came out of turn four. Spalding opened a 1.5-second lead by the midway point on lap 10 Cutshaw in third.

Sigg’s car lost power on lap 12 and he slowly rolled to the track exit, but not before a caution came out. Spalding had a four-second lead over Cutshaw at the time, with Dean Wille in third.

Spalding held on from there to beat Cutshaw by 1.8 seconds for his first Lucas Oil Speedway victory.

"I didn't think I was gonna win, so I don't know what to say," Spalding joked in victory lane. "I've struggled here bad. The track was fantastic and we did get lucky with the starts, with our starting position, but we'll take it however we can get 'em."

Paden Phillips finished third with Wille fourth and Henry Chambers fifth.

USRA B-Mods win goes to Williams: Bobby Williams of Hermitage led all the way to take a decisive feature in the Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods, his first Lucas Oil Speedway victory of the season.

There were three cautions before one lap was officially completed. Williams beat Keeper in a battle of front-row starters for the early lead - but they only were at full speed for two laps before another yellow.

Williams had a 1.7-second lead over Keeper when the race’s sixth caution slowed things again on lap eight. Keeper was passed on the restart by Tyler Potter and Robbe Ewing as Williams drove away to a three-second lead in just four laps.

Williams poured it on as the race remained green the rest of the way. He beat Potter at the checkers by 6.1 seconds. Ewing held on for third with Jordan Jones fourth and Chase Jones finishing fifth.

Jordan earns SMVR victory: Brandon Jordan of Pineville, Mo., led all 15 laps, holding off Jim Thorne at the finish, to win the Show-Me Vintage Racers feature. Jordan started eighth, but wasted no time getting to the lead and staying there, despite some challenges.

Jordan earned his second SMVR win of the season at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Andy Wiles, who started 27th, charged into second on lap 10 when the sixth caution of the event came out. That yellow wiped out Jordan’s lead that was nearly two seconds.

Wiles spun on lap 12 as he was trying to make an inside pass for the lead in turn two. That was all Jordan needed to take it the final three laps to pick up the victory.

"He was coming hard, maybe a little too hard that one lap," Jordan said of Wiles. "We was able to have to hustle there."

Chad Eickleberry finished third with John Martin third and Brian Cox fifth.



LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Aug. 30, 2024)

10th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial Presented by Rugged Radios

Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models

A Feature - 1. 32-Chris Simpson[9]; 2. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[8]; 4. 25-Chad Simpson[5]; 5. 11-Jeff Herzog[1]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 7. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[15]; 8. 15L-Payton Looney[16]; 9. 43-Derrick Stewart[23]; 10. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[13]; 11. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[17]; 12. 33F-Rickey Frankel[10]; 13. 22H-Dustin Hodges[11]; 14. 50C-Kayden Clatt[6]; 15. 1AU-Joe Chalmers[25]; 16. 78S-Steve Stultz[24]; 17. 7D-Dusty Leonard[19]; 18. 14W-Dustin Walker[26]; 19. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[20]; 20. 7J-Ryan Johnson[3]; 21. 19L-Thomas Langley[28]; 22. (DNF) 128-Kylan Garner[14]; 23. (DNF) 3W-Brennon Willard[21]; 24. (DNF) 93-Mason Oberkramer[22]; 25. (DNF) 65-Jon Binning[18]; 26. (DNF) 26G-Glen Powell[27]; 27. (DNF) 11K-Shannon Kuhn[12]; 28. (DNF) 8-Dillon McCowan[7]

Flo Sports Heat 1 - 1. 11-Jeff Herzog[2]; 2. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 3. 32-Chris Simpson[3]; 4. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[6]; 5. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 6. 3W-Brennon Willard[5]; 7. 1AU-Joe Chalmers[7]

Simpson Equipment Heat 2 - 1. 7J-Ryan Johnson[2]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[4]; 4. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[5]; 5. 7D-Dusty Leonard[3]; 6. 43-Derrick Stewart[6]; 7. 26G-Glen Powell[7]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 - 1. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr[2]; 2. 50C-Kayden Clatt[1]; 3. 33F-Rickey Frankel[4]; 4. 128-Kylan Garner[5]; 5. 65-Jon Binning[3]; 6. 93-Mason Oberkramer[7]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[6]

Lucas Oil Heat 4 - 1. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[6]; 3. 11K-Shannon Kuhn[4]; 4. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 5. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[2]; 6. 78S-Steve Stultz[5]; 7. 19L-Thomas Langley[7]

Qualifying Group A - 1. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:16.558[5]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:16.588[14]; 3. 11-Jeff Herzog, 00:16.624[1]; 4. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 00:16.657[12]; 5. 32-Chris Simpson, 00:16.674[2]; 6. 7D-Dusty Leonard, 00:16.720[10]; 7. 11G-Gordy Gundaker, 00:16.754[9]; 8. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:16.834[3]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard, 00:16.839[4]; 10. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, 00:16.989[11]; 11. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:17.030[6]; 12. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:17.262[13]; 13. 1AU-Joe Chalmers, 00:17.366[7]; 14. 26G-Glen Powell, 00:17.432[8]

Qualifying Group B - 1. 50C-Kayden Clatt, 00:15.914[11]; 2. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:16.181[10]; 3. 21M-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:16.182[8]; 4. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt, 00:16.560[12]; 5. 65-Jon Binning, 00:16.571[6]; 6. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:16.616[9]; 7. 33F-Rickey Frankel, 00:16.621[13]; 8. 11K-Shannon Kuhn, 00:16.652[4]; 9. 128-Kylan Garner, 00:16.677[14]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:16.722[1]; 11. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:16.922[2]; 12. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.968[3]; 13. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:17.231[7]; 14. 19L-Thomas Langley, 00:17.704[5]


Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds

A Feature - 1. 00S-Chris Spalding[1]; 2. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[4]; 3. 127-Paden Phillips[5]; 4. 68-Dean Wille[6]; 5. 17C-Henry Chambers[8]; 6. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[12]; 7. 151-Lucas Gibbs[7]; 8. 97-Houston Johnson[11]; 9. 17-Mike Striegel[10]; 10. 10P-Dayton Pursley[13]; 11. (DNF) 21-Greg Scheffler[14]; 12. (DNF) 98K-Kenton Allen[9]; 13. (DNF) 18JR-Chase Sigg[2]; 14. (DNF) 38C-Jason Pursley[3]; 15. (DNS) 24D-Donnie Fellers

Heat 1 - 1. 00S-Chris Spalding[2]; 2. 38C-Jason Pursley[1]; 3. 127-Paden Phillips[4]; 4. 151-Lucas Gibbs[5]; 5. 98K-Kenton Allen[7]; 6. 21M-Ryan Middaugh[6]; 7. 10P-Dayton Pursley[8]; 8. (DNF) 24D-Donnie Fellers[3]

Heat 2 - 1. 18JR-Chase Sigg[1]; 2. 98-Jeff Cutshaw[2]; 3. 68-Dean Wille[3]; 4. 17C-Henry Chambers[5]; 5. 17-Mike Striegel[6]; 6. 97-Houston Johnson[7]; 7. 21-Greg Scheffler[4]


Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods

A Feature - 1. 1B-Bobby Williams[2]; 2. 94-Tyler Potter[6]; 3. 32-Robbe Ewing[8]; 4. 2-Jordan Jones[3]; 5. 03-Chase Jones[10]; 6. 67/8-Sundance Keepper[1]; 7. 36-Ryan Smith[9]; 8. 447-Kenny Prince[14]; 9. 0-Blake Wimmer[7]; 10. 28-Shane Creech[19]; 11. 4-Caleb Rhoads[5]; 12. (DNF) 23N-Kenny Nutter[11]; 13. (DNF) 94C-JT Carroll[13]; 14. (DNF) 15-Nick Drew[15]; 15. (DNF) 99T-Kynsey Collins[4]; 16. (DNF) 56M-James Moore[12]; 17. (DNF) 46-Brice Gotschall[18]; 18. (DNS) 22-Chase Hubbard; 19. (DNS) 19-Tanner Kade

Heat 1 - 1. 1B-Bobby Williams[1]; 2. 99T-Kynsey Collins[2]; 3. 4-Caleb Rhoads[3]; 4. 36-Ryan Smith[4]; 5. 03-Chase Jones[7]; 6. 23N-Kenny Nutter[9]; 7. 94C-JT Carroll[6]; 8. 447-Kenny Prince[8]; 9. 15-Nick Drew[10]; 10. 22-Chase Hubbard[5]

Heat 2 - 1. 2-Jordan Jones[1]; 2. 67/8-Sundance Keepper[7]; 3. 94-Tyler Potter[3]; 4. 0-Blake Wimmer[6]; 5. 32-Robbe Ewing[8]; 6. 56M-James Moore[9]; 7. (DNF) 19-Tanner Kade[5]; 8. (DNF) 46-Brice Gotschall[2]; 9. (DNF) 28-Shane Creech[4]


Show-Me Vintage Racers

A Feature - 1. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[8]; 2. 113-Jim Thorne[6]; 3. 09D-Chad Eickleberry[3]; 4. 58-John Martin[14]; 5. 2B-Brian Cox[5]; 6. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[19]; 7. 711-Darrell Doerr[16]; 8. 9-Dan Schmidt[28]; 9. 51-Andy Wiles[27]; 10. 99-Jim Siewert[11]; 11. 88-Beth Martin[13]; 12. 14-Mickie Cook[4]; 13. 71-Mike Lawless[1]; 14. 9D-Bryant Moyer[2]; 15. 35-BILL BERENS[15]; 16. 58T-Jeff Triggs[20]; 17. 98-Patrick Adamy[17]; 18. 44-Terry Price[22]; 19. 8-Gary Proskocil[24]; 20. 25T-Tim Wies[26]; 21. 1-Angela Ashworth[23]; 22. (DNF) 42-Rob Brash[21]; 23. (DNF) 76-Kevin Prall[12]; 24. (DNF) 5-Ken Brown[18]; 25. (DNF) 6-Damen Clevenger[7]; 26. (DNF) 1A-Rodney Ashworth[10]; 27. (DNF) C2-Daniel Schmidt[25]; 28. (DNF) 3-Eddie Neil[9

Heat 1 - 1. 6-Damen Clevenger[6]; 2. 51-Andy Wiles[9]; 3. 2B-Brian Cox[4]; 4. 2 D-Brandon Jordan[7]; 5. 3-Eddie Neil[8]; 6. 9D-Bryant Moyer[2]; 7. 113-Jim Thorne[5]; 8. 71-Mike Lawless[1]; 9. (DNF) 09D-Chad Eickleberry[3]

Heat 2 - 1. 32W-Bob Werkmeister[6]; 2. 35-BILL BERENS[3]; 3. 9-Dan Schmidt[8]; 4. 98-Patrick Adamy[4]; 5. 88-Beth Martin[2]; 6. 58-John Martin[5]; 7. 1A-Rodney Ashworth[7]; 8. 25T-Tim Wies[9]; 9. (DNF) 76-Kevin Prall[1]

Heat 3 - 1. 14-Mickie Cook[2]; 2. 711-Darrell Doerr[6]; 3. 5-Ken Brown[8]; 4. 99-Jim Siewert[1]; 5. 58T-Jeff Triggs[3]; 6. 44-Terry Price[4]; 7. 8-Gary Proskocil[5]; 8. 42-Rob Brash[9]; 9. 1-Angela Ashworth[10]; 10. (DNF) C2-Daniel Schmidt[7]


Action resumes Saturday night: The 10th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial Presented by Rugged Radios concludes on Saturday night with the MLRA Late Models chasing a $12,000-to-win prize in the feature. That includes a $2,000 bonus from Mary Jenkins Holt, in memory of original Wheatland Raceway builder Ron Jenkins.

Joining the MLRA Late Models again will be the Arctic Food Equipment USRA Modifieds, Clear Creek Golf Cars USRA B-Mods and Show-Me Vintage Racers. The Modifieds will run for $1,500 to win and the B-Mods go for $1,000 to win.

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

Anthem Edition pre-race show Saturday: The gospel quartet Anthem Edition will perform in a pre-race concert from 5:45-6:15 p.m. on Saturday. The group has performed at Lucas Oil Speedway in previous years as The Old Paths, which formed in 2003 as a trio, founding by Doug Roark and Tim Rackley with a mission to glorify God.

It became a quartet in 2012 and signed with Crossroad Music's Sonlite Records releasing the album "Right Now" which yielded two No. 1 hits and earning them a Singing News Fan Award for Favorite New Quartet. In 2022, the group changed its name to Anthem Edition and welcomed Andrew Utech as new head vocalist and in the fall of 2023 Cameron Edens joined as new tenor.

Diamond Drag Boat Nationals on Lake Lucas: The 14th annual Diamond Drag Boat Nationals continue on Lake Lucas on Saturday, with gates open at 9:30 a.m. with qualifying at 10. Eliminations will be held on Sunday with a tentative schedule of 8:30 a.m. for gates and 10:30 for racing.

Combo passes are available for fans who wish to attend both the drag boat and dirt-track races on Friday or Saturday. All drag boat passes include access to the boat pit area.

The event will have a $33,200 purse and produced for later airing on MAVTV. Divisions include Top Alcohol Hydro, Pro Outlaw, Pro Mod, Quick Eliminator, Pro Eliminator, Pro Comp Flat, Tom Eliminator, Modified Eliminator, Stock Eliminator and Personal Watercraft.

For more info on the KDBA visit kydragboat.com.


Saturday Dirt Track Admission:

Advance discount tickets online only (13 and up) - $27
Adults (13 and up) - $30
Seniors (62 and up)/Military - $27
Youth (ages 6-12) - $10
Kids (5 and under) - FREE
Family pass - $70
Pit pass - $40


Saturday Drag Boat Admission:

Combo (drag boats and dirt track Saturday only)
Adults GA combo (13 and up) - $45
Seniors (62 and up)/Military GA combo - $42
Youth (6-12) GA combo - $25
Kids GA combo (5 and under) - FREE
Family pass GA combo (two adults, up to two kids 6-12) - $115
Adult two-day pit combo - $60


Saturday Drag Boat only:

GA (6 and up) - $20
Kids GA (5 and under) - FREE
2-day drag boat only pit pass - $40



Sunday Drag Boat Admission:

(Includes pit pass)
Ages 6 and up GA - $20
Ages 5 and under - FREE

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.